Congratulations You're A Grownup! Now What?!?

So you're graduating from college, old enough to drink, smoke, and and fight for your country. Congratulations!! You're now entering the workforce, possibly for the first time ever. So what the hell are you supposed to do now?!

Step 1: Create a resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile.

• Make sure this is reviewed by someone else and free of spelling and grammatical errors
• Post your resume to the job boards: CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc.

 


Step 2: Get a Wardrobe!

• Whether you were the best dressed in school or liked to experiment with fun and crazy styles, Corporate America wants a specific look.  You can still keep your individuality and style, but in most cases it needs to be toned down or made a little more conservative.
• Natural make-up and hair color is preferred. Cover up your tattoos for the interview

Step 3: Network!

• Stay in touch with your classmates, professionals, and other people you've met in college, they can be excellent resources for you down the road. 
• Attend local organizations' chapter meetings as a guest, see if it's of value for you and if it is, join!

Step 4: Accept Internships or Entry Level Roles

• You have to get your experience somewhere, and most jobs want 1+ year of experience.  
• The best thing you can do is intern while you're still in school.  If it's too late for that, look for paid internships and entry level positions, a lot of companies offer room for advancement if you prove yourself.

Step 5: Be Realistic

• So you graduated from college along with millions of other students nationwide.  You are not alone, so stay positive, accept that you're probably going to get a few rejections, and be realistic about money.  
• Unless you are a computer programmer, you are not going to make $60k+ right out of college.  You have to work up to that.

Do You Love Your Job?

The vast majority of people are not happy at work.  According to the latest Gallup Poll from October 2013, "87% of workers are emotionally disconnected from their workplace".  While the numbers are better in the U.S., there's still a huge population unhappy with their work.  So what do you do?  People spend more waking hours at work than at home, that's more time with your coworkers and boss than friends and family.

You should enjoy what you do for a living, and if you don't, you should think about making a change.

• Think about what tasks or activities you do that you really enjoy.
• What things do you absolutely hate to do?
• Where do you want to be in 5 years?  I know it's an annoying interview question, but think of it this way: what type of work do you want to be doing? Are you a numbers person or a people person, or both?  Do you enjoy interacting with others?  Do you like working on your set tasks or do you prefer working on tons of projects?  These answers will help steer you towards a job you'd actually enjoy
• What type of company do you want to work for?  Fortune 500, medium/small business, start-up?
• What about industry?  Is there a specific sector you're interested in or passionate about? 

You don't have to have all the answers now, but thinking about these things will help get you started, because no one should stay in a job they hate.  If you're ready to find something new, dust off your resume, look at job boards, and talk to your network to see what kinds of jobs are out there.

What do you do to stay engaged at work?  Let me know in the comments!

New Year, New Career?

The time for New Years Resolutions has come again, and one of the most popular resolutions is to find a better job/make more money/start a career.  It's a great resolution, but it often becomes one of those resolutions that die sometime between February and March.  So what do you do to make sure this resolution comes true?

Reflect.  What happened in 2013?  What do you like about your current/past job?  What do you hate? What are your biggest strengths?  Are you good with numbers, or do you prefer to talk to people?

Plan.  A popular interview question is where do you want to be in 5 years.  Most the time the answer is "I have no idea!", but if you stop and think about it, and dream big, you can find your career path.  Go on Indeed.com and search job titles that you'd like to have one day, and pay attention to the requirements.  Will you need more education for that job?  What kind of experience will you need to have in that job?  Then make it happen.

Take Action! Getting a job isn't easy, even if you're currently employed.  So increase your chances, make sure you have a strong resume and it's posted to job boards like Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, Craigslist, and eBay Classifieds.  If you're not sure about your resume, have someone else look at it (like yours truly who revises resumes and cover letters insiderecruiter629@gmail.com)

Does your profession have a forum or network website that you can post your resume on?  Are there groups or organizations you can join to network? What are the job titles you're interested in?  Are there specific companies that you would like to work for?  You can usually attend a meeting or two as a guest to see if it's the right fit for you.

Check In.  Every month, see what progress you've made.  If you've received more call backs and gone on more interviews, then you're on the right track.  If not, reassess your strategy, and keep applying.  Make 2014 the year that you take a big step in your career.

The Two Most Important Things When Job Searching

Ever since the recession hit in 2008, the job market has been in the employer's favor.  While unemployment rates in the U.S. have improved overall, there are still far more applicants than there are jobs.  With the job market being so competitive, you need to be able to sell yourself to employers positively and with confidence.

