Archive for the ‘Career Coaching’ Category
A Career Coach Can Help You Through Your Career Transition
Think about this: for the first fifteen to twenty years of our lives, most of us grow in a structured environment under the supervision of mature educators. Then when it is time to start earning a living, that support structure is dropped right out from under us. Think about all the things you learned between birth and high school. Now imagine what you could do if you had a personal teacher to help you learn a new, more profitable career! It is certainly cheaper than going to college and could be done throughout the rest of your career.
A career coach may bring to mind the super motivators who put on conferences and yell things to get you pumped up, but I want to separate that image in your mind from the often humble, unassuming people who care about others and were born to help them through a life-altering career transition. These people can help and are interested in working one-on-one with you to figure out what lies ahead. They are interested in long-term relationships that are beneficial for both people and ultimately make the world a better place. It may sound cheesy as you read this, but really is that not what everyone would like to see happen as a result of their contribution to the workplace?
Job Search Tips – How to Overcome Your Lack of Experience
If you are new to the job market, your lack of experience may be holding you back from employment. But how do you get experience when you have never had a job in your current field? It is a catch 22 situation. You need a job to get experience but you need experience to get a job.
There are several ways you can gain pre-employment experience. Internships, volunteer work and collaborations are great ways for you to both make valuable connections and gain that all important experience for future employment.
While these types of situations do not pay a salary, you gain the benefits of work related experience and you build relationships with team members, employers and sometimes clients. When the time comes, you can call upon those people as references or get referrals for jobs with other companies. Although you are not technically employed under these circumstances, the references you get from your internship or volunteer connections will carry the same weight on a resume as a previous employer.
Quite often these internships turn into job offers. When a company you are interning with has a job opening, they will offer the job to the most reliable source. Since you are already involved with the company, they have seen your work and they know your work ethics, it makes sense for them to offer you a job rather than spending time and money searching for an unknown person.
By doing an internship or volunteer work, you are setting yourself up to be in the right place at the right time. If the internship does not result in a job offer, simply ask for a referral. If you have done a good job during your internship and have built a positive relationship with the company they will be happy to recommend you to other businesses.
Job Search Tips – Informational Interviews for Post-Grads
The competition for jobs for post-grad students is often very stiff. The influx of fresh faces in the market with a limited number of positions available can make it challenging to get a relevant position right off the hop. Using Informational Interviews as a tool for giving yourself an advantage over your peers is time well spent.
What exactly is an Informational Interview?
An Informational Interview is a business appointment you will make with prospective employers within your industry where you can gather information about the real-world circumstances of your field of interest. Generally during this type of meeting, there is no job position being discussed. This gives both you and the employer the benefit of not being under any stress and the advantage of possibly asking questions that you would not typically ask during a job interview. You are free to ask about salaries, vacation and benefits. You may also get to speak with others who are currently employed in your desired position and get a good sense of what the daily duties of the job really are.
Often we find that the real-life experience of working in the field is far different than the one we have pictured in our minds. The Informational Interview will help to clarify the expectations that employers will have of you when you begin working in your industry.
Conducting an Informational Interview
If you have made your intent well known when you have set up the appointment, you will be meeting with a pleasant and helpful worker who can give you a tour of the business and introduce you to various employees that you will be interested in speaking to.
Remember that this interview is being conducted during the normal hours of business so you should expect to spend a bit of time waiting in lobbies or waiting rooms for employees to clear up some time in their schedule to chat with you.
Dress for the Informational Interview as you would if you were working in their office. You do not want to dress too casually or overdress for the meeting. You need to look like you belong there so do a bit of research ahead of time to discover what their dress-code is. Generally speaking, dressing in business casual attire is fairly safe.
Know the name of the person you will be meeting with and make sure you know the proper pronunciation of their name. Do a bit of research on the company ahead of time so you have a good understanding of what products they sell or what services they provide.
Prepare a list of questions you wish to ask ahead of time. You will have different questions for the various people you may talk to during the appointment. Your questions to the employees will be different than the questions you may have for supervisors.
You want to spend as much time as possible during the interview engaging people in relevant conversation. Don’t spend a lot of your time writing during the interview. Instead, make notes as soon as possible after the conclusion of the meeting while everything is still fresh in your memory.
Following up after the Informational Interview
After the interview, follow up with a thank you note addressed to the person who gave you the tour of the company as well as the original contact person. Thank them for the positive experience and for the insight it has given you. At this time, you may wish to submit your resume for their consideration should a position within their company arise.
