Critical Skills for Career Launch

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Critical Skills for Career Launch

• Donald Asher
• Asher Associates
• [phone]
• don_at_donaldasher.com

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Heres a thought

• Summer is coming like a train, and youre
  standing on the tracks
• Its time to worry about your future

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What Ya Gonna Do?

• Job Search
• Career Launch Management-Professional Track
• Post-Degree Internship
• Entry-Level Exploratory Job (any job in field of
  choice)
• Transfer to Four-Year Institution
• (or otherwise continue your education)
• Service
• Adventure
• Moms Basement
• Other

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First Big Point ?

• Your major doesnt determine your career choices
• Your major doesnt even determine your skill set

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Q What do these five people have in common?

• Bank Officer  
• Stock Market Analyst
• Music Therapist
• Director of Senior Citizens Center
• Field Archeologist

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Start with Any Career Idea

• You can be very naïve, but the idea must
  originate with you
• No one wants to help this student I dunno.
  Anything.

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Three to Five Goals

• Something to do with the environment
• vs.
• Industrial level recycling of post-consumer
  electronics, as in container loads or larger, and
  global trade in such materials

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Your Goals for This Semester

• Identify a job target of interest
• Find someone doing that job right now
• Talk to them
• Thats it. This simple process can change your
  life
• Repeat until retired

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Biggest Goal

• Start before you graduate
• Everybody loves students nobody loves jobseekers
• Build knowledge and a network of people who
  already know you or know of you
• Get career exploration done before this
  Christmas, so you can do career launch before
  you graduate!

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The Two Fs

• Who gets a job in a tight market?
• Friends
• First
• These are actually related those with friends
  get there first
• Think you dont know anyone? See the list People
  who want to help you

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The Only Three Things You Need to Know (again)

• You get jobs by talking to people
• You need 100 leads at all times
• Look for work in channels

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Which Stage of Job Search is Most Important?

• Identify job targets (industry, function, title)
• Identify raw leads (companies, people, ideas)
• Identify names of specific people
• Turn a name into an appointment
• Sell in the interview
• Stay alive through the selection process
• Close the deal

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Building Target Statements

• Industry
• Function
• Title
• Values
• Location
• Commute
• Dress
• Hours

• Travel
• Autonomy
• Tele-work flex-time
• Supervise
• New / Old / Large / Small
• Compensation
• Risk
• Opportunity / career path

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6 Sources of Job Leads

• Networking (about 60 of jobs-never advertised)
• Research
• Job Fairs
• Internet
• Active (searching for job listings and
  researching orgs)
• Passive (posting yourself on job boards and
  waiting)
• Headhunters
• Print Media

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Networking

• Its about information, not power
• Types
• Hiring authorities
• Direct referral sources
• Centers of influence
• Uncle Bob and Aunt Claudene
• Dont forget receptions and job fairs, one of the
  only places on the planet to meet a lot of
  recruiters easily

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Research

• Business library experts
• Industry directories association lists
• Hoovers or zapdata.com or DB (12 million)
• Chamber of Commerce
• State Department of Commerce
• Drive by
• Intl students see slides re resources
• You dont have to do this on your own. Get some
  help!

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Job Fairs

• Quickly survey the room
• Why only weird jobs seemed to be listed
• Ask recruiters for referrals to other contacts at
  their companies
• Get everyones business card
• Follow up right away!

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Internet

• Active works the same as research
• Find companies in your area of interest
• Research companies before any interview
• Passive works like print media
• Post and forget, more when we do resumes
• Use the career center lists!

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Headhunters Agencies

• Find people for jobs, not jobs for people
• Do NOT expect a recruiter to baby sit you, give
  you friendly advice, or help you find any job
  except one she has an open requisition for
• Consider temp agencies
• Consider specialist agencies, such as Bilingual
  Secretaries Unlimited or Emergency Accounting
  Staff

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Job BB, Company Job Site Postings, Print Media

• Intensive competition, 100-to-1, 500-to-1,
• or even worse is typical
• You have to be perfect
• Always running behind the cycle
• Trade press and specialty publications

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Interview Rules

• You will call and confirm the day before
• You will research the company before the meeting
• You will arrive exactly 4 minutes early
• You will know the plan for the day
• You will look your best

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Questions theyll ask you

• The Classics
• Tell me about yourself
• Strengths, weaknesses, preferences
• What would your former boss say about you?
• Behavioral Interviewing Questions
• Tell me about a time when.
• What would you do if?
• Case Questions Trick Questions

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Classic interviewing questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• Tell a short business story that leads to the
  inevitable conclusion that you are just now
  perfectly prepared to contribute to this company

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More Classics

• Strengths?
• Weaknesses?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What would your professors say about you (or your
  work habits, etc.)?
• Why did you pick (your school, major, etc.)?
• Prefer to work alone or on a team?

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Behavioral interviewing questions

• Answer the question!
• Provide a specific example
• Tell a short business story, hopefully one where
  you are the hero
• Go from the specific to the general, that is,
  show that you understand the big picture after
  you answer specifically

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Case Trick Questions

• Set up a scenario and ask you what you would do
• Mental gymnastics How many golf balls will fit
  in a 747?
• Weird questions Youre at a bus stop, and a
  little old lady has a heart attack. Just then,
  your boss drives up in a two-seater sports car.
  Your best friend is in the car, and (he or she)
  is late for the airport. What do you do?

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Questions to ask them

• What are your hiring criteria? Which skills and
  abilities are critical for success?
• How many interviews do you plan? When will you be
  able to extend an offer?
• What would you like to see accomplished in the
  first few months on the job?
• What resources will be available to me to
  accomplish my objectives?
• How will success be measured?

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Follow up questions

• Does that answer your question?
• Is that what you had in mind?
• How do you do it at your company?
• What approach does your company favor?
• What are your plans relative to this?

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Staying alive

• Send a prompt thank you letter by email and mail!
• Hit their radar screen every week or two
• Identify good networking resources and use the
  easy-out bugging system
• Put your middle initial in, out, in, out, in,
• What to do if youre seventh choice

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Who Needs Aggressive Techniques

• Entrants
• New graduates with an A.A./A.S. or B.A./B.S.
• Dropouts
• ADA-empowered entrants
• Re-Entrants
• returning parents and caretakers
• returning prisoners
• MBA interns and graduates
• the idle rich
• Career changers
• especially career changers
• In a downturn Everybody