Tip 1. Get known now.
If you are not involved in a professional networking group it is time to join. If networking makes your stomach turn because you think it’s just a bunch of people coming together to ‘get something’ from everyone – think again, reframe this perspective…think differently.
Networking groups are a terrific resource and a great way to get to know people who are in the field you’d like to enter, as well as find out what’s going on in your community and profession, gain visibility and develop your professional brand. Neglecting networking as a key component in your job search is a huge mistake. Networking will do more for you in the long run than almost any other form of job search. So, take action now.
Action: Begin right here. Research networking groups in your area and pick a couple that sound interesting to you. Set a goal to research and attend and/or schedule to attend at least two networking functions in the next two weeks. This will help you discover which groups will be best for you to join. If you’re stuck, here are a few of links to get you FiredUP!
http://www.rileyguide.com/support.html
http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.washingtonnetworkgroup.com/
http://www.thefeng.org/
http://www.ewomennetwork.com/index.html
http://www.iloveseattle.org/
http://www.toastmasters.org/
Local Chamber of Commerce
And coming soon – WorkBlast.com – watch for this new opportunity to showcase your talents and be visible to your network 24/7.
If none of these fit your needs – check out our links page for more options.
Tip 2. Create a strong ‘targeted’ resume.
One-size-fits-all resumes are not in the game anymore. Employers expect you to know what you want and why you are interested in them ‘specifically’. So, do your research, find a position you believe you are qualified for and target your resume to that position specifically.
Doing your research not only helps you to target your resume, but will also help you with a ‘phone screen’ interview, as well as a live interview. It is a sure way to stand apart from the competition.
Action: Your resume should be no more than two pages – if it is, edit it back. The top of the first page needs to grab them (or they’ll never even peek at the second page). So, break the first page into three specific categories – top third; your objective/profile statement speaking from the standpoint of what you will bring to the employer (this is critical), not ‘what you want’ from the employer. The middle third is for your accomplishment statements. Since you’re a New Grad you can place your educational accomplishments here. In addition, this is where you add what you’ve done in the past that shows your efforts deliver results. The bottom third is where you add your experience and carry on through the second page.
For more expertise on resume writing get a ‘free’ copy of our ResumeStar ebook or contact our resume expert – to get a critique and analysis of your current resume. Or, if you’re just tired of trying to write your own resume, let our resume expert write it for you.
Important resume tip: Use a professional email address – period. There is no excuse for using silly unprofessional emails such as: imyrbabe@gmail or muscleman@aol – you see what I mean? That takes away all the professional impact right up front.
Tip 3. Prepare for the interview phone screen.
Phone screening helps the employer weed out candidates who are not a fit for the position because of salary requirements, knowledge inadequacy, location requirements, etc. These calls can also be a time of assessing personality, energy and overall interest in general. Employers do not want to waste time bringing candidates in for full onsite interviews if they do not believe there is a match.
Although the phone screen may not be the first thing on your mind, it is an important part of your job search and should be treated with top priority. It may be just a time scheduling contact, but more often than not, it is a mini-interview…so be prepared.
Action: Make sure you have all the items you need located by your phone; pen, paper, a copy of your resume and calendar, so that you do not have to put the employer on hold. Keep in mind that when the employer representative is calling they are in ‘business mode’ and you need to pick up on this yourself. If you sound too casual, or relaxed it will be a turn off. Make sure that you have information handy regarding the companies you have targeted – there’s nothing worse than the employer representative contacting a candidate only to find out the candidate doesn’t know anything about them, nor does s/he even remember submitting a resume. It’s easy to make a quick spreadsheet on the companies you have targeted, a bit about their mission, products, etc. and the position you’ve applied for – and keep this in an area near your phone. Very important…be sure your voice message is ‘professional’. If it is not currently, change it for the period of your job search. Practice and be prepared to answer some general questions, such as – tell me a little bit about yourself, what made you choose our company, how did you decide on your career path…etc.
If you need more help on improving your interviewing skills – download our interviewing audio.
Tip 4. Practice your interview.
Definitely take this advice; you do not want to ‘wing it’. I can’t remember the last time that I spoke with someone who went on a job interview and said they were glad they just played it by ear. In fact it’s just the opposite. Most anyone I speak with that has been on an interview always wishes they were better prepared. Unfortunately, hind sight after an interview is not what you want – because more often than not, you won’t get a second chance. So, prepare and practice.
