It’s that time of year when I’m U.S. bound for the holiday season. In about four hours, we’ll be boarding the flight for the long awaited journey home. This year I’ve planned an extended trip with stops in Richmond, Virginia to see the family and three weeks in New York.
Ok, I know what you’re thinking, why would I think about giving up a month of beautiful Buenos Aires summer days for freezing cold NYC winters?
I can hardly wait. I’m especially looking forward to finally meet so many of you with whom I communicate daily, but have yet to meet in person. So if you are in NY, please let me know. I’ll be there from December 28th through January 20th.
A job search is not the most pleasant of life’s experiences. It rarely comes without some rejection. The amount of factors outside your control that determine who gets the job are astounding. What you can control is yourself.
If you are called in for an interview, it’s a safe bet you have the basic qualifications to do the job. The interviewer’s goal is to answer two main questions: Can you do the job? And will you fit in?
I am seeking my first full time job. I’m new to the whole headhunter/recruiter thing. Do you have any tips for how to go about this? I’m in Dallas, but I’m up for new places and adventures. Should I look for a national or regional recruiter?
My degree is in communications and I have two internships worth of PR experience at boutique and corporate agencies. Some of my work is on my blog.
A:
Since you are seeking employment in a specific industry sector, you should consider working with a recruiter who specializes in the communications industry. While there are several online directories, I find the best referrals come through experienced colleagues or professors who have some industry contacts.
It is important to understand though how a recruiter works. Search firms are contracted by the employer to find candidates who best fit an open requisition. This means a recruiter is not focusing solely on a candidate’s job search. It’s the other way around - the recruiter selects you as a candidate for the search. Contingency recruiters are only paid for their efforts when they successfully fill a position, so the first priority is their current work load and finding the best candidates for the job.
Keep your expectations reasonable when working with a recruiter. Recruiters will have positions you would never hear about through other channels and will be an extremely valuable resource and relationship for you to have throughout your career. But realistically, the most your can expect is to get into their database and be considered for a matching position. You can secure your relationships more by taking their calls promptly, sharing information to help them recognize your talents, being cooperative, and representing their decision to put you forward well in an interview process.
You will find a mix of regional and national recruiters. Again, I think the most important criteria in selecting a firm to work with is its specialty area. I would look at both local and national firms.
By no means, especially this early in your career, should you base your entire job search strategy on one or two recruiter’s leads. Unless the recruiter asks to represent you solely and that recruiter has taken quite a bit of time to understand you and your needs should you even consider it.
Companies and agencies usually come to my firm to introduce candidates with at least a year or two of relevant work experience (not including internships) and they invest in the relationship with a search firm to find candidates who have the exact experience they are looking for (from a competitor). At this point, you are looking for an entry-level job so a recruiter relationship should only be a small portion of your strategy.
Kynam Doan is looking for a job. Check out his blog, I Need An Interview, and you’ll get the idea.
Kynam has a very creative approach to his job search - he has pledged to volunteer six hours of his time for each interview he lands to a non-profit. The companies who interview him nominate a non-profit and then the readers of his blog will be voting for the top two. Additionally, he will volunteer one minute of his time for each unique visitor to his blog.
It is an interesting idea to generate some buzz and give back to the community while honing his marketing skills.
A couple of key points for anyone considering an approach similar to Kynam’s in their job search:
1. Make it easy for potential employers to see your qualifications. Kynam opted to not publish his resume. Instead he chose to tie in a link to his LinkedIn profile. I would add extended biography for those lazy clickers who come to the site. I imagine those extra keywords would also help for search results. Consider showcasing some of your work in a digital portfolio.
2. Be specific about what type of position you are seeking. You don’t want to be come across as you will consider anything. You must show you have direction and focus. But be careful to not be so specific you rule out potential opportunities.
3. Treat everything in the campaign as a professional representation of you. If it is a blog, a video, or both, remember, it is your extended resume. Make sure everything you post is free of errors and represents you accurately and honestly.
What do you think of Kynam’s approach?
Thanks to Matthew Kraft (@mkraft) for pointing me to Kynam’s blog.
Kynam, best of luck to you in your job search - I’ll be watching the outcome!
