More Than a Resumé http://morethanaresume.com Resumé help with a goal Mon, 09 May 2022 15:36:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.32 Follow the Money Understand how to Leverage the Power of LinkedIn http://morethanaresume.com/2017/10/08/follow-the-money-understand-how-to-leverage-the-power-of-linkedin/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/10/08/follow-the-money-understand-how-to-leverage-the-power-of-linkedin/#respond Sun, 08 Oct 2017 17:48:47 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4152 I know you’re thinking LinkedIn is a social networking site geared toward professionals where they can look for a job, find sales leads or connect with colleagues. That’s what LinkedIn wants you to think and that’s how millions use it, but stop and think for a second. How does the site account for its s almost $4 billion in revenue? Knowing the answer will help you in your job search.

LinkedIn is part of an industry that uses personal data users provide as its product and its real customers are businesses who want to find and check up on professionals.

LinkedIn reports 500 million total users with a long-term goal of 3 billion professionals. That’s 500 million people right now who give the site, owned by Microsoft, a lot of data and not just demographic data such names, employers, schools, locations, but data on skills and keywords (the site ranks these,) how a user searches, companies that are searched and by whom, where the highest concentration of talent is (new product in beta test,) and how people are connected (great way for a hiring manager to check up on a candidate.) That’s a lot of data to mine. And, they are really good at it.

$4billion in revenue, let’s break it down

An overwhelming majority—79% of the people on LinkedIn use its free basic account and the 20% who pay for a premium subscription represent a small fraction of its $4 billion in revenue. Most do not need a paid subscription. You can do a lot of research and connecting with LinkedIn’s free basic account when you know how to use LinkedIn. (More on this later.)

Where does the revenue come from? From selling access to data–the data you provide.

Like most sites, one revenue stream–the white noise of the internet–ad sales. For LinkedIn the real money is made from its Enterprise Licensing or Talent Solutions. This group is LinkedIn’s revenue, growth area and where it puts its resources to develop new products and services. As a job-seeker what you need to know is this: Hiring influencers and decision-makers–recruiters, headhunters, a company’s human resources and others whose job is to find talent–payLinkedIn to search its database of 500 million professionals the way you would do a Google search. Below is how LinkedIn positions Talent Solutions.

“Find the right candidate, faster. Get access to the people you want. Be an organized, strategic partner. Integrate your Applicant Tracking System with Recruiter.”

LinkedIn is a database tool for hiring influencers and decision-makers. This is its reason for being. For you, a job-seeker its reason for being is to get the people who look for talent to find you.

Be findable on LinkedIn

It’s not enough to slap up a profile page. Hiring influencers and decision-makers search LinkedIn’s database the same way you do a Google search and the way company’s use applicant tracking software. Keywords, words in context and other job requirements are added, LinkedIn’s algorithm searches the database and profiles that match appear. (That’s a simplistic overview, but basically how it works.)

Here’s what makes you findable.

  • A recent photo and, importantly, one that captures your character and how you want to present yourself to employers.
  • A headline that speaks to your value using keywords you would find in the career field you are pursing vs. Student at …
  • A summary (your personal brand statement) that tells your story/your value that includes keywords and words in context.
  • A work history with enough detail to incorporate keywords that will get picked up in search results, but does not mirror your resume.  You want people to contact you. Don’t give it all away on LinkedIn.
  • A skills section with endorsements and recommendations.
  • As a student, you can include papers, honors, courses, your GPA. LinkedIn has sections for these components

Hiring influencers and decision-makers also look for:

  • The companies and thought-leaders/influencers you follow.
  • The groups you are a member of that are related and relevant to your career interest.

Okay, so now you are finable. That’s just one aspect of leveraging LinkedIn’s power.

The power of groups

As a college student job-seeker, when you know how to use what LinkedIn offers you discover just how big your professional network is and how easy it is to connect with people.

Let’s use University of Michigan. LinkedIn’s algorithm parses through its database to identify everyone who has the school listed on their profile page picking up alumni, professors, administrators and other employees of the school for a total of 268,187+ “alumni” When you go on the University of Michigan page and click on the ‘alumni tab’ you can search the alumni database by geography, industry, company, graduation year and more. You can find alumni in a company you are targeting, in a career field of interest and you can reach out to them. Huge network.

Let’s say you are graduating with an accounting degree and want to start your career at one of top accounting firms. Guess what–there’s a group, “Big Four Accounting Consulting” with 387,599 members. Ask to join. Once a member you can search in the same way you search your school’s page. You can read about the industry from industry people(s) great for interview prep. You can and should add to discussions, perhaps you’ll get noticed. Jobs get posted to the groups. Invaluable resource.

Perhaps you want to work at Johnson & Johnson. Follow the company. Read what it posts. See who in your now large network works there. And, if you have applied for a job at a company, please make sure you are following the company. Trust me, people look.

