Posts Tagged: employment
Create a Career Wish List
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips on December 2, 2010 at 5:00 pm
As we turn the calendar to December, the holiday season is in full swing. Hanukkah is beginning, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights are shining and every ad on TV and online relates to shopping, shopping and more shopping.
I plan to do all of my holiday shopping online this year, as I do most of my shopping all year round (yes, I am planning a very nice holiday gift for my UPS guy, who, since I work from a home office, is the person I see most during the day!).
One of the features I’ve seen popping up on more and more e-retailer sites is the “Wish List,” where you can save all of the items you want to buy later or share with your potential gift givers. This got me thinking — wouldn’t it be cool if people had Career Wish Lists?
I’m sure you already have a few ideas of companies you’d love to work for, internships to apply for, jobs that sound interesting, successful entrepreneurs you admire or people you’ve been meaning to talk to for advice or contacts. Why not write all of this down into a Career Wish List?
Open a fresh Word document or buy a crisp new notebook and start an ongoing list of every career possibility that comes to mind. Try not to censor yourself at all; just write. Your Career Wish List (something I call your “Really Big List” in my book, Getting from College to Career), will come in handy in a variety of ways during your career planning and any job search you undertake now or in the future:
- Your Career Wish List will give you assignments. Whenever you feel motivated to work on your career planning, it will serve as a to-do list of opportunities to research. Once you begin to gather information on any idea on your list, you should start a folder for what you find to keep track of it all.
- Your Career Wish List will help you network. Glance through your List to prepare for any informational interview, networking event or meeting with a career counselor. Better yet, bring your list along. The people you meet are likely to know some of the companies or people on your list—or how to reach them. Your list will turn a vague, “Can you help me find a job?” into a specific request for specific leads.
- Your Career Wish List will help you assess yourself. As your list grows, you’ll begin to see patterns of what kinds of opportunities attract you. Perhaps you’ll notice that many of the items on your list point you towards creative jobs, small companies, political work, Asian American mentors, living in Chicago, making a difference, going to graduate school or something else. Or maybe you’ll find a mishmash of stuff—which is okay, too. Don’t see an all-over-the-place list as frustrating; instead, see it as reflecting the fact that a lot of different things will make you happy.
Have you ever tried writing a Career Wish List? Will you start one this season? Please share your thoughts in the Comments!
6 Common Sense Job Search Tips
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Interview Advice Job Search Tips Personal Branding Professionalism Social Media on September 29, 2010 at 6:00 am
Last week’s post, “5 Simple But Brilliant Job Interview Strategies,” generated a lot of feedback, particularly from recruiters who told me how often job seekers make seemingly obvious mistakes such as spelling a recruiter’s name incorrectly. This reminded me of the fact that, as Voltaire famously said, “Common sense is not so common.”
So today I wanted to share some additional seemingly simple career tips that many job seekers overlook.
1. Use your career services office. College career centers have very helpful (and usually free) resources — exclusive job databases, resume workshops, mock interview sessions, career counseling, salary negotiation guidance and much more. If you’ve never visited your university’s career center (which is often available after you’ve graduated as well), you are seriously missing out.
2. Alter your search criteria. When you’ve searching for opportunities on jobs websites, don’t get stuck in a rut of using the same search terms over and over again. Dig deeper and expose yourself to more opportunities by expanding your search to new keywords (such as “communications” in addition to “public relations”), new sectors (such as government and nonprofit if you have been looking only at corporations) and further distances from your desired location (such as the San Fernando Valley if you’ve been looking in Los Angeles or Westchester County and New Jersey if you’ve been looking in New York City).
3. Set your Facebook profile to private. While you’re sitting at your computer searching for jobs, click over to your Facebook profile and make sure your privacy settings are set to the maximum. Many recruiters regularly check out candidates on Facebook, so even if you believe your profile is harmless, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
4. Check your messages. Particularly for a generation that’s known for being permanently connected to technology devices, there is no excuse for not returning a call or email within a few hours. Especially if you’re engaged in an active job hunt, check your messages frequently.
5. Don’t be too early for a job interview. While we’ve all heard the advice never, ever to arrive late to a job interview, employers are equally peeved when you arrive too early. By all means get to the company’s building or parking lot as early as you’d like, but don’t enter the actual office any more than 15 minutes before your scheduled interview time.
6. Smile. I’m surprised at how many recruiters tell me that a smile really makes a difference at a job fair, networking event or interview. Even when you’re nervous, a genuine grin helps convince an employer that you’d be a good person to have around. So show those pearly whites!
What other common sense tips do you recommend? Please share!
5 Simple But Brilliant Job Interview Strategies
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Interview Advice Job Search Tips on September 22, 2010 at 9:00 am
In a recent blog post I outlined some of the biggest job seeker mistakes to avoid, based on my own experience hiring a paid intern. Today, I’ll share some simple but impactful tactics to help you land the job you want.
1. Spell the recruiter or hiring manager’s name right. Of the emails I received responding to the position I posted, about half spelled my name wrong. That’s an instant sign that a candidate lacks attention to detail.
