What Skills Do Employers Really Seek? - The Career Doctor Blog

Michael writes:

I have a question about the types of skills employers are searching for from job-seekers. I’m about to start my last year of college and if I can pick up a course or two during this year to make it easier for me to find a job in May when I graduate, I want to do it. So, can you help me?

The Career Doctor responds:

Great question! I actually encouraged my juniors and seniors when I weas teaching to conduct a SWOT analysis in preparation for better career planning and job-searching. A SWOT analysis examines your strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats in your chosen career field. And it’s something that ALL job-seekers can and should do occasionally.

Matching your SWOT with the skills employers are seeking then gives you some directions for finding educational opportunities or experience to fill the voids of any skills where you are weak.

You need the so-called hard skills of your chosen career, and I am assuming you have been gaining those as you have attended college. However, for your enlightenment - and to strengthen your resume — you need to fully know what those skills are that employers seek of a college graduate with your career interest.

Then there are the soft skills that all employers seek of prospective employees. These skills include teamwork, communications (writing, oral, listening), organizational, analytical, creative thinking/problem-solving, leadership, adaptability, and multicultural sensitivity.

A great way to conduct some easy research on the dominant soft and hard skills that employers in your career field are seeking is to gather a variety of job postings and simply do a content analysis of the requirements that these employers seek. Then find experiences you have had that used those skills and highlight them in your resume and cover letter (and later in the job interviews).

via careerdoctor.org

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Cover Letters: Does Anybody Read Those Anymore? » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

In a world where many job applications seem to disappear into a “black hole”, job seekers often wonder if there is any point in sending a cover letter with their application.  The answer is absolutely yes!  An effective cover letter communicates to an employer why you’re specifically interested in the open position.  With so many job seekers indiscriminately applying for hundreds of jobs, your application will automatically stand out if you can demonstrate that you truly have a personal interest in a particular position.

Effectively explaining to an employer why you want the job requires you to cite those qualities and skills that personally make you a good candidate.  Generally, the likelihood that you would be a good fit for the position is directly related to your relevant experience and education; for example, a CPA could perform accounting duties for any number of companies.  But, telling a hospital that you’ve considered obtaining a master’s degree in health administration makes your interest in the job personal.

In an attempt to personalize their cover letters, job seekers often research a company by examining its Web site.  While it’s good to know things such as what a manufacturing company makes or the volume of business a store does every year, including facts like these in a cover letter is ineffective.  Hiring managers already know all about their own company; what they don’t know is why you’d be an asset to them.

Your willingness to write a cover letter confirms for the employer that you have a serious interest in a specific position.  However, to be effective a cover letter should demonstrate your knowledge of the company by relating your personal achievements and qualities to that specific business.  The people reading your application don’t know anything about you.  Your cover letter needs to sell you as a candidate, while your resume supports your assertions with details.

via greatresumesfast.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Movin' On Up: Unspoken Rules About the 8-to-5 Workday

Transitioning into the workforce from school or switching from one career to a new one can be a scary move. It’s a big step, but one that you can easily make with a few pointers. Each job has certain rules and procedures that are common knowledge, but you might not have heard them outright or saw them on your orientation agenda. So, take note of these tips to you navigate the workday without breaking the rules. Following these rules will show your employer that you want to do a good job and be an employee they can’t live without.

Don’t be late. Check and double check your work schedule and be sure you’re at work on time. Showing up late – even five or ten minutes – could earn you a negative reputation. There are some environments that are more laid back with their attendance policy, but others are sticklers about not being a minute late. Be sure you know your company’s culture and don’t assume because co-workers are late it’s OK to follow their lead. You want to set a good example so you can get ahead, not follow a bad example because that could get you in trouble.   

Run errands on your own time. When you’re at work, you are there to work. Running errands on your lunch break is fine, but don’t use company time to go to the post office, grocery store, take a shopping trip to the mall, etc. The company pays you to work for them, so they expect you to work and produce results.

Avoid regular personal calls. The workplace is not the best place to spend significant time making or accepting personal phone calls. As many employees share workspace with other co-workers, make it a point to keep your personal affairs to yourself. Calling your best friend to have a casual conversation about an upcoming date is not appropriate. When you’re on company time, let friends and family know to leave you a message if they call you during the day and you will return their message when you leave for lunch or after work. If you do have to take a phone call at work, go to an area where you won’t be bothering anyone and limit the amount of time you spend on the phone. Check out more information about cell phone etiquette in the office. 

Know the policy on social media. With so many people having a social media profile on a site like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Myspace, it’s easy to stay connected and see what your friends are doing during the day. Before you decide to log-in and check one of those sites while at work, be sure you know you’re company’s policy regarding social media. You never know if someone is monitoring your internet activity. If they see you logging-in to Facebook during the day, you could get reported to your manager if it’s against the rules.

Keep loud music down. If you listen to music while you work, use headphones in public or shared spaces. Listening to music can help you feel more energized and can help you eliminate distractions. Just remember to keep the volume at a reasonable level so you don’t distract or aggravate any co-workers and you can still hear someone if they call your name. If you work in a factory or shipping facility, check your safety policy on this and make sure your earphones don’t create a safety hazard. You need to be able to hear what’s going on around you.