Want to stay current on an issue, follow thought-leaders. You’ll be prepared for interviews and when in the post-interview follow up stage of the hiring process, you’ll likely find an article you can send to the person(s) you interviewed with that shows you are on top of things.

That’s leveraging the power of LinkedIn.

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/10/08/follow-the-money-understand-how-to-leverage-the-power-of-linkedin/feed/ 0
Recruiting Trends for the Class of 2018 and What They can do About it http://morethanaresume.com/2017/09/25/recruiting-trends-for-the-class-of-2018-and-what-they-can-do-about-it/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/09/25/recruiting-trends-for-the-class-of-2018-and-what-they-can-do-about-it/#respond Mon, 25 Sep 2017 18:19:56 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4148 From all reports, employer hiring trends look promising for the Class of 2018. That’s the good news. The not such good news for college seniors are how employers have changed their recruiting efforts.

To understand how, let’s take a look at why.

In 2016 Goldman Sachs told the Financial Times that it attracted 250,000+ job application from students and graduates for summer jobs, and the number of applications from students and graduates globally have risen more than 40% since 2012. You don’t need to have an interest in banking to understand what this means for you in your job search.

Technology has made it easy to find and apply for jobs. Technology has made it easy to find you and reject you as a job candidate.

What’s really behind the change in recruiting

Cost savings. It’s costly to have a staff of resume readers. It’s costly to send scores of employees to conduct interview after interview on college campuses across the country. It’s costly to have students fly across the country for interviews. And, it’s costly to onboard employees that might not be a right fit.

Initial interviewers of entry-level candidates are standardized and predictable. What college student hasn’t been asked what are your strengths and weaknesses, about your teamwork skills, to tell about a time you had to deal with conflict, where do you hope to be in 5 years etc., etc. Do you need teems of people to answer these most basic interview questions?

Technology. If you’ve applied for a job online, you’ve already experience the first wave of technology–applicant tracking software (ATS) used to screen applicants out by using keywords/words in context. No need to explain more. If you don’t know about ATS, read up on it. The second wave of using technology in recruiting is here.

What this means for the Class of 2018

Fewer on-campus career fairs means fewer opportunities to interview face-to-face with recruiters from employers who are hiring new college grads. (Not much you can do about this. If your school has a career fair, go. Go with the goal to practice your interviewing skills.)

An increased use of technology not only means the resume you uploaded might not get read because of ATS, it also means more and more employers will use video and Skype interviews to screen candidates. Employers will rely on social networks to find candidates if you don’t have an online presence/can’t be found you won’t get interviewed. And, working on a case study once the interview tactic used by finance and engineering employers are now used by marketing, advertising and sales organizations to name a few. (I’ll hold the case study interview for another post.)

Control the technology

Let’s get this out of the way. In a competitive job market, recruiters are looking for all the information they can find that might help them make decisions. You need to make your professional persona visible online and ensure any information that could dissuade prospective employers is made private or removed. Recruiters are not being negative, they are looking for information that supports your qualifications for the job.

Yes, you need a LinkedIn profile page complete with a headline (keywords are not ˜you are a student at” or “I’m looking for a job…”) and background summary (your story and value) along with your experience etc. Like a resume, LinkedIn is just part of the nuts and bolts of a job search.

Yes, you need to clean up Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And, yes you need to follow employers you are interested in and contribute to their feeds. Recruiters have been known to send ‘ friend requests’ and surprisingly they are often accepted into these private social networks according to studies.

You know that video and Skype interviews are not the same. For those who do not, with video interviews, applicants upload software and record themselves answering approximately 5 standardized questions that are sent to any number of employees to view and recommend that you do or do not get invited to interview with a live person conducted by phone and/or Skype. With Skype, you are interviewing with a person(s).

These two technologies do, however, have one thing in common–the camera. Here are some of the basics to put you in control of the technology. (I know you think you know this. You don’t. Skyping with clients all day I’ve  looked up way too many noses, seen the liquor bottle décor and stared at the offensive poster.)

#1 Control your presentation by controlling the equipment

  • Make eye contact. In these types of interviews, you cannot “turn towards” the interviewer or make direct eye contact. It is therefore important to look directly into the camera.
  • Camera angle. Two theories on camera angle. One, the camera should be at eye level and you should be slightly more than an arms distance from the camera. The other, you look better when the camera looks down on you. Looking up gives definition to your chin and that is a visual indicator of strength and character. Regardless of how you set up the video space, have the camera sit slightly above your hairline, it will help you maintain good posture while giving you the most attractive camera angle.
  • Manage the background. Minimizing the background movement (second hands on clocks, roommates in the next room) is to your advantage.
  • Lighting. Never ever behind you and try not to use overhead lighting.
  • Manage the microphone. Be conscious of where the microphone is. Microphones pick up and often amplify any sound, so be careful about shuffling papers and tapping on the table near the microphone. Little noises are very loud and distracting on the other end.