2. Know as much as you can about the employer. The job I posted was for an intern to help edit the second edition of my book, Getting from College to Career. Although I didn’t require anyone to read the book before interviewing with me, the two people who had taken the time to read even one chapter impressed me the most. The one who read my entire book got the job. Given the amount of information you can find on the web, it’s inexcusable not to thoroughly research the company — scour its website, use its products, read its press releases — that you want to work for.
3. Be positive. Particularly in challenging economic times, employers want to hire people who will be a positive, helpful presence. No one likes a complainer. This includes criticizing a previous employer. A job interview is your chance to shine and to demonstrate your enthusiasm for a position; even if you’re a little bitter from a previous experience or a long job hunt, don’t let those emotions creep out in front of an interviewer.
4. Send a thank you email within 24 hours of interviewing. If I don’t receive an email within a day of the interview, I assume the person is not really interested in the position. The thank you email doesn’t have to be long; it just has to be sent. Although handwritten notes are lovely (and can be sent in addition to an email), in this day and age you have to be fast.
5. Respond positively to rejection. I was extremely impressed by a few applicants to my internship who wrote me very nice notes in response to my email saying that I had chosen a different candidate. Their graciousness has led me to keep their resumes on file in case I have a position in the future that might be a good fit.
What other simple strategies do you recommend for job seekers? Remember that seemingly small actions can make a very big difference!
Career Q&A: Should I change my career plans because of the recession?
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Career Change Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips on March 3, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Q: I graduated in May with a political science major and am wondering what to do next. My plan was to apply to law school, but with so much student debt already incurred I am having second thoughts. I am currently working at a bank as a teller, but this is not the career I wish to pursue. With the current recession and unemployment rate I am terrified that I will be a bank teller forever. Any suggestions? — Lauren, Racine, Wis.
A: You are smart to consider your finances when making a decision about law school. However, if you’re sure you want to be a lawyer, I believe that where there’s a will there’s a way. Start researching scholarships, financial aid packages and part-time programs (which allow you to continue working) as ways to lessen the financial burden. Law can be a very lucrative career, so it’s OK to take on some debt to finance your education. However, if you are not sure you really want to be a lawyer, don’t apply until you’ve made up your mind.
Regarding your fear of becoming a bank teller forever, that is entirely up to you. If you are securely employed in that position right now, my best advice is to make the best of it, learn as much as you can in that position and network with your colleagues to help build your connections and your access to future opportunities.
In this tough job market, I wouldn’t recommend giving up a decent job. (Of course, if being a bank teller is sucking the life out of you, then you need to make a change, even if it means working in a pleasant retail environment or a coffee shop.)
Whether you keep your bank teller job for the short-term or not, it’s important to keep researching and networking in the industry in which you’d like to work. If it’s law, then subscribe to law journals, read legal blogs, attend networking events and professional association meetings for lawyers and ask everyone you know to introduce you to attorneys who would be willing to provide you with some advice and guidance.
Just because you’re not working or studying full-time in a field does not mean you can’t be part of it. Every action you take and connection you make now will help you position yourself for a career move when the economy turns around.
Click here to read more of my career Q&As on ABC News on Campus
Click here to submit a question of your own
Image: ABC News/Getty
My interview on the Personal Branding Blog
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Job Search Tips LinkedIn Networking Advice Networking and Personal Branding Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources Resume Tips Social Media on February 25, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Many thanks to Dan Schawbel for interviewing me on his Personal Branding Blog.
Here is an excerpt:
Dan: When you go to speak to students across the country, how have you accessed their proficiency in job searching and resume building through online means? Most students I talk to don’t know what LinkedIn is. What are your experiences?
Lindsey: A year or so ago, very few students I met had even heard of LinkedIn. Today, I’d say about 1/4 of students at my workshops are aware of the site, but most don’t really know how to make the most of it. I believe that an active presence on LinkedIn is no longer optional for a career-minded person of any age, so I talk about it in every speech and workshop I give.
1. First, I advise students (and everyone else!) to set up a complete profile including keywords a recruiter or business owner might use to find someone with your skills and interests.
2. Then I recommend joining groups on LinkedIn (such as the Personal Branding group, of course) to build connections and become part of conversations about industry news.
3. Third, I recommend customizing those little “I’d like to add you as a connection” messages – that’s a great way to stand out and show that you are someone who takes the time to personalize your communications.
Another important tip, particularly for those who are just starting out in the workforce, is to scour other people’s LinkedIn profiles to look for companies you may want to apply to, job titles or professions you didn’t know about, professional organizations where you might network and people with similar interests who might be willing to offer some job search advice. If you’re trying to build your own personal brand, LinkedIn is incredibly valuable as a massive database of other people’s personal brands and career paths to research.
Tips for staying afloat in a grim job market
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Job Search Tips Networking and Personal Branding Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources on February 10, 2009 at 8:17 am
If you walked around midtown Manhattan during the summer, you might have seen the financial executive, in his late 40s, who paraded around in a sandwich board declaring “Experienced MIT Grad for Hire” and handing out copies of his resume.
