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Your #Career : Exactly How To Position Yourself As A First-Time Jobseeker…Here’s what “Personal Branding” Looks Like When you Don’t have Much Work Experience to Draw On.

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If you’re kicking off an entry-level job search, standing out in a sea of qualified candidates can be tough. After all, your work experience is likely limited to internships, and your academic credentials may be a hit or miss as far as an employer’s needs are concerned.

20 yr old hired

So how do you break through? It’s all about positioning. You simply need to create an identity for yourself that not only sets you apart but that prospective employers find desirable. But what makes that challenge different from the typical advice on personal branding is that new jobseekers don’t have much of an employment record with which to build their profiles. Here’s what to do instead.

“PERSONALITY” MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH

When I interview entry-level candidates, almost all of them who show up are capable of doing the job. That’s because I’ve screened out applicants who don’t have the basic skills required for the position. So most candidates who make it over that first bar are pretty similar to one another.

Getting from that initial pool of interviewees to actually landing a job offer takes more than just researching the company or doing some mock interviews. You also need to think about how to sell your skill set for the job you’re interviewing for. While that sounds intuitive, it’s part of the interview preparation that many candidates overlook—possibly because to them, their credentials may seem self-evident, especially for an entry-level role that may involve a good deal of grunt work.

But companies aren’t just looking for any old pair of hands to do a low-level job. They’re investing in someone with the potential to stick around and, hopefully, do higher-level work. So in order to drive home what makes you appealing and distinctive in an interview, you first need to understand what the employer considers appealing and distinctive.

 

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START ASKING QUESTIONS

The best place to start is to figure out what makes employees in that job successful. All you have to do is ask. Entry-level jobseekers may think it’s overkill to sign up for LinkedIn Premium, but it can help. This way you can search for alumni from your school who already have the type of job you’re interviewing for. (Sometimes universities’ own alumni databases aren’t all that up to date or comprehensive, whereas most people are pretty good about keeping current on LinkedIn.)

Get in touch and ask questions about what skills, qualities, and characteristics an entry-level candidate needs to possess in order to succeed in that role. You can reach out to fellow alumni or even just with connections you have in common on LinkedIn. Ask them if they remember which traits they themselves touted most on their job interviews. And be sure to ask what will get an employee promoted to the next level up from there later on.

Since most employers are hiring entry-level candidates to fill immediate positions and advance over time, it’s important to have a big-picture understanding of the type of candidates your interviewer is looking to hire.

EXPLAIN HOW YOUR SKILLS REFLECT WHO YOU ARE

Now that you’ve pinned down the role’s major success factors, it’s time to have a closer look at your skills. Remember: An interviewer doesn’t really expect you to have much experience for an entry-level job, so it all comes down to skills.

Break those down into a list of your hard and soft skills. Find the common denominators, then turn that into a coherent narrative, not just a series of qualities.

So for instance, if you’ve learned that the junior art director job you’re interviewing for requires you to be creative and a little edgy, that’s how to position yourself. Make sure your portfolio includes work you’ve done in school or during an internship that reflects that attitude and shows your technical competence, too. Let your interviewer know that your art professors and other students appreciated your ability to think ahead of the curve and find solutions to visual or design challenges on the fly. And offer an anecdote about a time that actually happened, don’t just assert that it’s true.

Whether or not your interviewer remembers all the specific details doesn’t really matter; if you’ve positioned yourself well, they’ll certainly remember what you stand for.

DON’T LET YOUR FOLLOW-UP GO TO WASTE

You can reinforce your positioning in your follow-up, too. If you just interviewed for an entry-level sales role and presented yourself as someone with great closing skills, demonstrate that. Go beyond the typical thank-you email and highlight what makes you such a strong closer.

It doesn’t hurt to expand on a point you didn’t get to touch on that much on the interview, as long as it’s relevant. You might mention that, since you’re now at the end of the interview process, you hope you’ve managed to close the deal—and that that’s a skill you’ve been working on. Maybe you picked up some closing techniques in your summer internship or during mock sales calls in a class during your senior year. Or you could simply link to an article you just read on the subject.

Whatever your approach, you’re using that last interaction with an interviewer to extend a point you’ve already built up during the interview process—and, hopefully, proving that the way you positioned yourself actually had substance. Validating that in your follow-up email can go a long way to landing you the job you want. And best of all, you don’t need a long resume with impressive experience to do it.