#2 Control the presentation by controlling your body language

Posture is a very strong piece of non-verbal communication that is amplified on camera. Your posture sends very specific signals to your audience.

  • Good, straight posture indicates leadership and confidence. It tells the audience that you are in control. It conveys the message that you have confidence in your competence.
  • Leaning slightly forward shows the audience you care.
  • Slouching to one side delivers the opposite message. It shows disinterest.
  • Hunched shoulders indicate lack of confidence and possibly low self-esteem.

Smile with your eyes. When you concentrate on maintaining soft eye contact with the camera, you are showing that you are alert and communicative. Looking away frequently and projecting disinterest with your eyes is common in situations where you might become nervous.

#3 Control the presentation by controlling your speech

We all had the same speaking points drilled into our brains and it all flies right out the window when the camera turns on. Reminders:

  • Don’t talk fast. The average TV commercial is :15 seconds. You have :60 – :90 seconds. That’s a lot of time to get your point across.
  • Stop saying ummms and other filler language. On camera this speech habit is very obvious and distracting.
  • Enunciate.

One more thing:

Dress appropriately in professional interview attire, just like you would for an in-person interview. Employers have been known to ask you to stand to see what you are wearing. It’s recommended to wear solid conservative colors (but not bright white). Small stripes and busy patterns do not look good on a television screen and cause the equipment to work harder to reconcile these patterns when the person moves, causing a delay.

Using technology to recruit and conduct first-round interviews for entry-level job positions makes economic sense. You don’t have to like it to make it work for you.

 

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/09/25/recruiting-trends-for-the-class-of-2018-and-what-they-can-do-about-it/feed/ 0
The Countdown Until Graduation Starts now. Are you Ready for Your job Search? http://morethanaresume.com/2017/08/22/the-countdown-until-graduation-starts-now-are-you-ready-for-your-job-search/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/08/22/the-countdown-until-graduation-starts-now-are-you-ready-for-your-job-search/#respond Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:29:35 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4140 In nine months you will be a college graduate ready to take on the next challenge—finding a job and starting your career. Your summer internship turned into a job offer. Congrats. That’s huge. For the rest, recruiting for Wall Street, consulting and engineering firms, Teach for America, Venture for American, LinkedIn, rotational training programs and other jobs starts in September. Are you ready?

Yes, another discussion on resumes

If you don’t have a resumé that is personality-rich, accomplishment-based, formatted to what recruiting and hiring managers expect and an applicant tracking software (ATS) compliant get crack-a-lacking. Forget your school’s career services format. Most do not comply with today’s practice of resume writing nor will it make it through a company’s ATS. If they won’t put yours into the database because it’s not the school’s format—fight it. If career services refuses, then you need to have two resumes. Sorry about that.

Cover letters

There’s no debate on cover letters/emails. Although most companies do not pay to have its ATS scan uploaded cover letters, if your resumé makes it through your cover letter gets forwarded to the reviewer. Cover letters not resumes demonstrate how effectively you communicate.

Cover letters are not as complicated as most students make them out to be. There are a few simple rules to follow.

  • Do not repeat what is on your resume. What’s the point.
  • Do speak to the value you offer—not your major, but the knowledge-based and interpersonal skills.
  • Do make it short. An attention-getting opening sentence, 2-3 bullet points that are value-based and relevant to the position, a thank you and you are out.

And because this question gets asks a lot. When the job application or resumé is sent to a person, the cover letter is the content of your email; it is not attached. That’s just plain stupid to attach what you already wrote in an email.

References will be checked

You will need references. References speak to your character. Who can do that for you? The manager from your internship(s), former bosses, a co-worker who is very familiar with the work you did and the professors who know you well. Have 3-5 references you can use. Unless you are applying to graduate school, references are for the most part verbal. Be sure to have email and phone numbers for each of your references.

LinkedIn profile

Your resumé does not tell your story. Your LinkedIn profile does and you have 2,000 characters plus a 120-character headline in which tell people who you are. Not about your major or degree (there are other places on the profile page to do this) but about the person you are. Because LinkedIn is social media, you can talk about yourself in the first person–“I”. Don’t forget to include a photo. You will be passed over without a photo.

Computers do not offer jobs. People do.

You will not find a job sitting at your computer. You’ll find job postings and applications and so will the other million+ seniors. What can you do differently?

  • Who do you know? Yes, friend’s parents, relatives, the neighbor down the street. All part of your network.
  • Who will connect and talk with you? Alumni Relations has a database that can be sorted by geography, career field, company and more. So does LinkedIn. Just go to your school’s LinkedIn page, click on alumni and there you go. Search. They too are part of your professional network.
  • Develop a targeted list of employers—10-12 employers—learn everything you can about them and work to find people connected to those employers and jobs you are interested in pursuing.

People want to help. You need to tell them how they can help you. Be strategic. Be specific. You will not have to ask for anything when you show your professionalism.

Now you have a job search plan. Work your plan.

