Category Archives: Market
Five Tips for Standing Out in Your First Job
Adapted from Monster, Alexandra Levit hits some key points. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Hopefully, this isn’t news to recent college graduates, but the workplace is more competitive than ever. If you have a job already, congratulations — you’ve made it over the first hurdle. Now it’s time to make sure you can stay put through this economic crisis and beyond.
Here are five essential tips gleaned from working with HR staff, managers and twenty-something employees in hundreds of organizations.
1. Be the One Everyone Wants to Work With
Members of Generation Y, or those born roughly between 1978 and 1993, unfortunately, have a reputation of showing up to work with a sense of entitlement. Combat this perception by showing that you’re willing to pay your dues and learn from any assignment, owning your career progression and being a “can-do” person. If you encounter roadblocks, marshal your resources to get around them rather than letting a project languish.
2. Surpass Your Boss’s Expectations
Find out what the boss wants from you first, and then brainstorm ways to go above and beyond the call of duty. You can also establish a good rapport by making your new boss feel needed. Show that you are ready and willing to be guided, and bond over the fact that he has some years on you. Understand the value of self-sufficiency, and approach your boss with a problem or complaint only if you’ve explored all options for resolving it yourself.
3. Carve a Niche for Yourself Through Innovation
Ask yourself what your company or department needs, and think about how you can use your unique set of skills and talents to provide it. So what if you’re hardly a Renaissance man or woman? You’re still new blood. Can you offer a fresh perspective on a vexing problem that has been plaguing your managers for months? Can you find a way to do something faster and more efficiently?
4. Take the Extra Step to Help Someone
Beach-ball management, or bouncing a request over to a colleague because it’s not your responsibility to handle it, is all too common in the professional world. If someone asks you a question and you don’t know the answer, make it your business to find it. By doing whatever you can to ensure your department or organization is perceived in a positive light, you will add value and stand out as a team player.
5. Subtly Promote Your Achievements
If you want people to take notice of you, you must make your accomplishments visible. How do you share your contributions without being perceived as arrogant or boastful? The key is enthusiasm. If you emphasize your passion when describing an achievement, people will think you’re just excited about it. An excited person appears earnest, and it’s hard to be critical of someone who’s earnest.
Of course, these suggestions aren’t limited to new college grads. If you’ve been out of school two years or 20, the tips might well be worthwhile in hanging onto your job through the downturn.
{Alexandra Levit, a nationally recognized business and workplace expert, is the author of the They Don’t Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something’s Guide to the Business World.}
Use your head, in all aspects
Here is one of the many reasons why using your head is most important. Unless you want to be in debt forever and never expand your earning potential, I advise you think before you leap into one of these career fields.
No degree guarantees that a college graduate will earn more over a lifetime than a high school student. Worse still, there are many degrees where the average high school graduate will likely out-earn a college graduate.
If you’ve ever wanted to know the two main reasons why Americans decide not to go to college, the St. Louis Fed presented two convincing explanations. The more frightening of the two scenarios showed that, for students paying their own tuition, most will need a starting salary of $40,000 or better to overcome lifetime earnings of high school graduates.
How can it be that someone with a $40,000 starting salary can’t out-earn the average high school graduate? The reason is two-fold. Most college students forgo income while attending college. Also, given the average annual tuition of $25,000, a student paying his own way is facing a $100,000 college bill. Add the loss of income and the six-digit education tab, and graduates start their professional lives in a large financial hole.
If a starting salary of $40,000 is what it takes to overcome the high costs of going to college, you will want to know what degrees aren’t averaging the benchmark income. Georgetown pulled together statistics on average starting salary for many popular degrees. Below are five degrees with average starting salaries that may not be worth paying the costs for college.
Social Work
It’s great that you want to go to work every day and help others, but keep in mind that the average high school graduate will likely earn more money in his lifetime. Social work has an average starting salary of $30,000. Even those with experience can expect to find jobs at only $40,000.
Elementary Teachers
Recent college graduates have an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent. However, paying back your college loans might be a serious challenge. The average starting salary is only $33,000, and it’s not much better when you get experience. The average salary of an experienced teacher is $40,000.
Drama and Theater Arts
The riches and glamour of movie stars is not the reality of most college graduates with a drama and theater arts degree. Recent graduates can expect and average salary of $26,000 and an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent. With experience, however, majors can boost their salary to $45,000.
