We Told Them They Could Do Anything……

 Remember when our kids were growing up, we told them they could do anything – if they put their minds to it.  I believe that continues to hold true however in the world of getting a job there appears to be a lot of rejection which is out of our control.  Do our kids think we lied to them?

                The world used to be so easy.  You were interested in a job, so you submitted your resume.  Right? Somewhere along the line someone decided we should have a computer scan the resume and utilizing key words, we should discard applicants because their “computer score” was not high enough.  Think we might be missing some great people who maybe didn’t get the memo on the resume words?

                With the interview landscape changing, it’s time to have another important conversation with our kids.  It IS possible to do anything you put your mind to, however, they must be prepared to do the work.  Nothing will come easy and all roads to getting to where you want to get to are acceptable. 

                The Class2Career web-based tool encourages those looking for careers to first identify what your strengths are – what is great about you, why would an employer want you.  This can be done by looking at experiences you have had with positive and negative outcomes to determine what strengths or attributes you exhibited to accomplish the task.  Next investigate a series of career paths to better understand them and what their work entails.  Where do your strengths and passions align?  This is often where you will put your energy.   Network with those in the careers you are interested in – utilize those people you know and those you don’t know.  Learn and connect as much as you can.  We now understand most jobs are filled from within meaning, employees are being asked to recommend people for openings.  You need to have a connection in the company who will think of you when they see a job posted.  Finally, and most important, remember the strengths and attributes list you made?  Now go back and create a story or two on each which demonstrates how you used the strength to achieve a goal.  Attributes begin to be developed at an early age so you may need the help of an adult….and I understand EVERY parent is eager to help!

                We didn’t lie to our kids.  They CAN do whatever they put their mind to.  But they also need to understand all the rules of the game.  Class2Career helps them realize their dreams.

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Teaching Kids to Toot Their Own Horn

Many applicants say they don’t like to “brag” about their accomplishments in an interview.  We get that.

Not everyone feels comfortable talking about themselves and their accomplishments and worse saying how you would be better than someone else.  Tooting your own horn has a bad name.

Many applicants say they don’t want to SELL THEMSELVES in an interview because its uncomfortable for them.  We get this too.

That’s why is good to go through the exercise asking your son or daughter – what’s great about you? Why would a company want to hire you?  Utilizing their experiences either through sports, work, academics where they wanted something and went after it and got it.  What skills or attributes did they use to achieve this goal?  Then build the story around it.  

When you tell your individual story in an interview of something you did and the result which exhibits your claim to have a certain attribute; you have just sold yourself and done a little bragging….without it even hurting.   In order to be able to tell your story you must first know your story.  

Networking is Critical to Landing a Job

We recently read an article in Forbes on the Hidden Job Market.  For all the hype on job search engines, it’s now known there is a hidden job market where many jobs either never get posted or if they are posted, the job is pretty much filled.  So how, you ask, are these jobs being filled – through networking.  Companies are asking and sometimes compensating employees to find great people to bring into the company. Smart idea – who better knows the environment and expectations of a job and who might be a good fit….than someone who works at the company.

IF THIS DOESN’T CONVINCE  YOU HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO NETWORK – WHAT WILL CONVINCE YOU?

Here’s the good news.  Networking has a bad reputation.  We have been made to believe it’s reaching out to someone on LinkedIn you’ve never met – creepy.  Actually if you are social media proficient, i.e.  use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn – then you are already a pro!  You just need to make sure everyone in your network and all those connected to them know you are looking for a job.  The 6 degrees of separation theory is now 2.3 with social media.

It’s not who you know anymore it’s who knows you!

A friend of mine’s son, several years ago, quit his finance job in Boston to move to New York.  He set a goal to reach out to 10 people EVERYDAY to let them know he was looking for position.  He was a true believer in networking by letting EVERYONE you know and EVERYONE they know that you are looking for a job. He landed the job he wanted….in Finance, no less, and today is still with the same company.  It took him 2 months and over  500 connections but it happened.  Be focused, believe in the power of networking!

Getting a Job is a Job

Statistics show it takes an average of 3 – 6 months to find a job.  Some quote it takes 1 month for every $10,000 you are looking to earn.  Getting a job is a job, but with the right amount of attention and focus, like anything, you can get the job you want.  Remember, it’s a journey…..many will tire along the journey and accept a job they really don’t want.  No matter what happens just keep focused.

You may have to do another job, even part-time, in order to pay bills while you search for the job of your dreams.  Be realistic, reduce your expenses, live within your budget as this will put less stress on the process.

Set a least an hour a day aside to network, follow-up on jobs posted on the internet, stay in touch with on-going job pursuits, as well as, staying connected to those helping you in your process.

It’s a process which is why we say, getting a job is a job.

 

 

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” In our years recruiting for corporate America, we found a large majority of applicants were unable to link what they had accomplished in their lives to a workplace need.  In other words, they were unable to take one of their strengths, give an example of how they had demonstrated this strength and then link it to why it would be important for a company to have someone with that strength.

Not all interviewers take the time to get your individual story….The process is getting worse because now computers are scanning resumes as part of the selection/rejection process.  When you get an interview, you must be able to align the company’s job requirements to a strength and story that you have and you must make this connection in the interview.  Failure to do so may mean being unfairly rejected from a job you really want.

At the end of a recruiting day, we didn’t remember grade point averages, or what was on the resume. We remembered the person through their individual compelling stories of success, triumph and failure.

The story is how we get an inside look at the person to be hired….people hire people! And that is the underlying reason why we created Class2Career!