by Angela Copeland | May 30, 2014 | Advice, Media
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Dressing for Career Success.” In it, I provide tips on what to wear to ‘knock ’em dead’ at your next interview.
You’ve been applying online for months, and finally something has clicked. You have an interview in a few days for the perfect job at the best company in town.
This scenario sounds great on the surface, but can often lead to stress and anxiety when job seekers prepare to suit up for their next interview. And it makes sense, because your outfit can impact your overall interview success.
A friend who lives on the more casual West Coast interviewed for a position in the more formal East Coast. Unaware of the difference, he wore jeans, surprised everyone with his casual attire and lost out on the job.
Fortunately, there are a few simple rules you can follow to help you prepare. Overall, you want to minimize distractions. A job interview is about your skills. It’s about what you bring to the table. Dressing in an inappropriate or flashy way will take the attention away from your talent.
To read my entire article, and learn about how you can dress for success, visit the Memphis Daily News site here.
by Angela Copeland | May 28, 2014 | Advice, Newsletter, Podcast
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! The important holiday honoring our veterans is always a great opportunity to reconnect with friends and loved ones.
As you continue your job search, keep those close to you in mind. They can be a great resource for learning.
Of your friends, think of the one with the most interesting job. You know, the friend whose job you secretly wish you could have.
Have you ever thought about calling that friend and asking them to have an informational interview with you? An informational interview is when you sit down with another professional to learn about their career.
It’s not a job interview, but it is an excellent learning and networking opportunity. It can often help you to identify jobs you don’t want, and can open your eyes to jobs you hadn’t considered.
You might be surprised at just how easy it is to ask someone for an informational interview. Most people love to talk about what they do, and are more than happy to share with you.
I have found this to be true in both my personal job searches, and with my new podcast. As the title of this blog suggests, this is an exciting day. Today, I’m launching the first episode of the Copeland Coaching Podcast!
I sat down and interviewed my friend, Amy Ware, to get her perspective on the job search process. Amy is a long time career coach and Director of Career Services at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee.
In my interview, Amy shares tips on job searching, dressing for success, and nailing the interview. If you’ve ever had questions about what you should or shouldn’t wear to an interview, this podcast is for you! Amy also gives great tips on what to do after an interview to follow up with employers and to increase your chances of getting the job.
You can listen to the podcast in two ways. First, it’s available for download on Apple Podcasts. You can also listen on SoundCloud.com. So, whether you want to listen on your desktop, laptop, mobile phone, or tablet, you’re covered! Listen from wherever, whenever.
If this is your first time to listen to a podcast on Apple Podcasts, you may not see the episode above listed right away. If you’re having trouble, search for “the podcast app” in the App Store. After you download The Podcast App, you can search for the “Copeland Coaching Podcast.” You should then be able to view the podcast episode for download. Once you download it, you can begin listening!
I hope you will enjoy this first episode of the Copeland Coaching Podcast. Tune in each Tuesday for a new podcast and expert guest. We will be discussing everything from getting an interview, switching career fields, offer negotiation, and finding happiness at work.
And speaking of switching fields and findings happiness, I’m searching for a Social Media Intern for Copeland Coaching.
This person should have extremely strong organization and time management skills, with the ability to work independently and meet deadlines. They should have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
At a minimum, they should have experience personally using social media. But, it’s not critical that they’ve used social media in business before. This will be a great learning opportunity for the right candidate.
This is a paid internship, and the intern may be located in Memphis or may work virtually.
The full job description is located here (note: this is a PDF document). Interested candidates are asked to send their resume, cover letter, and social media links to intern@CopelandCoaching.com.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | May 23, 2014 | Advice, Change, Media
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Scaling Your Career.” In it, I encourage you to consider transition between different industries – and to learn about the differences that may hold you back during your search.
One of the most exciting career transitions job seekers make is changing industries. You may want to move from nonprofit to corporate or from a large organization to a small business. These moves expose you to a new workplace and can reenergize you if you’re feeling burnt out in your current environment.
However, the one issue many job seekers struggle to understand is scalability. Scalability is an understanding of how your old work environment translates into your new work environment.
