Monthly Archives: March 2009

Improving Your Job Hunt Memory

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Great tip over at Secrets of the Job Hunt about how to avoid an embarrassing situation when a recruiter calls. It’s all about strategies to keep you from forgetting the about jobs you may have applied to weeks before. This is important because you never know when a recruiter may call and want to talk specifics. I know that when I was trying to break into the Entry Level Job market, I had some of the same struggles myself.

There’s too much good information to summarize in this post, so check out the original source here.

Extreme Job Hunting

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There’s a fun post up on Employment Digest by David Perry, co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters. It talks about people Going to Extremes to Land a Job and some of the outlandish tactics they use. They include:

Jacob Share, 33, started an email chain by sending his resume and job search objective to his family and friends. He asked them to send it on to others and offered a monetary prize in the amount of $150 to the person who led him to a job as a Web development manager.

and:

Peggy Greco, 53, printed a T-shirt with her Web site and contact information and wears it while riding her bike ride around her neighborhood. Even though she hasn’t gotten a job yet, Greco says she has gotten a few calls so far – and lost about five pounds.

I really like this technique, especially for New Grads looking for Entry Level Jobs. It’s a way to channel both your energy and creativity in order to stand out from the crowd.

This strategy is not without its risks. Some companies are not interested in “creative” approaches to job hunting (it undermines their ability to compare apples to apples), but at the end of the day, if the traditional approach isn’t getting it done, why not try something different?

Increasing Your Job Search Odds

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There’s a post up at one of my favorite sites, Secrets of the Job Hunt, that is written by Jessica Miller-Merrell from Blogging for Jobs. It has some advice for Increasing your Odds (‘Standing Out From the Crowd’ in Gradversity-speak) when it comes to your job search.

I’ve read this two or three times and found it polarizing. One one hand it has some great advice, but on the other hand, it has some advice that I don’t necessarily argree with.

So what do I like? I really like her advice on your resume format:

Include bullets, open space, dates, and quantitative numbers on your resume. Avoid spelling errors, unprofessional email addresses, and a format that is not easily skimmed and no more than 2 pages.

This is good, solid advice. I particularily like the part about “unprofessional email addresses”. This advice is twice as important for New Grads to two different reasons.

First, if your email is inappropriate in the sense that it is unprofessional (ie. beerguzzler29384@yahoo.com), don’t use it for your job search.

Second, a different type of inappropriate address, in my opinion, is one that gives away too much information that can potentially be used against you. For instance, if you are using your school email account, one that will expire on, or shortly after graduation, you may be setting yourself up for premature rejection. If you are hunting for unposted jobs, and are competing against more experienced candidates, these school email addresses may in fact be the basis for bias against you. Try to use an address that’s neutral in our job search.

So what don’t I like? Her advice on objective statements:

Include an Objective in your online profile. An objective describes what career opportunity as well as industry you are interested in learning more about. Recruiters spend roughly 10 seconds or less per resume. Keep your objective simple, direct and to the point.

Now, I’m not against this advice because it is bad. However, I believe that objective statements have “Jumped the Shark”, so to speak. They don’t add anything to you application that isn’t already known by the recruiter or employer (the fact that they have your resume proves this). Instead, try out a personal branding statement or omit the objective statement altogether.

But hey, that’s just my opinion.

Perfect Thank You Notes

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Another great post about differentiating yourself from other job seekers over at US News. It’s an article written by G.L. Hoffman about the importance of writing thank you letters.

What I didn’t know is that 90% of job seekers (according to him) don’t write thank you notes. And here I thought it was not only mandatory, but also good form.

The advice he has to offer is a rundown of how to write a great thank you note. While I will leave the article for you to read on your own, there is one great piece of advice I wanted to share:

During your interview, you should have focused your answers on what you can do for the company. Either refresh their memory about this or even better, give them one more thing. I have been thinking about this position and I know I can help because I can do A, B and C.” Remember, specificity sells over generalizations.

