Working the (career fair) room like a pro
When was the last time you attended a career fair? Five years ago? Ten? Never? Chances are the last time you went to a fair, it was in college.
But, career fairs are not just something for college students anymore. They can be a great way to find an in person connection to a company you’ve been internet stalking for months. They’re also an alternative to submitting your resume to the online application process black hole.
Here are my top five tips to making the most of your next career fair experience:
- Bring your business cards & resumes – You never know who you might meet at a career fair. Bring plenty of business cards AND resumes. If you don’t have any and you’re short on time, lean on an office store like FedEx to you started.
- Bring your cell phone (and keep it on) – Although you should keep you phone turned down low or on vibrate, keep it on during a career fair. There’s a chance a recruiter may call and ask you to stop back by their booth to meet someone else, or to interview during the fair. Put your cell phone number on your resume. In fact, take off any phone number that’s not your cell during a career fair.
- Reach out to recruiters in advance – Many fairs allow you to submit your resume weeks or months before the fair. This can help you to connect with recruiters and begin to schedule interviews in advance. If you already have recruiters in your network, reach out to them to find out if they’ll be attending.
- Ask for on-site interviews – It’s a little known fact that many career fairs have private interview booths that are hidden away from the career fair floor. Recruiters often have lists of positions they’re hiring for, and a schedule of available interview times. Ask questions and find out if there’s anyway to get on their calendar during the fair.
- Follow up – When you get home from the career fair, send every recruiter you spoke with a thank you e-mail. Follow up with a LinkedIn connection request to make the most of your new networking contact. If at possible, take these steps on the same day you attend the fair.
Last, but not least, continue to perfect your elevator pitch. Practice introducing yourself. You want to shake hands, and make eye contact while introducing yourself. Explain what you do, and what you’re looking for. This simple and concise message will open to the door to further conversations about job opportunities.
Lucky for Tennesseans, there are multiple career fair options coming up in 2014 to practice these skills. First, the Multicultural Career Fair will be held in Memphis on April 13th at the Hilton. To learn more about this great event, check out my blog post about it. This will be an excellent opportunity for those in Memphis to work on their networking skills and professional development while searching for a new job.
I will also announce a national career fair on Thursday, so check back on my blog for all the details.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Where to start when you’re starting over
It’s been a surprising week for folks in Memphis. Like we’ve seen too many times over the past few years, companies are restructuring. When they do, it impacts the personal lives of their employees.
Unfortunately, unlike previous generations, the luxury of having an entire career at one company is rare. Workers no longer stay at the same job for thirty years and then retire with a great pension and excellent healthcare. In fact, staying at one company can often be looked at as a negative thing. More value is often being been placed on breadth, rather than just depth, of knowledge.
This means employees must take charge of their own careers, and their own personal brands. It’s as if each person is their own little company, working to stay competitive and stay in the game.
For those who have not adopted this perspective, layoffs like those seen in Memphis can be especially difficult. You may be a top performer. You may be loyal, and get along with your boss. And, yet you were still impacted by this type of change.
Everything seemed normal. You went into work one day like it was any other. Unexpectedly, you were called into a meeting where you were notified that the company had changed direction, and you no longer had a job.
“What now?” you ask yourself. After all, you haven’t updated your resume in years. You don’t even know where to begin.
For those impacted by recent corporate changes, I recommend the following five steps. (Heck, I recommend these even if you weren’t impacted!)
- Get business cards – Despite not having a job, you need to have business cards. Consider ordering cards that only contain your name, phone number, and e-mail address.
- Perfect your elevator pitch – Practice explaining who you are, what type of job you’re looking for, and your professional background. Get your pitch down to 30 seconds to quickly and concisely introduce yourself.
- Update your resume – Spend time updating your resume with your most recent position and accomplishments. Don’t forget to include numbers, such as the size of budget you managed, or the number of people you led.
- Start networking – Get out there and start meeting new people. If you aren’t sure where to start, follow the networking events listed on my Copeland Coaching blog. When you go to an event, make a goal to exchange business cards with 5 people. It will help you to get started.
- Setup informational interviews – Reach out to those folks you meet, and setup time to talk. These discussions are an opportunity for you to learn about a new industry or a new company in a low pressure environment. It’s also a great way to network!
At the end of the day, the most important thing is to get started. The longer you wait, the harder the process can become. And in most cases, you’ll begin to notice that your old company has been a stressful place to work for a while. Although you feel frustrated now, in time, you may find that starting over was the very best start of all.
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” –Dale Carnegie
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
The 10 Minute Conversation That Will Change Your Life
What are the top three things that would make life easier for you? My guess is that at least one of those things is more money. Even if you’re not broke, more money can provide a better lifestyle, more opportunities for your family, and more vacation time for you at the beach.
What’s your own plan to increase your personal financial value? You probably have a full time job, a savings account, and investments (like your home or 401-K) that you hope will grow over time.
Most likely, your #1 source of income right now is your full time job. How much has your income, or salary, from that full time job grown per year in the last 10 years? If you’re like many people, you’ve been getting somewhere in ballpark of 1% more to 3% more each year.
It’s like pocket change. Your boss has shared stories like, “the economy is down and this is all we can afford” or, “I had hoped to give you more, but this is all that I’m allowed to give for now.” It feels frustrating, but you’ve learned to accept it. After all, you’ve been hearing the same story for years.
Frankly, these tiny raises may not even keep up with inflation over time. At some point, you look back and realize you’re making more or less the same amount of money that you were 10 years ago. You start to wonder how you’ll ever retire comfortably or achieve your other personal financial goals.
Well, I have a tip I want you to consider. It could change your life. It’s quick, fairly painless, and takes just a few minutes. With this one change, you might breathe a little easier. And, you might actually get to take that vacation you’ve been dreaming of.
