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9 Ways to Use Summer to Your Career Advantage
Tweet Share on Facebook May 31, 2011 CommentBBQ. Watermelon. Sno-Cones. Beach. Summer means something different to everyone, but to most of us, it means freedom. As students, there was nothing better than seemingly endless summer nights. Without the worry of class the next day, life was pretty darn simple.
As adults, most professions require we that we show up at the office, regardless of the season. While summertime can be considered “lazy days,” it’s actually the perfect time to up your game and advance your career.
Especially if your job tends to slow down during the summer season, use these tips to move your professional life ahead:
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10 Ways to Ace a Phone Interview
Tweet Share on Facebook May 30, 2011 Comment (6)More and more employers are using phone interviews as screens to narrow down their applicant pool before deciding who to interview in person. These conversations range from short and perfunctory to lengthy and in-depth, and job candidates don’t always know in advance which type it’s going to be.
Here are 10 ways to ace your next phone interview.
1. Be prepared. Before the call, go to the employer’s website and, at a minimum, read their “about us” section. Better yet, read enough to get a good feel for their clients, work, and general approach. Don’t leave the Web site until you can answer these questions: What does this organization do? What are they all about? What makes them different from their competition?
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8 Ways to Make a Big Impact At Your Summer Internship
Tweet Share on Facebook May 27, 2011 Comment (3)Internships are no longer thought of as merely a required part of one’s college degree. In today’s competitive job market, an internship can be a vital way to gain experience in your field, get a foot in the door at your dream company, and a primary way to network within that organization.
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2 Skills to Make the Most of Your Career
Tweet Share on Facebook May 26, 2011 Comment (5)For those of you who are graduating soon and plotting the course for your career, I have some news for you. I can almost guarantee 100 percent that things won’t turn out as planned. Whether that is good news or bad news ultimately depends on you.
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How Using the Right Photo Online Can Help Your Career
Tweet Share on Facebook May 25, 2011 Comment (8)There was a time when U.S. job seekers would not consider a photo part of their job-search materials. But since LinkedIn joined the professional scene, things have changed. While it’s the job seeker’s choice whether to share a picture via social networks, there’s no doubt most people who notice a photo-less LinkedIn profile will assume one of two things: 1) you don’t know how to upload a picture or 2) you are really ugly.
For better or for worse, an avatar—the image that represents you online—needs to be part of your social networking efforts, and an online profile helps propel career success. Take some time to think about the picture you post and how others may react to it.
[See 10 Smart Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search.]
Here’s how to choose a photo for your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other avatars:
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New Grads: Tips for Starting Your First Job
Tweet Share on Facebook May 24, 2011 Comment (1)Graduation season is here, and that means all of you wide-eyed, fresh-faced students will be spilling into the full-time workforce.
I admire your eagerness. Your zeal. Your ambition. Truth be told, I'd much rather work alongside you than the curmudgeon lifers.
The influx of youth into the working world is a beautiful thing. It keeps ideas fresh, the corporate environment evolving, and every generation, if willing to play nice, gets to learn from each other.
So if you’re new to the workplace, or simply starting work at a new organization, let me lend a hand. Follow these tips to ensure you make a good first impression:
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10 Job-Interview Mistakes to Avoid
Tweet Share on Facebook May 24, 2011 Comment (6)We all make the occasional mistake in a job interview. To help you avoid a few of the big ones, this list is for you.
Many mistakes occur during the first five minutes of a job interview. You are nervous. The interviewer is just settling in, and there’s no structure yet.
This list identifies the types of interview mistakes that interviewers see far too often. Mistakes pull you out of the running awfully fast. And while these are often not "interview killers" on their own, they are clearly job-interview risks you are wise to avoid.
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How to Look for a Job When You’re Employed
Tweet Share on Facebook May 23, 2011 Comment (7)Job-searching is hard enough under any circumstances, but how do you conduct an effective job search when you’re employed? If you can’t devote time to your search during the work day, how do you make time for interviews? Can you do a phone interview from your office?
Here are eight tips for searching for a new job when you’re already employed:
1. Don’t job search on your employer’s time, and especially not from your work computer. You may think no one will find out, but some companies do look at employees’ web histories, and having yours full of job listings isn’t a good idea.
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What to Look for When Researching Your Potential Boss
Tweet Share on Facebook May 20, 2011 Comment (1)When you’re looking for a new job, your potential supervisor might not seem like an important criterion. But if you want to find an ideal job, one that you’ll want to work at for a while, your supervisor will have a lot of influence in your experience at the organization.
That’s where research comes into play. You can learn a lot about this individual by scouring their online profiles and company website to determine just how well you’ll get along with him or her. Here are some things to pay attention to:
Negative and/or positive status updates. Does your potential supervisor constantly complain about their staff or the company on social networking sites like LinkedIn or Twitter? This can be a good indicator that they’re unhappy at their job or don’t treat their staff with respect. On the flip side, does this person share praise about their staff or company? Do they seem happy in their job? Then you might be, too.
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The Most Important Piece of Career Advice for New Grads
Tweet Share on Facebook May 19, 2011 Comment (4)As graduation season approaches, I want to share the most important piece of advice I can offer. It’s not sexy, and it won’t appeal to your desire for immediate gratification. But if you follow it, it will lead to an energizing, engaging, inspiring career. And just as important, you will never find yourself in the unenviable position of needing to work with a career coach like me.
My work focuses on helping people find and create careers they love. Typically people come to me when the feeling of frustration and stuckness has become so intolerable that it forces them into action. They know they need to make a change, but they don’t know to what, or how.
Invariably one of the comments my clients make at some point is, “I wish I had done this sooner. I wish I had known this when I was just starting out.”
