by Angela Copeland | Apr 29, 2016 | Advice, Career Corner Column
In today’s workplace, email is an inevitable fact of life. Gone are the days of predictable phone calls or regular in person chats to check in. The bulk of communication is expected through email. Often, one message may contain ten more or recipients, who reply-all with the smallest of details. It can leave your inbox jam packed, with many unread and unanswered messages.
At some point, this backlog of emails can become embarrassing. The good news is, there’s hope! In 2015, the Reply All podcast declared April 30th to be “Email Debt Forgiveness Day.” Email Debt Forgiveness Day is a time when you can respond to all the emails you’ve been too nervous to respond to, regardless of how much time has passed. An email that qualifies includes one that creates anxiety at both the thought of responding, and the thought of the length of time that’s passed since you received it.
You can now put that worry of your mind, and respond without the fear of a negative reaction. Simply explain the situation in your answer. And, you may want to include a link to an online article about this special day, just in case your recipient hasn’t heard about it.
If your inbox has grown to the point of no return however, Email Debt Forgiveness Day may not be enough to fix your problem. In this case, you might want to consider “email bankruptcy.” You can declare email bankruptcy by deleting all emails older than a certain date. Once the emails are deleted, you send a message to everyone who has emailed you. Explain the situation, and that you’re officially declaring email bankruptcy. Ask that if they still need a response to their message, they should resend their original email.
Both of these tactics can help you start over with a clean slate. Once you do, there are a few guidelines to follow to keep your inbox manageable going forward. First, cut back on email altogether by not hitting the “reply-all” button. This is such an enticing thing to do. It keeps everyone on the email string informed and gives you credit for your contribution. But, in reality, reply-all is very rarely helpful and usually creates many more messages than what are needed.
Come up with a set time of day that will be devoted to email, and develop a policy to respond to all emails within twenty four hours. This sounds hard, right? Very often, you don’t know the answer to every email within one day. If that happens, simply respond to the sender to say that you’ve received their message and are working to find an answer.
Last, use the features and tools within your email program to help keep things in order. Flags, categories, tabs, and automated out of office replies can all help keep you organized and ahead of the email game. To be competitive in today’s workforce, you must not only be great at your job, but good at managing your online communication.
Angela Copeland is CEO and career coach at Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
by Angela Copeland | Apr 22, 2016 | Advice, Career Corner Column, Media
A friend called me recently with a question I was not expecting. He said, “Why is it that all the resumes I get from recent college graduates are packed with their leadership experience? I don’t care about that. I want to know what they can really do for my company, work wise. What are their skills?”
To give a little context, my friend is a hiring manager who employees engineers. He would never hire someone right out of college to manage other employees at his company. He’s looking for entry level workers. He’s searching for engineers. After a new hire proves themselves, they might be promoted to management in a few years, but not right away.
What he’s seeing isn’t just showing up on one resume or another. It’s a consistent theme coming from all recent graduates. And, apparently other hiring managers are seeing the same trend.
For example, if the job applicant took a manufacturing course, they might state that they were the team captain of their work group rather than what they manufactured. The hiring manager wants to know what tangible engineering skills they gained, rather than who they led.
It seems there may be a disconnect in the expectations of some recent graduates. Some young professionals believe they will be in management roles immediately upon graduation. Although some people begin managing sooner than others, it rarely happens right away. It’s not clear if this disconnect is happening at the college level or somewhere else.
Don’t get me wrong. Leadership skills are important. Young professionals should continue to step up and volunteer when opportunities come available. It helps to build work skills, and is a nice addition to their resume. But, when it comes to finding a job, a young professional shouldn’t assume they’ll be a manager right away.
On the resume, highlight your leadership experience, but also showcase your nitty gritty skills. As an entry level worker, what do you have to offer? List specific computer programs you know, or other industry specific skills you’ve learned. If you talk about a project you worked on, talk about what you accomplished and what you learned.
If you’re still in school, try to get an internship or two. Even if it’s unpaid, a real corporate or nonprofit internship can make all the difference when it comes to looking for a full-time job. Don’t assume that a job at as a restaurant server will make sense to your post-graduate corporate employer. Pursue opportunities that will enhance your future career. Even if those opportunities are low paying or volunteer now, they will lead to a more impressive resume – and possibly a better job later.
