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Are you beginning or changing your career? Learn what
you need to know to develop career resilience. Find
links to career assessments, business development,
occupational information and articles.
::
Top Interview Tips
More tips on how you can increase your chances of landing that job and
making the best of a first impression…
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Follow Up Follow Through
Find out how showing your enthusiasm; writing a thank-you note and
saying some lines could increase your chances of landing that job...
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The New Era of Job Hunting: Strategies for Finding
Employment on
the Internet
A handy guide if you looking for jobs on the web…
::
Finding Hidden Gems on Your Career Path
Great careers don’t just happen. Here’s how to mine the opportunities to
maximize your potential.
::
Podcast: How to Ask for a Raise
Want more money? Prove you're worth it. Leadership
guru John Baldoni explains (2 minutes).
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Top Interview Tips
Janet Kimmel
Employment Consultant |
The time you spent writing that magnificent
resume and cover letter paid off. The words
on the paper intrigued the hiring manager
and now you have an interview. How can you
increase your chances of getting the job you
want? The best advice I can give is to prepare
for the interview. Research the organization.
Find out if the organization has a website and
if so, become familiar with its contents. The
same goes for any company brochures, posters,
articles or reports you may find. What is the
company's mission, products or services? If
possible, visit the organization before the
interview. While there, pay attention to the
culture, the environment, the conversations
and interactions of people coming and going.
The Chamber of Commerce can be an excellent
source of information. Why is researching the
company before the interview so important? I
have heard feedback from employers who have
been astounded that the candidate knew very
little about the company, and didn't bother to
find out. Armed with company knowledge, you can
think about why you want this job, how your
skills and talents, values, and ideas can help
the organization to meet its goals and objectives.
By doing so, you will be able to give better
answers to the interview questions, and your
words will demonstrate that you are a solution-based
person, which is an attribute that is at the
top of the employers list.
In addition, employers tend to hire people who
demonstrate a great attitude and a fit with the
organization over those with the most perfect
qualifications. Your goal is to be yourself
during the interview, your best self.
Being prepared will help you to be more confident
and in control of the situation rather than
feeling helpless or victimized. If you think
you need more specific interview tips than those
provided in this article, answers to difficult
questions, or hands-on practice doing an interview,
take the time to come to a workshop at The Career
Centre. People who have done so say that not only
did it make a big difference in the way the interview
went, but it was fun too! Let us help you to think
and act like a champion so you can go for the gold!
http://www.careercentre.org/Articles/interviewtips.asp
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Sylvia Wende
Employment Consultant |
Interviews. Just the word itself can bring up
feelings of fear and anxiety. However, there
are steps you can take to minimize some of the
stress typically associated with them. In order
to put your best foot forward and create a strong
first impression, here are some suggestions:
- Research the company and the job you're
applying for. Understanding the company, its
philosophy and the duties of the position
you're applying for is a great stress buster!
It increases your confidence and shows the
person(s) interviewing you that you are serious
and chose this company deliberately. So before
the interview, check out the company's website
if they have one (they are a wealth of information)!
Contact a company employee to arrange an information
interview before the job interview. Acquire as
much information as you can about services offered
by the company by picking up brochures and talking
to friends and acquaintances.
- Practice your interview answers out loud.
Think of some potential interview questions or
obtain a copy of commonly asked questions from
an employment centre. Then practice your answers.
There is something very powerful and confidence
building about rehearsing and verbalizing your
answers. It gives you the opportunity to hear
yourself and decide what words to use and focus
on. Keep your answers to approximately 2 minutes.
If you aren't sure how long 2 minutes is, practice
with a clock beside you to get a sense of timing.
Remember to link your skills/strengths to the job
duties and provide a job-related example!
- Minimize stressors. Take away as many potential
stressors as possible so you are more relaxed the
day of the interview. If you were unable to conduct
an information interview prior to the interview,
make sure you find out where the company is located.
Take the time to go to it. This act alone can save
an interview! Unfortunately, there are many stories
of people who have arrived late to an interview as
a result of encountering a glitch in locating an
address or difficulty in finding parking. Determine
what parking is available and where. Watch how long
it takes you to get there. Decide some days beforehand
what you will wear. Get a good sleep the night before
so you are well rested, looking and feeling your best.
Arrive a few minutes early the day of the interview.