Action: To help you determine the best approach to answering any given question, take into consideration the context of the question. Learning to differentiate between the possible contexts and selecting an appropriate response will minimize your need to memorize questions and answers. Most interview questions will fall into the three following contexts:
Past Context. These are asked because the best predictor of future performance is past behavior. You may hear of these being referred to as “Behavioral Questions” – which are quite popular now. Behavioral questions will usually begin with: Tell me about a time…In the past how did you handle…Describe three key factors you have used to…Give me an example of…What is the biggest mistake you’ve made in your career…
Present Context. These surround - who are you? What do you know? What do you want? The interviewer wants to know what is going on with you and who you are right now. Present based questions will sound something like: Tell me what you know about…Where do you believe the industry is taking…Why did you select this profession…
Future Context.With these questions the interviewer is trying to find out how you think, how you solve problems, what process you go through. Future based questions will begin with: What do you believe…What steps would you take if…How would you handle…What would you do if…
So, pick out ten or twelve good interview questions that fall into the above contexts and prepare your answers. Then practice the answers in front of a mirror. Next, enlist one or two of your friends (you can use a parent, but they are not always the most objective in this situation) and have them ask you the questions. Formulate answers so that they are results oriented and prove the value you can bring to the organization. Make sure you stay on track with the question and keep your answers down to 30 seconds or so, (no rambling) you can always ask the interviewer if they would like more information.
To develop a strong interview strategy check out FiredUP Interviewing for New College Grads – It’s loaded with tips and techniques you’ll use now and in the future.
Tip 5. Get LinkedIn.
This is a great professional networking tool with more than 20 million professionals all around the world. It is free to join and is a terrific tool to help you develop and manage your professional online presence. There are so many benefits for using this tool in your career, some of which are: getting noticed in job market, uncovering inside connections, exploring companies and opportunities that you may not have even thought of, getting introduced to other professionals – the list goes on and on.
Remember, in the world of networking and recruiting, one of the most common things that a person will do is google your name. If you’ve never googled your own name before, go ahead and give it a try. This is a big part your online presence – albeit not all of it, but a good majority of it. One thing that is critical is that now that you’re in the career marketplace your online presence must be squeaky clean. Wild party links to MySpace, Facebook or other social networking sites can be a big career mistake.
LinkedIn can help to provide you with a professional link that will show up on a google search. Just create your account with LinkedIn, complete as much of your profile as possible and then begin to send ‘invites’ to other people you know who are trusted colleagues/contacts. Soon, they’ll be joining too and you’ll be amazed at how many people you are actually connected to in the world. So, do it now – and remember to work on the profile part of your page, since this is where you can list your education, previous employers or volunteer groups, affiliations, etc. That way when others find you on LinkedIn they will be able to get to know who you are.
Action: It’s easy, here’s the link – so, check it out. I bet you’ll be amazed at how many people you already know who are on LinkedIn right now just waiting for you to invite them to join your network.
Tip 6. Market yourself.
This is a hefty one, so I’ll be breaking it down in other tips too. You might want to bookmark our site resources and check back for new tips and tools around career marketing, branding, etc. Or, even easier, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll let you know when we’ve got something great for you.
So, for marketing starters - you’ve got to begin thinking of yourself from a marketing perspective. You are looking for a job and marketing yourself to employers. Along the way, you’d like others to help you out too. Do they know you’re looking? Do they have a chance to pass your information on to anyone else?
Begin by making sure that your email address is a professional one. Get rid of any cute email addresses from the past and make sure your address is professional. Use your name, or as close to it as you can. In fact, if you can by a domain under your name (i.e. joesmith.com) it’s a good idea to do so. Even if you don’t build a website around it – you still own yourname.com. To check in to this do a domain search at UpDaddy.com – it’s quick and easy, and also inexpensive to own your online name.
Next, make sure to use the ‘signature’ part of your email setup page. You can use this setup to list your name, as well as your profession under your name (ie; marketing professional, or software engineer, or sales representative, or banking professional…you get the idea here). Then underneath you can use your LinkedIn address (see tip #5) so that anyone you send an email to can get to your professional link which will have your background, profile, etc. As you continue to grow your online presence via a video resume, or online portfolio you can also use this link in your email signature.
This is a very powerful way to continue your networking process, grow your presence as a passive job seeker, be available at a moment’s notice for new opportunities to ‘find’ you and market yourself.