Don Raskin is a senior partner at MME, an advertising and marketing agency in New York City. He is also the author of The Dirty Little Secrets of Getting Your Dream Job.

 

FastCompany.com |  DON RASKIN | 10.26.16 5:00 AM

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Your #Career : 20 Signs That You Should Quit Your Job (Infographic)..If You can Relate to Many of These Signs, It’s Time to Rethink Your 9 to 5.

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For most of us, we spend at least 40 hours a week at our jobs. That’s a lot of time. So if you’re not feeling passionate about the work you’re doing or notice you’re not growing professional, maybe it’s time to rethink your nine to five.

business woman with her staff, people group in background at modern bright office indoors

Your career should be a path to success, so sharing the same goals andvalues of your employer is vital. Being bored, overly stressed and/or burnt out are clear indicators that it’s time to say bye-bye to your current job.

 

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To truly tell if it’s time to resign, listen to your gut. That instinctive feeling will let you know if you should be looking for other opportunities.

 

Entrepreneur.com | October 23, 2016 |  Rose Leadem

Your #Career : 10 Ways You’re Blowing A Job Interview, and How to Fix…After Interviewing Hundreds of Applicants, Here are a Few Common Mistakes that Damage your Chances of Success.

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As you know, it’s not always easy to get an interview for a job, but when you do get that call-back for a live interview, it feels great and a little nerve-wracking. When I used to get that all-important call giving me the time to come in for an interview, I know it would start to do a number on my head. I wanted the job so much more once I knew I had a real shot at it. The problem is that mistakes tend to occur the moment you become fixated on how great it would be to have that job rather than focusing on preparation and the best way to approach the interview.

PeopleAwaitingInterview

 

Entrepreneur and investor

#BestofFSCBlog :Two Simple Tricks For Staying Positive In A Long, Hard Job Search.

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You’ve been applying to jobs for months, and while you’ve gotten an interview or two, nothing has panned out. What’s worse—your annoyance with your current position has reached an all-time high. That, or maybe you’re in between jobs and bills are looming.

resume-mistakes-11

Whatever the reason, you need an actual offer—ASAP.

Lengthy job searches can test even the heartiest of souls, but when you mix a tight internal timeline with slow external results, it’s an even greater challenge. You have all the typical highs and lows of applying (waiting to hear back, facing rejection, dusting yourself off and trying again), and the added pressure to land that new role yesterday.

Here are two powerful perspective shifts to help you make it through.

1. TIE DEADLINES TO YOUR EFFORTS (RATHER THAN RESULTS)

Have you ever said something like: “I’ll have a new job before the end of the month?” It’s sounds helpful, but it’s actually not.

That’s because you’re linking your goal to someone else’s behavior (which is outside of your control). When you tie a deadline to something that’s not within your power, you set yourself up to feel defeated if it falls through.

Instead, choose a goal based around something you do control. For example, “I will send out 10 applications by month’s end.” By connecting the deadline to your personal efforts, you give yourself the opportunity to feel successful just by meeting it—and that confidence boost can mean a lot during a tough search.

So, ask yourself, “What measurable action can I take that’ll move me closer to landing a position at my dream company?” Whatever your answer is—stepping up your networking, reaching out to a career coach—tie it to a reasonable deadline. This way, your goals will bring you results and peace of mind.

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2. CHOOSE TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF POSITIVITY

Our brains have something called a “built-in negativity bias”, which means our first impression of events is likely to skew negatively. For example, if you face one of the following (common) disappointments, your initial reaction might be to get down on yourself:

Situation: You send out several resumes and don’t get any bites.
Thought: “I’m clearly a terrible candidate because no one’s responding.”

Situation: You come in as the second choice candidate for two jobs in a row.
Thought: This is too hard. I’m never going to get picked. I’m going to be stuck here forever.

Situation: Despite leaving early for an interview, you hit mega traffic and wind up arriving five minutes late.
Thought: “I blew this already.”

When you buy into these knee-jerk interpretations, it’s easy to feel down about the way things are going. So take a beat, and recognize that with a little focused attention you can come up with a more helpful perspective.

Here’s how those same situations could look after an effort to find the silver lining.

Situation: You send out several resumes over the course of a few weeks and don’t get any bites.
Thought: “The more ‘at-bats’ I take, the more likely I am to hit something.”