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/08/22/the-countdown-until-graduation-starts-now-are-you-ready-for-your-job-search/feed/ 0
Before you Interview Learn to Make a Winning Pitch Like Those Who Raise Billions http://morethanaresume.com/2017/07/06/before-you-interview-learn-to-make-a-winning-pitch-like-those-who-raise-billions/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/07/06/before-you-interview-learn-to-make-a-winning-pitch-like-those-who-raise-billions/#respond Thu, 06 Jul 2017 21:07:42 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4134 As a job-seeker, there’s a lot learn from people who raise money from venture capitalists and/or have invested in companies. I set out to learn how those who raise billions do it and what investors look for in a pitch.

What I learned is that the formula for a winning pitch is pretty simple. Winning pitches reveal the big need, show what the problem is and present a solution. In job-seeker language, you are telling a story that:

  • Demonstrates you have researched the company and industry and understand the challenges
  • Lets interviewers know you understand what is expected of you
  • Proves your value—what sets you apart from other candidates

But there’s more.

Know what is important

Job-seekers get tangled up in details. Eager to get the job offer, they lose sight of what’s important to share and what is not when answering questions. You want interviewers to ask follow-up questions; to engage in a conversation with you. Too much detail all an interviewer can do is move on to the next question. You’ve missed an opportunity.

Using the behavioral interview formula—what was the problem I was asked to solve, what action did I take to solve the problem and what was the result—puts structure to your answers. Now edit to deliver only the important information in each of those sections.

It’s value not smarts

You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room to get a job offer. No one likes the person who thinks and acts as if they are smarter than everyone. You do need to show your value. When you talk like the smartest person you’re bragging and boasting. When you demonstrate your value, you’re creating a connection between your experience—those things you have done—to the needs the employer has.

Edit and then edit again

You can avoid the common interview pitfalls by getting your answers down to :30-:45 seconds. Think of it this way. In the 1950s and 1960s, the average TV ad length was one minute—seems endless by today’s standards, TV ads are now :10-:15 seconds. You can share a lot of information in a :30 second response.

Practice

Seems obvious. But how do you get practice? The more people you talk with during your job search the better you get at telling your story, talking in :30-:45 second increments. Informational interviews, networking events, family gatherings, recounting something that happened to you the night before to a friend all can become practice situations for you.

When you get the interview, you’ll be skilled at sharing what is important and talking succinctly.

One final thought. When honest with yourself, interviews will tell you what you are good at and not so good at. Did you notice that you rambled on when you talked about yourself, or used too many filler words (e.g. hmms, I know, like,) or perhaps you fidgeted when you talk? All of this can be fixed when you are aware of them. After each interview evaluate your performance. If helpful, create an evaluation form and while the interview is still clear in your mind check off each item/jot down notes. Interviewing is a skill you can master.

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/07/06/before-you-interview-learn-to-make-a-winning-pitch-like-those-who-raise-billions/feed/ 0
You Moved Back Home After Graduation. Oh, no you didn’t. http://morethanaresume.com/2017/06/04/you-moved-back-home-after-graduation-oh-no-you-didnt/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/06/04/you-moved-back-home-after-graduation-oh-no-you-didnt/#respond Sun, 04 Jun 2017 22:01:28 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4129 Except for the remaining colleges on the trimester system graduation weekend has come and gone. You’ve said good-bye to friends and college life, with parents packed up your apartment and for many headed back to your homes. WHAT? You moved back home.

Perhaps you’ve convinced yourself it’s the summer, you need a break. You think you get a summer break. No, you don’t.

You say, mom is happy to have you home and look after you. Your mom is not happy about picking up after you, doing your laundry, cooking your food. You’ve been doing those things for yourself in college. You know how.

You’re saving money to get apartment. You don’t get to have your own apartment for a few more years. You lived with a bunch of roommates for the past several years, sharing a kitchen and bathroom—you can do it again. Call your friends, go on craigslist. Whatever it takes, get out of your parent’s home.

Get a job—it doesn’t have to be your dream job. Any job that gives you a paycheck, okay not the one where you work for your dad or uncle. You need a job to get you into the routine of work, paying your own bills, reporting to a boss who doesn’t think you are great. You get experience and it helps you understand what’s important to you, what you want and don’t want in a job and a company.

Still not convinced.

When you move back in with your parents, you give them permission to say, “I think you should do this,” or  “You would be so good at…'” or “Remember my bosses kid, well he’s working at…” You don’t get to roll your eyes or have a tantrum. You are the one who added the layer of tension that neither you nor your parents need or want.

You have college debt to pay off. Typically, you have six months before you start paying off the loan and with most, 10-25 years to pay it off. Getting a job and living with friends teaches you financial discipline. A valuable lifelong lesson.