I like this. Not only does the thank you note let them know that you appreciate the offer, but it also allows you to reinforce how well you will fit in the position. It makes the selection process easier for them.

I suggest you check it out.

Networking The Old Fashioned Way

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I was reading Business Week online the other day and I came across an article on the importance of Face-to-Face Interaction. This article is not in the context of your job search, but rather in the context of conducting business (including meetings, messaging, etc). What is interesting about it is that it correlates nicely to the importance of networking both online and in person.

A short time ago I wrote a post which included a topic of networking face-to-face. We are all accustomed to “connecting” with people online, but in my opinion, it’s difficult to really get to know someone unless you spend some time speaking face-to-face. It’s for this reason that companies don’t hire people without an in-person interview. Sure, they may screen candidates online or through phone interviews, but unless you are meeting with someone face-to-face, you aren’t going to get the job.

Herein lies the problem. While I’m a big fan of sites like Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s difficult to maintain a truly human connection while only communicating in the virtual world. Of course, everyone has heard success stories about people landing jobs through Twitter, but I’m willing to be that these people either had an in-person interview somewhere down the line.

Perhaps the author said it best in the article:

People are starved for actual human interactions, and quickie digital contacts make poor substitutes.

I couldn’t agree more.

So what can you do to apply this to your job search? Simple, get out and meet people. Network the “old-fashioned” way. Give random acts of kindness. Get noticed. You can even cold-call HR and speak with someone directly. These “traditional” methods may seem far removed from what you are used to, but they can go a long way towards helping you land a job.

What A Great Resume Needs

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I have a big problem with resume books, resume templates, and “Job-Board” resumes. To me, a resume is something that needs to be crafted by you as a job seeker in a way that will emphasize your specific skills relative to the job opening.

The problem with resume books and resume templates is that they set you up to look like every other job seeker. Rest assured that if you take the Microsoft Template approach, your chances of standing out from the crowd will go way down.

In my book, Overcoming Gradversity, I talk a lot about resumes and what they should include. More importantly, there isn’t a single sample resume included anywhere in the book (the same goes for cover letters). The temptation is too great to copy or borrow from what you find.

Instead, my goal is to help ensure that you have included all of the information that is required. Beyond that, how you make it look and how you choose to stand out, is up to you.

So what do you need to include?

  • Contact Information: They need to know how to get in touch with you. Simple as that
  • Education: Where you went to school. As a New Grad looking for an Entry Level Job, this will be your biggest selling point. Make sure you include your degree/diploma/certificate and dates you attended.
  • Experience: Before you start writing your resume, make a list of all of the work experiences that you have (most likely from summer jobs, part time work, and volunteer experience at this point). Then, as you are applying to jobs, include the most relevant/impressive experiences that you have had. Remember to tailor them to the job opening and highlight quantifiable accomplishments.
  • Awards: Have you won any awards (academic, athletic, social, volunteer, etc.)? Make sure that you include them as this will help differentiate you from other new grads and Entry Level Job seekers.
  • Extra-Curriculars: Also a key differentiator. If you were involved in sports, clubs, or student governments, include them. Don’t forget to also include years, titles and accomplishments.
  • References: If you still have room, include your references. If not, make a note that they will be available upon request.

So that’s it in a nutshell. Take all of the information you need and use it to craft a great resume!

Job Search Gimmicks: The “TwitterShouldHireMe” Saga

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Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been following the work of Jamie Varon, who started a site called TwitterShouldHireMe. As she’s a relatively new grad, I think that this is an excellent case study on how to stand out from the crowd.

The Goal:

The stated goal seems pretty clear. Jamie wants to work at Twitter and appears willing to take a highly unconventional approach to get there:

The sole purpose of this site is simple: I want to get hired at Twitter and the only way to stand out in this competitive job market is to do something unique.