If you have made a positive, lasting impression during your informational interview, they will put your resume at the top of their list of people to call when a position is available. This gives you a very definite advantage over any other applications they may receive as they can already visualize you in the position because they can put a face to the resume.
Job Search Tips – Job Interview vs Informational Interview
If you are newly entering the employment market within your field, you should consider doing a series of informational interviews with companies that interest you. An informational interview is different than a job interview in that you are not interviewing for a specific position. The goal is to establish a contact and to discover whether you are truly interested in working for that specific company.
Many job seekers consider informational interviews to be a waste of their time because you spend a great deal of time waiting around in lobbies and only speaking to people for a few moments at a time when the company may not even have any job postings available. The smart job seeker will understand the importance of making a face-to-face impression on a potential employer. When a position within the company arises, you will have an advantage over all of the other resumes the company receives in that they will already be able to put a face to the piece of paper.
Giving yourself an edge in today’s job search market is becoming more and more important with the increase in the number of applications that every employer is receiving. Competition for every job posting is at an all-time high. You want to be the first person they will call when an job opening does present itself.
If you have left a positive impression with the company during your informational interview, they may not even post the position. They will remember you and will call you for an interview before opening it to the general public.
Often what starts off as an informational interview will turn into a job interview so be prepared. Make sure you have your resume and a list of references with you and are ready to answer any questions they may ask you.
Job Search Tips -How do you find a job by networking?
Although there is a great deal of buzz about the internet being a great source for job leads, the fact is that almost 90% of jobs are filled through “networking”. In an on-line survey of 3,000 job site users, only about 4% found their last job through the Internet, 6% through temp agencies, 23% through newspaper ads, and 40% through referrals.
Fortune magazine reported that one search firm site attracted 250,000 applicants who each spent about three hours filling out an online form. Out of those people only 350 actually got interviews. From those 350 people, only 70 of them ended up with jobs. Those are the odds you are facing if you only look to the internet as your source of job leads.
Effective strategy for creating and utilizing your network effectively.
Begin by thinking of everyone you know that may, even remotely, help you find employment. Include as many people as you can think of. These “contacts” do not have to be CEOs of companies, but just everyday people who know you and might be able to help.
Examples are:
Alumni
Drs, Dentists
Faculty
Service Groups (Rotary and Lion’s Club)
Fraternities and Sororities
Religious Groups
Neighbors
Friends
Family
Past or present co-workers and supervisors
Fellow job seekers
People working in your desired field or a related field
People living in your geographic preference
Get the idea? Don’t exclude anyone that may not work in the field. You might not think you know a lot of people, but you are in contact with people everyday that may know be of help.
Next, contact these people. Don’t say “I’m looking for a job”. Instead, tell them you would like their valued advice. You may have just graduated or you may have just lost your job. You want to firstly let these people know you see them as a seasoned professional that can give you guidance on how best to use your education or experience within your field.
Let the conversation naturally lead to the topic of employment and if they know of any positions or people you may contact. Ask if you may use their name as a referral and reference. You might even ask if they could facilitate an introduction.
From these conversations you will be able to put together a list of prospective employment opportunities that you can follow up. The “friend of a friend of a friend” situation may seem a bit outdated, but the statistics show that it is still very relevant to today’s job seeker.
Job Search Tips – Keeping a Job Search Log to Increase Your Chances of Getting Hired
A Job Search Log is an important key to any successful job search strategy. You can use your day planner or a simple calendar to track your application submissions and followups.
When you ask for a job application always ask for at least two. One will be your draft copy and the other is the final copy you will send to the company. Use the draft copy to fill in your information and then have someone proof read it for mistakes. The final one you submit should be flawless, written in black or blue ink and be mistake free.
Deliver your application in person. Dress for the job any time you have face-to-face contact with the company. Don’t show up in jeans to drop off your application if the dress code for the company is business dress. You must look like you belong there.
Whenever possible, get the name and phone number of the hiring manager anytime you submit your application to a company.
In your Job Search Log, record the date you dropped off the application. Then also place the followup information two days later in your planner. This is the date you will contact the hiring manager to inquire whether they have received your application, if there are currently any positions available and if or when they would like you to follow up on this conversation. Make note of any details in your planner including notes about the person you spoke to. This will help you be more personal and friendly when you contact them again.
Be sure to write the date and manner the hiring manager specified for you to be in touch again about employment with the company. More importantly, make sure you DO follow up exactly as the hiring manager indicated.
Ask for an interview. This might sound silly, but often times just asking for what you want will get the desired results. Your request may initially be turned down, but it might just mean that the hiring manager is not yet prepared for the interviewing stage.