Family and Consumer Studies
Remember taking home economics in grade school? Family and consumer studies is a broad degree that explores how families interact in society, and home economics is one of the areas of study. While the degree might be practical, it only pays $30,000 per year for a college graduate and $43,000 for those with experience.
Anthropology and Archaeology
According to Georgetown’s statistics, it doesn’t pay well starting out as Indiana Jones. New graduates from degrees in anthropology and archaeology start earning at around $28,000. While starting salary is low, after a few years of experience, graduates in this field can earn up to $47,000. Unemployment for recent grads is very high at 10.5 percent.
So, should you avoid these degrees? Before you go changing your major, you need to understand that the starting salaries are based on averages. I’ve already discussed how misleading statistical decision-making can be. What this list should get you thinking about is this: Are you weighing the costs and the benefits before selecting a college? And are you looking at tuition and income specifically?
The main culprit driving the Fed research was paying a $100,000 tuition bill. That means that if you explore ways to lower college costs, any college degree could be a good investment. Perhaps it’s going to mean AP classes, a state school, or working hard to obtain scholarships. The point is that no college degree guarantees greater wealth and some degrees are riskier than others. If you want to increase your chances of your college degree increasing your earning potential, you need to think about the costs that go into obtaining a diploma and how you can minimize them.
Source: Yahoo News
The Long-Term Unemployed
I know this blog is usually one full of happy thoughts, words of wisdom, and ways to make things better. Unfortunately though, it’s crucial to take a step back and examine what’s really going on, whether it’s positive or negative. That being said, I think it’s important to understand that the economy really hasn’t improved all that much. I’m sure recent graduates, as well as more experienced candidates, are still feeling the pressures of finding and maintaining a job.
I found an article through NPR that was just written yesterday, December 12th. I think it has a lot of valuable information we all should be aware of. It’ll be easier for me to summarize the key points:
- The federal government currently counts 5.7 million Americans as long-term unemployed, which it defines as people out of work for 27 weeks or more.
- Only 13 percent of them said they are currently collecting unemployment benefits. The poll also interviewed people working part-time who want full-time work.
- Of these long-term unemployed and underemployed, 51 percent said they’ve borrowed money from friends or family to get by. Close to half say they’ve had trouble paying for housing and food, and one-third say they’ve changed their living situation to save money, including moving in with relatives and friends. Additionally, 9 percent say they’ve lost their home to foreclosure.
- One goal of the poll was to focus on personal and emotional health effects. About one-third said their mental and physical health is worse.
- About half of the long-term unemployed and underemployed said they currently have no health insurance, and 56 percent said they’ve put off getting health care that they needed.
- Not surprisingly, nearly a quarter said that lack of work has been hard on their marriages. But interestingly, almost as many said it had a positive effect on their relationships with their children.
- A majority of those polled say they don’t have much confidence they’ll get a job with sufficient pay and benefits. Nearly 70 percent would like the government to offer more job training opportunities and placement services, but only about 1 in 10 believe that government efforts to deal with the poor economy have helped them.
You can read the full article here.
This isn’t meant to be depressing, but it serves as a great reminder to those of us who are healthy, employed, and mentally & emotionally happy that we really ought to be grateful. There are 5.7 million Americans who are worse off than you. Your situation doesn’t seem that bad, now does it?
Happy Day
Happy, happy day. I absolutely love when the work days fly by. I literally caught myself saying “It’s already 11?… It’s already 1?… It’s 4?!” multiple times today. Even though it seems like I’m more rushed to get things done, it’s nice to not even think to look at the time. With so many projects and new processes at work, I’ve been nothing but busy. That’s why it’s important to get yourself involved with a company that is constantly growing, improving, and striving to do more.
It seems that I’ve finally picked myself back up and fallen into my trusty routine. It sure is nice when things finally fall together. Maybe it’s the weather and the fact that I was able to wear tights to work today (yipee!). Or maybe it’s because I finally found that contentedness I’ve been searching for. Whatever the case, I hope it’s here to stay.
Happy happy clam I am.
Enough about me. What would this blog be if I didn’t have some pearl of wisdom to share?
Check out Investopedia‘s 7 Job-Hunting Tips for 2011. I like these because I feel as though they relate better to recent graduates:
- Keep your social networking alive, well, and professional.