This video is not exactly the typical interview experience, but I’ve had my fair share of finishing a conversation and saying to myself - “did that really just happen?”
Oversharing extends into areas outside of the actual interview. Our blogs, social network profiles and Twitter comments blur the line between personal and professional life and what is considered appropriate to share in a public forum is continuing to change.
But some details are not for sharing, no matter how casual or comfortable the relationship - especially in a job search.
Recently, I´ve been on the receiving end of these interview overshares and I´m beginning to wonder if it is just me.
Here´s a story for starters:
Miss Curious was very curious indeed. She liked asking questions - questions that probed into the personal lives of the office staff. While she was waiting for me to start the interview, she began to chat up my colleague and no more than 30 seconds into the conversation she asks, “So, do you have a boyfriend? What´s he like?” The recruiter, caught off-guard, answered her quickly and change the subject.
Miss Curious insisted and told the office the entire story of how she met her boyfriend and then detailed the difficulties of her intercultural relationship. She was having a hard time adjusting to living in a new country and sharing a home. Before the interview even started, the office knew about this woman’s uncertain and unstable relationship.
And this is just one of the tamer stories …
It wouldn´t be fair to say this only happens on the candidate side. Hiring authorities are guilty of TMI syndrome too like the time… well I´ll save that one.
Stories anyone? I´d love to hear your most memorable.
The STAR Model is a method of answering behavioral interviewing questions. You can also adapt this method to tell stories about your achievements on your resume (bullet points), a cover letter, or non-behavioral interview questions like the dreaded “tell me about you.”
Part of your interview preparation should be to write out several examples of your previous successes - just another reason it is so important to keep track of your projects and work achievements. Anticipate what types of challenges you could face in this new role and create 5-7 stories around your previous relevant experience.
To do this, consider using the STAR Model:
S = Situation - describe a situation. This is a where you will set up the plot of your story for the listener. Give a brief outline of a situation you faced and your role.
T = Task - What was the task you had to accomplish? This is your goal or the hoped outcome.
A = Action - What did you do to accomplish the task? Describe what happened and how you attacked the problem through to resolution.
R = Results - What was the result of your actions? Be specific. Try to quantify these results if possible. The more specific you are, the more convinced the interviewer will be you are the person for the job.
Your stories require some thought and practice. Interview questions that begin with “Tell me about a time when….” are answered best using this model, but you can also find opportunities to tell a relevant story in various points in your job search.
Caution:
When using this approach, be sure to focus on your actions, even if the situation was resolved by the team. It’s okay to give credit to your teammates, but don’t let the interviewer wonder what part you actually played.
Be careful to not ramble on. Give concise, but powerful stories and make sure they are relevant to the conversation. Give a specific, measurable result and be quiet. Let the conversation flow from there.
Your stories should be factual accounts that demonstrate your relevant experience. Opinions and theories can be saved for other types of conversations.
Don’t use the same story for more than one interview question.
Companies hire you based on your experience, ability to solve their problems and how well you fit into the “culture.” If you are called in for an interview, you’ve passed the first step. More than likely the hiring managers have already seen your resume or heard about your work. They know you have the qualifications to do the job - that’s why you are interviewing.
The interview is the company’s opportunity to evaluate your ability to handle its organizational challenges once you have the job. Since the hiring manager may not be the most skilled interviewer, it’s up to you to demonstrate you are up for the challenge. This is why being an effective storyteller is so important.
Stories will help you interview better and land your next gig in a number of ways:
Stories engage the listener and help you become a memorable candidate. People tend to remember stories more than straight facts. That’s why the best history teachers are usually great storytellers. Turning your career accomplishments into short mini-stories makes you a stand out against the competition.
Stories help build trust with the listener. Stories give more detail to back your claims and explaining the details builds your confidence and the hiring manager’s confidence in you.
Stories reveal your personality and your communication skills. It helps you and the interviewer determine what it will be like to work together.
This blog is to share my recruiting experiences and discuss thoughts on the job market, PR industry and technology.
I'm an entrepreneur, business developer and recruiter.
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This blog is to share my recruiting experiences and discuss thoughts on the job market, PR industry and technology.
Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience.