Well, it appears that she has succeeded in the unique department. However, my belief is that there is an alternate and unstated goal of this entire marketing campaign: exposure. Being one of the first people to try this, it has guaranteed that she will achieve a certain amount of exposure. If  used carefully, it could work to her advantage.

The Good:

Jamie is certainly able to generate buzz in a hurry. He site exploded virtually overnight and she gained a ton of media attention.

But on top of that, her site had some real depth. Her Ten Reasons Why Twitter Should Hire Me post not only contained decent reasons why she would be a good fit at Twitter, but it was also written in the 140 Character standard that Twitter has based it’s model on. A really great idea on her part.

Overall, I believe that the best part of this entire exercise was that it harnessed the social power of Twitter itself to get the message out:

Over the course of 2 days, I designed, developed & implemented this campaign that has amassed approx. 10,000 unique hits & over 150 RTs.

You can’t argue with that kind of exposure.

The Bad:

The biggest problem I have with this so far is the lack of professional tone. While this type campaign is different in every aspect, I have a hard time believing that the types of inner monologues that she is expressing on the blog are helping her cause.

While Twitter is young, progressive company with a fresh, cool image, it is still a business. It also happens to be one of the most high profile new tech companies in the world with millions of dollars of venture capital funding (including $35 million recently). This is big business and there will be some hard questions coming in the near future if Twitter can’t figure out a solid revenue model. Does Jamie’s laid back message fit with the public image of Twitter? Probably. Does it fit with the business back end? I’m betting not.

My second problem is that she seems to have little sense of what she can offer them relative to an open position. While she wrote a Thank You/Follow Up letter to the Hiring Manager after their first meeting, it appears to be shooting at random targets. It talks about her skills in a generic sense and seems to be feeling out open positions instead of tailoring her message directly to the company needs:

Recently, I noticed that the Founders Associate position is not yet filled. I wanted to put my name in the hat for this position, because there is no doubt in my mind that I can perform the tasks listed in the description and go beyond what is asked.

If I were a hiring manager and someone wrote me a letter like this to throw their “name in the hat” I would likely throw their letter in the floor level filer.

To top that off, she sent out this gem on her blog:

Today, well, er, maybe yesterday, Twitter posted a new job called Executive Admin to the CEO. This is the job I want. Either that or the Founder Associate position.

These positions are right up my alley.

You need to focus in on a position that you can bring value to and then sell your skills to the recruiter. Being wishy-washy in this manner will not help her cause.

The Ugly:

Phrases like:

I’m currently shackin’ up with my parents right now, since I am unemployed.

‘Nuff said.

The Result:

Her efforts have been partially successful. The site landed her a lunch meeting with the Head of Recruiting where she was given a tour of the office and what sounds like an informational interview. She also got to meet the executives, which sounds pretty cool. Here’s how the meeting ended, according to Jamie:

I asked her if she’d like me to follow up about any job possibilities and she told me that they wanted someone with more experience for the PR Coordinator position and that I should keep an eye on the job site. I told her I would keep in touch about job opportunities.

But did she get a job? I don’t think so, but it sounds as if the door was left open for future possibilities.

However, this entire publicity excercise did land her a job with another company called techVenture (albeit part time). So in a round-about way, this experiment can be deemed a success.

Lessons Learned:

Using unique methods to stand out from the crowd has its risks. This obviously paid off for Jamie as she gained wide exposure and now has a degree of name recognition and a new job. However, it could have gone very differently. This is not a technique which could be used at more conservative organizations.

Whatever you do to stand out from the crowd, make sure you weigh the risks against the reward, especially when you are doing so in public.

Site Review: TwitterJobSearch.com

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There’s a new job search tool for Twitter that that is currently in Beta. As the name implies, TwitterJobSearch.com searches Twitter for relevant job postings.

The About page shares a little more information about what the site is trying to accomplish:

Until now, search engines for social media sites merely looked for words.
We’re looking at context.