If you’ve been neglecting your LinkedIn account and playing Farmville instead, it’s time to switch gears and look at social networking as one more step in the successful job hunt. It’s fine to have accounts for personal social networking, but spend less time on those and lot more time on the profiles you have that relate to your past, current and future career. Get involved in local groups on LinkedIn, update your professional blog daily and follow professionals in your field on your Twitter account. A neglected or unprofessional social profile can hurt your job hunt, but a regularly updated and professionally focused social presence can open many doors. - Find a job with Twitter.
Twitter is useful for far more than to-the-minute updates on the personal lives of your favorite friends and/or celebrities. Twitter can help land you a new job. First, follow influential folks in your field. Keep up with what’s going on. Participate. Be part of the profession even if you’re still looking for a job. Second, use a Twitter search tool to look for jobs, conferences and networking opportunities with people in your field. Twitter can be just a time-waster, sure; but it can also be a way to connect with people in your profession, build relationships – and maybe even end up with the job you want. - Polish up your resume.
Social networking is a powerful way to get the contacts you need, but most often you’ll still have to send in a resume for those job applications. Don’t send an outdated resume in after you’ve updated your online presence. Make sure that both your resume and your online profiles are current and the best representation of your work experience and education. - Get active even (especially) if you’re unemployed.
Local connections are one of the most powerful ways to find a job; plus you’ll only get depressed if you sit at home in your sweats all day. Join local organizations, volunteer and get involved in your community. Use your expertise to help other people out. Offer free seminars in your church or community organization, write articles for the paper or mentor someone who’s new to the field. Staying up to date in your field and active in your community gives you something to say when those potential employers ask, “So what have you been doing in the last six months?” - Look for ways to be an expert.
If you’re a recent graduate looking for your first job, then that whole “work experience” section of the resume is often a painful subject. You may not be able to fill it up with years on the job, but do what you can to establish some expertise in your area. Attend conferences and seminars, take classes and get certifications. Write articles or author a blog. Interview professionals in your field; visit places that are relevant to your field; contribute to journals, blogs, papers, online groups and professional organizations.
- Check out your freelancing options.
Downsizing isn’t a word most of us like, but it does have one potential benefit. More downsizing means more outsourcing, which means that many companies are looking to hire freelancers on a contractual basis to do all those jobs that still have to be done. Search local classifieds and job boards for listing for freelance, temporary or contract jobs, which are predicted to keep growing in number in 2011. Sure, it may not be how you want to work long-term, but it can help you stay afloat financially, keep getting that work experience and establish more connections in your network. When those companies do start hiring, you’ll already be a name they know.
- Tap into your social network.
Don’t be reticent when it comes to letting people know that you’re looking for work. No, you don’t want to attack your friends and family members with a day-to-day account of your job hunting exploits, but simply mentioning that you’re looking for work in XYZ field can be helpful. Chat up strangers and you never know what kind of connections you’ll make. There’s a reason it’s called social networking. (The CFA Institute provides members with a variety of ongoing career and networking benefits.
The Bottom Line
Finding a great job is about more than practicing interview techniques, crossing your fingers, and hoping that your persistence really will pay off. It’s about using the resources at your fingertips, in your community, and in your network. Get smart with your job hunt in 2011, and you could be the one handing out tips for 2012.
Keep ‘em comin’ Texas and South Carolina!
I despise being the bearer of bad news. But let’s face it. Not everything can be good all the time. And someone has to do it.
The most we can do is embrace the negative while reminding ourselves to look for the positive. There’s a little bit of positive in everything if you search hard enough. If you can’t find it, take another gander.
On January 25th, the Labor Department stated that the unemployment rate rose in 20 states and fell in 15. It was unchanged in another 15 states. This rate is eerily close to the rate last November, which goes to show that the job market is barely improving, even though the economy is growing. Hiring is expected to pick up this year, but unfortunately the unemployment rate is likely to remain high.
Employers aren’t helping the situation either- as of last month, they have added little to no jobs. The number of jobs on employer payrolls fell in 35 states in December, while only 15 states have reported gains. Not looking too hot, huh?
On the bright side, good ol’ Texas and South Carolina reported the largest net job gains in December. Texas added 20,000 positions and South Carolina gained 9,000. Yep, you’re welcome!
It may be wise to steer clear of Nevada though. Due to the massive housing bust, they now hold the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 14.5%. California reported the second highest rate at 12.5%, followed by Florida at 12%. (I know, I was shocked by this as well.)
On the up-side, North Dakota had an extremely low unemployment rate in December, at 3.8%, one of the nation’s lowest! Nebraska and South Dakota weren’t far behind, with rates of 4.4% and 4.6% respectively.
Now, this isn’t meant to be a downer post. This is more of a what-job-to-choose-and-where-to-live realization post. Just because unemployment rates are extremely low in Nevada, California, and Florida doesn’t mean you won’t land a job there. Likewise, just because Texas and South Carolina added tons of jobs doesn’t necessarily mean landing one will be a piece of cake. You just never know.
In order to convert this message from a mostly negative one to a positive one, just remember one thing. While some states are suffering, others are not. Just be smart when it comes to which one you choose. Trust me, you’ll be happy you did.
Come on, economy. Show your new grads some love!
I can’t believe it is already mid-September. I feel like just yesterday it was August, and I was packing my life up to move to Texas. Not to mention the fact that I’ve been working in my new position for almost a month now! How wild is that?
After reading a large number of Yahoo articles, I found a few that were quite interesting. My focus for this post will be on the economic pain that was supposed to ease in July, yet didn’t. For the sake of your eyes and mine, I am mostly going to summarize this article because it can be quite confusing with its “fancy” AP Economic Stress Index. I haven’t lost you already, have I?
Who should read this post: Those of you still looking for a job because you may be looking in the wrong states! Read more below to understand why and where you should be looking.
First of all, this AP Economic Stress Index is basically a tool economists use to calculate economic stress for particular states by looking at three rates: unemployment, bankruptcy, and foreclosure rates. This index is on a scale of 1 to 100. So, just like in elementary school, a higher score means MORE economic stress. As a rule of thumb, a county is considered to be under economic stress if its score exceeds 11. (Hahaha)
For July, about 42% of counties were found to be stressed. If you’ve been looking at these states for job openings, you may want to think again and refine your search:
“Nevada, with a score of 22.1, was again the most stressed state. Put another way, 1 in 4.5 Nevadans in July was either unemployed, owned a home in some stage of foreclosure or had filed for bankruptcy. Rounding out the top five-most-stressed states were Michigan (17.44), California (16.88), Florida (15.94) and Arizona (15.41). (Trust me, I too was upset when I read this. Bummer.)
The healthiest state was North Dakota with a stress score of 4.24. Its score dipped slightly from June, aided by a lower unemployment rate. Next best were South Dakota (5.05), Nebraska (5.92), Vermont (6.29) and Wyoming (7.13).
The national unemployment rate remained the same from June to July, at 9.5 percent. So did the foreclosure rate (one in 62 homes) and the average state’s bankruptcy rate (1.2 percent).
The government stated the unemployment rate for August ticked up to 9.6 percent. Most economists say it will take years for the rate to drop to near 5 percent, where it was when the recession began in late 2007.
Economic stress fell mostly in the Western states of Alaska (7.96), Colorado (11.07), Montana (7.9) and Wyoming; the Plains states of Nebraska and North Dakota; and the Southeastern states of Alabama (11.73), Louisiana (9.17) and Tennessee (12.33). The main reason for the improvement was seasonal job gains.
The states that endured the sharpest month-over-month increases in stress were Michigan, New Jersey (12.79), California, Connecticut (10.71) and Rhode Island (13.44). These states have struggled with high unemployment and foreclosures.
The most stressed counties with populations of at least 25,000 were concentrated in California and Nevada. Leading the way, as it has for more than a year, was Imperial County, Calif.(34.28), followed by Yuma County, Ariz. (30.6); Lyon County, Nev. (26.89); Nye County, Nev. (25.66); and Merced County, Calif. (25).
The least-stressed were Ward County, N.D. (3.16), followed by Burleigh County, N.D.(3.68); Brown County, S.D.(3.9); Buffalo County, Neb.(4.16); and Ford County, Kan. (4.47).”
Economic conditions likely will stay static until after the November elections. Then, the stock market may respond positively to the results and kick-start the economy. Come on, economy. Show your new grads some love!
Information Credit: Mike Schneider and Martin Crutsinger
Photo Credit: http://www.somaticvision.com/img/apple_green.jpg
You’ve tried everything, now what?