Your cover letter and resume should highlight the skills and experience you bring to the table, not what you want out of a job.  You're not begging to be hired, you're telling employers why they need to hire you and what they'll get out of hiring you.

Confidence and positivity are two of the most important things you need when job searching.  It's easy to get discouraged and become jaded, but you have to catch yourself and switch back into positive thinking.  Go on Youtube and watch a clip of your favorite comedy skit, or search "funny animals".  Do something to laugh and the go back to applying for jobs, because no one wants to hire someone who seems negative or desperate.

What do you do to stay positive?  Let me know in the comments! :)

How Recruiters Get You a Job

Whether they work directly for a company or at a staffing firm, recruiters are incentivized to fill job openings, so it's important to stay on their good side.  The best thing you can do is develop good rapport with your recruiter.

A good recruiter searches for and screens applicants and then narrows down the pool of applicants to qualified candidates the hiring manager would want to consider.  It's our job to figure out what kind of pay/benefits/perks you want in order to accept an offer.  This is one of the reasons why it's so important to be honest and upfront with your recruiter.  Don't expect to turn around and ask for more from the hiring manager, it won't happen, and it could hurt your chances to get hired.

While every company is different, a recruiter will typically make recommendations to the hiring manager and do their best to bring the manager to a decision and facilitate the onboarding process.  Follow-up with your recruiter when needed and help him or her make a case for you.

Networking to get the Job

The vast majority of all jobs are gotten through referrals.  A recruiter is much more likely to see your resume and consider you, if someone recommends you.  This is why it's so important to stay in contact with your classmates, coworkers, and members of clubs and organizations.  LinkedIn makes networking a lot easier with inmail and groups, and it's always a good idea to save people to your phone or email contacts.

Networking is a give and take, and you shouldn't expect to get something before giving anything.  There are a lot of ways to do this including sharing interesting articles, information, or job opportunities they may be interested in.  You could also just send a message seeing how things are going for them.  On LinkedIn it's easy to see when someone has changed jobs or received a promotion - congratulate them.

If you go to a networking event, dress nicely, but you don't typically need to be in full business attire.  If you have business cards, bring them and give them to people you talk to.  Networking events or organization meetings usually have time set aside to mingle, this is a great time to use your elevator speech to introduce yourself.  Make sure you ask the other person what they do and what they're interested in, take notes on the back of their business card so they're easier to remember.

After the event, email them or connect with them via LinkedIn, make sure you say where you met them and that you're interested in staying in touch.

Have you started networking yet?  What has worked best for you?  Let me know in the comments!

Leveraging LinkedIn to Find a Job

More and more recruiters are using LinkedIn to find good candidates so if you're not on it already, I definitely recommend setting up a profile (I offer LinkedIn help on my Services tab).  You can see my LinkedIn profile here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/natashaaguirre.

LinkedIn is essentially an online version of your resume, so if you've followed my resume tips seen here and here, you should be able to copy and paste most of your fields.  Make sure you include something in the Summary section of your profile, this can be a shortened version of your Summary of Qualifications from your resume.

Profile Picture - This can be a selfie, but is not a Facebook duck face picture, it should be professional and just you (not kids or pets).  You don't need to spend money on professional glamour shots, but should have good lighting, be in focus, and not wearing anything to revealing.  Smile in your picture, it makes you look more approachable and confident.  It should also look like you, don't include a picture from years ago that doesn't look like you do today.

Custom URL - Great feature, should be some variation of your name (see my URL above)

Privacy Settings - Check out the privacy settings on LinkedIn, and please keep in mind that this isn't like other social media, this is for your career, so I would recommend making your profile public and accepting invitations to connect if they're relevant to you.

Skills & Expertise - List what you're good at, as you type options will pre-populate for you.

Recommendations - This is one of the most important sections of LinkedIn and you need to use it.  After you've added people you know and have worked with as connections, send requests asking them to write you a recommendation.  You should only ask people you've worked with and who can attest to how awesome you are at your job.  Don't worry, you get to preview this before it goes on your profile.  This is a great tool that companies look at and can use as references.

Groups & Companies - LinkedIn offers great ways to network with people in your industry through groups and companies.  Join groups that are relevant to you and can connect you with people in your industry who might know about job openings or can connect you with someone at the company you're applying to.  The company section is a great way to research the companies you're applying to and learn more about them.  You can also use it to follow your dream companies that you'd love to work for.