Situation: You come in as the second-choice candidate for two job prospects in a row.
Thought: “I must be doing something right to make it so far in the interview process.”

Situation: Despite leaving early for an interview, you hit mega traffic and wind up arriving five minutes late.
Thought: “Not the best start, but I can still make a great impression.”

Yes, this is very Pollyanna, and you’ll also want to make time to analyze what you could be doing differently to make sure you aren’t getting in your own way; e.g., Are you blowing your final interview by bringing up salary too soon?.

But don’t skip this pep talk and space to focus on the positive: That’s what’ll keep you motivated to keep trying. Can’t find a sunnier angle? You can always ask a supportive friend, family member, or professional for help. Or, at the very least, be aware when you’re jumping to negative conclusions. Just calling yourself out for that habit is a good reminder that often times, you’re choosing to be pessimistic.

I hated my first job. And I remember vividly how I worried I be stuck there for eternity. In reality, I changed things up to a much better work situation in just a few years.

Things will change, both because of your own efforts and because change is a constant in this world. Maybe the change you want isn’t coming as fast as you like, but it’ll come. Keep your focus on the things you can most influence—your actions and your thoughts. You’ll get a new job eventually. For now you just have to stay strong.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Muse and is reprinted with permission.

 

FastCompany.com | ALISON CARDY, THE MUSE  | 10.10.16 5:00 AM 

 

Your #Career : 9 Books Everyone Looking for a Job Should Read…From Interviewing to Negotiating your Salary, There are a Lot of Factors at Play when Looking for a New Job, and One Mistake Could Put the Kibosh on the Whole Thing.

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Whether you’re just starting out in your career or making a transition, odds are there’s some part of the job search process that’s at least a little mystifying.

free- Man on Laptop looking for job

From interviewing to negotiating your salary, there are a lot of factors at play when looking for a new job, and one mistake could put the kibosh on the whole thing.

To master the art of the job search, here are nine books that can guide you through the process:

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Richard N. Bolles’ ‘What Color is Your Parachute?’

Richard N. Bolles' 'What Color is Your Parachute?'

Amazon

Great book for: getting started

If you’re only going to read one book on the list, you may want to choose this one. Why? It covers a little about everything when it comes to a job search.

The first half of the book talks about how to create an eye-catching résumé and cover letter, as well as how to improve your networking, interviewing, and negotiating skills, while the second half focuses on how to find your ideal career.

Find it here »

 

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David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’

David Allen's 'Getting Things Done'

Amazon

Great book for: staying organized in your job search

Considering all the moving parts that come with getting a new job, this book is a must-read because it teaches you the basics of time management and organization.

It can also help you through the transition of finding a new job by teaching you how to reassess goals and stay focused.

Find it here »

Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’

Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends & Influence People'

Amazon

Great book for: networking

There are a number of lessons you can learn from Carnegie’s classic that will help you in your personal and professional lives. Importantly, especially when it comes to networking (and also the job interview), you’ll learn how to make people like you and win them over to your side.

Carnegie’s advice focuses on maximizing your interactions with other people, and he instructs readers, for example, to encourage people to talk about themselves, instead of dominating the conversation, emphasizing the things you both agree on.

Find it here »

Danny Rubin’s ‘Wait, How Do I Write This Email?’

Danny Rubin's 'Wait, How Do I Write This Email?'

New To Live By, LLC

Great book for: writing anything career-related

Don’t let the title of this book deceive you — “Wait, How Do I Write This Email?” is not just about writing professional-sounding emails — though, yes, it does include practical tips for that, too.

The book covers just about any job search situation you can think of that involves a written component, from crafting LinkedIn profiles, résumés, and cover letters to soliciting a referral or career guidance. Even if you’d never written a word in your life, this book could help you pass for the most competent professional out there.

Find it here »

William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s ‘The Elements of Style’

William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White's 'The Elements of Style'

Amazon

Great book for: editing your cover letter and résumé

One of the biggest faux pas you can make in your job search is sending out a résumé or cover letter rife with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Strunk and White’s classic grammar book will help anyone drastically improve their mastery of the written word.

From commonly misspelled words to grammar and punctuation, you’ll find all the answers in this concise and entertaining read.

