Internships - A Great Way to Develop Skills, Gain Experience, and Get a Foot in the Door

Summer is almost here, and it's a great time to relax and recharge.  But it's also an opportunity to get a jumpstart on a potential career.    Internships are a great way to gain experience, and make for a valuable addition to your resume.    They also have the potential of turning into regular employment down the road, assuming you make a great impression wherever you intern (and we're sure you will!).

Check with your career guidance office, Monster.com, and CareerBuilder.com for internship opportunities in your areas of interest.   And a still tight economy, employers are open to smart, energetic, new faces who are willing to learn, and who they may be able to develop into valued employees in the future.

Seven Steps for Setting Your Goals

Zig Ziglar listed seven steps for goal setting.    Follow these steps and you'll put yourself in a great position to know what you want, and get what you want.

1.   Identify exactly what you want and write this down.
2.   Spell out why you want to reach these goals.
3.   List the obstacles you'll have to overcome.
4.   Identify people, groups, and organizations you'll need to work with.
5.   Identify what you'll need to know.
6.   Develop a plan of action you'll need to follow.
7.   Come up with a specific date for reaching each goal.

Have the OTI Presentation at your location

Call or email me to schedule the Own the Interview presentation for your college, high school, church, civic, or community group. I'll teach your members how to interview effectively. Contact me today. Thanks, Marty
610-823-6956
Owntheinterview@comcast.net

"In the Spring, there will be Growth".

To quote Peter Sellers' character Chaunce the Gardener in "Being There", the exuberant early 2013 stock market has been reflecting a more positive mood of late among consumers (although more recent data may be showing the economic dampening effects of the 2% increase in the payroll tax that everyone started feeling with their first 2013 pay checks). And if consumers feel a little better, then businesses do too, and are more willing to put up the "Hiring" sign. And that's what's been happening lately, with slight upticks in hiring, especially in the tech and healthcare sectors.

If you've been on the sidelines disheartened by the job outlook, look at what skills you have that can translate into these industries and others, and start applying again. Hiring managers are more active now then they have been in quite awhile.

Consider Interning

With the job market for new grads being very limited, new grads need to strongly consider interning. Companies are leaner than they've ever been and, in many industries, have less employees doing a lot more work than before. In the right situations, they will be open to taking on highly motivated recent graduates in internship positions. An internship well done could lead to actual employment opportunities with the same company, and if not, you'll still gain invaluable real-world experience. Check out Career Builder, Monster and Dice for internship listings.

How much is that liberal arts degree worth in the job market?

On Drudge yesterday, there was a link to an interesting article in the Washington Examiner which repeated a recurring theme lately; that higher education may be the next bubble to burst.

With family finances tight, loans getting harder to come by, and everyone wary of taking on more debt, it seems that those college bound students and their parents are starting to scrutinize whether spending $200,000 on a bachelors in religious and women's studies makes any kind of sense considering the likelihood that the degree will likely never translate into a job that will pay off that kind of exorbitant debt.

What should today's middle school, high school, and college students do? Think about what they really like to do, but then start going for targeted technical education in that area. You'll spend less, and most likely be more employable.

How to Own The Interview!

If you've landed an interview in this economy, let us be the first to say, Congratulations!   Now that you have an interview, you have to seize this opportunity.    In today's ecomony, there are many more people competing for a lot less jobs.   You HAVE to stand out!    Here's how:

Get "Fit"
Your interviewer wants to find out ONE thing – whether you will FIT - with them, the position, your co-workers, the organization. Because of this, spend the bulk of your prep time finding out everything you can about the position, company, and your future boss. Then review your background and note your skills, experience, and accomplishments that fit best with the position.

Here’s the Pitch
In the interview, you’re selling yourself. And like any good salesperson, you want to “Wow” your interviewer with a powerful opening pitch that will persuade them to buy. Develop a two-minute pitch about yourself by incorporating your strongest, most relevant accomplishments, skills, and experience into it. Note awards won. If your nickname was “The Closer” for solving problems, include this. Use measurable accomplishments when possible. Tweak your pitch until it is perfect.

Questions
DO NOT memorize answers to hundreds of questions. It can’t be done, it’s a poor use of prep time, and it adds to interview anxiety.