Bring your references and a copy of your resume in
case you are asked for an additional copy. Being
prepared has a calming effect and reflects strong
organizational skills to an employer.
First impressions are vital. And since you never
have a second chance to make a first impression,
take the time to make the first one memorable!
Good luck!
http://www.careercentre.org/Articles/interviewtips.asp
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Follow Up Follow Through
Micki
Employment Consultant |
In your cover letter make sure you tell potential
employers where you can be reached, but don't wait
for a call. Let them know you will be calling to
follow up if you don't hear from them in the few
days following receipt of your cover letter and
resume. Remember to always have a copy of your
cover letter and resume in front of you. Try to
arrange for an interview, be polite, assertive
and confident!
http://www.careercentre.org/Articles/followupfollowthrough.asp |
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Michelle Desmarais
Employment Consultant |
As we all strive to stand out from the crowd in
our job search activities, why not consider writing
thank you notes as a way to do so? Writing thank
you notes as part of a complete job search is
relatively new to most people but, for the folks
that have tried them, the results speak for
themselves. Thank you notes not only show you are
conscientious, but that you really are interested
in working for their particular company and have
taken extra time to tell them. Thank you notes can
be very versatile and could potentially be given
out after formal or informal meetings with employers
or network contacts. There are many ways to write
thank you notes, so be sure to do your homework or
book into a job search workshop for some hot tips.
http://www.careercentre.org/Articles/followupfollowthrough.asp |
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Sylvia
Employment Consultant |
Some thoughts regarding how often to follow up with
an employer...
If you have met/talked to the employer, the best way
to decide on how often to follow up with an employer
is to ask them! You do not have to make this decision
on your own. Most employers like to be asked... it not
only sends them the message that you recognize that
they are busy; it also shows them you care about their
time.
http://www.careercentre.org/Articles/followupfollowthrough.asp |
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The New Era of Job Hunting: Strategies for
Finding Employment on the Internet
| Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D |
Looking for a job may never be the same. With
the huge growth of employment-related Web sites
on the Internet, a job-seeker cannot afford to
overlook searching for a job electronically.
Successfully navigating this frontier, however,
requires new skills and strategies. The focus of
this article is to provide you with a roadmap
that will guide you through the maze of Web sites
related to career development and job-hunting and
give you directions to the best resources
currently available to job-seekers.
Before we begin this journey, one caveat:
Job-hunting on the Internet should, in no way, be
your sole means of looking for a new job. The
traditional methods of networking, job boards,
classified ads, and targeted job searches should
still be part of your overall job-hunting plan.
The Internet simply expands the job-hunting
resources that are available to you.
For those unsure of their career direction, the
first step might be to one of several Web sites
that offer
Career Assessment Tools, such as the
Ansir
Self-Perception Test or the
Keirsey Temperament Sorter, which score
results from online questionnaires and provide
suggestions of appropriate careers for your
type.
Most others will start the journey by going to
one of several career development Web sites, such
as
Quintessential Careers or
The Riley Guide, which can provide assistance
with developing or honing your resume and cover
letter writing, finding the best sources for
researching companies, strengthening your interviewing
skills, learning how to network, mastering salary
negotiation, as well as perfecting other key career
and job-hunting skills. If you only have one type
of resume, then you should definitely start here.
Most job-hunting experts now talk about three kinds
of resumes:
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the traditional resume: this version has all
the bells and whistles, including nice formatting.
The focus is on action verbs and accomplishments.
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the scannable resume: this version is a stripped
down version of your traditional resume, in plain
text for easy scanning into computer databases.
The focus is on nouns and phrases, as well as key
accomplishments.
- the Web-based resume: this version is
similar to your traditional resume, but published
on your personal Web site so that is always available
to potential employers.
See some sample Web resumes.
Once you've honed your skills in these areas, the
next step is to develop a strategy for job-hunting
on the Internet. If you're a college student or
recent college graduate, your approach will be much
broader than if you are a seasoned veteran, partly
because of the need for confidentiality of people
currently in the workplace, partly because of the
availability of Web sites at different career levels,
and partly because a less developed network. Keeping
these issues in mind, there are four different types
of Web resources for job-seekers:
- Job networking Web sites and discussion
lists. There are thousands of Internet-based
discussion lists on almost every subject and
profession imaginable. Join one or more of these
lists and network with people in your field;
employers sometimes subscribe to these lists to
screen potential candidates. Finally, many
professional organizations have Web sites that
have forums to facilitate networking. Visit
The Art of Networking for more information and
links.
