Employment Digest

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On the lookout

What you post on the Internet might come back to haunt you when you go looking for a job. Some employers are searching the Web to see what is out there about you.

If you apply for a job at Firm Holdings in Shrewsbury, you should probably just assume that someone there is going to search the Web for your name or call up your posts on MySpace.com.

“It only takes five minutes to do,” said Robert Chiafullo, president of the real estate and financial investment company. “It gives you an idea of the guy that you are hiring.”

He did a search on one job candidate and up came a MySpace page with “explicit” content, he said. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t hire him because of that reason,” Chiafullo said.

Chiafullo is not alone. Employers are clicking on the Web to check out an applicant’s background, interests and accomplishments. Some also are using the Web to check a candidate’s claims. Did he or she really lead that project?

Nearly eight in 10 executive recruiters use search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, to check backgrounds online, according to a survey by ExecuNet Inc., an executive job search and recruiting company. Of those, 35 percent have eliminated a job candidate from consideration based on what they found, up from 26 percent a year ago.

“I think it’s very important to understand that a lot of this information people are going to see before they pick up the telephone, before you have the opportunity to explain what you were doing and why,” said Dave Opton, ExecuNet’s founder and chief executive officer. “They’re making that judgment absent any other information.”
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Job coaches and counselors help clients reach goals

Job coaches and career counselors are an increasingly popular way to find and keep jobs. Coaches and counselors help their clients develop the crucial skill of networking, among others, to achieve success.

The reason career services are so popular is most people don’t know how to find a job, said John Gregg, president of the U.S. Board of the Association of Career Professionals International. The association provides coaches and counselors with training and binds members to a set of ethics.

Mr. Gregg said networking is the best way to find a job.

A survey of job seekers by the association found the majority believed the best place to find employment is in newspaper classified ads.

But newspaper ads accounted for 13 percent of all hires, while networking was the most successful, accounting for more than 70 percent of all hires, according to the survey. Recruiters were responsible for about 10 percent.

Many people don’t understand what networking is, said Mr. Gregg, who works in the office of business development at Fort Detrick. He said a typical job seeker believes attending a chamber of commerce event to hand out resumes qualifies.

“Hi, I’m a widget maker and I’m looking for a job; do you have any openings?” Mr. Gregg said. “That’s not networking, that’s door-to-door sales.”

He said networking is about making relationships. One technique is to introduce new contacts to each other; another is to ask contacts for a referral to an industry expert.

“If you want to play golf, and you never played before, you don’t go to the sporting goods store, buy a set and then try and play 18 holes,” Mr. Gregg said. “You read a book or hire a coach, but how do you distinguish from good and bad ones? You ask an expert.”

Coaches encourage success

Mr. Gregg said coaching means different things to different people.

Some job coaches work with people who have disabilities to complete a job, he said. Examples include Way Station and Maryland State Department of Education Division of Rehabilitation Services or DORS.

Way Station works to improve behavioral health and employment services through advocacy, research and education, while DORS helps clients find independence through employment.

Other coaches focus on employee retention, climbing the corporate ladder and balancing personal and work life. A derailment coach helps people who are having trouble adjusting to a promotion.

“Imagine the best operator in an assembly line is promoted to supervisor, but he is failing at that position,” Mr. Gregg said. “But the company doesn’t want to lose the value this employee has, so they hire someone to coach that person.”

Executive coaches help senior managers find the best possible career path.

Five years ago, Paul Frey helped found PLF, LLC, an executive and business coaching and consulting firm in Frederick.
Boscov

“I learn in almost every case businesses have the same issues,” he said.

Those issues include poor communication, outdated or absent business plans and challenges with hiring and retaining good workers.

Mr. Frey said small businesses need coaching because they often do not have the resources to address those problems. He often serves as a sounding board for his clients’ ideas.

“Many entrepreneurs have no one to talk with outside of business partners,” he said.
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Some tips for a successful job interview

Q:Dear Norma: In the past, I have always been hired for jobs because someone has known my skills and approached me. I have never interviewed for a job except as a formality. I am now leaving a job after 10 years and have applied for a position in a related field. I am nervous about the process. What should I know about interviewing that would help me be successful? Do you have any suggestions for negotiating a salary? — D.J.