Maybe finding a job just isn’t in the cards right now. You’ve done everything I’ve said on this blog (and more, I hope!), yet your fate is still undetermined… also known as unemployed. Don’t worry because that’s completely normal. I do believe that starting a career takes a lot on your end, but a lot of it may also be due to a little thing I call LUCK. I think my situation is a prime example because of a couple of reasons. I do attribute a lot of my success to the preparation I put in beforehand. I had started applying for jobs way early during my last semester of college. After not receiving a number of phone calls, I took a break and decided to enjoy my last semester as a college student. After I graduated, I restarted my job search. After getting a couple of offers, I realized that those particular jobs were not exactly what I wanted to pursue. Okay, now get this! The company I happily work for now was one I didn’t even apply for! Somehow, out of the millions of resumes and cover letters floating around in cyberspace, THEY found ME. So yes, I did prepare as much as I could to be a top candidate for any position… but in the end, I was lucky and fortunate to have been located on the internet and contacted for a position. 
So even if a career isn’t quite working in your favor right now, you still have another option. Yep, you guessed it! Graduate School. (By the way, I plan on going to Graduate School, I just think the picture to the right holds some truth.)
From medicine to education to business to law, going to a prominent institution for your Master’s Degree or P.h.D may be very beneficial to your future career (and your resume!) This article by Brian Burnsed from U.S. News & World Report really covers what a lot of recent grads may be feeling:
In the wake of 2008′s housing crisis and the recession that ensued, college graduates are finding it harder than ever to penetrate the job market. Many now find themselves competing against recently laid off workers who possess a decade or more of experience. Though it’s been nearly two years since the onset of the financial meltdown, the country’s unemployment rate still hovers near 10 percent. Rather than wade into such a treacherous job market, many have opted to try their hand at graduate school. Plus, many who were laid off are opting to apply to grad school either to enhance or change the direction of their careers entirely. The combination of these factors, plus changes in financial aid, has caused a precipitous rise in graduate school applications at many institutions. In 2009, for instance, Duke University saw a 33 percent hike in applications and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saw a 15 percent jump.
Little has shifted at the top of this year’s rankings of major graduate programs. Harvard University once again took the top spot in medicine and tied Stanford University for first in business. Yale University continued its near two-decade-long streak as the nation’s best law school. Stanford not only tied for the top spot in the business rankings, but ranked highly among law schools, finishing third. Also making the top five in both categories is the University of Chicago, which moved from sixth to fifth in the law school rankings.
Harvard and Stanford also place in the top five in the rankings of schools of education. Vanderbilt University once again ranks No. 1 in this category. MIT repeats as the top-ranked engineering school, with the top five remaining unchanged from last year: Stanford, University of California—Berkeley, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign.
Also, this year, U.S.News & World Report has refreshed its rankings of Ph.D. programs in various scientific fields. These rankings, updated every four years, include biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth science, mathematics, physics and statistics. The California Institute of Technology headlines the new rankings, with top billing in three categories: chemistry, earth sciences and physics. Stanford also measured well against its peers in the sciences, having the top Ph.D. program in both biological science and statistics. Other schools that took the top spots in the new rankings are Carnegie Mellon University (computer science) and MIT (mathematics).
In an effort to add more color to our coverage of graduate programs, we’re introducing Q&As with admissions officials at business and law schools across the country. These features are designed to give potential applicants a chance to read how the schools describe, in their own words, what they look for in students and how to approach the application process on a school-by-school basis. The Q&As will feature schools of different sizes and in different regions across a wide spectrum of our rankings. This will give students of all backgrounds and varied interests more confidence as they take on the often daunting applications to these professional programs.
Photo Source: http://www.sfnewshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gradschool1.png
Finance: Learn it, live it, love it.
Finances. We all know it isn’t fun, unless of course you majored in it. But even then, you probably still don’t thoroughly enjoy it. This article has been one of the most (if not THE most) helpful when it comes to financial decision making.
After countless hours of studying, late nights, final exams and some parties, it’s now time to head out into the “real world”… or at least that’s what everyone has been calling it as long as you can remember.
When moving on to the adult phase of your life, be sure to take care of your financial situation. Your actions now will have significant impact on how the rest of your life shapes up financially.
Many older adults look back and say the number one thing they wish they would have done differently was learned about money management while they were young. Here’s your chance to jump start your finances!
Financial Tips for New Grads
- Get health care coverage immediately. If it hasn’t already, your parent’s health care coverage will probably end with your graduation. Get a quote for an individual health insurance plan or sign up with your new employer’s plan. Going without coverage could have a devastating effect on your finances if you have a severe illness or accident. Make this the first thing you do… and don’t put it off!