Unfortunately, a college degree alone doesn’t guarantee a full-time job. At many places, it can be little more than a minimum requirement. It’s what you do with the degree, before and after graduation, that matters. Be willing to roll up your sleeves to get real world experience and hiring managers will respect you that much more.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com.
by Angela Copeland | Apr 15, 2016 | Advice, Career Corner Column, Media
Most of the time, job seeking today feels much more complicated than it did in years past. In addition to your resume, cover letter, and business suit, there’s a new layer to consider: social media. Although we often don’t typically think of social media as part of our job search, it can be helpful for both the recruiter and the job seeker.
As a job seeker, participating in social media can be a positive thing. If there’s more than one person with your name, joining the social media world allows you to take ownership over your own personal brand. If you’re wondering where to begin, start with LinkedIn and then work up to other sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Job seeking is a lot like attending a dinner party. When you’re thinking of what to post on your social media, keep this in mind. If you want to share your religious beliefs, political views, or other potentially controversial thoughts, ensure that the privacy settings on your profiles are locked tight.
But, with LinkedIn, it’s best to keep things as open as you can. It’s a great idea to allow a potential employer to learn as much about you as possible. Be sure to include an updated profile photo, current employment information, and your email address. Make it easier for recruiters to find for you by including words on your profile that are relevant to your career.
Try to make time to interact with friends and colleagues on social media, so you become part of their online ecosystem. Sites like LinkedIn can be a great place to share your latest accomplishments and awards. In today’s competitive market, it’s good to try to remain top of mind. You never know who may be hiring.
Beyond creating a presence for yourself, social media can actually help in your search. First, it’s a great place to research what people are saying about your potential employer. Do their employees and customers love them or hate them? It’s also a great way to research your hiring manager and the other people who will be interviewing you.
And, if you’ve had a hard time getting the attention of the hiring manager through the traditional online application process, social media may be an option to try. It has to be done carefully, but most executives manage their own Twitter accounts, for example. It is surprising how often a C-level executive is willing to engage with positive comments online.
I have even heard of applicants tweeting a video to a company. In the video, the applicant gives their elevator pitch and asks to be considered for a certain role. It’s important to be cautious with such public displays when you currently have a full time job. But, it’s an interesting idea to consider. Wouldn’t you agree?
The degree to which you use social media in your job search is completely up to you. But, whatever you do, use it to brand yourself in a positive light rather than the latest controversy.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com.
by Angela Copeland | Apr 8, 2016 | Advice, Career Corner Column
Yesterday, I found myself saying something I often say this time of year. “One of my all-time favorite things is to go to a job fair!” The response I received was not unexpected. The job seeker hadn’t even thought of attending a job fair since college. They seem so juvenile on some level.
I will admit, tiny job fairs aren’t always everything they’re cracked up to be. I’ve been to fairs with ten or less employers who have tiny booths and very few actual jobs. These events add little value, and could eat up a perfectly good afternoon.
But, a good job far can be worth its weight in gold. On more than one occasion, I’ve successfully landed a job as a result of attending one of these events.
Large fairs have 300 or more employer booths. Often, the companies represented are the ones you’ve been dreaming of, such as Facebook, Google, or FedEx. Each employer has a booth that’s manned by someone from their recruiting team. They’re there to answer questions, collect resumes, and in some cases, conduct interviews.
You heard me right. The recruiters often conduct first round interviews at large career fairs. Can you imagine how much time might be saved from applying online, if you could simply walk from recruiter to recruiter in person?
Finding the right fair can take time, but is worth the effort. Start by looking on local chamber of commerce websites, and the websites of young professional groups. They often help career fairs to get the word out.
Then, check out the websites of various national organizations, such as National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Society of Women Engineers, or Net Impact. These groups have huge annual conferences. As part of a conference, they will typically host a large career fair. And, the organization will often sell a career fair only pass for $100 or less that can save hundreds off the conference price.
If you’re not sure which organizations to look up, try checking out your local convention center website. There is often a calendar of events page on the site that will contain a listing of all upcoming fairs and conventions.
Keep in mind that the same recruiters attend many different job fairs all year. The particular fair you attend is not as important as the specific employers represented.
Once you’ve found the fair you want to target, prepare four things: your suit, your resume, your business cards, and your elevator pitch. Study the job fair map provided and decide which employer booths you want to stop by. Look up those companies online to see which open positions they are currently promoting.
The day of the event, arrive early. Prepare to stay all day. Feel confident when talking to recruiters about your job search, and don’t be afraid to ask for their business card. After the fair, follow up through e-mail and LinkedIn.
