photo by David Blackwell via Flickr
Surviving the job search rejection blues requires a thick skin, a very thick skin. For recent college graduates, the job-hunting experience likely may be the first time you have faced rejection, at least in the quantities that job searches tend to produce. This also includes the silent rejection that comes when your resume enters the black hole and never resurfaces. Nearly half of all applications never make it past the initial screening process. (more…)
Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You
Sometimes, it’s the little stuff that no one tells you that need to do to get a job. Other times, it’s things you know you should be doing but you resist doing it. Either way, you are not doing you, or your job search, any favors, when you ignore these 5 important job search steps.
1. Networking. You are probably sick of hearing about the importance of networking but there is a good reason for it: it’s the single most valuable tool in your job search arsenal yet often it is the most overlooked. I am continually amazed at the reluctance of the Millennial generation to follow up with networking leads and referrals if they do not know the contact personally. If someone gives you a lead, follow up on it. Here’s why. (more…)
This is the first of an upcoming series of posts highlighting former clients and their success stories. By far the best part of my job is helping my clients find their personal paths to success in the working world. Given how easy it is to track someone down on the Internet, with very little information, client names have been changed to protect their privacy.
Today’s Client Success Story: Kate, Class of 2013
When Kate came to see me to get help in her job search after graduating, she confessed that her biggest challenges were her lack of self-confidence and not knowing how to sell herself in an interview. She also had what she called “tunnel vision”: she was so focused on wanting to get a job that she couldn’t step back and think strategically about how to go about her job search. The array of career paths for a communications major like herself were so broad that she was overwhelmed.
What Kate lacked was an understanding of how to create an effective job search strategy, and experience in how the corporate hiring process works, which undermined her self-confidence. Together, we focused on building her confidence by strengthening her job search toolkit, spending a lot of time honing her interviewing skills. (more…)
It is graduation season when colleges across the country will send forth 1.8 million newly minted graduates into the real world. Graduates will hear from commencement speakers who will inspire them to pursue their lofty dreams and passions, implore them not to settle and to use their talents to make the world a better place. I love these speeches yet while they are inspirational, they aren’t all that helpful to a confused college graduate. Why? Because they tend to elevate, not diminish, the stress of “what’s next?”. As a recent college grad, what you really need is practical advice for finding your first job after college.
College graduates are stressed over fear of making a mistake with the first big independent decision in their lives. Lives that likely have been perfectly choreographed to this point. Adding to that pressure is stress from self-doubt, student loans, and figuring out what’s next when the array of choices is wider than a Las Vegas all-you-can-eat buffet. (more…)
Now that the celebration confetti has flown and the inspirational commencement speeches are over, it’s a good time to remind new college graduates of what Pablo Picasso said: Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.
Good job interviewing is hard work. For most college graduates, it’s a new skill that requires lots of practice and preparation. While last minute cramming for a college test may have worked, “winging” a job interview never does.
Following these tips will improve the odds of converting an interview into a coveted job offer. (more…)
Successful CEO’s don’t become successful because they alone have all the answers or they always are the smartest person in the room (sometimes they are, but not always). One thing all great CEO’s have in common is the ability to spot and nurture talent. No one ever built a great company by themselves: it takes a team of smart, dedicated, and diverse individuals.
To help you understand what CEO’s, and their managers, look for when they are hiring, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite interview topics (more…)
Previously, I wrote a blog post about the importance of having a sticky message, that is, how to be memorable when telling your story. I thought that I would build on the theme of how to answer interview questions by sharing some examples from successful CEO’s. By the time they become CEO’s, most executives have told their story so many times that they have it down and you quickly get a great feeling for who they are as a person and as a leader. They absolutely know how to answer “tell me about yourself” questions.
If you are just embarking on your career, you need a sticky message too, but you may be challenged to figure out what it is. Knowing how to tell your life story succinctly (e.g. how to answer “so tell me about yourself”) is critical when interviewing. (more…)
Frequently overlooked, often gone missing, sometimes flat out non-existent, occasionally misunderstood, regularly doubted and rarely fully appreciated. Yet, it’s the secret to getting that coveted job or internship. So what is it and how can you get it? Simply stated, it’s confidence. Displaying confidence in yourself and your skill set in a job interview is critical to convincing the interviewer that you’d make a very good hire.
As a career coach who works primarily with college students and recent graduates, building my clients’ self confidence, especially confidence in job interviews, is often the most important work that we do together. (more…)
My good friend, Carol, who is a marketing genius, taught me the importance of having a “sticky message”. A sticky what, you say? A sticky message is the take away that you leave your audience with whether it’s a conversation, a speech, or an interview. A great sticky message is easy to remember, it’s unique, and most importantly, it’s memorable. Memorable as in your message will be remembered for 3 hours, 3 weeks, 3 months, maybe even three years. It’s the key to great advertising. Think of Nike: “Just Do It.” (more…)
faster