Find it here »

Steve Dalton’s ‘The 2-Hour Job Search: Using Technology to Get the Right Job Faster’

Steve Dalton's 'The 2-Hour Job Search: Using Technology to Get the Right Job Faster'

Amazon

Great book for: getting the first interview

The book offers practical tips for how to wade through the sea of internet job postings.

You’ll learn how to complete three important steps in very little time using Excel, Google, LinkedIn, and alumni databases: Prioritize your target employers, contact them, and recruit people to provide you with internal referrals.

Find it here »

Michael Port’s ‘Steal the Show’

Michael Port's 'Steal the Show'

Amazon

Great book for: interviewing

You may not need a whole book to prepare you for the kinds of questions you might hear in a job interview. You can easily check out Glassdoor or articles about interview questions for that.

What’s more important is figuring out how to convey with maximum impact that you’re the best person for the job. This book can help you with that.

According to the author, every interaction is a performance, including the job interview, and as a job seeker, you have to persuade and motivate people to hire you. This book shares practical advice for shining during even the most nerve-wracking interview.

Find it here »

Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton’s ‘Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In’

Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton's 'Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In'

Amazon

Great book for: getting the job

This 30-year-old book is a great primer for going into any negotiation.

Based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, this classic offers practical steps for negotiating, including key takeaways like understanding your counter-party’s interests well.

Find it here »

Lewis Lin and Christine Ko’s ‘Five Minutes to a Higher Salary’

Lewis Lin and Christine Ko's 'Five Minutes to a Higher Salary'

Impact Interview

Great book for: negotiating your salary and benefits

Understanding the theory behind salary negotiationis one thing, but putting it into practice is often easier said than done.

The book’s authors, who are salary negotiation experts, offer scripts with the exact words you can use to phrase your request for more than 60 negotiation scenarios, taking much of the pain out of negotiating.

Find it here »

 

Businessinsider.com | October 10, 2016 | 

 

#CareerAdvice : #JobSearch Tactics That Work… A #MustRead !

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In today’s business world, a college degree does not automatically lead to a great job the way it typically did in the past. Today, in addition to that college degree, one has to learn how to find a job — and be good at it. This additional challenge represents a significant barrier to some job seekers and especially to more mature people who have a hard time keeping up with fast-developing technology that requires new skills.

free- Man on Laptop looking for job

So, the following are a few tips regarding both what to do and how to do it.

Online and in-person networking

Beyond LinkedIn, recruiters use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to find, select and qualify talent. Those new tools — which 10 years ago were either nonexistent or in their infancy stage — are absolutely essential for today’s job seekers to be familiar with. A job seeker who does not show up on recruiters’ screens is simply ignored. This is a huge punishment for those who need a job. To be found and deemed qualified, candidates must learn how to use social media — and then use it extensively — beyond the three mentioned here. Social media are not only the venues for finding jobs but also tools that establish a positive reputation and credibility. Just remember that there are many, many applicants for just a few openings.

In-person networking supplements other social media networking. In-person networking should be considered a business transaction and not just social interaction the way many job seekers practice it. When networking in person, ask for opinions, introductions and referrals. Don’t be bashful; be slightly aggressive but still tactful. Most people are willing to help if asked.

 

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Tools for job seekers

Because technology has changed the job search system for both employers and job seekers, the latter group needs to quickly catch up. Employers use technology to source for talent. The majority of medium-size companies use some type of recruiting management system. Companies were forced into using such systems so they could become able to deal with larger and larger volumes of applicants, so they could save money, and so they could speed up the process. Most of the different kinds of applicant-tracking systems (ATSs) have become web-based, which extends access to the system by anyone in the organization who’s involved with the hiring process. This means that job seekers need to appeal to those people in the organization and not exclusively to human resources as in the past.

Related: Stay One Step Ahead of Your Competition

Regardless of which system recruiters use, job seekers need to improve their ranking in order to be found. Think about a Google search. Here are a few tips for improving ranking:

  • Use TagCrowd.com to visually match your résumé and the job description.
  • Match your résumé to the keywords used in the job description.
  • Use Microsoft Word to format your résumé, and avoid textboxes, tables and graphics.
  • Under the heading “Professional Experience,” list first the name of the company where you most recently worked; then, to the right of that, the dates of your tenure there; and then under the company name, the name of the position you held. Add a line or two of responsibilities or job duties, and then a bulleted list of a few specific and preferably quantifiable accomplishments. Then do the same for the job previous to that one.

The new ATSs incorporate social media tool functionality to reach passive candidates, to advertise job opportunities and to build talent communities for specific industries. Therefore, to generate multiple options for themselves, job seekers must at all times deploy diverse approaches to job seeking. Candidates need to learn how various ATSs work in order to get high enough scores to be found by a particular company’s system. A description of familiarizing oneself with the systems is vaster than can be accomplished here and will be the topic of one of my future articles.

Entrepreneur.com  |  October 8, 2016 | Alex Freund

Your #Career : The Follow-Up Email Every Job Seeker Needs To Know How To Write…You can Do Much More Than just Get your Name Back at the Top of a Hiring Manager’s Inbox.

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Fact No. 1: After you’ve interviewed for a job, hiring managers don’t always get back to you in the time frame they told you they would.

man-at-computer-sending-email

Fact No. 2: You should absolutely follow up with a polite email if you’re expecting to hear back and you haven’t.

Fact No. 3: You can use this message not just to check in, but to give the decision maker even more info that’ll show you’re the right person for the job.

That’s right. Take this traditional “just following up” email:

Hi Damon,

I hope you had a great week. You had mentioned that you’d be in touch with next steps on the hiring process by Wednesday, so I just wanted to check in. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help with your decision.

Best,
Adrian

There’s nothing wrong with that note. It’s brief, it’s polite, and it gets your name in front of the hiring manager.

That said, instead of asking if there’s anything you can do to, in essence, boost your candidacy, why not take that next step and provide something that does just that?

 

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Let’s say you’re applying to a social media position with Dolby. You might say something like this instead:

Hi Damon,

I hope you had a great week. You had mentioned that you’d be in touch with next steps on the hiring process by Wednesday, so I just wanted to check in.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a social campaign that I launched this week. It’s already had more than 5,000 shares—the company’s second most successful program ever. I think something similar to this would be very impactful for Dolby, and I’d be excited to jump right in and get started.

Best,
Adrian

In this message, you’ve shared another example of your work, you’ve highlighted a recent success, and you’ve reiterated your enthusiasm for the position. And you’ve done so proactively, which is never a bad thing.

“IN THE MEANTIME . . .”

You can tailor this template pretty easily if your work is online or easily sharable, like writing, marketing, or design.

Or, if your work or goals can be quantified—you’re in sales or account management, say—you might try something like this:

In the meantime, I wanted to share that I finished this month as the No. 1 sales rep in the New York market. It was a big honor, and also a reminder that I’m ready for my next challenge, hopefully as the sales manager at Dolby.

If your work is more behind the scenes, or if you’re working on proprietary information that can’t necessarily be shared externally, you might consider describing a project you’re working on (one that could apply in some way to the job you’re applying for) in broader terms:

In the meantime, I wanted to share that I just put the finishing touches on a crisis communications plan for one of our technology clients—a three-month process that involved collaborating with everyone from the customer success team to the CEO. It was a great experience, and one that made me even more excited about the opportunity to work on the communications team at Dolby.

Still stumped? Here’s something anyone, in any field, can do:

In the meantime, I wanted to share an article that I published last week on LinkedIn, which was inspired by the conversation we had about [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][topic you discussed in interview]. It’ll give you a little more on how I think about [subject matter]. Thanks for the inspiration—I hope we have the opportunity to work together and have many more of these conversations.

Assuming you’re not the only candidate in the pipeline, your “just checking in” email will probably be one of many sitting in the hiring manager’s inbox. Use the opportunity not just to follow up, but to show once again why you’re the best candidate for the job.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Muse and is reprinted with permission.

FastCompany.com | ADRIAN GRANZELLA LARSSEN |  THE MUSE |  10.06.16 5:00 AM

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#Leadership : 4 Truths You Need to Know About Millennial Job Hopping…Employers are Failing to Create a Supportive Work Environment that Considers the Unique Needs of Millennials.

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It’s time to stop blaming millennial job hopping for poor employee retention. Especially when employers are failing to create a supportive work environment that takes into consideration their unique needs.

It’s no secret: millennials are job hoppers. A 2016 Jobvite survey of 2,305 Americans found that while only 18 percent of the total workforce changes jobs every one-to three-years, 42 percent of millennials do.

workaholics-2

That’s made employee retention a nightmare for employers in recent years. There’s constant chatter about how the millennial job hopping tendency makes them difficult to work with. Older generations go on and on about how they wish they’d leave their wandering ways and just settle down.

But what if the root of the problem isn’t millennials? What if it’s actually employers who are failing to create a workplace that meets the needs of the generation? So they go from one company to the next looking for an organization that can fulfill them professionally.

Here are four reasons it’s employers, not millennials, who are behind the job-hopping phenomenon:

1. Lack of career advancement.

Employee engagement is an issue with employees of all ages, but it’s particularly bad with millennials. My company, Quantum Workplace, recently released its “2016 Employee Engagement Trends” report. It surveyed more than a half million employees from more than 8,700 organizations and found that employees between 26 and 35 are the least engaged age group at just 67.3 percent engaged.

The report also found that seeing a chance to develop professionally was one of the top drivers of engagement for millennials. This suggests that one of the main reasons the generation is becoming disengaged at work is because they aren’t getting the career advancement and development they want. Eventually, that causes them to look for a job elsewhere, creating a job-hopping cycle.

The only way to end the pattern is to provide millennials with clear career paths and development opportunities. Talk with them to find out what their goals are and how they can meet those goals with the company. Show a willingness to invest in their future in order to keep them around.

Related: 5 Ways Millennials Are Like No Generation Before Them

 

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2. They can’t use their best skills.

Looking at the millennials who do stay with one company for a long time shows they have something interesting in common. The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey of 7,700 millennials from around the world found that 86 percent of millennials who worked with a company for more than five years felt they were able to make good use of their skills in that job. Only 62 percent of millennials who left a company within two years agreed.

Regularly doing what an employee is good at gives them a better connection with the work. It shows that all the hard work they did to develop their skills was not for naught. Unfortunately, most entry or lower-level jobs don’t give employees the opportunity to dig deep and use all of their skills. It’s less clear how what they’re doing contributes to the company as a whole.

Challenge millennials. Give them a chance to show what they can really do. Ask them for their ideas and input on a variety of projects so they can stay engaged and feel of value, rather than like a paper-pusher.

Related: 3 Things Businesses Can Learn From Millennials

3. The benefits package doesn’t interest them.

Aside from job hopping, something else that has defined the millennial generation is crushing student debt. A 2016 Citizens Bank survey of 501 American millennials found that 60 percent of adults under 35 don’t believe they’ll be able to pay off their loans until well into their 40s. Thirty-six percent said if they had known how much college was really going to cost them, they never would’ve attended a university.

Student loan debt therefore becomes a huge weight for millennials when it comes to choosing a job. And one that can help them tackle their educational debt is a huge draw. A 2015 Peanut Butter survey of 400 respondents between 20 and 35 years old found that, on average, millennials with college loans would stay with a company 36 percent longer if it offered repayment assistance.

By making loan repayment assistance part of the organization’s benefits package, it becomes a lot more appealing to younger professionals. It gives them a reason to stick around, resulting in improved millennial employee retention.

Related: 4 Strategies to Connect With Millennials

4. Their hard work isn’t being recognized.

Nobody likes feeling under-appreciated. Yet it seems like millennials’ hard work in particular is being ignored. In a 2015 LeadershipIQ surveyof more than 3,000 employees, only 33 percent of employees under 30 were confident that their performance was at the level it should be.

There is clearly a major lack of feedback and recognition for so many young professionals to be unsure of how they’re doing in their role. And that lack of communication makes them feel less important to the organization. Without that connection, it’s easier for them to leave in hopes of being appreciated elsewhere.

Make sure all employees, but especially millennials, are acknowledged for their hard work. Start having regular one-on-one meetings with employees so their performance can be discussed. That way, millennials will be confident in the fact that they are doing a great job and their work is of value to the organization.

It’s time to stop blaming millennial job hopping for poor employee retention. Especially when employers are failing to create a supportive work environment that takes into consideration their unique needs.

 

Entrepreneur.com | September 16, 2016 | Greg Harris

Your #Career : The Only 7 Steps You Need To Prepare For Your Next Job Interview…There’s a Lot of Interview-Prep Advice Out there—Maybe Too Much. This is What Really Matters.

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 You stressed over every little adjective on your resume (“efficient or productive?”). You wrote draft after draft of your cover letter. And now you’ve arrived at the moment of truth: the job interview, when you’ll be face to face with the person who controls your employment destiny.