We use semantic tools to look at what was said.
We then look at what they’ve said before.
We then look at who was saying it.

If we do this right, we can figure out why they’re saying anything at all.

Seems like some lofty goals. So how does it work?

Actually, pretty well.

What I liked:

  1. The speed. The site is lightening fast. What is really surprising is that is it much faster than Twitter’s own search tool.
  2. Relevant results. The site seems to be achieving its goal as my initial simple searches were quite accurate.
  3. The ability to ReTweet messages (Critical for a site like Gradversity)

What I Disliked:

  1. Semantics. Even though it sells itself as a semantic search engine, it’s not yet smart enough to fully understand context. It’s great if you enter a job title, but it’s not great if you tell it what you want to do, which is what it actually asks for  (ex. “Project Manager” vs. “I want to manage projects”). This will surely get better over time.
  2. Ordering. It displays results by relevance to what you typed, not by date posted, or closing dates, or any other criteria. Sorting options would be helpful.
  3. Expired links. Many of the links I tried had “expired”. While the shortened URL still existed, the backing page was gone. Not the engine’s fault, but still a user experience problem.
  4. Lack of results. For the few queries I tried, there were never more than 5-10 results, though this is understandable. It’s searching Twitter, not Monster.

Who Should Use This:

  1. Anyone who loves new technology and new ways to find jobs
  2. Anyone who wants to put their social networking skills to work in their job search

Final Thoughts:

I like this. It has a very fresh feel to it. It’s still in Beta, so there are a number of kinks to work out, but overall I was impressed. I’m going to keep my eye on this and see what comes of it.

What You Post On Twitter Can Cost You The Job: The Cisco Fatty Incident

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It seems that the issue of managing your “online image” is becoming more and more important. I’ve had a few different posts that tackle this issue and what you can do about it, but I keep hearing stories about people making careless mistakes when it comes to their online identity.

The latest victim? A job candidate with an offer in hand from Cisco. It seems that they weren’t expressing their true feelings during the job interview. But what they were unwilling to tell their interviewer seemed acceptable to post on Twitter.

The Tweet:

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

And the response, from Tim Levad, a Channel Partner at Cisco:

Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

The question is, what can be learned from this? Just remember, no matter what happens, you can’t assume that what you write on a social networking site is going to remain private. So watch what you say before it comes back to bite you.

Thanks to I’m Not Actually A Geek for bringing this story to our attention.

Epilogue: After becoming an internet sensation for the “Cisco Fatty Incident”, the job hunter in question has posted his response to the situation here.

Why You Need To Smile At Job Fairs

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Karen Burns wrote an interesting piece that appeared on US News a few weeks back. It had to do with how to get noticed at a job fair. Specifically, she focused on appearance and attitude.

Interestingly enough, both of these traits make up my Impression Equation, and she makes some very good points.

No matter how hard you try on the appearance front (well-tailored suit, great haircut, perfect makeup), if your attitude doesn’t pull its weight, you will find yourself looking at a much longer job search.

And on that note, Karen is right. Your skills may not matter if you cannot make a good first impression. You may look great, but…

…employers are more likely to hire happy-looking people than unhappy-looking ones. That might sound shallow. But it’s human nature. Employers may be well aware of the reason for the glum faces. They may even sympathize. But they, like everyone, are attracted to positivity and repelled by negativity.

So what can you do about this? You need to project confidence. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your skills and abilities, and confidence in your “fit” with the position you are looking for. If you can manage this (no matter how bad your personal situation), it will go a long way towards landing the job you want.

Gradversity.com Back Online (AGAIN!)

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We are finally back online. It’s been a rough morning as a whole host of gremlins crawled out of the code and caused major of issues. (Who knew cross-browser compatibility would be such a pain???)

See, I’m a bit of an amateur when it comes to web design and I’m just good enough to be dangerous. On top of that, it seems that no matter how hard I test my code prior to launch, there is always something that waits until after the public release to rear its ugly head. This is why I plan my upgrades for the weekends (when traffic is lower).

So I think that the worst of it is now over. I can’t make any promises about future issues that may pop up, but the majority of it seems to have been resolved.

That being said, please let me know if you find any issues and I will get on them right away!

That’s it for now. I’ll be back with a topical post later on.

~ Trevor

PS. Big thanks to Jared, my web-design expert, for helping me sort this out quickly. I’m sure that he’d offer a competitive hourly rate if you need help.

Gradversity.com is Back Online!

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Well, it took a little longer than anticipated,  but the site is finally back up and running. Now that I see it live, it’s definitely an improvement over the previous version.

That being said, if you see something that looks out of place, or find something that isn’t working, drop me a line and let me know! I’m still an amateur when it comes to web design so there may be some cross-browser issues going on.

Thanks for your patience everyone!

~ Trevor

PS. There may still be some layout tweaks coming over the next little while so thanks for understanding!

Theme Update (System Maintenance)

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Hello All!

I’ve been talking about it for weeks, but the time has finally come. If you visit the site today, you may notice that it will be periodically going into “Maintenance Mode” while I run some upgrades. You may also notice the site looking a bit disjointed. If so, don’t worry, it’s all part of the plan.

I’ll post another message when I’m finished.

Trevor

Entry Level Job Advice From PMI

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There’s an interesting article on the PMI (Project Management Institute) website about Breaking into Entry Level Jobs. It starts out with the Catch-22 that every Entry Level Job seeker faces:

Need a job?
You have to have experience.

Need experience?
You have to have a job.

Sad, but true. But regardless of whether you fall into this category or not, there is some good solid advice in the article from some generous PMPs.

One thing that really caught my eye was a section on networking and how it’s important to network outside of the online world:

Although sites like LinkedIn can be a tremendous resource for networking, nothing beats building those bonds face-to-face.

This is great advice. While many social networking tools are great for initially meeting people, it’s hard to compare with the bond two people can create when meeting in person. It’s easy to lose this perspective from time to time.

Anyway, it’s a short article but a great read. Check it out here.

Thanks to Jen for pointing out this article!

Objective Statement a Waste of Time?

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Interesting commentary on Resume Objective Statements over at Free Money Finance. The heart of the argument is that the objective statement is redundant. The fact that the recruiter/employer has your resume speaks to your objective in the first place. He makes an interesting point:

I don’t think it can help [but] it can hurt, so why put it on? Personally, I’ve never used one and I’ve never had an interviewer ask me why it was missing.

I would tend to agree. I’m all about making the argument clear and concise. Anything that isn’t helping you to sell your skills, is a waste of space…space that can be used for more productive purposes.

Agree? Disagree? Let me hear about it!

Humor in Hard Times

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Even though the economy is in the tank and people are having trouble finding or keeping jobs, it’s important to maintain your sense of humor. This is especially important when issues like the “AIG Bonusgate” debacle headline the news.

That being said, I found a link to some great corporate logo parodies that I wanted to share. There is some truly inspired work here, and it’s great to see some poeple trying to make the best of a bad situation by making us laugh.

Here is the “Home Default” logo:

The Home Default
You can check out the rest of the logos here.

Enjoy!

Health Care Job Boom

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There’s an interesting article that showed up on CNN.com today about jobs in the Health Care field. In a time when major employers are downsizing, it’s refreshing to hear about jobs that are still in high demand:

With the unemployment rate at 8.1 percent and thousands of Americans getting laid off every day, the employment landscape looks bleak. But some experts say there are many job opportunities in the health care sector.

I’m sure that health care is not the only industry that is hiring, but if you are in need of a job, and you have overlapping qualifications, this may be a good starting point.

Gradversity Is Growing On Twitter

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I’ve just noticed that the Gradversity Twitter Account now has over 500 followers. This is huge for Gradversity as it is helping to get the message out and raise awareness for both the site and for New Grads looking for Entry Level Jobs.

As pleased as I am with hitting this milestone in such a short period of time (the account was opened about one month ago on February 16th, 2009), a big shout out goes to J.T. O’Donnell and the CAREEREALISM team. The success of the TAP program (read: Overnight Twitter Sensation) has not only meant that expert job-hunting advice is available to a wider audience, but it has allowed each of the experts to expand their reach in ways that weren’t possible before. In case you haven’t heard of TAP yet, you can check it out here.

So what does the future bring for Gradversity on Twitter? Well, you can look forward to our first Twitter contest starting in the next few weeks. I have a few other things lined up, but they will remain my little secret for the time being.

So if you are following Gradversity on Twitter, a big thanks. If not, you can follow us here.

Finding Your Dream Job (An Alternate Take)

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One of the things that I believe strongly in is that you, as a New Grad looking for an Entry Level Job, should not expect to be able to find your “Dream Job”. From my vantage point, there are too many factors (not least of which is experience) that will keep this from happening.  Instead, you should focus on finding a rewarding career. This was also the subject of one of my recent posts called The Myth Of The Dream Job.

Well the blog Broke Grad Student has an article up called How to Land Your Dream Job. In it, it explains how he/she (who writes anonymously) landed their Dream Job. It is filled will “Tried and True” job hunting advice, but it provides a nice contrast to prove that maybe, just maybe, it can happen.

Let me know what you think!

Sell Yourself, Sell Your Resume, Sell Your Skills, Find a New Job!

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If I were searching for a job for myself, I would not send my resume to HR and wait for a phone call. I would go through my social network contacts and call every manager who I thought might be hiring recruiters. If they did not need a recruiter, I might offer them third party staffing services.

Some people view this as improper networking etiquette, but if I need a job, I couldn’t care less about propriety. Directly connecting with the manager can put you right at the top of the pile of resumes and since you are not an agency that needs a vendors list approval from HR, all you have to do is sell yourself to the manager, meet him for lunch or something. It is sales 101 and most people have no idea how to go about it. It’s also a numbers game. The more you sell, the more likely someone will buy.

Most “career coaches” will tell you to follow up with HR, but I take it a step farther and tell you to seek out the hiring manager. HR has a reputation for being a quagmire for resumes and to give them credit they get thousands of resumes. In addition to that, not all corporate recruiters understand what the hiring managers are searching for. By calling direct you take the uncertainty right out of the equation.

Finally, most recruiters don’t care if you are about to lose your house in a foreclosure. The only person who will take care of you is interestingly enough, YOU! This is why you have to take matters into your hands and sell, sell, sell!

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Career Fair Success

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I was browsing around Careerealism the other day and came across a post by Danielle Ouellette about Job Fairs. After reading the post, I realized that I share a lot of the same opinions about the relative usefulness of these events.

One of my favorite job fair stories is that of my friend Matt. He found a great way to connect with a specific recruiter without having to stand in line (I detailed his success story in Overcoming Gradversity). This connection allowed him to land a well paying Entry Level Job over 300 other candidates! All because of the way he approached the career fair. It’s a great story.

Ultimately, like Danielle says, it is all about the connection you make:

Have a conversation with the recruiter, find a way to connect. I ended up talking to one guy yesterday about an ad campaign his company had worked one that is one of my favorites. After a few minutes of honest conversation, he asked me for my resume and to follow-up with him with some of my portfolio clips.

If you show up, line up, and file out, you are never going to stand out from the crowd. You have to strike up a conversation, find some common ground, leave your resume in their hands (NOT IN A BOX), and follow up. There is no other way to get anything other than promotional material from a job fair.

But that’s just my opinion.

Have any of you had any success at job fairs? I would love to here your story. Connect with me on Twitter or share your story in a comment.

Career Center Myths

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As many of you are probably aware, I love articles that teach people what to do by showing them what not to do. Employment Digest recently had an article written by Rebecca Metschke of The Interview Edge which does just that. Its focus is breaking down a number of myths that currently exist regarding your job search. While the entire article is full of worthwhile advice, there was one I wanted to focus on:

University employment resources are only for kids.

Career assistance isn’t limited solely to recent graduates. Whether or not your alma mater offers a robust slate of services is another story – but you won’t know if you don’t check it out. You might find things like career coaching or counseling, networking events, and recruitment firm referrals. Go to your school’s website and see if there’s some sort of Career Center, online community, or yellow pages.

I am big fan of Campus Career Centers. If you are lucky, your school will have a number of talented individuals whose job it is to help you find a career. I was lucky enough to have a great Career Center at my school which proactively markets new grads to companies hiring for Entry Level Jobs. But even if your school has a small Career Center, it is bound to have great advice and access to resources that you may not be aware of. Best of all, they won’t charge you a penny. There is nothing better than good, free advice and assistance.

So whether you are about to graduate, or are a new graduate, pay a visit to your Campus Career Center. It might make the difference in your job search.

The Big Job Boards Are Failing

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Interesting post on one of my personal favorite sites, Punk Rock HR, about the failings of the big job boards. The argument is that large job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder are failing because…

…they can’t figure out how to use their critical mass to form a community of members who return to the site for more than just transaction-based experiences.

This is thought provoking in a couple of ways.

First, it is my “Standing Out From The Crowd” argument in reverse. One of the best things that you can do as a job hunter is to find ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. The same appears to be holding true for job boards. As more and more job sites start popping up (many of which are more specialized by functional area or industry), it is becoming harder and harder for the large job boards to service their specific customers. At some point, they will need to enhance their value-add in order to grow their businesses.

Second, with the explosion of social media over the last few years, people have been focusing on networking like never before. This holds true in both a personal and professional sense. So how does this impact job boards? Well sites like LinkedIn now offer job postings with the built-in ability to recommend members of your network. It adds a personal touch to the recruiting process and this type of interaction will only increase in the future.

So how will the large job-boards respond? Don’t be surprised if you start to see more social aspects start appearing in the near future. If not, they may become yet another example of once-hot technology becoming obsolete over its refusal to adapt.

The Interview Lunch: What to say, What to ask, What to eat

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The following is a guest post from FiredUP Careers courtesy of Recruiting Blogswap.

You’ve made it through the first couple hours of your interview and you’re feeling pretty strong. You’re glad that you took the time to focus on behavioral questions during your interview preparation and are confident your answers were well received. At last it’s time for lunch and you head out the door with two of those nice people from human resources.

Ahhh…now you can relax, right? Wrong!

It is important to remember that even during lunch you are definitely still being interviewed.

If you’re a job seeker the “lunch interview” can be tricky. This is the time that the employer is able to check out your social skills, table manners and your ability to conduct normal conversation on the fly. This is raw interviewing, the kind you don’t really get to practice since the conversation tends to flow from subject to subject, in a more relaxed format vs. focusing on a specific job description.

There are a number of subjects that may be discussed during lunch.

You may talk about companies you used to work for, your family, hobbies, travel, jokes, or a number of other things. These everyday discussion topics enable the employer to find out a lot more about how you function and feel about many things in your life, both positive and negative. And you’ll want to be extra careful, often these conversations can lead to something you may have chosen to “leave off” of your resume.

Your table manners could be extremely important.

Your table manners could be extremely important to the employer if you will be placed in a customer facing position or interfacing regularly with various groups/departments inside the company. So it behooves the employer to check out your social graces. They will be watching the way you interface with the wait staff. Are you kind, polite or indifferent? Do you know how to use your place setting? Do you wait until others are served before you begin eating? Do you speak with your mouth full (ouch…). These may all seem to be simple things, but remember if you’re rude to wait staff or have foul food manners it will tell the employer how you will project yourself to others within their organization and to their customers.