- Get your own home and auto insurance. Now that you aren’t a student, you’ll need to get your own auto and renters insurance policies. Start by calling your current insurer, you might be eligible for a discount based on the length of time you’ve been with the company, but don’t forget to shop around to save on insurance premiums.
- Save money for your future self. Join the retirement plan at work. If you are young and your company offers it, you may want to explore the Roth 401k at work. In addition to your plan at work, begin saving money on your own for both retirement and other goals. Now may be the perfect opportunity to save a lot and use the reverse savings strategy before you have lots of financial obligations (kids, house, etc.)
- Start an emergency fund. Earmark some of your first dollars from your new job to build up a savings account to serve as an emergency fund. You never know when an emergency will hit, but it is inevitable.
- Learn about taxes. What? I know, this isn’t a fun one. However, hopefully you’re going to go from a poor college student to a highly paid worker. With that luxury comes higher taxes. Educate yourself about taxes, and you’ll be able to take advantage of incentives and deductions to cut your tax bill. Pay particular attention to the student loan interest deduction and the savers credit for retirement savings contributions.
- Begin payments on student loans. Begin paying your student loans right away. Your future self will thank you.
- Handle credit cards wisely. Use credit cards carefully to earn cash rewards. Always pay your balance in full every month. If you ran up some credit card debt while in school, begin paying it off aggressively. To save interest while paying it off you may want to transfer the balance to a 0% balance transfer credit card or explore other ideas in how to payoff credit card debt.
- Create savings goals. Before you commit your paycheck away, create savings goals. As a new grad, you may want to focus on retirement or a down-payment for a house.
- Spend money slowly. It can be very tempting with a new job to buy a new car and rent a fancy apartment. Not so fast! Wait a few months to see how your finances work out.
- Follow your heart. Did you meet the man or woman of your dreams at school? If so, and you are planning a wedding in the future, don’t forget to keep these money-saving tips in mind! Especially when planning a wedding or buying the ring!
This isn’t necessarily fun stuff, but it’s stuff you have to know. Keep things in perspective: at least now you won’t look like an idiot when filling out your tax forms!
Thank you to mydollarplan.com for this amazing article!
Photo Credit: http://jerryong.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/money-tree.jpg
Resilient as ever.
Why, hello there. I apologize for being incredibly M.I.A. lately. I feel as though I’ve been running around trying to get 730265 things done in such a short amount of time. Per an incident this past Sunday, I will be leaving to search for apartments on my own time. I am working through the many frustrations this past week has brought me, but I feel as though I am conquering them tremendously.
As usual, I was schlepping around on the internet and finally came across a humorous article that talks about what it takes for new graduates to get an entry-level job. Once again, I may not agree with everything stated in this article, but in my opinion, it’s always best to get numerous points of view before forming your own opinion:
Alright, college grads, here it is: the real deal about finding work in this economy. Let’s start with the obvious: more than anyone else in three generations, you got macro-screwed with the economy. But you are not only screwed, you are also human… and that means you are resilient as all hell.
The human spirit does not die, and does not wilt, in the face of long term adversity.
Like lupine flowers after a forest fire, the human spirit blooms when challenged. You are going to bloom. In direct defiance of your struggles, you are going to keep driving forward until you bloom bright as all hell, even if it kills you. Why? Because you are human, you are resilient, and you have… no… other… option.
So get ready, this is going to sting. It’s also what you need to get yourself ready for a work life you never expected.
10 Things That You Need to Know to Land an Entry Level Job
1. I’m not hiring a resume. I’m hiring a person.
The resume is a proxy. A sketch. A thumbnail. A cheap representation meant to give someone just enough of a taste of you to want to experience the whole person. YouTube creates thumbnails automatically. Do you care? Of course not. But guess what would happen if YouTube let people design their own thumbnails. Let me help you: people would freak out. They’d spend hours on those little boxes. They’d recalibrate their videos to ensure awesome thumbnails, most likely by including a gratuitous shot of a hot, bikini-clad woman and then selecting that frame for the thumb. And how much additional value would you and I get from that? Zero. None. Zip. All it would do is create noise and confusion: all the thumbs would look the same—”Oh, look, there’s another pic of Marisa Miller… with the headline ‘BBQ hijinx.’ WTH?” So when it comes to your resume, stop freaking out. Figure out what it needs to say, make it say it, and move on.