- General job databank and resume sites.
Web sites such as the Quintessential Careers Job
Board, Yahoo! HotJobs, and Monster.com have large
databases of job openings where you can search by
profession or keywords. A complete list of the best
of these site can be found at Quintessential Careers:
General Job Resources. College students should visit
College Recruiter Employment Site or TrueCareers. A
complete list of the best of these site can be found
at Quintessential Careers: College Grad Resources.
Many of these sites allow you to post your resume for
free, and some even offer job and applicant matching
services. Some of these sites allow you to post your
resume without revealing your name for the sake of
confidentiality.
- Specialized job sites. There are also
hundreds of specialized job Web sites, from
employment recruiters of all types to specialized
job databank sites that focus on a specific industry.
If you're an executive, you might want to go to
FutureStep. If you're an accountant, you might want
to go to JobsinThe Money. And if you're a marketer,
you might want to go to Marketing Jobs. A list of
the best of these specialized job sites can be
found at Quintessential Careers: Career and
Job-Hunting Resources by Industry.
- Company sites. If you have a specific
set of companies you would most like to work for,
the best solution might simply be to go the each
company's Web site and review job postings. Many
of these companies allow you to apply online, and
they often list the contact person so you should
be able to easily follow-up, as you would if you
sent a cover letter and resume to an employer. We
link directly to the career centers of hundreds
of firms in our Quintessential Directory of
Company Career Centers.
Will these steps guarantee you success in finding
a new job or career? No. No method is guaranteed
to work, but as more and more companies go to the
Internet for faster and more efficient job searches,
it does not make sense to ignore this new avenue
of networking and job-hunting.
All of these resources and links are available at
Quintessential Careers. For more information and
details, visit Quintesential Careers: Guide to
Job-Hunting on the Internet.
Questions about some of the terminology used in
this article? Get more information (definitions
and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of
Job-Hunting Terms.
Dr. Randall Hansen is currently Webmaster of
Quintessential Careers, as well as publisher of
its electronic newsletter,
QuintZine. He writes a biweekly career advice
column under the name,
The Career Doctor. He is also a tenured,
associate professor of marketing in the School
of Business Administration at Stetson University
in DeLand, Florida. He is a published career
expert -- and has been for the last ten years. He
is co-author, with Katharine Hansen, of Dynamic
Cover Letters. And he has been an employer and
consultant dealing with hiring and firing decisions
for the past fifteen years. He can be reached at
randall@quintcareers.com.
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Finding Hidden Gems on Your Career Path
Great careers don’t just happen. Here’s how to mine the opportunities
to maximize your potential.
| Dora Vell |
Shining careers don’t just happen; they’re
created by individuals wisely and strategically
managing their professional lives. With a steady
focus on maximizing their potential at every
turn, executive standouts approach new
opportunities with a distinct method, allowing
them to scale the corporate ladder in a seemingly
effortless fashion while building broad and deep
resumes rich in the “right” experience.
Their advantageous approach is founded on two
key concepts: an open-minded assessment of all
new and often unforeseen opportunities; and an
in-depth review of serious opportunities’ inherent
benefits and detriments. Throughout the process
emotionally based motives such as unhappiness
are kept in check.
It’s an optimistic and deliberate attitude where
opportunities are mined so that hidden gems,
positions steeped in potential that initially may
not look promising, can be uncovered. The ensuing
career trajectory is marked with rewarding positions
and has few of those hard-to-justify tangents that
create concern for hiring teams.
For CIOs hoping to hit the “shining” mark, this
mining attitude is especially critical. CIO roles
vary widely in importance and function depending
largely on their connection to the core business
and whether they’re considered a strategic,
value-adding component. Sarbanes-Oxley and recent
trends such as outsourcing are profoundly altering
the role but the course of its evolution varies
depending on the company. As such, fully
comprehending the opportunity is an especially
great imperative.
To mine properly, you need to own the process
completely, so that you—not the recruiter or
corporation—are solely responsible for assembling
the salient facts. The process itself will benefit
you by refining career goals and building
advantageous alliances.