A few months later, you might have come across a group of job-hunting, 20-something recent graduates promoting their skills though sidebar advertisements on Facebook and links to their online resumes.
What intrigues me about these methods is not just the guts these job seekers displayed. It’s the different generational approaches to self-promotion. The baby boomer gravitated to in-person, face-to-face networking; the Millennial went right to the Web.
If you are looking for a job in the current recession, my best advice is to borrow from the playbook of both of these self-promoters: combine “old-fashioned” methods with new technologies. Diane K. Danielson, my colleague and co-author on the book The Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking, calls this a “clicks and mix” strategy, and it’s an important marketing strategy if you’re looking for a new position.
Here’s why: Young adults are competing in the job market with much more qualified people who have been laid off and need to find any job they can. At the same time, older professionals are competing with younger workers who are willing to be hired for less money and security. And, in this economy, every job seeker has to try every job-hunting method available.
Here are some self-marketing tips for job seekers of all generations: click here to read the rest of this article on ABC News on Campus…
How to get free career advice from 50 top career advisers
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Job Search Tips Networking and Personal Branding Recommended Career Resources Social Media on February 4, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Could that headline possibly be overselling the content of this blog post?
Nope.
There is an easy, free — and fun — way to get free career advice (and much more) from some of the best career advisers in the country. It’s all happening on Twitter.
Willy Franzen, of One Day, One Job and Found Your Career, has put together an excellent list of “50 Twitter Users to Follow for Your Job Search.” I’m honored to be on the list and happy to see many of my favorite career bloggers, authors and speakers on the list as well. (If you’d like to follow me — and please do! — I’m @lindseypollak.)
All of the people on this list use their Twitter feeds to share career advice articles, job search tips, real job and internship opportunities, event announcements and much more. If you’re not on Twitter, you’re missing out on a tremendous amount of free and valuable information. (Yes, you’re also missing out on silly photos, descriptions of what people are eating for lunch and a fair amount of procrastination, but it’s easy to find the valuable content on Twitter. The rest makes it really fun.)
I’d also like to add a few additional Twitterers that I recommend, although I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch — will add in the comments when I remember.
Alexandra Levit (@alevit) – blogger and author of How’d You Score that Gig and The Don’t Teach Corporate in College
Chandlee Bryan (@chandlee) – career coach, resume writer and blogger
Diane K. Danielson (@DowntownWoman) – CEO of the Downtown Women’s Club and blogger at The Women’s Dish
Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) – one of the most popular Tweeters, who often posts links to articles on making the best use of Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media
Please share your favorite career-related tweeters in the Comments section below, and be sure to check out Willy Franzen’s list — you won’t regret it!
Your career questions answered
Posted in Job Search Tips on January 7, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Each month I’ll be answering reader questions over at ABC News on Campus. This month’s Q&A includes issues such as job hunting in a recession, job hunting in a new city, finding finance positions and assessing the value of internships.
Find your dream job: 12 career resolutions for 2009
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips Personal Branding Resume Tips Social Media on December 28, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Reminder: I’m now answering job search and career questions as Career Contributor for ABC News on Campus. Submit your question here.
Every day is a new beginning, but a new calendar year offers a particularly great opportunity for fresh starts. This year more than ever, career-minded people are craving new opportunities and new strategies to carry out in January and beyond.
As you think about your plans and goals for 2009, here are 12 career-related resolutions to consider adding to your list.
1. I will do one thing every day to find a job or advance my career. Spend some time every day, even just five minutes, researching potential employers, reading advice articles, following up with people you’ve met, practicing for interviews or doing anything else to help your career prospects. Keep moving forward. Momentum matters.
2. I will update my resume once a month. Especially in an economic downturn, your resume needs to be ready to send at a moment’s notice. Make a note in your calendar to review this important document once a month to be sure it sells your skills and experience in the best possible way.
3. I will regularly review my online presence. While you’re keeping your resume up-to-date, review your online professional presence as well. Google your own name and make sure the results reflect the image you want to project. Many organizations are now relying on social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook for recruiting, so it’s quite likely your next employer will review your online profile before seeing your official resume.
Bright spots in the bad economy: 5 places to look for jobs right now
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Recommended Career Resources on December 7, 2008 at 2:40 pm
There’s no doubt the big career story of the moment is the November unemployment report, which stated that the U.S. experienced the biggest monthly job loss since 1974. In total, we’ve lost over 2 million jobs in the past year. This is, obviously, very bad news for job seekers (although, according to Fortune magazine, slightly less bad for those with a college degree — hat tip Keppie Careers).
I believe that constant news about the bad economy leaves job seekers with two choices: 1) focus on how bad the job market is and feel paralyzed, or 2) understand that it’s bad and look for opportunities anyway.
I’m going to recommend door #2. To help, I spent some time this past weekend looking for bright spots in the bleak job market. It wasn’t easy; there’s a lot of terrible news out there. But there are definitely opportunities in this recession.
Here are five of them: (more…)