2. Working for someone else only sucks until you realize… you’re an idiot.
Dilbert, “The Office,” and Office Space haven’t done society any favors. Portraying bosses as universally bumbling idiots—while often hilarious—may have left you with the mistaken impression that working for a boss = selling your soul. OK, let’s run with that idea a moment: you opt out of the corporate track and start your own gig. You’re successful. Great! Then what happens? Oh, right: you need to hire people to work for you. Except you can’t hire anyone because the people you want, before even meeting you, decide that you’re an idiot and refuse to work for you. (You must be an idiot, you’re a boss.) What a shame, because you’re not an idiot, you’re being prejudged… unfairly! We could play this out further to reinforce the point other ways, but hopefully this is enough to show you that your logic is faulty, your reasoning is bunk, and the only reason you don’t want to work for a boss is because your ego has fooled you into thinking that you—with no training, no experience, and no clue—could do better. (Nice try.)
3. This is worth touching on a second time: Working for someone else only sucks until you consider the alternatives
So, you want to start your own gig? Maybe raise a little moolah to do it? OK, here’s a test: (1) Were you born into the Lucky Sperm Club? (2) Do you know what you will do for health insurance? (3) Are you prepared to send your own faxes, make your own copies, answer customer complaints yourself, work 20 hours a day, hear from everyone how much they don’t approve of what you’re doing, suck up to them anyway because you need them as customers, not know what your income is going to be month-to-month, earn probably something like $10k your first year in business, mock franchisees for being fauxpreneurs, not be able to get a bank loan for two years (because they want to see your paycheck or 2 years of steady earnings before they’ll give you one of those!), and convert all your friends into customers whom you will probably piss off and lose (both as friends and customers) within 3 years? ANSWER KEY: Even if you answered “yes” to all three questions, it doesn’t matter. True entrepreneurs don’t have time for articles like this. If you’re reading this, you’re job bait. Sorry.
4. Interviewing. Also known as, “Going through your day.”
You are always on. Always. Because you never know where the opportunity lies, and you’re not earning enough right now to turn up your nose at anything. Imagine the scene: you go to have lunch with a friend. You don’t know this, but the friend’s dad is hiring and needs someone with your skill set. If you keep everything purely social, your friend won’t have the information s/he needs to make the connection and put you and his/her dad together. Even if you do share what you’re looking for, if you act like a moron, your friend will be too embarrassed to make the connection. Upshot; even when just “hanging out,” you’re still interviewing. If this sounds like one of those final exams where you know you’re going to get a single essay question but don’t know what the question will be, then you get it.
5. Schadenfreude makes you ugly.
You probably don’t think about the TV you watch at night as having an impact on your job searching activities during the day. More likely, you see your TV and movie viewing habits as an escape. And sometimes, that’s true. But more often than you realize, the crap you fill your head with infiltrates your personality. Example: you love E! You love watching about all the crazies in LA and who’s banging who this week. You get your nightly fill, go to bed, and wake up ready to tackle the day and… hey, a call back! You’re talking to this recruiter and, to make small talk, you share something you learned about Lindsey or Katie or the Gosselins, or some other flavor of the week. It’s a great conversation, but when he hangs up, the recruiter has an uneasy feeling about you. Why? Because in the back of his brain, beneath his consciousness, his psyche is screaming at him: “That person’s a gossip! You don’t want that here—it’s not worth the risk that the gossip goes from famous people to intercube relationships!” And… you’re done.
6. If the statement you’re about to make requires explanation or a pre-emptive apology, skip it.
I don’t care how funny it is! A good rule of thumb is if it requires backstory or a pre-emptive apology in order to be taken “the right way,” it’s inappropriate. Note well: some people can naturally tell off-color stories without being offensive. It’s not necessarily about the words you use, it’s about who says ‘em, too. The only exception to this is that pesky job interview, where you need to be on your best behavior and not do anything that would give someone a reason to fire you. Oh yeah, and don’t forget that you are ALWAYS interviewing…. next.
7. Once in the process, don’t try to get yourself hired. Instead, try to not get cut.
When you try to get yourself hired, you look desperate. Trying to get hired makes you do things like make one phone call too many, share one piece of information too much, or go one inch too far over the line. Don’t take that risk. Instead, concentrate on making yourself Teflon: assume the company has already decided you might be their guy/gal and is now looking for any flaw they may have overlooked. Don’t give them anything that sticks.