DO prepare answers to some likely questions like; why are you looking?, describe your worst boss, what was your greatest challenge?
Always be positive in your responses. If you’re asked a question that you haven’t prepared for, think back to your sales pitch as it may contain an answer you can expand on.

Attitude
Be positive, confident, and enthusiastic. Surveys have shown enthusiasm is often the tie-breaker among otherwise equally qualified candidates.
Do NOT be humble. Many in the over 40 crowd don’t like to take credit for a job well done. If you saved your company $1 million, developed a great product, etc., SAY IT! No one else can say it for you. DO NOT SAY “it was nothing”. There are two reasons why that’s a bad idea;
1) the interviewer might believe you, and
2) the next candidate in the reception area may have no problem saying how great they are.

Salary
If asked, "so how much are you looking for?", do not answer with an amount. Usually, the first person who gives a number loses.
While negotiation is a subject in itself, try your best to politely defer the salary discussion. Use some side-stepping responses like; “I’m confident that we’ll be able to work something out that we’ll both be comfortable with.” etc. If the interviewer says you can’t leave until you give a number, give at most a salary range.

Stick the Dismount
Late in the interview, you’ll be asked if you have any questions. Here are two tactical questions you can ask that can help you seal the deal.

“Do you have any concerns about my qualifications?” The goal is to find out any remaining objections about yourself and addressing them on the spot. Successfully doing this can move you from being a strong candidate to the BEST candidate. A secondary benefit is that this question shows you have guts since you can’t know with certainty what the interviewer’s lingering concerns might be. However, you can anticipate them during your prep by noting aspects of the job that may not synch perfectly with your background (lack of technical experience, career change, etc.).

“How do I compare to the other candidates?”. The interviewer’s response can tell you where you are in the order of interviewing and in the rankings, and may provide you with more feedback on strengths or weaknesses the interviewer sees in you.

First Impressions
A Robert Half International survey showed that a majority of hiring managers formed an opinion of a candidate within 12 minutes. And the clock starts the moment the interviewer meets you. So to make a great first impression, make sure your clothes are clean and pressed, hair is coiffed, shoes are polished, and piercings are removed. Arrive early. Treat everyone you meet respectfully. Greet the interviewer with a firm handshake and a “Hello”.    Follow these steps and you’ll dramatically improve your chances of turning an interview into an offer.

Signs of Hope in Tech

Wall Street Journal is reporting that tech job listings on career sites are up 22% from this time a year ago. Whether this is a short term bump, or a predictor of a long term change, it's good news either way. Here's
the article.

Does Grad School ALWAYS Improve Job Prospects?

The mantra for years has been that more education equals more opportunities. But is this always true? Part of it depends on the type of education. The link here is to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education that challenges the value of graduate degrees in the Humanities. It's one thing to go for a certification in your current line of work, or to study for a specialized technical skill. But that Masters degree in History or English, while intellectually stimulating, may leave you deeper in debt down the road, with no more career prospects.

Turn Your Pitch Into A Video Resume

You need to be creative in this job market. Careerbuilder has 10 creative ways to get your name, and accomplishments in front of employers. One way is to create a brief video resume of yourself. You can create this using the principles of the pitch that we discuss elsewhere here on the blog. Click here to see the Careerbuilder article.

Older workers - Shave the 'Stache!

Follow these tips to spruce up your exterior to make yourself look younger and hipper.

What Employers Want

I've linked to a very interesting interview in the NY Times with Bobbi Brown, founder of Bobbi Brown cosmetics. She says it takes her only two minutes to know whether she'll hire someone (same length of time it takes to deliver your personal sales pitch). She also gives other insights on what she as a CEO thinks is important to getting and keeping a job, and starting a career. Read the interview here.

50 Best Careers of 2010

If you're thinking "career change" or want to know how your current career rates as being either "hot" or "not", this US News and World Report article lists the jobs and careers that look promising in an otherwise challenging job market in 2010.

Insider Secrets to Getting Hired

Liz Wolgemuth of US News and World Report writes a helpful article of useful tips for getting hired.    Some of the themes are familiar but always bear repeating;  neatness counts, and watch the small stuff.   Also, hiring managers can read body language, and you should be aware of yours during the interview.

Finding a Job in 2010

Here's a video from the Wall Street Journal on finding a job in a down economy.