Tough love advice: Do not live with your parents after college. Get on with YOUR life

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/06/04/you-moved-back-home-after-graduation-oh-no-you-didnt/feed/ 0
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There’s no one alive who is Youer than You. “ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/today-you-are-you-that-is-truer-than-true-theres-no-one-alive-who-is-youer-than-you/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/today-you-are-you-that-is-truer-than-true-theres-no-one-alive-who-is-youer-than-you/#respond Tue, 16 May 2017 16:09:43 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4120

Dr. Seuss has it right. In your job search, you can only be yourself—your best self. You don’t have to change who you are to fit an employer: Be MORE of who you are.

Get started by knowing what makes you youer than you.

The answers to these questions help you understand not only makes you you, more importantly, it helps you figure out the value you offer to an employer.

  • What are you good at—your skills and talents? How do you/have you used these in school, work and in everything you do?
  • What do you love to do and why?
  • What makes you different? What qualities do you possess? What are the values that guide your actions?
  • Why do you do what you do?
  • How is your behavior perceived by others?
  • What’s important to me in a job? In the workplace?

Follow your innate abilities, let prospective employers really see who you are, and you will find the position and the organizational culture that is a good place for you.

 

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/today-you-are-you-that-is-truer-than-true-theres-no-one-alive-who-is-youer-than-you/feed/ 0
Fighting for Air Time in an Interview http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/fighting-for-air-time-in-an-interview/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/fighting-for-air-time-in-an-interview/#respond Tue, 16 May 2017 15:56:31 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4116 I’m an observer and sometime eavesdropper. It’s hard not to be when sitting at Starbucks and I see that someone is being interviewed. This morning I noticed a man reviewing and taking notes on resumes. From his body language, I could see he was waiting for someone and indeed a young woman walked in and introduced herself. Hello, I’m Taylor were the last words she got to say. I had to stay to see what would transpire. I started the stop watch on my phone and watched the interaction between interviewer and candidate. It was a full 19 minutes before he asked a question—a closed-ended one at that—and Taylor got to say yes. There was no way I was getting up until this interview was over.

For 45 minutes the interviewer talked and took notes (on what I have no idea since he did all the talking) while Taylor sat there nodding, occasionally getting a word in and looking like oh man, this interview isn’t going well. The interview ended and within a few minutes the next candidate walked in. I didn’t stay, I had seen and heard enough.

Now, I know you are all thinking he was a terrible interviewer and he was, but it’s Taylor’s responsibility in the interview to communicate her value. Here are some ways down she could have turned the interview into a more balanced conversation.

Do not wait for questions

For Taylor, the questions never came. She needed to try and find pauses where she could jump in with relevant points about her experience. This can be tough to do without sounding rude or awkward, but it’s your only option. Look for a window of opportunity and dive in. Like this:

Interviewer: “Some projects have crushing deadlines and we can pull an all-nighter. That actually happens a lot around here and…”

You: “Sorry to interrupt, but that’s great to know—during my internship last summer I found my organization skills really helpful in getting work done. I’d love to tell you about how I organize work.”

Now, wait and let the interviewer take the next step. If s/he notices what you just did, the interviewer will take your cue and ask a probing follow-up question such as, “How do you manage a heavy work load? What were some of those challenges you had?” “How did you handle these challenges?” The interview is now on track, and hopefully will stay there.

If the interviewer does not take the cue from you, and begins talking some more, wait until an appropriate time to interject and transition the discussion back to yourself again. Taking the ball back into your court does not need to feel awkward. Choose your timing carefully. Do this as many times as you need in order to get your experience and accomplishments known.

Shift your position

Taylor could have used the power of body language. Shifting her position would have sent a subtle message of, “Hey, we’ve been at this for some time, it’s time to switch gears.”

When you’re ready to start diving in to the conversation, shift in your seat a bit, uncross and re-cross your legs, smile and lean forward to subtly signal that you’re ready to go. (Unfortunately, this doesn’t work in a phone interview—but quietly clearing your throat and saying a quick, “Excuse me,” can have a similar effect.)

Wrap-up the interview

Taylor did not get the chance to share what she thought and could have asked for a few extra minutes of time or the opportunity to follow up with additional details about her background. If you don’t get a chance to talk about your experience and value, you can offer to share them with the interviewer after the fact.

Interviewer: “Well, I’m out of time. Thanks so much for coming in.”

You: “Thanks for talking with me. It’s been great to hear about the position and company. I know we’re out of time, but I have some ideas about how I could contribute to the team’s goals (this shows you listened to the interviewer.) Do you have a few extra minutes now, or can I follow up with an email outlining what I have worked on?”

By doing this, you may get more time or a second chance to show off your skills—and that’s a big advantage over the other interviewees who left without getting an opportunity to talk.

Dealing with an over-talker is certainly frustrating. Be kind, smile frequently and do everything you can to get your message across.

