Quit Studying and Talk to People!
We’re almost there people! We’ve got our hands clinging to the cliff of the basement wall, all we need is an outstretched hand to help us get out of that basement. But will there be a hand to help pull you out? Let the people who made it out of the basement be the ones to pull you out, you can’t do it all by yourself.
I’m talking about internships and professionals who will be helping you learn career advice and tips to learn. Schools can only teach you so much, you need the real work experience in the field in order to truly understand and get a feel of how your career works.
Your Professors have the resources and connections to provide you with contact information of either colleagues or former students who now have a career in their respective fields. The rest of the way relies solely on you. You are the one that needs to ask the questions that matter to you most, you are the one who must make the first contact to those professionals, you must take the initiative because this is your future! Once you make contact and show that you are truly interested and want to take the initiative, that will send some shock waves through that person and will have them remember you in the future if you were to ever apply for a job there.
Internships and Interviewing people about the field are the last but most important benefit you have as a resource. The importance of Video Interviewing and the most opportune time to apply for jobs are probably the most important aspect in today’s generation, the latter being the most popular question. So let’s get started!
Importance of Interviewing
Not only does interviewing a professional have important information for you to take advantage of and succeed in the future business, but it also shows that professional how committed you are to your study. This will make them remember you in the future for when they want to hire a new “go-getter” they will instantly think of you.
For example, last week a guest speaker in our class talked about future careers and I talked his ear off and asked him any question that I could think of. Don’t look at it as you’re not smart and worried about what other classmates think, think of it as learning more crucial information than what the professor is giving you. Because at the end of the class, I went up to the speaker and he instantly gave me his work card and said, “if you’re ever interested in getting an internship, email me and we’ll set something up.” That goes to show how asking questions and being interested in what you like could give you a job without even planning one out!
Back to interviewing; Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite, says “Recruitment is now marketing, and companies need to market their job opportunities like they do their products to consumers. This has spurred a growing demand for video interviewing from both recruiters and hiring managers.” This growing demand has now led to a more simple and faster way of setting up interviews over the Internet and video interviews are starting to become more popular for companies. However, because interviews are becoming more easier instead of setting up appointments for everyone to come in, there is now an even tougher market for potential employees. But have no fear! The hardest part is getting your foot in the door, once it’s there you can find more jobs through connections and inside your first internship experience.
Internships and Connections
Everyone knows, well if they don’t then they should know, the importance of internships and prior experience while you are still in school before getting a job and actually getting paid to do it. The best way to approach it is, while you’re still in school, get the connections from your professors or departments that work with companies who need interns. It’s as simple as that. Interning can be seen a lengthy interviewing process. This allows the company to hire unpaid labor for credits in school in exchange for teaching and showing interns how to work in the field. If you do a good enough job and take the initiative, many students have started a job at their first or one of their interning companies.
But you have to be at your best when interning for companies. Alison Green, of USNews, describes what employers will be looking for at prospective employees.
can you do the job?
Are you going to be reasonably easy to work with?
Will you fit in with the company culture?
Do you have a strong work ethic?
How enthusiastic are you about the job?
As you can see, this not only affects how well you can do the job, but on a more personal side of being an employee at a company. You have one shot at starting your career for the best so make it count.
Doubling your salary overnight
This advice is more for once you do get the job but it is still just as important and something many people don’t really know. Companies hate hiring more people than they want in order to do a job. In today’s economy, people are working double they are worth while getting paid half of what they used to make. However, if you would do whatever it takes for the company to succeed you will be rewarded nicely.
I did some interviewing this past week and the people who talked about moving for the job and changing locations said you will have your salary doubled overnight. The reason for this is loyalty, experience, and cost of new employees.
If you wish to prove how loyal and committed you are to the company, moving to a new city is the ultimate gesture. The price for hiring new employees at a new location and teaching them and hopefully having them work well with other employees is always a 50/50 chance. The company already knows you and how well you work with other people, also you are already experienced. So this will give you a good boost in finances and saves the company a lot of money in the long run. Plus it never hurts in a change of scenery.
That’s all I have this week but hopefully you found this article to be the most informational yet! I’ll have even more beneficial information next week and if you have any comments, suggestions, questions leave it in the comments section below! Good Luck Job Hunting!
Things Don’t Always Go as Planned!
Hello all and welcome back! By now I hope that this blog is helping you brighten up your future and look to take the initiative towards finding exciting work opportunities. Personally, the first step like sending an email, walking into a potential employer’s office or handing in that resume is truly terrifying. It’s the fear of rejection that most people seem to stumble on and I am one of those victims.