Opportunity Mining
Prospect
Effectively mining opportunities first requires
making sure the right ones—those correlating to
your expertise and interests—are coming your way.
Visibility to recruiters and other executives,
especially CEOs, in your industry is essential.
Here CIOs are especially challenged because they
tend to have less exposure than other executives
to CEOs outside their company. CIOs need an
assertive approach to creating exposure by writing
articles in CEO-oriented publications and speaking
at or participating in CEO-attended events. Get
their attention by expressing fundamental changes
to improve business. Contact them in their preferred
mode and let them know who you are.
Explore
Rule number one: When contacted about an opportunity,
always return the call, even if your interest is
minimal. By not doing so, you may lose the
contact—and future opportunities—for good. Capitalize
on it. Call back and tell the contact more about
yourself and, if possible, suggest other candidates.
This last point is crucial. Being a resource to
others is the essence of networking.
Ask some basic questions, such as the nature of
the role and the company’s future plans. Scan the
company website and review online resources such as
Hoovers and Yahoo Finance. This quick research will
give you a basic understanding of the role and the
company so you’re better equipped to decide whether
it’s worth pursuing.
Bore Down
Phase One
If your interest is strong, you must develop a
comprehensive understanding of the job and the
company. A “due diligence” level of research and
analysis is required. Numerous tools exist to help
you do this research, including Internet resources,
10K reports, proxies, recent announcements, media
coverage and conversations with executives formerly
associated with the company. This will not only
confirm your interest but, should you decide to go
forward, give you what you really need for a
successful candidacy: demonstrable, credible knowledge
of the situation.
Regarding the role, you need to investigate all
relevant factors from the personalities and career
histories of peers and management to the legacy left
by your predecessor. Pay extra special attention to:
- The role’s specific day-to-day responsibilities,
big picture goals and planned evolution.
- Reporting structure. This “tell-tale” information
indicates the position’s status as well as IT’s
strategic value to the organization.
- The balance of power. Find out how the IT budget
is determined and who sponsors the IT organization
on the business side.
To assess the company, you need to:
- Learn about the company’s financials, investors/board
members, management team, competition and clients.
- Investigate completely the company’s technology.
Find out about planned initiatives and the technology
being implemented.
- Further determine how IT fits into the organization
by reviewing:
- Communication and teamwork between IT and
business, with keen attention to their relationship
and the perception of IT within the company.
- Metrics: type used, link with business, Service
Level Agreements and assessment of investment
metrics.
- Governance: type and nature of strategic planning
process, organizational structure, budget process
and rationale for spending.
- Finally, look for cross pollination between business
and IT, a strong indicator of IT’s role within the
company.
Phase Two
Finally, assess culture and the deal itself. Culture is,
bar none, the most important factor in considering a new
situation. If the cultural fit isn’t right, walk away or
risk potential career disaster. A company’s culture can
be uncovered by speaking to former employees, meeting
with your predecessor alone, observing executives’
behavior and attitudes during interviews, and objectively
reviewing company literature.
To evaluate the deal, you must know and understand the
company’s compensation parameters and compensation
philosophy. Check remuneration for all executives
through the company’s proxy. For comparison purposes
review competitors’ proxies. A company’s compensation
philosophy won’t change for you, so ensure that yours
fits the company’s and be realistic: Fairness requires
that executive contract structures don’t vary greatly
from one executive to another.
Gem Evaluation
Once the mining is complete you need to evaluate the
opportunity intellectually—does it align with your
career aspirations—and intuitively, by listening to
your gut and deciding whether it excites you and can
provide positive career momentum. Don’t shy away from
significant departures. Be broad in your thinking and
determine whether this new experience can enhance,
even accelerate your career. In the end, you may conclude
the opportunity is exactly right or wrong for you, a
career gem happily uncovered or career misstep thankfully
avoided. Either way, this open-minded and committed
approach will have brought you closer to a shining
career.
Dora Vell is managing partner of Vell & Associates
Inc., a global corporate and technology executive
search firm specializing in C-level and Board
searches for Fortune 200s, funded start-ups, private
equity and venture capital firms. Vell also had a
successful career in technology, authoring seven
worldwide software patents during her tenure at IBM.
She can be reached at
dora.vell@vellassociates.com.
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© copyright 2003 arimi. ARiMI is supported by IIA and CARM Institute