Add the contact name to your planner to call the following week. Stay in touch until the position has been filled. Hopefully you will be the successful candidate, but if not, do not take it personal. Instead, use it as a learning process.
Ask the hiring manager their reason for not selecting you for the position. Do not get defensive. Tell them that you really want to work for their company and ask if there are any skills you could work on improving that would have made a difference in their hiring decision.
This is valuable information. You may think you have great qualifications, but there may be a key component of your skills that you have overlooked. Getting feedback directly from those who do the hiring is invaluable. The important thing is to take that feedback and take action.
Job Search Tips – Finding Employment in Unlikely Places
Finding employment today is a challenge with so many others competing for the same jobs. There comes a time when you have been unemployed for some time that your resources begin to run out. When that happens, you need to find a job and you need to find it fast.
There are places online that you may not have thought of to look at that may help get you through the tough times. Aside from the obvious job search sites such as Monster.com, there are some classified sites that you may be able to tap into to pick up a temporary income while you search for a more suitable job. You may even find your prospective employer or discover a new line of work that you love.
One of the fastest growing industries right now is the services industry. Take a look at your skills. You may have done certain tasks for your past employer that may be in demand as a freelancer. For example, data entry, research, writing and bookkeeping are just a few skills that business owners regularly outsource when they do not have the skilled employees on their staff to perform the tasks for them. They may only need these services sporadically or only a few hours per week and, therefore, it is not feasible for them to hire an employee to fill this role.
A few good places to search out these types of services is online:
- classifieds such as Craigslist or Kijiji.
- Freelance websites, such as oDesk.com or freelancer.com where you can register as a service provider.
- Business networking sites such as LinkedIn.com. Many business owners look here for people to collaborate with or to add to their team on a project.
Browse through some of these sites to see the types of services that are in demand. You may very well find something that sparks your interest and matches your skill set. If not, it might be a starting place to building new skills. Perhaps you have always enjoyed writing but have not had the opportunity to do so in your past employment setting. You might want to turn that interest into a means of making an income. If so, start a blog and begin honing your writing skills. Your blog will then become your portfolio.
The whole point is, there is a world of opportunity waiting for you in the freelance industry. You just have to go looking for it. Who knows, perhaps it will turn into a thriving business for you and you will no longer be searching for a job.
Job Search Tips- Do You Really Need A Cover Letter?
The dilemma of whether to include a cover letter with your resume or not when applying online for a position is often debated. So I went looking for answers from the experts, recruiters who actually do the hiring.
I asked how much importance they place on the cover letter when reviewing job applicants for first-round interviews and got surprisingly mixed responses. While most admitted that the main focus of their attention is placed on the resume itself, 2 out of the 5 stated that they read the cover letters as part of their decision making process.
Two others said they focus solely on the resume and rarely ever read a cover letter. They may read the cover letter if there is a skill or experience lacking in the resume .
The final expert said that if the person applying for the position went to the trouble of doing a cover letter, that she would go to the trouble of contacting them whether they got hired or not.
Do you need a cover letter?
Given the results above, I would say the answer is still a definite “Yes!” Unless the prospective employer has stated they do not want a cover letter, submitting one with your resume will never hurt your chances of getting an interview (unless it is poorly written), but in many cases it does help.
Recruiter Tips For Writing A Cover Letter
- Be professional. Use the standard business letter format for your letter. This means including the date and both the recipient’s and sender’s mailing address.
- Only focus on yourself as it pertains to the position you are applying for. While you need to let your personality come through in the letter, you should not make it all about you. The employer is more interested in why you would be a good match for the job they are offering.
- It is very important that you do not use the same cover letter for every job you apply for. You need to customize each one you submit to the specific company and position you are submitting to. A generic cover letter does not show that you really want this job.
The bottom line is that you should put the most work into your resume as it carries the most weight, but the cover letter can be a deciding factor in being called for a first interview so you should put a great deal of thought and work into it. Even though some employers do not read them, the majority will at some point. Therefore not including one can be the difference between being placed in the “yes” pile rather than the “maybe” pile.
- Keep it short and to the point. A cover letter should not be more than one page.
- Remember to proof read for spelling and grammar mistakes. The cover letter is designed to give a first impression. A poorly written letter will scream professionalism and you will never get a call for an interview if it is not flawless.
- Do not make any claims you cannot support with proof.
- Use the cover letter to compliment the resume, not merely to restate the contents.
Job Search Tips – How To Get Your Resume Noticed and Read
Searching for employment in todays job market can be challenge. With so many people looking for employment it is likely that your resume will be just one in a large stack of job applicants. So how can you give yourself an edge over your competition?