These are just a few of the many things to be aware of when it comes to workplace behavior and how to function during the workday. Be respectful of your company’s time, money and resources by following policies on issues like attendance, work breaks, and social media. On company time, you have to follow company policy. When you have a job, it’s important to keep in mind that you should adjust your habits to fit your employer during working hours, not vice versa.

via blog.expresspersonnel.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

40 Personal Branding Quotes | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Here is a list of forty personal branding quotes that I’ve come up with over the past three years. Feel free to use them on your website, as long as you link back to this post and cite my name. I hope they inspire you, make you reflect on your own life, or make you put your ideas into action today.

If you have a quote you would like to add, please leave it in the comments section of this post.

1. “Brand yourself for the career you want, not the job you have.”
2. “By focusing entirely on your personal brand, you become unemployable.”
3. “Create your own career, instead of letting your company do it for you.”
4. “If you want to be known for everything, you’ll be known for nothing.”
5. “When you have passion, expertise and a support system, you can do anything!”
6. “Make your life one giant networking event.”
7. “You have to be as committed to your personal brand as you are to your husband or wife.”
8. “Just like content is king on the internet, your experience is king when it comes to getting a job.”
9. “In order to succeed in the new world of work you MUST become the commander of your career.”
10. “Be the real you because everyone else is taken and replicas don’t sell for as much.”
11. “As technology rapidly changes, your personal brand remains constant.”
12. “The best way to become successful is to make others successful first.”
13. “What makes you weird, makes you unique and therefore makes you stand out.”
14. “If you don’t know what you bring to the table, you don’t get a seat there.”
15. “Life is one big pitch, so you better start practicing.”
16. “Your blog is your space…completely yours to do with whatever you want.”
17. “To succeed, you must be the best at what you do for a specific audience.”
18. “The first opportunities are the hardest to obtain because everyone wants to view your past performance.”
19. “You are the chief marketing officer for the brand called you, but what others say about your brand is more impactful than what you say about yourself.”
20. “To secure your brand, spend more of your time networking outside of your company than within.”
21. “It’s what you do that makes you who you are and how you project that to others that makes you memorable.”
22. “When it comes to the web, you are judged solely on what is observable.”
23. “Proficiency in social media is a differentiator now, but will soon be a qualifier.”
24. “The goal of personal branding is to be recruited based on your brand, not applying for jobs.”
25. “You won’t succeed in marketing a poor personal brand.”
26. “When you brand yourself properly, the competition becomes irrelevant.”
27. “Visibility creates opportunities.”
28. “If a resume was the deciding factor in recruitment, there would never be a need for interviews.”
29. “The divide between interviewing for a position and actually working at a company will close thanks to employer branding.”
30. “Social media will expose people who have bad intentions and reward people who are trying to make a positive impact on the world.”
31. “It’s not the size of your network, but how you use it.”
32. “In order to be successful tomorrow, you must sacrifice today.”
33. “Lead with your brand and let the compensation follow.”
34. “Any new opportunity or experience can change your life.”
35. “As professional and personal lives converge, those who are authentic and transparent will triumph.”
36. “When you are passionate about your job, it becomes a hobby.”
37. “The most successful networkers give value before receiving.”
38. “The reciprocal nature of networking establishes a relationship instead of a one-night-stand.”
39. “Passion is personal branding fuel.”
40. “Your name and face carry your brand in both reality and virtual reality, such that wherever they are cited, your personal brand is at stake.”

via personalbrandingblog.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

25 Simple Ways To Earn Trust

I’ve been exploring conversational marketing lately, both for some of the talks I give and to advise clients on appropriate and effective ways to not just engage our audiences in conversation, but also persuade them. If we, as social media marketers, are not using the engagement opportunity to motivate those audiences to do something, then there’s little business purpose in having the conversations in the first place.

At Social Media Plus last week, I talked about conversational marketing and came away from the presentation thinking a lot about trust. My theory around conversational marketing is that success occurs when our genuine participation (that without marketing as motivation) earns enough trust from our audience to share information that is driven by our business. But trust is earned in a variety of ways.

Public relations professionals can take months to earn the trust of a media member. You don’t immediately trust a child care professional with your children. Search engines don’t trust a brand new blog with the top search result if it hasn’t garnered some links and traffic.

But trust is also something we randomly give away in certain circumstances. You trust strangers on the street to give you directions. You trust random people to watch your bag while you throw something away at the airport. You may even trust a product recommendation made in a conversation near you that you only overheard.

Why? Or more importantly, what is it that makes people trust us?