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                        Are you really gonna leave this one up to fate?

Even the most charming of candidates needs to practice before stepping in front of a hiring manager. “If you try to wing it, you’ll miss your chance to make a strong case as the best candidate, and the interviewers could recognize that you’re unprepared,” says Lori Bumgarner, owner and coach at PaNash, an executive, career, and life-coaching service in Nashville. “They’ll assume if you didn’t put in the time and effort to prepare, you’re not that interested in the job.”

Getting prepped doesn’t have to make you sweat. Monster compiled these tips to help get you ready for the big day.

1. STUDY UP ON THE COMPANY AND INDUSTRY

The more knowledge you have, the better prepared you’ll be. Start by researching the latest trends and issues in the industry the job is in, Bumgarner says. This can include reading relevant industry blogs, trade publications, and professional associations’ social media pages. Commit a few noteworthy statistics to memory so that you can wow the hiring manager with your awareness of the current state of affairs.

Then, focus on learning more about the company itself. Review press mentions for the past few years. Look for both press releases issued by the company, as well as what traditional media reported. If you’re interviewing at a public company, you can also view financial statements and reports to shareholders to find out exactly how the company makes its money. All of this information will help you craft thoughtful questions to ask during the interview.

 

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2. INVESTIGATE THE INTERVIEWERS

If you know the names of the people who will be interviewing you, do an online search on them to learn more about their professional backgrounds and what they talk about on social media.

Maybe they have a particular affinity for a certain aspect of the company, like its outreach program. If so, make a mental note to express your enthusiasm for the way the company is dedicated to giving back to the community. (Avoid a brown-nosing tone, of course.)

If you discover that you’ve got something interesting in common—like a previous employer or a passion for thumb wrestling—you’ll definitely want to use that in your meeting.

3. NAIL YOUR OPENER

One of the questions interviewers most love to open with is, Don’t get caught blabbering your way through this seemingly straightforward answer.

“Have an elevator speech ready in case they want a brief overview of your career,” says Marlene Caroselli, author and corporate trainer in Rochester, New York. Practice delivering a 30-second pitch about past experiences and successes, your skills and abilities, where you are in your career and what challenge you’re seeking next.

4. FIGURE OUT YOUR SELLING POINTS

Now you want to think about the meat and potatoes of the interview: the questions that relate to the job requirements and your experience.

Remember, your goal in the job interview is to show how you can make a positive impact on the company. Your interview answers should reiterate your unique selling points, Bumgarner says.

To practice, review some likely interview questions and make notes about the strengths you can highlight.

“For every answer, you should be able to say, ‘For example,’ and tell a story about a time when you demonstrated the things you are saying you are good at,” Bumgarner says. “Never answer in generalities.” Specific, real-world examples are what will get you hired.

5. MASTER THE CLOSER

You also want to close the interview well. Typically, an interview will end with the interviewer asking, “Is there anything you want to ask me?” Regardless of how well-informed you feel, don’t get out of your seat until you ask some questions of your own. You should include questions about the company culture as well as the job itself.

Remember: You’re interviewing the company just as much as they’re interviewing you.

After you ask your questions, you’ll want to close with a firm handshake and a positive, enthusiastic statement like “I really enjoyed meeting you, Sue, and finding out more about this position. It seems like a great fit for my experience, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you about next steps.”

6. GET YOUR HOLLYWOOD ON

There’s no better way to practice an interview than actually doing an interview, so get a friend or family member to help you. Provide them with the details you dug up on the company, the job description for your position, your resume, and cover letter. Take the list of tough interview questions from hereand provide them to your helper. (Also take a bottle of wine to thank the person—and maybe another if you actually get the job.)

Caroselli recommends you film your mock interview, if possible. (If video isn’t a possibility, record the audio.) “Study your body language to see if it reveals confidence, poise, and enthusiasm,” she says.

You should also review your performance with your interviewer. Did they think you had good answers? Did you sound or act nervous? Did you seem arrogant? Get their feedback, and adapt as needed.

7. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU’LL HAVE FOR DINNER

Once you’ve done all this prep, don’t let last-minute jitters throw you off your game. In the moments just before the interview, try to think about something else entirely.

For example, “When you get to the interview site and are waiting to be called in to the interview room, work on a brainteaser,” Caroselli says. “It calms the nerves and takes your mind off the challenge ahead.”