**Taylor, my apologizes for eavesdropping.**

 

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/fighting-for-air-time-in-an-interview/feed/ 0
Two Students. Two Different Job Search Outcomes http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/two-students-two-different-job-search-outcomes/ http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/two-students-two-different-job-search-outcomes/#respond Tue, 16 May 2017 15:52:53 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4113 This is a story of two students. Both are graduating college this weekend. As freshman, each had an idea of the career they wanted to pursue and chose their majors accordingly. Each directed their on-campus activities to align with their careers and rose to leadership positions within the organizations. And both had summer internships in their career fields. This weekend one is graduating with a job while the other is not.

Now, I know these students well—very well, I work with them. I have a process to help students understand their value in the job market and from that together we design and execute a job search plan. So, what happened? Why is one heading to LA with a job in the entertainment industry and other home?

Building your professional network

You will not get a job sitting in front of your computer. The odds of getting an interview from submitting your application online are not in your favor. There are too many variables you can’t control, most are associated with applicant tracking software (ATS.) Let’s be clear about this. ATS screens applicants out not in. From the thousands of resumes submitted, Human Resources, recruiters, hiring managers will review about 25-30 to narrow it down to 10-12 to phone interview to get to the five or so to interview by Skype and then in person to offer the job to one. The math doesn’t work.

Perhaps you met the recruiter at the school’s career fair. You got your 10 minute/ five question interview and handed over your resume. Great first step. However, that recruiter does the circuit of schools on the employers list it wants to recruit from meeting thousands of students during the recruitment period. Again, the math doesn’t work in your favor.

This is the first difference between the two students. One built a professional network, the other did not. Who do you think said to me, “…I tired of talking to people who can’t offer me a job.” Not the point and certainly not the right attitude when you are looking for a job. People read your voice, tone and body language.

A way for college students to build their network outside of professors, family and friends is to have an internship and use that internship to initiate conversations with professionals in areas of interest to you. Ask the right questions and you will get them to share their experiences, ideas, information and advice that can be helpful to you, and because you came across as thoughtful and articulate, it’s likely your resume will be passed on to others. Informational interviews work. One student saw the internship as the way to meet people in all aspects of the industry. From personal assistant to director from casting to development and talent management to talent agent. By day a personal assistant, after five a masterful connector. This student left LA with a rolodex of people to stay in contact with throughout the school year. For the other student, it was simply a summer job.

You say you don’t know people who can help you. Not true. Remember when you did the campus tour and admissions boasted about their alumni network—use it. Start with alumni relations. They work for you as do career services (your tuition pays for their salaries.) Alumni relations has a sortable and searchable database, and there is at least one person in the department who is responsible for developing employer relationships. One student found the person responsible for developing employer relationships who had the connections needed in LA. He opened doors and paved the way. They will do anything to help each other now.

Go to career services. If your school puts on career fairs, panel discussions and the like they also have a database. Be specific. Saying I’m looking for a job is not helpful. Going in with a list of employers or people you want to connect with is. People want to help. You need to tell them how.

Do you know that your school has a LinkedIn profile page? Well yes it does. Click on the alumni tab and anyone who lists your school on his/her LinkedIn page is in that database. You can search by geography, career, company and more and see parts of their profile. DO NOT send a simple connect request. (InMail if you can but use connect if that is your only option.) “As an alum, do you have 15 minutes to talk about xyz?” “I’m a student at abc university, do you have 15 minutes to talk to me about working in such and industry?” Some will, some won’t and those that do are super helpful.

Are you a member of a sorority or fraternity and/or a campus club or organization? Whoever has come to speak to your group is another person you can reach out to and talk with to learn from and potentially get more names.

This is how you start to build your professional network.

Close out the conversation and follow up and through

You are starting off your career. Act professionally. It’s your job to end the conversation and yours to maintain ongoing contact. It takes more than sending a thank you (which is not a simple thank-you, it’s a way to market yourself) after you talked to someone (within 24 hours.) It’s staying in touch by ending the conversation with may I link in with you, please let me know if there is something I can help you with and asking, may I reach out to you again if I have any more questions. Read an article that is relevant to the person or conversation you had—send it with an email. Did you see that s/he or the company were recognized for something—send an email. Finished your Capstone film, send it. Find ways to follow up and stay in touch. I can’t say this enough: follow up and follow through. And, when you do land a job, close the loop.

Resilience

It’s so easy to throw up your hands and give up. A job search can do a number on your ego. More than just the current buzzword, you need resilience when searching for a job. Sheryl Sandberg in her book with Adam Grant, Option B learned, “[Resilience] isn’t about having a backbone. It’s about strengthening the muscles around your backbone.” There’s a lot of rejection in a job search. People don’t return calls or emails. Resumes are sent off into cyberspace. Resilience comes from deep within us and from the support around us. Understanding the value, skills and talents you bring to the workplace is a place to start. You have something to offer.

Building a professional network, following up and through, finding your inner strength is taking control of your job search.