A:Dear D.J.: Take heart, you gained the interview because the company sees your potential. You are not interviewing as an expected asset so relax and respond with confidence, a positive attitude and even a little humor. The last thing you want to do is appear negative, insincere or uncertain.

Before your interview, do your homework. Find out as much as you can about the company and the position. Check the Web site. If you like this company, prepare yourself by having in mind a clear understanding of your strengths and accomplishments. Be able to demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your work performance such as how you alone, or as part of a team, increased performance, saved the company time or money, increased profits or productivity, or created and/or implemented programs or systems. Provide examples that show how your skills would fit the position and the company’s goals. Always present your selling points to reflect the employer’s buying points.

Know how you will answer if asked why you want to leave your current job. You might say that after 10 years you need a new challenge or even though it was a great fit, you feel the need for a change and are excited by the chance for new experiences and professional growth.

Salary negotiation should ideally take place at the end of an interview, preferably after securing a job offer. Research salaries for positions comparable to the one for which you are interviewing. You can go online for salary information published by the U.S. Department of Labor, or Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other helpful sites are http://www.salary.com or the salary guide on http://www.monster.com.
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Can’t Find a Job? Here’s Why…

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a jump of more than 11% in IT employment from April to May of this year. And research conducted by Robert Half Technology supports the notion that job growth will remain fairly robust: Our most recent IT Hiring Index and Skills Report indicates that 13% of U.S. CIOs plan to add technology staffers over the next three months, while only 3% anticipate cutbacks. The net 10% increase is up two percentage points from the previous forecast. It seems all signs point to brisk hiring in the IT field.

But are you still having trouble finding a job?

I recently received an e-mail from a job seeker with nearly a decade of database administration experience who had been successful in a number of roles with various companies. Based on this brief description, he seemed like a desirable candidate. However, he had been on the hunt for months and had yet to receive any significant inquiries from prospective employers. He wanted to know why finding a job was so challenging for him, especially given the signs of a healthy employment market.

If you’re in the same situation, consider the following reasons why you might be having trouble finding a new position, as well as the simple fixes that could put you back on the right track.

You’re not as marketable as you think. While the demand for IT talent is strong, companies are not adding staffers at the same frenetic pace they were a few years ago, when people with little experience and few demonstrated skills could command multiple employment offers. Today’s hiring managers have learned their lesson and are seeking only the most talented individuals — those with strong soft skills and knowledge of business fundamentals, familiarity with the latest developments, on-the-job experience, track records of successful projects, and the ability to make immediate contributions to an employer’s bottom line.

Unfortunately, the job seeker I mentioned previously was seeking a position as a database administrator but had no hands-on experience with the latest version of Oracle, which most of the hiring managers he met with considered essential.

My advice to him — and to you: Take a look at your qualifications and determine whether they are truly marketable in the current environment. According to the Robert Half Technology Hiring Index and Skills Report, the strongest demand exists for people with Windows administration (Server 2000/2003), network administration (Cisco, Nortel, Novell) and database management (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2) skills. Think about what employers in your area seek, and then evaluate where gaps exist in your skills or experience and how you can fill them.
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View job search as your job

Looking for a job can be a job itself and weathering the ups and downs can be frustrating. Before embarking on a job hunt, remember these tips from Jerald Jellison, author of Managing the Dynamics of Change: The Fastest Path to Creating an Engaged and Productive Workforce and professor at the University of Southern California.

Manage your emotions: A job search is a major project and the process typically gets worse before it gets better. So expect disappointments. While you may want to wallow in negative feelings, concentrate on action, rather than your emotions.

Set small goals: Each day, make doable goals like sending out 10 resumes, calling five people in your network, or spending two hours searching for job openings online.

Reward yourself: Give yourself something for each goal you achieve. After sending out a batch of resumes, take a walk or buy yourself a latte.

Stay focused: If you’re not landing any interviews, it may seem easier to give up and try a new direction like graduate school. Don’t rush these kind of decisions. Wait until the sting of rejection passes before considering new options.