Take some deep breaths and remind yourself that you put in all the homework required to make a solid impression. You’ve got this. And we’re pulling for you.

This article originally appeared on Monster and is reprinted with permission.

 

FastCompany.com | DOMINIQUE RODGERS, MONSTER 09.12.16 5:00 AM

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Your #Career : This Is How to Manage Your Career Like a CEO…The Best Way to Keep your Career Moving Forward on your Own Terms is to Be Self-Aware, Know your Limitations, and Don’t Be your Own Worst Enemy. Come to Think of It, those are Good Words to Live By.

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Remember why you groom your own career in the first place: so you’re never the victim of an incompetent boss or a dysfunctional company. Becoming incompetent yourself would be the ultimate irony. Don’t succumb to the Peter Principle.

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One of the most visible signs of a failing business is a talent exodus. We’ve seen it at Yahoo, Twitter, HP, Blackberry and a host of other embattled companies. But attrition among top performers is not just a harbinger of pending disaster; it can also be an early sign of dysfunctional leadership.

Rising stars who really push the envelope, and their careers, are usually the first to notice that their herculean efforts are neither being rewarded nor benefitting the company as they should. Since they’re on a fast track to the top, they’re the first to jump ship.

The unfortunate result is that mediocre employees are left behind, accelerating the company’s deterioration and ultimate demise. I’ve seen it happen time and again in companies big and small, but after the first time, I learned my lesson.

I was once an up-and-comer myself — a promising young engineer at a technology giant that had become overly bureaucratic under a dysfunctional chairman and CEO duo that, left unchecked, would eventually have run the age-old company into the ground.

One day Hal, a friend and coworker, told me he was quitting. I was floored. Hal was one of the best, a real talent. I wasn’t as surprised that he was leaving as I was that the company was letting him go. When I asked him about it, Hal said they wouldn’t promote him fast enough, so he was going somewhere that would.

That hit me hard. Like Hal, I had been identified as a candidate for management. If the company’s bureaucratic HR processes were holding him back, they would hold me back too. That’s exactly what happened. The following year, I was out the door, vowing never to let incompetent bosses stand between me and the top.

Related: 10 Quick Changes That Help Your Resume Get Noticed

Jumping around from company to company was sort of frowned upon back-in-the-day, but I didn’t care. I made risky bets on high-flying startups and took flyers on high-growth tech companies. I never jumped the gun before the writing was on the wall, with one exception we’ll get to in a minute.

That methodology paid off big-time. Less than a decade after leaving that first company, I was the marketing VP at a mid-sized public company with an IPO under my belt and a bright future ahead of me. Thirteen years ago, I co-founded a Silicon Valley-based management consulting firm and that’s where I’ve been ever since.

Today, ruling your own destiny and making every opportunity count is the norm for career-minded individuals, as it should be. But there are some lessons I learned along the way that I’m sure will enhance your journey, as they did mine.

Think of every job as a business.

Jobs are like product businesses. When a product is hot, you want to maximize profit margins and return-on-investment. But before it goes south, you want to make sure you’ve got the next one ready in the pipeline. Think of companies you work for the same way. Before it was popular, I was always networking and interviewing.

 

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Be professional about it.

The most important asset you have is your reputation. Remember, it’s always in your and your company’s best interest to give it your all and do great work while you’re there. And be discrete. No boss ever had a clue that I was leaving until I was ready to go on good terms. And there was never a drop-off in performance, either.

Related: How to Fire Someone So They’ll Thank You For It

Don’t let mistakes get you down.

I once got antsy and left a sweet SVP position to be CEO of an ill-fated startup. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, but I left too soon and it cost me seven figures when the former company went public. I think my wife’s still a little PO’ed, but I made peace with it years ago. You’re going to make some bad calls; it comes with the territory. Learn from them and don’t make them twice.

Beware the Peter Principle.   

Remember why you groom your own career in the first place: so you’re never the victim of an incompetent boss or a dysfunctional company. Becoming incompetent yourself would be the ultimate irony. Don’t succumb to the Peter Principle.

The best way to keep your career moving forward on your own terms is to be self-aware, know your limitations, and don’t be your own worst enemy. Come to think of it, those are good words to live by.

 

Entrepreneur.com | August 31, 2016 | Steve Tobak – Author and Managing Partner, Invisor Consulting