I recently received two master’s degrees (MBA, 2008 and MSA, 2010) after many years of working in state government. Now, I am ready to explore more opportunities in the private and public sector.
If I’ve never functioned in a leadership capacity, will it be difficult to branch out in management?
Obtaining my master’s has helped me realize I have a lot to offer and I’m motivated to share the knowledge and years of experience if given the opportunity to do so.
Would you please provide some guidance on how to accomplish this goal?
For many people, the July 4th weekend marks the beginning of Slacker Season at work: the time to enjoy long lunches outside and cut out early on Fridays. I love the mellowness of summer and encourage you to enjoy the season to its fullest. I also know that you need to keep your job search or career development on track, even when it’s 100 degrees in the shade. Here are some suggestions:
Revisit Your New Year’s Resolutions.
Remember that sense of optimism and new beginnings you felt as you turned your calendar to January? Pretend you’re a company with a July 1st start to your fiscal year and reboot your resolutions right now. If you never set any goals for this year, lie on a beach towel staring at the sky and daydream about what you want to accomplish by the end of 2010. Then, commit to taking some small steps this summer (such as registering for an online course to improve your negotiation skills, going outlet shopping to perk up your professional wardrobe, revising your job description with your boss to prepare for a promotion) to move yourself forward.
Redefine “Beach Reading.”
Instead of reading the latest romance novel, gossip magazine or legal thriller by the pool, pack your tote bag with a book that will advance your career knowledge. Check out the biography of a successful business owner, a productivity guide or a job hunting manual. If you’d rather keep your eyes shut and avoid weird sunglasses tan lines, load some books onto your iPod and listen instead. Consider these 10 great career books for young professionals.
While it’s incredibly important to do the right things in a job search, you also need to make sure you avoid doing the wrong things.
One of my favorite questions to ask recruiters is, “What are your biggest pet peeves about entry-level job candidates?” Below are some of the answers I’ve received. Hopefully this list will save you from committing any major faux pas!
1. “Creative” resumes. I know you want to stand out from the crowd, but a perfumed, purple or paper airplane-shaped resume is not the way to do it.
2. Not doing your homework. We live in the Information Age, so there is no excuse for not learning as much information about a company as possible before meeting a representative of that company at a job fair, information session or other recruiting event. You should already know the organization’s lines of business, competitors, current news and other facts you can easily discover from a website or a quick Google search. Asking a recruiter to tell you about his organization or asking what the company does is a quick way to strike out.
Many thanks to Good Day New York for having me on as a guest a few weeks ago. The segment topic is job hunting tips for recent college grads. Watch the five-minute video here:
Last week I hosted an etiquette dinner at a college in New York City. Students came in their best business casual attire, networked during a “mocktail” hour and then sat down to a formal business dinner. Believe it or not, we had a lot of fun talking about which fork to use when and how to properly butter your bread.
It’s likely that you’ll be asked to have a meal during the job interview process, so be sure to brush up on your etiquette skills as these students did. Below are my top 10 etiquette rules for job interview-related meals. Some of these are common sense and some are a little more complicated, so review them carefully. When in doubt, take a peek around the table and watch what your hosts are doing for clues.
1. Always use basic good manners. Say please and thank you, don’t reach (ask for items to be passed to you), keep your elbows off the table and don’t speak with your mouth full. A good tip is to take small bites so you’ll never have a big chunk of food in your mouth when an interviewer or client asks you a question!
2. Do not start to eat until every at the table has been served.
3. Use silverware from the outside in. The spoon and fork at the top of your plate are for coffee and dessert.
4. Be sure to sip from the correct glass and eat the right roll. Your place setting is arranged with your bread plate to the left of your plate and your beverage to the right. I like to remember this by thinking “BMW,” like the car: Bread, Meal, Water.
5. Bread should be buttered by breaking off one piece at a time and buttering that piece. Do not cut your bread into lots of pieces or butter the whole slice or roll at once.
6. It’s best to avoid drinking alcohol during the job interview process. Water, iced tea and soda are all appropriate. If you’re over 21 and you find yourself in a situation where a drink seems acceptable, be very careful about how much you consume. One glass of wine is a safe bet.
7. Be polite and kind to servers. (Many interviewers watch your interactions with waiters and waitresses as an indication of your personality and manners.) Say please and thank you, and if you need to get a server’s attention, make eye contact and politely say, “excuse me.” Never wave your arm or shout out.
8. When you’re finished with your meal, place your utensils together, diagonally across your plate. Place your napkin to the left of your plate, not directly on your plate. If you need to get up at any point during the dinner, the correct place to put your napkin is on the seat of your chair.
9. Turn off and store all cell phones, iPhones, BlackBerries, etc. in your jacket or bag. It is never okay to text, email or answer a call during a business meal, especially if you are on a job interview (and even if your host is checking his or her own device!).
10. If anything goes wrong — you drop your fork on the floor, you spill your water, etc., remember that good etiquette is about being discreet and making other people comfortable. In other words, don’t make a scene! If you drop a utensil on the floor, politely get a server’s attention and ask for a new utensil. If you have a pit or bone in your mouth, discreetly remove it with your fork or napkin (no toothpicks at the table!). If you spill a beverage, apologize to the table and get a server’s attention for help. The more comfortably you handle any snafu, the more quickly your tablemates will forget it ever happened.
Do you have any other favorite etiquette tips? Please share!
Have you ever wanted to know what goes on inside the mind of a campus recruiter? Here’s your chance!
Listen in on my conversation with Joy Schwartz, a former campus recruiter who is now a university career counselor. She’ll share the inside scoop from the other side of the job fair booth, answering such questions as:
What are some of the biggest mistakes students make in the campus recruiting process?