Don’t Get Thrown for a Loop by these Interview Questions

While some interview questions are easy to answer, others can make or break you. Here are some tips for getting through the more difficult (and sometimes bizarre) ones.

Tell Me a Story.

Huh? Before you launch into Alice in Wonderland, find out what kind of story the interviewer wants to hear. Asking for clarification shows you are thoughtful and won’t go on wild goose chases in the office if difficult projects aren’t spelled out for you in advance.

Once you learn the type of story requested, create your very short tale around a time that you accomplished something great. Keep it short and sweet, and remember: Always make yourself look good. Think of this as the interviewer, “What don’t I know about you that I should?” or “What skills do you have that could make you do this job well?”

What Is a Weakness of Yours?

It’s not just the brainteasers that will stump you. Old classics can trip you up as well. The rule of thumb is to take a negative trait and make it sound like an asset. For example, say you are a stickler for meeting deadlines and will stay on top of a project until it is done according to your specifications, which may cause you to sometimes work late nights. Again — just make yourself sound good.

What Do You Think of Your Last Boss?

Be careful. Respond concisely in a way that indicates your respect for authority and your ability to get along with superiors.

How Would You Deal with a High-Strung Personality?

If asked a question that relates to how you’d deal with a difficult personality, answer and then ask why the interviewer is asking. It’s best to find out early if you’re interviewing for a job with a lunatic so you can quit pursuing it.

Tell Me a Little About Yourself.

Always be prepared for this question, or you’ll end up droning on and on. Make your answer short and sweet. Also, feel free to get clarification from the interviewer: Any area you’d prefer to hear about? My education? Experience?

Generally, you want to tie your answer into a professional attribute or two. For example: “I work well with others,” “My strong organizational skills end up making me the leader in most projects I’m on,” or “I approach anything I do with gusto and put in 150 percent.” Or if you’re a great communicator, say so and state how that attribute has helped you in your career. It doesn’t have to be a difficult question if you think of it as, “Tell me something great about yourself.” But you should be prepared.
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Searching for a job in the digital age

Handheld devices are changing the way both candidates and recruiters need to communicate. Here’s how to make effective use of them. As regional managing director for Canada for executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, Toronto-based Jeff Rosin spends about a third of his time on the road, meeting with clients and job candidates around the world.

In airports, cabs and hotels, Mr. Rosin’s BlackBerry is his constant companion, and he uses the handheld device in every spare moment to scan some of the 80 e-mails he receives every day.

When Kirsten Clarke was searching for a job, the real estate sales rep didn’t sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring.

Instead, she returned e-mails and scheduled interviews from wherever she was in Toronto, using her BlackBerry as a virtual home office.

“It makes you so much more mobile and your responses are immediate,” says Ms. Clarke who, after a two-month search, recently landed a position with Toronto-based Goudy Real Estate Corp.

“It keeps your job search organized and responsive.”

The ubiquitous handheld devices strapped to the hips and inside the bags of more and more professionals are changing the way job candidates and job recruiters need to communicate.

With their constant presence and smaller screens and keyboards, personal digital assistants, or PDAs, demand a more immediate and shorter kind of communication than other types of technological tools.

So those both on the job hiring and hunting fronts need to learn how to make effective use of them.

How best to communicate in the portable digital age? Here’s some advice from the pros:

Say it quickly

Mr. Rosin can read just 10 lines at a time on his PDA, so a long missive won’t be reviewed until he’s back in the office, sitting in front of his computer.

Moreover, “you have to hook me in 20 seconds,” he says, before he moves on to the next message.

Do this by writing a concise one- to two-paragraph note stating who you are, two key accomplishments and your objective, he advises.

He also suggests visualizing how your e-mail will look on a small PDA screen. This will help keep your message brief.

Sell yourself in the subject line

This will grab the recruiter’s attention as he or scrolls through a long list of messages on a PDA.

Always state your name in the subject line, advises Paula Rankin, Toronto-based director of human resources for the Americas for Plano, Tex.-based MetaSolv Software Inc..

Putting your name in the subject line allows recruiters to scroll through e-mails quickly in search of your application, she says.