 

 

 

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2017/05/16/two-students-two-different-job-search-outcomes/feed/ 0
Conducting a Job Search is a Skill You Can Learn http://morethanaresume.com/2016/11/30/conducting-a-job-search-is-a-skill-you-can-learn/ http://morethanaresume.com/2016/11/30/conducting-a-job-search-is-a-skill-you-can-learn/#respond Wed, 30 Nov 2016 23:53:50 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4095

Riding a bike. Spiking the ball. Eating all of the pellets on the game board. All require skills you learned, and then mastered. A job search is no different. There are specific skills to conducting a job search that once learned, can help make search more productive.

#1: Get into the right mindset

It is important to shed the “I’m a college student” mindset and start acting like a new professional, which means if you want a job, act that way. Your job is to find a job. You need to show up every day and become successful at what you do.

You are in control of your job search. If you’ve recently graduated, you show up every day to work at finding a job. If you’re in school, you need to set aside blocks of time to work at your job search. You won’t have success with a hit and miss strategy.

How you can get into the right mindset. Set small goals—daily and weekly—you can easily achieve to boost your motivation. For instance, you can set a weekly goal of reaching out to 5 people who can help you get a job. When you reach your goal, your brain will reward you with dopamine, which gives you a motivation boost. This is an excellent way to build a habit of working toward your goal every day.

#2: Know yourself and the value you offer

Knowing yourself is the start of everything: love, happiness, success, career. You want to make decisions based on what you are good at and what you love to do. To do that, you need to identify what makes you you, and then communicate your uniqueness to employers, both verbally and in writing.

Think accomplishments not tasks. A way to get to know your skills and how you’ve used them, is to look at your accomplishments using the S.T.A.R. approach—situation, task, action, results.

  • Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the problem you were asked to solve or the challenge you faced.
  • Task: What goal were you working toward?
  • Action: Describe the action you took to address the situation. Actions relate to your skills.
  • Results: Describe the outcome of your actions. These are your accomplishments.

#3: Do what you are good at

So many career choices. Where do you start? How do you know how to choose? Psychologist and Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz says too many options results in paralysis, “Learning to choose is hard. Learning to choose well is harder. And learning to choose well in a world of unlimited possibilities is harder still, perhaps too hard.”

Pick something that complements your strengths. You need self-awareness to understand whether you’re good at something. Translate your knowledge-based skills those earned from your major/degree and experience into skills you use well or very well and involve actions and situations that you find interesting. Using the S.T.A.R. approach you’ve completed, distinguish between your knowledge-based and interpersonal skills.

#4: People don’t hire resumes. People don’t hire cover letters. People hire people.

People care about your story, performance and potential. Knowing your value sets you on the path to finding a satisfying and successful career. Now you want to write it down. Your personal brand story is the narrative of who you are and clarifies exactly what you do, how you do it and, if possible, for whom. By communicating your story, employers will know exactly what you are capable of doing for them.

Use your brand story to create marketing materials. The first of which is your resumé. Although a chronological listing of your jobs and education, it is first and foremost a story of your accomplishments that highlights your skills. Your LinkedIn Profile page is the long-form story of your talents told through a headline (120 characters) and summary section (2,000 characters.) And your story informs your :35-:45 second response to “tell me about yourself.”

#5: Target

A job search is a numbers game, but not in the way you might think. Sending out hundreds of resumes does not increase your odds of getting an interview. Targeting employers is the way to increase your chances of getting an interview.

Your job search is a focused marketing campaign and you’re the brand. Your targets are employers where there is a good fit. Fit is affected by two things: personal factors and cultural factors. Personal factors include having the skills to perform a job, combined with the drive to use those skills effectively. Cultural factors include your qualities or character, and how these fit with the manager and the organization.

#6: Initiate conversations

It’s time to put your relationship-building skills to use in your job search. Networking or informational interviews, whatever you want to call it, has one goal: To have meaningful conversations with the people who can help you, or are connected to people in the profession/career or job you are interested in or actively pursuing. Get them to share their experience, ideas, information and advice that can be helpful to you.

Don’t network with the objective of finding a job. Instead, focus your networking activities on connecting, making friends, and starting relationships.

Prepare for conversations. Study the employers on your list, identify at least two people who are in the career field you’re interested in, find ways to contact them and when you have established a connection, have a script so that you don’t waste their time and importantly, you get the information you need. (Read more…)

#7: Nail the hiring process

This is the easy part. You’ve done all the work by this stage. You’ve researched the company and provided value. Now, it’s time to close the deal, by adding more value.

There’s a lot of advice about job interviews on the internet; most of it is obvious: prepare, view it as a sales call, do role-plays, keep eye contact and don’t lie. You know all of this. It’s good advice, but those things will not get you the job. The most critical ingredient you need is self-awareness.