As I’ve touched on before, in today’s job market, employees no longer stay at one job forever. Most people are switching jobs every 3 to 5 years, so there’s little incentive for your employer to give you sizable raises.
What’s this big life changing advice you wonder?
Learn to negotiate.
Many of my clients have always either accepted or rejected job offers they’ve received. This is the norm for most job seekers. They basically either say yes or no, but nothing in between. Keep in mind that a company almost never puts their best job offer on the table right away. They’re expecting you to negotiate, so they’re saving the best offer for when you do.
And, in the small chance that the company has presented their best offer first, they’ll tell you. If you’ve started your negotiation in a reasonable and respectful way, what they won’t do is take it off the table. It’s just up to you at that point to decide if you’re willing to take their first offer.
The point is, there’s little downside to asking for more. You may not always get as much as you ask for, but there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get more than was originally offered. If you ask.
Think about it this way: At an annual increase of 2%, it would take you over ten years to grow your salary by 25%. When you change companies, you can increase your salary overnight. The salary negotiation is typically over the phone or via e-mail, and takes about 10 minutes.
Sure, that 10 minutes might be a little uncomfortable. You might feel worried. But, ask yourself these two questions:
- What’s the worst that can happen? They might say no, and not give you what you asked for. You’ll now have to decide if you still want the original offer.
- What’s the best that can happen? They say yes, and give you more! And, suddenly, you’ve received multiple years worth of raises all in one 10-minute phone call.
If it sounds simple, it’s because it is. Most people don’t try because they’re scared, or they don’t know they can. Keep in mind that being really good at negotiation takes practice. But, being decent enough to get a little more money is something you can do right now.
Just remember to be respectful in your negotiations. These discussions are sensitive, and you definitely don’t want to damage your business relationship with your future employer.
That said, your future company EXPECTS you to negotiate. They will respect you for it, and chances are, they will in fact offer you more money. All in a 10 minute phone call.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Your Business Card: don’t leave home without it
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but this is a point that I want to drive home. One of the very first things I recommend to the job seekers I meet with is to get business cards- and to take them everywhere. So often, job seekers say they are in one of a few predicaments:
- “I’m between jobs, so I don’t have business cards.”
- “I’m in college (or graduate school), so I don’t need business cards.”
- “I’m changing careers, so my current business card from work isn’t relevant.”
- “My company doesn’t have the money to print them, so I don’t have business cards.”
I have to tell you, none of these excuses are anything more than excuses. At the end of the day, when you’re looking for a job, potential employers need to know how to contact you. You never know when or where you might meet someone who may end up being your next boss, or your next great networking contact (who will introduce you to your next big job). If you don’t have business cards, it’s time to get them. And the good news is, it’s easy. It only takes a few minutes to order them online, and then they will arrive to your house a few days later. Before you start, you’ll want to think about what to include on your business card.
At a bare minimum, you need to include:
- Your name
- Your phone number – I recommend your cell phone, so that you can receive calls anytime
- Your e-mail address – Refer back to my previous newsletter about which e-mail address to use and which one not to use
Other optional elements you can also add are:
- Your personal website URL, if you have one
- Your personal logo, if you have one
- A title that describes your desired line of work – Think of something along the lines of “Project Manager” or “Technology Consultant”
- Your address
If you’re the kind of person that has multiple types of jobs, or qualifications in multiple areas, you may want to consider a card that does not have your title. This will allow you to give the same card to different people, in different industries, and for different types of roles.
If you’re not a graphic artist, or experienced with Photoshop, don’t try to design a logo on your own. If you have a friend who’s an artist, ask them for their help – or leave off the logo altogether. Whatever you do, don’t include a photo of any kind. This is rarely helpful. At the end of the day, a simple business card is always better than a messy one.
When you’re ready to buy your cards, look around. A few of the sites I recommend you check out are FedEx.com, GotPrint.com, VistaPrint.com, and Moo.com.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Making your resume stand out
Having a great resume won’t get you the job, but having a bad one will prevent you from getting an interview at all. The purpose of your resume is to quickly tell a story about your career, who you are, and what you’re looking for next. It helps potential employers determine if you’re a fit, and it helps your network to scope out new opportunities for you.
If you’re thinking of looking for a new job, updating your resume is the first place you should start. Ideally, keep your resume up to date even when you’re NOT looking, so that you’re prepared when something great comes along. It will also help to ensure that you don’t forget important accomplishments.
Many clients that I work with are unsure of where to begin. Compiling your life’s work on one or two pages is stressful and can cause many people to avoid creating a resume altogether. The good news is that once you have a solid resume, maintaining it is fairly simple. Think of the initial painful setup as an investment (in your future!).
Here are five tips to get you started:
- Look at other resumes for samples, and then create your own. Stuffing your career history into a ready made template can often look awkward, and can be hard to update with your details.
- Include your objective or profile statement. Many candidates forget this section (or avoid it). The objective communicates what kind of job you’re looking for to potential employers and your network. It’s essential.
- Keep your resume to one or two pages max. Beyond two pages, nobody will read it and you will look unfocused. If you’ve been working less than three years, keep it to one page. Beyond that, you can go with one or two pages. If you have two pages, be sure to include pages numbers.
- Don’t use fonts smaller than 9 point. Employers don’t want to strain to read your resume. Cut the details down to what’s really important and you won’t need to squeeze so much onto the page.
- Include measurable results. Explain your impact in terms of quantifiable numbers. How many people did you manage? How much money did you save? How many campaigns did you work on? How much did you exceed your goals? Putting numbers alongside your experience magnifies your impact.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to make your resume the best ever.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Copeland Coaching Podcast