This week has certainly been a learning experience for me when it comes to taking my own advice from last weeks blog about Informational Interviewing. I have contacted recent graduates from my college who are now in their degree field of study which gave me optimism for my future and how to take the initiative and Stand Out!
But that’s for next week’s blog. This week is full of information from experienced employees and employers (I know I may seem like I know what I’m doing but let’s keep this week for the experts). So let’s get started.
A question I have been wondering about this year is when is the right time to apply for careers? Well, you can consider this to be three optimal times to apply:
- Summer before senior year of college
- Early Fall semester before November
- Early Spring semester
Start looking for jobs that you can apply to in the summer so you can get a jump start on the competition. Training programs by businesses will begin recruiting in the early to mid-fall season such as Accounting offices. However, if you’re late to start, Don’t worry! Applying in the early spring semester is still optimal for other majors such as broadcast communications, advertising, public relations, social media, the arts and publishing. When applying for entry-level positions those are always offered year round no matter who you are. If the interviewing process for the entry-level position is more than a few months away, make sure you keep the lines of communication open and keep the company updated on what’s going on with your college career.
Moving to a New City after Graduation?
While this will be a somewhat short post on this topic, I will be focusing more on it almost entirely in the upcoming blog posts so Keep an eye out for it in the future.
Relocating has so much potential for building your resume, it shows your willingness to travel and explore; as well as experiencing a different world than your once sheltered life at home or college. Stan Main, VP of the Randy Lane Company and Program Director of Stephens Media Group, says that “businesses will double your salary overnight if you are willing to relocate for them.”
Taking internships and giving up your vacation time over spring break to travel and work with mid-career professionals will give you the ultimate tools that can launch your career the minute you graduate, maybe even before!
While the information is just the tip of the iceberg for many topics, personally, I have felt overwhelmed with not only learning new careers in my own major and working on my college career but also starting my professional life. That being said, this information will also help you learn to be excited and prepared for what’s ahead in your life.
Relocation is such an important step for people either starting their careers or furthering their already mid-career journey. It’s important to go out and see the world because there are more people and culture in it than you might think.
That’s all I have this week but stay with me each week because there will always be new and exciting information for you to grow your career learning experience.
What’s the Most Important Question?
Hello all and welcome back to another posting, hopefully you are beginning to see the light at the top of the stairs and a railing to help you climb out of that wretched basement (I really hate my basement, sorry mom).
A number of people who have been reading these blogs have come up to me asking me some different ideas of how to receive information and tricks to their specific potential career field. Sadly, I can’t write a helpful tip for everyone on here for each specific job but I know someone who can answer it for you. The word of the day ladies and gentlemen is: Informational Interviewing. So let’s get started…
What is Informational Interviewing?
It is simply finding someone in a potential career field of yours and literally asking them questions such as: events, tasks, opportunities you would do if you were to begin working at that company. Call it a trial employment without the hassle of actually applying, interviewing, working, etc. (If this was a job I would definitely do it). It may seem uncomfortable at first but remember, these employees are helping you so ask any questions you can think of. Kansas State College came up with a list of some questions you could ask when interviewing at that job found here.
I’m starting to get more specific on ways to find and secure that dream job of yours but here are more tips on what to think about. The most important tip anyone can give you is first: Breathe (inhale…..and….release) and then Take a step back and think about your public presence.
Public Presence
You would be surprised to know that your boss, hiring manager, friends of friends, relatives, random internet trolls, co-workers, family clergyman (maybe not entirely so), neighbors, EVERYONE can see your presence online with a few simple clicks and keyboard hits. That being said, how you act on social media can potentially make or break your first career so take these tips…
No alcohol in your pictures
I mean the only people you need to impress with your funneling is the people around you, right?
No mentioning/pictures of bad work behavior
You are a representative of that company you’re working for so how would a person feel if when they think of a company, they instantly picture you doing belly shots from your OWN belly (if that’s possible?)
That’s all I have this week folks but next week I have some even more exciting and helpful information so be sure to check back soon. Good luck on securing that dream job of yours.
Point me in the Right Direction!
Hello all and welcome back to another discussion of getting out of that God-forsaken basement in your parent’s house.