8. Gaps in your history? Own ‘em.
Did you muck up? Own it. When asked about it, (wo)man up, share what happened, why it happened, and what you learned from it. Not in a fumbly, apologetic way, but with conviction and certainty. Then, don’t explain that you won’t make the same mistake again, demonstrate behaviors that indicate you are a changed person. For example, maybe you were fired from a sales job for not making quota. You are asked why you left your last job. You might be tempted to say, “I had a jerk of a boss who didn’t support me and fired me in order to cover his own butt.” But instead, you will show maturity and a learning orientation, by saying something like, “I was in the wrong field. My boss did me the greatest favor he could have done—for two years I had struggled to make quota, and he saw something I didn’t want to see: I’m not built for enterprise sales. I was great at the one-on-one relationships, but I don’t have a mind for those types of products. He fired me. And angry as I was, I called him two weeks later and thanked him. He’s been a mentor to me since and helped capitalize on my strengths and understand what kind of opportunities I’ll really excel at… which is what led me to want to work with you. I think this is a much better fit; I don’t see quotas being an issue with the type of selling we’re talking about me doing here.” (Did you notice how you owned your problem long before the interview, by going back and reconnecting with your old boss? Ownership doesn’t mean don’t lie, it means OWN!)
9. Your degree may already be obsolete
We only need so many psychologists, marketers, and lawyers in the world… especially when our long term recovery is going to require engineers, scientists, infrastructure experts, climatologists, food production experts, health care specialists, water experts, and the like. Before you freak out that you studied the wrong thing, remember: it’s a lot easier for you to switch gears than someone who is trained in a dying field both by education and experience. Open your eyes and look around. The game is changing in real time. Roll with it.
10. Learn to sell.
No matter what happens in the world, no matter what kind of job you get, you will have to sell. Maybe you’ll sell products to consumers, maybe you’ll sell ideas to top management. Whichever, you’ll need to understand the steps of establishing trust, building relationships, learning about needs, pitching solutions, closing, and following up. More than understand them, you’ll need to experience them, because they don’t always feel the way you think they would. Whatever you do, look for opportunities to learn sales. You will not regret it.
Now get out there… and stay out there… until you make something happen!
Thank you to Jason Seiden, Willy Franzen, and OneDayOneJob for this article.
Photo Credit: http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/blogs/investorcentric/uploaded_images/College-graduate-jobs-777456.jpg
The P Word.
I have already started this week off under the “productive” category. Yes, I categorize my days (don’t
laugh!). Yesterday, one of my best friends and I woke up at 6am (after going to bed at 1am) and decided to venture over to Starbucks and Einstein’s for a much needed breakfast. Needless to say, this is a rare occasion for both of us because we love to sleep in. After our delicious rendezvous, we continued to be productive by getting our oil changed and cars washed. I also bought a new car battery since mine was running on, oh, 4 years now. It literally wouldn’t start if I turned my hazards on for even a millisecond.
On this note of productivity, I have been determined to keep it going all week. It feels so amazing to get things done early in the morning. By the end of the day, you’ll be sitting in bed drinking a hot cup of chai tea, curled up with a good book (as I often do) and realize how incredible it feels to be productive. I feel as though today has been an equally productive day as well.
After searching many random websites, I went to one of my many “daily visited” sites: Amazon. For those of you who know me, I love books. I am an absolute bookworm and definitely have nerdy tendencies (fortunately, I still have social skills). I typed in “Best Books for College Grads”, and what do you know? A list pops up. And as always, I trust Amazon because they know me entirely too well! Ladies and Gentleman, I present you with the best books for recent grads:
1. Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path In Life by Mike Marriner (New: $10, Used: $2)
2. Darius in the Meantime by Devin O’Shea (New: $13, Used: $7)
3. The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide: Figuring Out Who You Are, What You Want, and Where You’re Going After College by Marcos Salazar (New: $13, Used: $4)
4. Rules of the Red Rubber Ball: Find and Sustain Your Life’s Work by Kevin Carroll (New: $10, Used: $3)
5. Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis: Advice from Twentysomethings Who Have Been There and Survived by Alexandra Robbins (New: $10, Used: $2)
Gotta love Amazon for keeping track of what you purchase in order to offer you fabulous recommendations. Happy Reading!
Photo Credit: http://www.wpromote.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/pile-of-papers1.jpg