For example, a friend was recently working as a manager at a major university. He had 75 employees, large-scale projects and an impressive budget. Interested to move to a corporate job, he was concerned about titles such as “manager” and “director” that appeared on job postings. In the university setting, these titles were reserved for a select few with expansive responsibilities.
To read my entire article, and learn about how you can learn more about how to scale your career, visit the Memphis Daily News site here.
by Angela Copeland | May 19, 2014 | Advice, Newsletter
If you’re in the later part of your career and find yourself starting over, you may be worried about a number of things. In particular, many older job seekers are concerned about the discrimination they may face during the interview process.
And honestly, it’s for good reason. First impressions happen quickly and make a lasting impact.
Even the Bureau of Labor Statistics agrees. Unemployed workers who are 55 and older stay out of work 20% longer than those between 25 and 54.
Reducing your perceived age can help you to avoid this dilemma. The steps below will help you shave years off your resume.
- Truncate your work experience – It’s not a requirement that you list every job you’ve ever had on your resume. Including the last 10-15 years is sufficient to give an accurate picture of your work history and direction. Try leaving out your first few positions which may be less relevant, lower level, and possibly redundant as compared to your recent work history.
- Eliminate your graduation years – Dropping off your graduation years from your resume can make it harder to guess your age. Just remember to also drop these years from your LinkedIn profile and other social media sites, like Facebook.
- Use an up-to-date e-mail address – Stay away from older e-mails like AOL, Yahoo, or Comcast. These e-mail addresses are giveaways to a person’s age. In certain fields, it may also suggest that you’re not up to date with the latest technology. For a more modern e-mail address, consider Gmail or Live.com. Both are free and easy to sign up for.
- Don’t include a home phone – On your resume, you only need to include one phone number. Most likely, this will be your cell phone. But, whether it’s your cell phone or home phone, there’s no need to specify. The younger generation is no longer signing up for home phones, so displaying yours only highlights your age.
- Keep the total length to two pages, maximum – There’s no need to include every activity and project you’ve ever worked on. If you apply to jobs with a resume that’s more than two pages, you give the impression that you either don’t know how to write a resume, or you have WAY MORE work experience than everyone else. Keep your resume to one or two pages to avoid this stigma.
- Leave off “references available upon request” – There’s no need to include this phrase on your resume. You provide references as a separate part of the interview process. Including this phrase (or a list of references) on your resume only raises questions.
Just remember, a large part of your age is all about perception. It’s how you present yourself on paper, online, and in person. Taking a little time to clean up your resume can trim years off your age, and months off your job search.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | May 16, 2014 | Advice, Media
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Networking Over Coffee.” In it, I encourage you to expand your network and learn more about new industries.
Workers change jobs more frequently now than ever before. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees only stay at a job for a little over four years on average.
In the past, people making quick transitions were sometimes looked at as flaky or unstable. Today, it’s common to assume those who transition more frequently are also more experienced. They’ve seen different environments, and have been forced to grow their skills.
If you’ve decided to become part of this growing trend, you may wonder where to start. You’ll need to decide if you want to keep the same type of job, or try something new, and whether or not to stay in the same industry. When changing careers, it’s often easiest to either keep the same job function in a new industry – or try a new job function in the same industry.
But first, you need to decide which job function, and which industry. This is a place where people often get stuck. They wonder how to gather enough information to make this decision.
To read my entire article, and learn about how you can learn more about different industries and jobs, visit the Memphis Daily News site here.
by Angela Copeland | May 13, 2014 | Advice, Media
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Transitioning Between Corporate and Nonprofit.” In it, I give you tips on how to transition your career from corporate to non-profit or from non-profit to corporate.
Career transitions are all the rage these days. Whether it’s moving between jobs more frequently or updating your skill set midstream, change is happening. One trend growing in popularity is employees who are making a move between the nonprofit and corporate worlds.
Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on now, the grass often looks greener on the other side. And, the good news is, many employers are warming up to the idea to. Now the questions becomes, how do you make such a bold move?
To read my entire article, and learn about how to successfully transition your career, visit the Memphis Daily News site here.
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