As well, specify your sector and title, Mr. Rosin adds. For example, “CFO of industrial public company is ideal,” he says. It could pay off in moving an application along: if Mr. Rosin is on the road when he sees that, he can forward the application to the appropriate person.

It’s also always worth stating if someone has referred you, he says. “A power referral carries more weight. I will definitely read on.”

Get to the point

Don’t blather on unnecessarily about yourself, boasting about all of your life’s accomplishments, the pros say.

“I’m a very concise person,” Ms. Rankin observes. “I don’t like unnecessary verbiage.”

To hook her, you must get to the point of your e-mail quickly, she says.

Experience has taught her that HR pros need to know why you are contacting them,” says Ms. Clarke, who always tries to convey “What can I do for you?” in her missives.
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Firms holding on to elder boomers

Baby boomers are starting to head into their 60s, and many expect to keep working well past the point when their parents retired. So, small businesses that depend on boomer employees aren’t anticipating an exodus in the next few years.

Nonetheless, some company owners are making sure they retain boomer workers by offering them flex time and extra benefits to help offset any hankerings for retirement.

At Grossman Marketing Group, a marketing and graphic-design company in Somerville, Mass., president Steve Grossman expects his boomer employees to keep working even as they begin approaching the traditional retirement age of 65. He noted that many boomers still have plenty of financial obligations and that many just don’t feel like calling it a career. (There are an estimated 77 million boomers in the United States, born between 1946 and 1964.)

Still, Grossman said, many boomers will be thinking about retiring, and, “to the extent that we as owners of companies can continue to make the job interesting, imaginative, and make that job something they look forward to every day… we can avert that wholesale departure of people.”

Being flexible and understanding about the personal issues many boomers face - for example, their need to care for elderly parents - is just as important, Grossman said. So his company offers employees paid family leave.
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What’s Holding You Back in Your Career?

Is there some task or project you’ve been doing your creative best to avoid working on? I’ll bet there is. But instead of wasting mental energy worrying about it, you can learn to overcome your resistance and tackle important, high-value tasks quickly and efficiently so that whatever your goals, you’ll move forward faster. Here’s how.

Identify What You’re Resisting

If you’re looking for a job, maybe you’re dragging your feet over networking or practicing your interviewing skills. On the job, perhaps you’re putting off calling that unhappy customer or having a difficult conversation about an employee’s performance. Or maybe you’re hesitating over taking the first steps toward kicking off that career change you’ve been contemplating.

Decide How Important the Task Is

Ask yourself where the task or project you’re avoiding fits into your roles, responsibilities and goals.

* Are You Avoiding Something You Should Be Doing? We most commonly resist tasks vital to success in our job, job search or career change. Such resistance holds us back from getting what we want.

One of my job search clients was the perfect example. Feeling shy about selling herself and fearing rejection, this client had put off following up on referrals she had gathered from friends. After I held her accountable for making those calls, some of those initial leads led to informational meetings, further referrals and an eventual job.

If you typically avoid repetitive or administrative tasks, like filling out expense reports, following up on customer-service surveys or replying to emails, delegate them or get them done another way before they become bigger issues.
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Tips on tailoring your resume

From PD: I enjoyed your column on applying for jobs for which you lack experience. As an IT Director, I see hundreds of resumes each week, and the biggest fault I see is that too many job seekers use the same resume for every job they apply for.

I may receive 250 plus resumes for a job as a Web designer, for example. I have about an hour to reduce this pile of 250-plus resumes to 10 or 12 that I can read at leisure and select three or four for an interview. So, in effect, I have 15 seconds to scan each resume for Web design experience. Probably 90 percent of the resumes highlight network, programming, or technician experience, and the words “Web design” do not appear anywhere, although they may have designed their own Web page.

Please tell your readers to tailor their resume for each job they are applying for, or they simply don’t stand a chance in competing for the interview.

From. MW: Thanks, P.D. I fully agree. Not only should an applicant tailor the contents of the resume to fit the needs of the employer, if the applicant knows the name of the open job, use a one-line “Objective” at the top of the resume to nail down their interest and fully use that 15-seconds of scan time that “P.D.” refers to.
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