Without a great deal of discussion (that’s what the comments are for), here’s a list of 25 different ways you can earn trust, both on- and off-line:

25 Simple Ways To Earn Trust

1. Be polite
2. Dress neatly
3. Smile
4. Shake hands firmly
5. Hug if appropriate
6. Illustrate your knowledge
7. Make eye contact
8. Speak clearly
9. Share ideas, content and praise
10. Be positive
11. Ask how they are doing
12. Know when to shut up
13. Use a clear and distinctive avatar
14. Talk about everything but you most of the time
15. Be confident your product or service is valuable
16. Make it easy for people to buy, but also to return
17. Say “please” “thank you” and “excuse me”
18. Admit when you’re wrong
19. Don’t gloat when you’re right
20. Hold the door or elevator for someone else
21. Pay attention to those talking to you
22. Don’t gossip
23. Be open minded
24. Respect their right to not answer or agree
25. Do all of that consistently

What more can you think of? The comments are yours.

IMAGE: By EDHAR on Shutterstock.com

via socialmediaexplorer.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Interview Technique - 5 Things to avoid in an interview - Career advice blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

Given we do a lot of work helping individuals prepare for their interviews - we get asked about interview technique and how to go about acing an interview.  Here are a few tips to help you along your way.  This is what you should avoid doing in an interview so not to damage our chances of success...

1. Being too dominant

In every conversation there tends to be a ‘leader’. The leader can change as you move through a conversation or interview. Make sure that you aren’t the one leading the whole time. You don’t want to come across too dominant or domineering as this will make the interviewer wonder how you will be with others you work with. People want collaboration and a ‘team’ approach, so make sure that the conversation works both ways and isn’t all led by you.

2. Clock Watching

Have you ever been with someone who constantly clock watches? Isn’t it annoying? Don’t do it – especially in an interview. It’s distracting, annoying and rude to the interviewer. If you’re serious about the job you need to show it by giving it your full attention.

3. Being unprepared

If you turn up at an interview not knowing anything about the company or role you are going for you will look stupid! Make sure that you have done your homework and know about what the company does, where it’s heading and what they are trying to do. You should know about the role you are going for and also about the people who are interviewing you.

4. Expressing irrelevant opinions

Going on about something that is completely irrelevant to your interview is counter-productive and a waste of time in an interview.  You may not even realize that you are doing it because you get so excited about a certain topic – but make sure that you become more alert to this problem. Some of us are easily distracted and can get wrapped up in a conversation if we have strong views on it and find it interesting. However, if it’s not relevant to the role or job you’re going after – suck it up – be quiet!

5. Not listening or responding to the questions

If you don’t really listen to the questions, you won’t respond to them well or properly. Making sure that you put on your ‘listening’ cap as well as your ‘speaking and get my opinions & talents across’ cap.  If you don’t listen in your interview you are pretty much sunk!

Author: Nisa Chitakasem and Simon North - Position Ignition (www.positionignition.com) - taking you to the next step in your career

via positionignition.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Inspiring Job Search | CareerAlley

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” – Francis Bacon

Like most things in life, there is no “magic” to successful job search. It is a mix of luck (being in the right place at the right time), networking (it’s who you know), hard work (review the job search boards every day), credentials (what have you done lately) and marketing (great resume). But also like most things in life, inspiration breeds successful job search. Inspiration can take many forms. It may be a friend who has landed a great job, a mentor that gives amazing guidance or just a great idea that gets you going. Of course “I hate my job” offer its own inspiration. So what inspires you?

• Jobgoround.com – Their tag line “The First Website Devoted to the Whole Job Search Process” tells their approach. There are tabs at the top of the page for Job Search, Resume Writing. Cover Letter, Resume Services, Interview, Career Articles and more. Each of the sections have embedded links with related content. Click on Job Search to see the job search board where you can enter criteria for keywords and locations. There were over 113,000 job opportunities when I checked the site.

• XLCareer.com – Another job resource site that balances job search with job search resources. There are tabs at the top of the page for Find Jobs, News and Tips. There is an overview of the site with a link to how they can help you find a job. Below this is a “Jobs by Category” section which provides an overview of each job type when you click the link. This section is followed by a Recent Jobs Guide section and the Recent Jobs Available. The “Find Jobs” link lists jobs by function with an indicator next to the title of how many jobs are available in that section.

• Applyandgo.com – Start with entering your country (India, UK and US for now) and then you are linked to a country specific site. Boxes at the top for Create an Account, Upload your Visual Resume and Get Job Alerts. This is followed by tabs for Jobs, Job Seekers, Resources, Careers and more. A Search Jobs box follows with a fair number of criteria (and there is an Advanced Search box as well). Categories are listed next. The Right hand side of the screen has a few links (like Hot Jobs and International Jobs).

• Kosmix Jobs – A really good job search resource site, the interface is clean and easy to find what you want quickly. The main page has a featured topic (click on the picture to see detail on the topic).  The right hand side of the page has Job Topics. Click on any topic to see additional detail. The site then builds a page with your content including links, top websites and additional related links on the right hand side of the page. There are related news items and videos at the bottom of the topic page. Definitely worth a review.

• Job Market NY Times – The New York Times has a very good job search and careers site. The top of the page has tabs (below the jobs tab) for Find a Job, Post Your Resume, Job Seeker sign on and Career Advice. There is a simple job search bar where you can put a key word and a category. Below this section (all on the left hand side of the page) are recent related job search articles. Center page is a “post your resume” followed by related links salary comparison and more. Right hand side of the screen is the staffing center.

via careeralley.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal