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29 May, 2012

Eight Lessons

While I worked in academic libraries I had the pleasure of working with folks in the Career Center. I have since maintained virtual connections, and today I want to share a blog post from such a college career professional. These Eight Lessons were written for a college senior audience, but I think they can be valuable for all of us. Now I have written posts in the past focused on interviewing, and most of them point to articles and advice with similar advice.

The points I like the most from this list are don't play into stereotypes and know how to close. Now since the article is aimed at twenty-something college grads it mainly focuses on the stereotype of that generations attachment to their parents and dealing with criticism. But if we all examine ourselves we can probably identify a stereotype or two that someone might presume about us that we may need to diffuse during an interview or other area of the career search. Whether it is some aspect of our career profile or some personal characteristic we should do our best to down play or dispel such misconceptions about ourselves.

The second point, know how to close, is possible the most important on this list. As the author explains it is very useful to plan or script out the beginning of an answer to the types of questions that can be expected, but be sure to have a strong closing as well as a strong opening.

Hopefully you will find this columns advice, and my take on it useful. Please feel free to share examples of how these tips have been helpful to you.  

18 May, 2012

The new job interview?

This blog post from the Harvard Business Review poses some interesting questions about the future of the job interview. Projects Are the New Job Interviews by blogger Michael Schrage is a look at what the future of the job interview may look like.

Some have expressed concern about this possible change in the interviewing paradigm. But I see the potential. First, as the author states you as the candidate would be paid something for your time and creative contributor to the project. While this may not be as high as you could get for a similar effort as an independent contractor giving the same effort lets break this down:

currently as a job seeker we spend a great deal of time searching for the jobs, preparing resumes and cover letters for each job, researching each position/company for each interview, taking the time to travel to and interview with the company, then the time/effort of thank you's and follow up with each member of the company you interviewed with. Now many of these things will still hold if this new paradigm is realized... but instead of spending conservatively anywhere from 25 - 50 hours invested (at $7.25 per hour minimum wage...) somewhere around $180 - $360 per job interview. Now if you tell me that for some (eventually many) jobs that I interview for there is not only the potential of a full time job at the end of the process, but also I might make a few hundred dollars for my efforts I think it could be a positive for business.

Second some critics suggest that companies will conduct 'interviews' to get the cheap labor for these projects. This is unlikely, given that to conduct this 'interview' would still cost more than the discounted labor you might receive from two or three finalists for the position. Over at Investopedia they explain why hiring can be slow, due to direct and indirect costs of the hiring process.

What do others think about this potential change in hiring? Good or bad?

15 May, 2012

8 'New' Techniques to land a job.

Here is an article appearing on a blog New Grad Life and it is entitled "8 New Techniques to Land a Job." My first thought is that they are not new techniques, and even if you are 18 and just graduated from high school you have probably heard one or more of them before.

1) Set goals
2) Find the right targets
3) Seek expert assistance
4) Get to work
5) Keep it positive
6) Hit the club scene
7) Ask why
8) Relax

Now most of these I agree with, and try to practice to keep my sanity during my 18 month and growing unemployment. I strongly recommend 'hitting the club scene'. I was a member of a job club at my local public library for a while and it helped connect with others in a similar boat as myself. But I want to focus the asking why. I have tried this over and over, and only once is the past 18 months has an employer given any answer past the most common "... there were (many, hundreds, ...) of qualified applicants..." and more often than not I never get any answer to the question. Now I have covered before how interviewing works both ways and hopefully the employer is treating you with respect, but it seems to me that this is becoming an increasing problem.

Have others experienced this lack of response to simple questions to the interviewer/employer when they have asked for feedback on how to improve as a candidate?

Look inside the mind games to find the solutions

Another useful article from Business Insider, this time about "8 Mind Games That Recruiters Play During Interviews."  Things like the awkward pause and language usage are discussed to help improve the interview process. I encourage everyone to read the full article, but the spoiler for those of you who don't have time is to answer in the first person, past tense with few adverbs. Also try to avoid passive voice.

I feel that I have done this in past interviews, but it is interesting to hear some explanations as to what it can tell the recruiter or HR professional. I don't know if I would exactly call these mind games, rather how these answer styles speak to your personality. Does anyone else have experience with these 'games'?

13 May, 2012

"The 10 Worst things about job hunting" - a comentary

US News and World Reports has a career blog and a few weeks ago they posted a piece entitled "The 10 Worst things about job hunting". Here is the list:


 1. Contradictory advice.
 2. Online application systems that barely work.
 3. Job descriptions that don't match the reality of the job.
 4. Employers who set up phone interviews and then never call.
 5. Interviewing and then never hearing anything back.
 6. Employers who insist on knowing your salary history but won't reveal what the job pays.
 7. Having your new salary based on what you used to earn, not what you'll contribute to the company.
 8. Not being considered if you're not a local candidate.
 9. Routine invasions of privacy.
10. Employers who say they'll give you an answer within a week and then go silent.

Now I first was directed to this article via one of my LinkedIn groups (a great was to stay connected and Network with people in either your current field or a field you are interested in entering...). The consensus on that discussion list was that point #10 is the worst, and I agree that it can be the most frustrating. But shouldn't we be more concerned about #9? I have had personal experience with #'s 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 & 10. Maybe this makes me fortunate... but it could just be the nature of my field and the HR people in it. The reason I think that #9 should raise the most concerns is that it is becoming more common in all aspects of our lives. For example to do just about anything online that involves customizing, ordering, the creation of an account we have to agree to a privacy policy... but how many of us read them in full AND understand them? And how often are we told as job seekers to provide access to ourselves digitally that we may not agree to in the physical world? I fully subscribe to the advice to remain as professional as possible with your online presence, and I have never had a Facebook account (just never saw the point), but I can't imagine giving a potential employer access to my account if I had one. Or friending the HR person just to apply for a job.

Which of these have you experienced? Which do you find the most frustrating? Or troublesome?

07 May, 2012

Employment by undergrad major.

Recently Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce released a study entitled Hard Times. The Wall Street Journal then used the study and Census data from 2010 to produce a sortable chart with undergraduate majors, unemployment rate, and salary data. It is a pretty cool chart, so take a look...  the full report from Georgetown is 20 pages, also interesting but not as quick and easy to digest.

In terms of majors with both high and low unemployment rates I did not see anything shocking. Near the top of the list in terms of unemployment are:

1. Clinical Psychology; 19.5%
2. Miscellaneous Fine Arts; 16.2%
3. United States History; 15.1%
4. Library Science; 15%
5. Educational Psychology; 10.9%

Four of these five are highly dependent on graduate course work and degrees, so it does not seem surprising that the undergraduate student may have a higher rate of unemployment. Then there is the stereotypical starving artist. Also one thing that is not clear is are they collecting data on employment in the field of their degree or any employment.

All this leads me to the conclusion that anyone just beginning a bachelors program should do research about current trends in their field as well as future projections. A good place to start is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As you get closer to graduation begin to read job ads for the type of job you hope to obtain once you graduate. Pay attention to skills desired, and experience required. Talk with the career counselors at your school and see if they can help set up an informational interview.