What can students do to stand out in the recruiting process?
What is the most important question in a job interview?
What is the best way for candidates to follow up with recruiters?
“Modern moonlighting” has become an increasingly popular phenomenon among young professionals. It involves working a full-time job and pursuing other projects on the side.
Why are people doing this and how do you make it work? Listen in on my conversation with Jenny Blake, who works full-time at Google and runs a coaching and blogging business, LifeAfterCollege.org, on the side.
I’m having trouble writing this blog post, because all I want to do is go outside and enjoy the warm spring air.
Alas, I am inside at my computer, occasionally staring out my window at the bright blue sky. And, after I finish writing, there is more inside work to be done today. I’ve just received a delivery of three brown boxes filled with file folders, storage bins, crates and plastic hangers. I have a stack of garbage bags at the ready. There are fresh batteries in my label maker.
That’s right; it’s spring cleaning time.
The truth is that I absolutely love organizing, filing, folding, purging and alphabetizing (my accountant told me I am her only client who color-codes my tax documents). Yes, I am a Virgo.
But I know that spring cleaning (or any-time-of-year cleaning) is not easy for everyone. It can be hard to let go of the old and make room for the new. But it must be done, and spring is a great time to refresh and renew every nook and cranny of your home, office, garage or any other space that needs sprucing up. It’s also a great time to spring clean your career. Here are three important ways to do that:
Clean your career (literally). When was the last time your organized all of your career documents, both on paper and on your computer? Take time now to toss or delete outdated versions of your resume, file past cover letters, put company information you’ve gathered into marked folders and organize that rubber-banded stack of business cards you’ve collected over the past several months. (Hint: if there’s a card whose owner you can’t remember, Google that person or check out his or her LinkedIn profile to see if you can jog your memory. If not, toss the card.)
Clean up your online image. According to a recently released Microsoft survey, 85 percent of HR professionals responding said that positive online reputation influences their hiring decisions, and 70 percent said they have rejected candidates based on information they found online. Make no mistake about it: your online image will affect your job search and your career. If you haven’t already, set up strict privacy settings on all social networks (often, including on Facebook and the new Google Buzz, the default setting is for all of your information to be public, so check every setting), take down any inappropriate pictures or content, set up a 100 percent professional profile on LinkedIn and Google, and think twice before posting any new content on Facebook, Twitter or a blog. In many recruiters’ minds, you are what you post.
Clean out your to-do list. One of the biggest concerns I hear from students and young professionals is about how outrageously busy they are. Between studying, working, volunteering, socializing, texting and occasionally eating and sleeping, it’s amazing you have any time to think. Take time this spring to sit down and analyze your time commitments. What’s really enjoyable to you? What work is most fulfilling? What activities do you dread attending? I challenge you to delete anything from your calendar that is not either totally necessary or totally enjoyable. Spring is such a glorious season — don’t miss it because you are too busy running yourself ragged.
What other tips do you have for spring cleaning your career? Please share!
I’ll never forget what my driving instructor said to my mom while we were waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles the morning of my driver’s license test.
“She has the ability to pass. It’s going to come down to whether she thinks she can pass.”
I failed.
My driving instructor was exactly right. I had practiced enough and had the skills and knowledge to get my license. What I was missing was the confidence to actually do it.
I see this same situation all the time with college students and recent grads in the job market. They have the talent, skills and ability to get a job, but they lack the self-confidence it takes to land a position, especially in the ultra-competitive market we’re experiencing right now.
If you’re struggling with self-confidence, here are some tips:
1. Ask for feedback. Recruit a trusted relative, career services staff member, professor or friend to assess you honestly. Often we don’t even realize our strongest assets because they come naturally to us. Ask the person to list your best qualities and most impressive accomplishments. On the flip side, ask for constructive feedback on your weaknesses. Find out if the things you’re most concerned about — lack of experience, a less-than-desirable GPA, shyness, etc. — are legitimate concerns or if you’re obsessing over nothing. If your fears are unfounded, let them go once and for all!
2. Take action on any gaps. If you do determine some important weaknesses, develop a game plan for improving the key skills, knowledge or qualities you’ll need to land the job you want. Take action! Sign up for a coaching session at your career services office, register for an e-course, read a few instructional books or hire a career coach or tutor. Besides gaining the skills you need, you’ll have a great answer to the interview question, “What is your biggest weakness?” You’ll be able to say, “I identified a key weakness and here are the steps I took to overcome it.”
3. Overprepare. Think about your confidence level when you walk into a test for which you’ve studied really thoroughly versus how you feel walking into a test for which you’ve skimmed your notes for ten minutes the night before. Most people don’t realize that a job hunt is something you can study for. Before attending a job fair, spend an hour or two on the websites of companies that will have booths. Before a job interview, spend an hour reading the organization’s website (especially the mission statement, recruiting pages and recent press releases) and study the LinkedIn profiles of the people who will be interviewing you. Read e-newsletters and blogs from your industry to keep up with current events that might be discussed at a networking event. The more preparation you do, the more confident you’ll feel when you interact with recruiters and other professionals you’ll encounter during your job search.
4. Seek out recommendations. One of my favorite features of LinkedIn is the opportunity to have people write recommendations that will appear on your profile. This not only strengthens your profile’s value but also reminds you of your best qualities. Ask for recommendations from former bosses, internship coordinators, professors, volunteer coordinators, students you’ve worked with on activities or other people you’ve known professionally or academically. Whenever you need a boost of confidence, go into your profile and read the good things other people have said about you.
What are the major hiring trends on campus this year? What are the best strategies for finding an entry-level job? What are the biggest mistakes students make in the job search process?