With a little work, you’ll find job fairs can be helpful for years after college is completed.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com.
by Angela Copeland | Apr 1, 2016 | Advice, Career Corner Column, Media
There’s an elephant in the room. It’s something we’re talking about, but not really getting to the heart of. The elephant is our relationship with technology.
Very often, I speak with someone who says, “I’m a great manager and I’m good with people, but I absolutely am not comfortable with technology. I can do anything, but things related to technology.” I hear this feedback from all ages of job seekers, from 21 to 71.
The problem is this. We live in an age where almost everything in our lives is driven by technology. In today’s job market, we are expected to not only know about our particular subject area of expertise. We’re expected to be able to use e-mail, a cell phone, a fax machine, and more. Most people no longer have an assistant to help with tasks related to technology. This is a luxury that is quickly going away.
Some c-level executives are now booking their own travel, crunching their own numbers, and occasionally getting into the details of their company websites. It’s not enough to be good with people, or to be a good leader. Don’t get me wrong. Those things are great, but our roles have expanded.
The good news is that technology used in day-to-day business is often fairly straightforward. If we don’t know how to do something, a quick search on Google or YouTube will often give us all of the information we need. And, if it doesn’t, a friend or coworker can usually help.
I suspect that sometimes when we say, “I can do anything but technology,” what we really mean is, “I’m not a computer programmer. I can’t create technology.” Most employers aren’t looking for us to create new technology – especially if that’s not our role.
But, when we start with the stance that we aren’t comfortable with technology, it can turn our future employer off. And frankly, it should. It says that technology intimidates us. It says that we aren’t willing to learn something new.
Employers are looking to save money. They need employees who can do more than one thing. At the end of the day, what they really expect is for us to be able to manage our own business world. They expect us to be able to function fairly independently throughout the day with tasks such as managing our calendars, setting up conference calls, and creating business presentations.
When we’re interviewing for jobs, we should avoid sharing that we aren’t comfortable with technology. We should adopt a new attitude. The technology we’re expected to know isn’t typically that complex. If we don’t know something, we’ll figure it out. And, our boss doesn’t expect us to be perfect. They know we don’t know everything, but they expect us to try. When we communicate that we can’t do things related to technology, what we’re really communicating is that we’re not prepared to try. Instead, let’s make friends with technology, and leverage it to highlight things we’re great at, like working with people.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com.
by Angela Copeland | Mar 25, 2016 | Advice, Career Corner Column, Media
There seems to be a rumor about job searching floating around. Have you heard? Finding a job is easy. It’s easy as long as you format your resume in a very specific way, and you include the perfect phrases on your LinkedIn profile. There’s a very specific way that all recruiters want your resume to be formatted, and there are specific keywords they’re all looking for. Every successful job seeker knows these rules, and they’re not hard to learn.
If this sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is. I tell every job seeker I meet with, “If you showed your resume to ten people, you would get ten opinions. There’s no one way to write a resume.” The same applies for your entire search. Sure, there are guidelines. There are best practices. But there’s no one specific layout or one specific set of words that’s going to turn your entire job search around.
I’m not sure why these rumors exist, other than maybe they make sense of a process that can at times feel senseless. They put control back in just when you’re feeling out of control. In reality, there is no one way to perform an effective job search. There are many ways. There are many options that can work.
What always works is a strategy to never give up. What works is trying various avenues until one does work. And, there are a few good general guidelines to keep in mind.
First, manage your personal brand. When it comes to job searching, perceptions are reality. Your personal brand is impacted both in the online world, and in real life. Do a thorough check on Google to see what a recruiter might learn about you if they looked around. If you find questionable content, do your best to remove it or change it.
In the offline world, think of things like your appearance, and other first impressions, such as how you shake hands or leave voicemail. Take the time to write thank you notes to those who help you. Keep in touch with those you care about.
When it comes to your resume and LinkedIn, be sure they’re up to date. Check their accuracy. Ensure that you’re including detailed information, but write them in such a way that someone outside of your current industry could understand them.
Job seeking is not an overnight endeavor. It takes time. It takes persistence. And, when you do land your dream job, it’s not going to be because you followed a gimmicky idea about how to write the perfect resume, or that you stuffed your LinkedIn profile with the right keywords. Your resume and LinkedIn profile are two pieces to a larger pie. They can help to support your case for getting a job, but these things alone will likely not land you your next gig.
The next time you hear a suggestion that sounds like a gimmick, keep things in perspective. Consistency, persistence, and networking is what will work – every time.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com.
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