One of the easiest ways to get your resume looked at quickly is to make it stand out from the crowd. The appearance of your resume can have a dramatic impact on not only getting the resume and cover letter read, but it can also have an impact on whether the employer remembers you or puts yours in the pile for further consideration.
Many of the tips below may seem too simple, and they are. BUT, they work. Think of it as subliminal message similar to that used in advertising. If you can reach the HR on a subconscious level you are leaving a very powerful message without being obvious. The HR person sorting through all of the resumes to determine which to take seriously has a stack of papers that typically all look the same. If you can make yours look even slightly different, the eye is naturally drawn to it over and over again.
Here are a few tips that will make sure your resume gets read:
- Text Color: Probably 99% of all resumes will be the typical black text on white paper. One way you can make yours stand out is to use a different color text. A nice navy blue or dark brown will still be professional looking yet at the same time be just different enough to subtly stand out from the rest. If you prefer to stick with the black text, try using color in your headings being careful to keep it professional looking. You do not want to go overboard.
- Paper color: This is my favorite way to subliminally make a resume look unique. Not only can you make it stand out, you are able to upscale the perceived value of the content. By using upscale stationary, your finished product appears more professional and that professionalism rubs off on you. You should keep your stationary choice somewhat conservative. You do not want to use neon pink. A nice off white, grey or cream parchment or vellum with dark brown, black or navy text will give you a very polished and professional look. If you have a cream color resume in a stack of all white, which one do you think you will naturally want to look at first?
- Paper weight: This is the subtlest way possible to give your resume an edge. While on its own it is not as effective as the above methods, the reader will immediately feel the difference in your resume when they pick it up. Most standard printer paper that you buy in packages of 500 sheets is 20 lb. If you print your cover letter and resume on 24 lb. paper it will have a different feel than the rest. This gives the reader a subliminal message that this applicant is different from the rest.
- Envelopes: Don’t forget to make the envelope match the contents. Most stationary shops will sell matching envelopes for their upscale papers. Match the text color and font on the envelopes to that of your cover letter and resume. Get the proper sized envelope so you do not have to fold the correspondence inside more than necessary.
It may seem a bit over the top to pay extra money for high quality stationary for your resume, cover letters and envelopes but I can guarantee that it will make a difference in whether you are seen as just one of many or whether you get top priority when it comes to getting your resume in front of the people who make the staffing decisions. You are inviting them to a meeting for further discussion. If you think of your resume as an introduction, you will then be able to understand why it is important to make a good first impression.
You do not have to spend a huge amount of money on your stationary. Most places that supply printer paper will sell packages of better quality paper. Making this small investment will pay off in the long run.
Related Posts:
Job Search Tips – Writing Effective Cover Letters
Job Search Tips – Writing an Effective and Powerful Resume
Job Search Tips – Job Interview Questions You Should Ask Your Prospective Employer
Job Search Tips – Writing Effective Cover Letters
During your job search, a cover letter is an excellent opportunity to market yourself to your prospective employers. A well written cover letter can be the deciding factor on whether you get the job or not. Therefore, you should give as much attention to its construction as you do to your resume.
The main goal of a cover letter is:
- To bring the focus to the qualifications and experience you have that are specific to the position you are interested in.
- To give a good example of your written communication skills.
- To give your potential employer a bit more insight into your personality, interests, philosophies and enthusiasm that is not easily conveyed in your resume.
In short, the cover letter should outline what makes you a good match for the job being offered. What makes you different from others who may be applying for the job? Entice the reader to want to learn more about you.
What should you include in a cover letter?
- You want to begin with the reason for the letter and where you heard about the company or position available.
- Next you will follow with why you are interested in the position or the company.
- The next topic should be why you feel you are qualified for the position and what makes you a good match. You should make reference to your resume and suggest they get more details of your training from within the resume.
- The important thing to remember is you should not just repeat what you have on your resume. The person reading the cover letter will also have a copy of your resume.
- Let the employer know that you will be in touch and how. Give them a specific time or date that you plan to follow up and then be sure you do!
When should you include a cover letter with your resume?
This will depend on whether you are applying for a position online or in person or by mail. If applying through a job search online, the ability to submit a cover letter will be dependent upon whether the employer has requested or allowed it.
For all other instances, I would recommend including it whenever possible. You must have done some research on the company or the position available to make a cover letter effective. You should avoid a template or broad range cover letter. This defeats the whole purpose.
Related Posts:
Job Search Tips: How to Write a Powerful and Effective Resume
Job Interview Questions You Should Ask Your Prospective Employer
January, 2010
(June 2009 issue, page 95)