Recently, I came across a few important tips and strategies to help you turn your one-time employment at Burger King (among other odd jobs) and turn it into a professional resume. I was just as shocked as you when I found out that anyone can come off as a professional. Firstly, this is NOT a way to cheat the system and lie to your potential employers but rather an epiphany into how important your first jobs can be. I won’t bombard you with obvious information so I’ll choose some that were enlightening in my opinion. So let’s get started…
1…2…3…
3 seconds is all that it will take for an employer to look at your resume and move on to the next stack of papers on their desk. So make as much information count in your resume as possible. Shorten it to a one-sided piece of information that will be your only means of finding a viable career in the workforce (at this point I was hyperventilating)
Add Monetary Value to your Experience Bullet Points
Huh? I was just as hung up on this as well. You’ve more than likely been in some job that dealt with customer service or money transactions involved. If you have, then simply put down how much (rough estimate) money you have been responsible for on a daily basis. Personally, I have been responsible for; let’s just say a LOT of money in my years of customer service. So adding, for example, $100 or even $40,000, that you’ve been responsible for to your bullet points for each job Who would trust me to handle their money? EMPLOYERS TRUST YOU.
Negotiate
As I’ve done more research into this field for tips on how to land a successful career, I happily stumbled onto a piece of information that I was hesitant on doing. The keyword is Negotiate. It sounds a little intimidating but once you’ve found a job AND have been offered that ridiculously insane amount of money (in my dreams) then the obvious fact is that they want you!
Now even though you may not want to Negotiate for a bigger salary, you can Negotiate for added health benefits and or more vacation hours. Below I will post what site I found this valuable word on.
That’s all I have for this week BUT STICK AROUND AND SEE MORE VALUABLE LINKS posted below.
The Peer Career Advisors like the ones in my school, are available on other campuses as well. They helped provide me with helpful tips for resume building and are specifically trained and qualified for cover letter building as well as resumes. If you are a student, I highly recommend talking and receiving their help for resumes.
The Negotiate site:
Related articles
- Resume Advice with Natural Flavors (ctcareerguidance.wordpress.com)
- Understanding the Significance of a Professional Resume in Your Career (resumesprofessional.wordpress.com)
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Life after College: Not your parent’s lifestyle
One of the final things my parents said to me when I moved away to go to school was, “Don’t expect to come back into this house after graduation otherwise you’re paying rent.” We can joke about it now but it raised a good point on what life is going to be like from now on and after school. I need a job. More than that, I need a career.
The contemporary job market has standards that are rising exponentially every year. More and more people are taking second jobs or they just have to learn new skills that would take at least two people to do. These aren’t your parent’s careers anymore. Back then, people would be trained in only one particular skill because there were more than enough people to make up a successful company. Today, you can cut the amount of people by 2/3 in a business which means more work for the people left standing. Great news for me so far.
What does this mean for students like me?
Well, I’m in the process of searching for careers and best advice from people in the real world (as I call it) to help me land a job after I graduate so I am not stuck flipping burgers while gloating about the 4 year degree to the underage employees next to me…So let’s get started.
Jim Schreck, Program Director for WNYR 98.5 FM, Finger Lakes Radio Group
Came into a class of mine and gave us a couple pieces of advice for entering the work force: Attitude, Outgoing Voice mails, and Punctuality.
Attitude
Your work ethics, values, honesty and integrity all come down how your attitude is. If your attitude is crap, your work ethic is going to be crap. Maintain a positive outlook always and your potential employer will definitely take notice.
Outgoing Voice Mails
Plain and simple: if you don’t have a professional or personal voice mail for people (not just potential employers) to reach you at, you’re as good as unnoticed and your resume is pushed down to the bottom of the pile or worse tossed in the trash.
Punctuality
Now I know you shouldn’t have to explain this one out but it did get me thinking. ALWAYS, not just a majority of time but ALWAYS arrive at least 15 minutes before your work shift, interviews, business meetings, anything starts. Jeff Schreck quoted the movie Drumline, “If you’re early, you’re on time; if you’re on time, you’re late.”
Among other things really stood out but I don’t want to bombard you with too much rules right now. But I will leave you with a few good posts I found so you don’t have to just take my word for it. I’ll also leave the link to Jeff Schreck down below as well. Until then, I’ll see you next week.
Recent Grads who have advice after graduation for finding jobs:
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/college/2013/06/20/college-jobs/index.html
Schools that guarantee jobs:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/jobs-careers/some-colleges-guaranteeing-jobs-after-graduation.aspx
A little about Jeff Schreck:
http://flradiogroup.com/Stations-Media/Bios/jim.htm
Related articles
- Tips For Standing Out At Your First Job (rasmussen.edu)
- Mentoring and Work Ethic (practicemanagementblog.fpanet.org)
- Infographic: Finding the Job You Always Wanted (rasmussen.edu)
Life's Ambition 