Action: First, be sure to read tip #5 and get your LinkedIn account set up. Next, set up a professional email address then set up your signature inside your email account. Your email company should have a section and instructions for creating this signature line – it’s easy, so don’t neglect to do this. If you need some help or more information on setting that up here is a link that has oodles of information on creating signatures inside various email accounts. http://email.about.com/od/signatures/Email_Signatures.html
Tip 7. Prepare your professional pitch.
“Tell me about yourself “ is often the first question any employer, manager, recruiter or new acquaintance will ask you. It is just a common question and most of the time we don’t even worry about it. But, then comes the day of your interview and the question arrives and you wing it while clumsily bumping your way around the answer – starting with things like “Um, I’m from Wisconsin…blah, blah, bore”, or worse you say “Well, what would you like to know?” Yikes…your interviewer is thinking “what is this person doing wasting my time”? You’re outta there! Never make the interviewer work to pull information out of you.
Preparing your professional pitch is an important part of your interview as well as your branding message. Employers want to know who you are and how you will add value to their organization. And they ‘expect’ you to be prepared to answer the ‘tell me about yourself’ question quickly (within 30 seconds) and succinctly, as it relates to ‘what’s in it for them’ if they continue the interview and/or hire you. Your professional pitch is your value proposition in brief. Not a history of your upbringing, hobbies and dreams (save that for a date).
So, just what should you include in your Professional Pitch?
1. Your opening statement – who you are and why you’re there.
2. Next, focus on the context of your work (or course work if new grad) and how it relates to the employer’s needs.
3. After that, point out your strengths as they relate to what you can bring to the employer.
4. Finally, end with a professional connection question.
Action: Create your pitch and practice it until it flows easily and naturally. It’s one of the key components to networking and interview success. Need help? No problem - we’ve got it all there for you in our FiredUP Interviewing audio (download or cd) – step by step instructions and examples to help you create a professional pitch that speaks to who you are and what you can bring to an organization.
Tip 8. Research the Company – dig deep.
Before you head off to an interview you’ll need to be well prepared to answer the question “What do you know about us?” This is a common question asked of candidates for a number of reasons – the first and most important is to see how well the candidate prepared for the interview. You should be able to rattle off several details about what you know about the company, their products, customer base and who their competitors are. Additionally, you should know from your research who the top management team is and where they came from.
Don’t skip this step and think the employer will answer it for you. If you say something as unprepared as “I’ve seen your Company in the news and it looks like a good place to work”, the interviewer may bother to fill you in on more information, but more than likely it is a courtesy process out of politeness and you will not win over your well prepared competition. A second interview for you at this point will probably not happen.
Action: So, where can you begin? First, of course, you will want to review the company’s website. Be sure to review the products, management team (also google each member of the management team to get even more info), philosophy, mission and press releases. Then start digging around online via news feeds, blogs, and research sites such as: Edgar Online, Wall Street Research Net, PRN News, CEO Express – for more great links visit our site.
Remember – research will set you apart from the competition…know your stuff.
Tip 9. Get a personal business card.
If you do not have a business card it’s time to get one for both professional and networking reasons. You do not have to wait until you are employed with a company before you have ‘your card’. You simply choose a card, list your name, profession (the one you received your degree for or are in – ie; software engineer, administrative assistant, human resources professional, accountant, etc.). List your contact information – both phone number and email. I have also seen those who have listed specialties or knowledge areas on the backside of the card, which is like a mini-resume and a great way to showcase your value add. However, don’t get too carried away here so that the reader needs to have a magnifying glass to see what’s there. Just list a few ‘top’ talents and/or specialties.
Action: There are many reasonable alternatives for business cards and I have found Vista Print to be one of the most efficient and cost effective methods. Vista Print has loads of choices – but, for professional reasons I suggest you stay on the conservative side with your design selection. Keep in mind the audience you will be handing this card to (i.e.; recruiters, business networking contacts, hiring managers, etc.).
Next time someone says “how can I get in touch with you?” you won’t have to rip off a little piece of paper and start writing down your information (very unprofessional). You simply hand your business card to them and let them know they can contact you anytime. And don’t forget to ask for their card too. Always continue to build your network – check to see if they are on LinkedIn and send them an invite.
Tip 10. Believe in yourself.
"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance.
Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you
find something you love to do, be the best at doing it."
— Debbi Fields: Founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies and author
(Quote from Nightingale.com)
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