Nail it. Interviewers are interested in your performance. Tell a story. How did you solve problems? How did you overcome certain challenges? End the story with a quantified achievement. This is behavioral interviewing. (Read more…)

An often overlooked, yet critical component of the hiring process is the post-interview communication. Your email to interviewers is not a thank-you, it’s a piece of marketing that reinforces your value. (Read more…)

#8: Close the loop

Finally after all your hard work you got the job. You deserve to celebrate. Wait, there’s still one more step in your job search. You need to close the loop by sending a thank-you, I’ve accepted a position email (or call) to the people you connected with during your job search.

Leave a strong impression. Close the loop with people you had an informational interview with and particularly those who connected you to others, those you interviewed with multiple times and/or stayed involved during the interview process, and employers who made you an offer you did not accept. Be sure to let your school’s career services center know, even if they were not involved in your job search. They should want to know where their students have landed jobs. (Read more...)

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2016/11/30/conducting-a-job-search-is-a-skill-you-can-learn/feed/ 0
Your Internship Has Ended There’s One More Thing to Do http://morethanaresume.com/2016/08/20/your-internship-has-ended-theres-one-more-thing-to-do/ http://morethanaresume.com/2016/08/20/your-internship-has-ended-theres-one-more-thing-to-do/#respond Sat, 20 Aug 2016 19:32:28 +0000 http://morethanaresume.com/?p=4075 The end of summer brings an end to most internship programs. You’ve worked hard all summer to make a positive and lasting impression on your supervisor and work colleagues. You wrapped up your internship appropriately leaving no loose ends on projects, sending thank you notes and connecting with people on LinkedIn. Before heading back to college and getting caught up with friends and starting classes, there’s one more thing to do to position yourself to land the post-graduation job—capture your experience. Here’s a checklist to wrap up your internship.

List projects and accomplishments

First—and most importantly—your internship helped you recognize your skills through the work/projects assigned and the results achieved. Here are some tips to help you identify your skills, accomplishments and achievements.

  • Start with the facts: look at your actual achievements/accomplishments
  • Write down the words your boss, co-workers, colleagues, peers use to describe what you have done (refer to performance reviews)
  • To get to your skills identify how you used them to achieve your results and accomplishments

 And, here’s the formula to use; based on the behavioral interviewing format used by most employers. Think of this as writing mini-case studies.

What was the problem you were asked to solve ▪ What did you do to address the problem ▪ What were the results from the work you did

What the Problem/Challenge/Situation:  Describe the problem you were asked to solve, or the situation you were in or the challenge you found yourself in such as a conflict with a manager.

Action: Describe the steps/process/your contribution to address the problem, situation or challenge—here’s what I did.

Results: Describe the outcome of your actions and where possible quantify e.g. increased page “Likes” by 200% or research contributed to 10% decrease in accounting errors.

Update your resumé

Your objective is to craft a resumé that is rich in personality and accomplishments. One that communicates your value, distinguishes you and looks pleasing to the human eye. Update your resumé to include the accomplishments you identified paying attention to keywords/key phrases and the appropriate action words. For more on resumé writing, click here.

Before campus recruiting and career fairs begin at your school make sure your updated resumé is in the career services database. Some campus recruiters will go through the database to identify students they want to meet.

Reflect on your experience

This is also the time for you to reflect on your experience after all you pursued this internship to get a realistic view of the career field. Start with these questions.

Skills: What are the knowledge-based skills critical to success in this career? What are the interpersonal skills needed to achieve success?

Career Path: What’s the best ways for me to get started in this career? List the ways people you met progressed in their careers. What is my path?

Work and life balance: Describe the work/life balance in this career and industry and company. What will I need to sacrifice to be successful in this career field?

Meaningful/purposeful work: In what ways was the work challenging and stimulating? I was proud of the work I produced because…How does this career fits with what is important to me?

Organizational Culture: I learned the values most important to me in the work environment, these are…I learned the career or company values align with mine in the following ways…Did the pace of work allow me to do quality work/do my best work? If not, why? I liked or disliked…

My Work Style: I responded well to supervision and feedback. I received the following feedback. I worked effectively with others on team projects. In what ways? I showed the capacity to be a self‐sufficient, independent worker. Examples include…

Stay in Touch

Once your internship is over, follow up with the people you worked closely with. Whether you come across an article you think your former manager would like, you put something you learned at the office to use for a big project, or you just want to say hello, it’s okay to reach out over email or LinkedIn.

In addition, if you connected with someone at the company particularly well, reach out and ask for her advice from time to time. Often, people are more than happy to talk to you about your career goals and the industry, and building a relationship with a mentor at the company can be immensely valuable in helping you land a full-time position.

Employers have different hiring cycles. For example, investment banking and engineering interns will get job offers immediately following the internship period. Marketing and entertainment industry interns typically will not. If your career is one that doesn’t hire unless a position is open, make sure you contact the people you worked closely with no later than March to let them know you are about to grad and see what opportunities are available.

Finish your summer knowing how to direct your last year in college.

 

]]>
http://morethanaresume.com/2016/08/20/your-internship-has-ended-theres-one-more-thing-to-do/feed/ 0