Bottom line, stay on your toes and stick to your interview skills during the lunch interview. Don’t forget it is part of the interview process. You’re not off the burner yet.

Here are a few job interviewing tips to help you make it through dessert!

  • Who pays? The interviewer will pay for the lunch. You don’t need to offer to pitch in or pay.
  • Confused about your place setting? Here’s a quick rule to remember: drink from the right and eat from the left. In other words, your bread plate and fork are always to the left and your water glass is to your right.
  • What should you order? Stick with items that are easy to eat (this means stay away from ribs or long twirling pastas). Fork and knife foods are best, not finger food.
  • No brainer basics: If finger food is served never put your fingers in your mouth or lick food or sauce off of them. Do not speak with your mouth full of food. Eat slowly, listen and use good eye contact. Do not drink alcoholic beverages during an interview. Make sure your napkin goes into your lap shortly after taking your seat. Let the interviewer guide seating. If they motion you to choose the seat then feel free to do so.
  • Should you order dessert? If the interviewer orders dessert then feel free. Otherwise, I’d hold off.
  • Should you ask questions? By all means. This is a great time for you to ask some of the questions you selected during your job interview preparation. This will keep the employer talking and help you find out if the company is a good match for you.
  • What questions should you ask your potential employer? This can be a good time to find out how the interviewer would describe the companies personality and management style. What is the company’s philosophy on promotion from within? Why does the interviewer enjoy working for the company? What are characteristics of successful people at the company?

Author – Robin Ogden
As Co Founder of FiredUP Careers, Robin brings her entrepreneurial talents, along with her broad range of expertise and insight to those who seek career advice. With her complimentary blend of career expertise in HR Management, Recruiting, Staffing and Coaching, her educational focus in Psychology, along with her advanced coaches training from the Coaches Training Institute (one of the largest coaches training schools in the world), as well as certifications in both Career Clarity and Purpose Clarity – Robin is an ideal coach for anyone who is open to creative possibility and possesses a forward-thinking mindset.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Free Resume Printing at FedEx Office on March 10th

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Hey everyone!

I’m always on the lookout for a great deal, but this is fantastic. FedEx Office (previously FedEx Kinkos) has decided to offer free resume printing to everyone on March 10th, 2009. Anyone who is looking for a job can print up to 25 copies of their resume, free of charge.

In times like this, where so many people are losing their jobs, it’s great to see a large company giving back in such a meaningful and creative way.

If you are interested in the free resume printing, just follow the link.

No Such Thing As The Perfect Job

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A while ago I wrote about the Myth of the Dream Job. For reasons of experience and unrealistic expectations, I believe that it is impossible for Entry Level Job seekers to find their dream job.

It now appears that I’m not the only one. A short post on Punk Rock HR talks about how, when people are being laid off everywhere, looking for the perfect job can keep you from landing a good job. The last line sums it up best:

In this economy, don’t let the quest for perfect job be the enemy of the good.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

An Entry Level Job Success Story

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The story of Roy Ma appeared on CNN Money today. It is a look at how Ma, a new grad from the University of Maryland, was successful in finding an Entry Level Job.

While the article starts off with how dire the job market is for New Grads this year (down 22% according to this piece), it quickly hones in on what he did right when it came to securing the job.

As I have been saying all along, it all comes down to the amount of effort that you are willing to put in. Ma spent a great deal of time and effort tailoring each application package that he sent out:

…Ma rewrote a new cover letter and resume and crafted it to match the job requirements and preferences according to the posting and his own research on the company.

Not only that, but he took steps to separate himself from all of the other candidates by focusing on his strengths relative to the other people applying for the job:

He also leveraged what he felt made him unique, which was a multicultural background and network, and focused his search on companies for which that would have value.

This is a great story and an excellent source of inspiration and information for all new graduates who are looking for Entry Level Jobs. Follow this link to read Ma’s story for yourself.