Keys to unlocking that first job

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Debra Auerbach is writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, “TheWorkBuzz.com.” Below is a summary of her advice from “College graduates who understand the job market have the best show at success.”

She says recent studies find 53 percent of United States employers plan to hire recent college graduates this year — up significantly from 2011 and 2010 and even up slighly from last year.

Here are the headings on Debra’s important tools and tips to help. See her blogs for more information. (By the way, next week’s LL’s blog will be an article written for Rowan University’s Public Relations Student Society of America’s award-winning newsletter PRomo on “Landing that first job or internship.”

  • Understand the Job Market
  • Be Open to Different Roles
  • Research salary Information
  • Make Non-work Experience Count
  • Show Enthusiasm and Professionalism

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Three rules of (Damage Control) Crisis Communication

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Check out the many strategic communication tips in The Public Relations Practitioner’s Playbook for (all) Strategic Communicators. Visit www.larrylitwin.com

1. Get information out early.
• Respond within 2-4 hours (quicker, if possible) – if only as an
acknowledgment that you are on top of the situation.
2. Get it out yourself.
• The spokesperson should be a high profile representative of
the organization.
3. Get it out on your own terms – control the message.
• Tell it First
• Tell it Fast
• Tell it All
• Tell it Yourself

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Strategic Communicators can take a page from a championship coach’s book on communication and leadership

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Rick Pitino

So how does the coach of a national champion college basketball

team turned president and coach of one of the most storied pro

basketball franchises in history define a leader? In quite simple

terms, it seems.

Rick Pitino is the only coach in NCAA history to win national championships with two colleges – Louisville in 2013 and Kentucky in 1996. His Louisville title came on the same day he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

In his book, Lead to Succeed, he breaks down leadership into a

10-point game plan:

• Have a concrete vision – in other words, be clear about your

vision for the group’s future.

• Be your own messenger – direct communication is important not

just on major issues, but on the day-to-day matters, as well.

• Build a team ego – it is the difference between mediocrity and

being something special.

• Act with integrity – don’t cut corners or bend rules; it will only

undermine your effort.

• Act decisively – you won’t always be right, but you must be willing

to put your ideas and yourself on the line.

• Be adaptable – you must change, and so must those around you

or everyone gets behind.

 

• Be consistent – have a strategy for when things go wrong to get

through it quickly without panic.

• Maintain focus – this is a discipline, so you must train yourself at

it, learning from the tough times.

• Live for the future, not in the past – short-term goals to manage

the present, long-term goals for the future.

• Act selflessly – leader leaders are judged by the successes of the

people they lead.

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Crisis Communication: Communicate early and often

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• Contact the media before they
contact you.
• Communicate internally first, then
externally.
• Put the public first.
• Take responsibility.
• Be honest.
• Never say “No comment.”
• Designate a single spokesperson.
• Set up a central information center
(staging area).
• Provide a constant flow of information.
• Be familiar with media needs and
deadlines.
• Monitor news coverage and telephone
inquiries.
• Communicate with key publics.
• Be accessible.

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Mastering the Phone Interview — Take it Seriously…

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…and dress the part — especially if you are facetiming or skyping. The Sunday, March 24 “Courier-Post” in partnership with “careerbuilder.com” urges the interviewee to “be prepared and focused to make the best impression.” Check out previous blogs about going video. As one expert suggests, if on Skpe, “don’t get caught with your pants down.”

Debra Auerbach’s tips include “staying focused, getting energized, checking out your technology before maing the call, make a cheat sheet and dress the part.”

Here is more from Monster Senior Contributing Writer Peter Vogt:

You just got word that you landed a job interview with a company that really interests you — only there’s a slight catch.

You won’t be meeting with your interviewer(s) face to face. Instead, you’ll be taking part in a phone interview, the results of which will determine whether you’re invited to meet with company representatives in person.

Many companies use phone interviews as an initial employment screening technique for a variety of reasons. Because they’re generally brief, phone interviews save companies time. They also serve as a more realistic screening alternative for cases in which companies are considering out-of-town (or out-of-state and foreign) candidates.

So the chances are pretty good that, at some point in your job hunt, you’ll be asked to participate in a 20- to 30-minute phone interview with either one person or several people on the other end of the line. In many ways, the way you prepare for a phone interview isn’t all that different from the way you’d get ready for a face-to-face interview — save for a few slight additions to and modifications of your list of preparation tasks.

Here’s what to do:

  • Treat the phone interview seriously, just as you would a face-to-face interview.
  • Have your resume and cover letter in front of you.
  • Make a cheat sheet.
  • Get a high-quality phone.
  • Shower, groom and dress up (at least a little).
  • Stand up, or at least sit up straight at a table or desk.

A phone interview seems so informal on the surface that it can be easy to fall into the trap of “phoning it in” — i.e., not preparing for it as well as you would for an in-person interview. Don’t get caught with your guard down. Be sure to research the company, study the job description, and practice your responses to anticipated questions, just as you would for any other interview.

You’ll almost certainly be asked about some of the information that appears on these documents. You might also want to have in front of you any supporting materials that relate to information in your resume and cover letter, like documents you’ve designed or written, a portfolio of your various projects, or the written position description from your key internship.

Jot down a few notes about the most critical points you want to make with your interviewer(s). Are there certain skills and experiences you want to emphasize? Do you have certain interests or passions you want your interviewer(s) to know about and understand? Be sure these pieces of information appear on your crib sheet. Then touch on them during the interview, even if your only chance to do so is at the end of the session when the interviewer asks you if you have any questions or anything to add.

This isn’t the time to use a cellphone that cuts in and out, or a cheaply made phone that makes it difficult for you and your interviewer(s) to hear and understand each other.

Odd advice? Perhaps. But focusing on your appearance, just as you would for a normal interview, will put you in the right frame of mind from a psychological standpoint. You won’t do as well in your phone

interview if you’re lying in bed, for example, or if you’re draped over your couch in your pajamas.

Again, there’s a psychological, frame-of-mind aspect to consider here. But on a more tangible level, research has shown that you project yourself better when you’re standing up, and you’ll feel more knowledgeable and confident.

Phone interviews can be tricky, especially since you aren’t able to read your interviewers’ nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language during the session — a big difference from the typical interview. But if you prepare well for your phone interview, you won’t need to read anyone’s nonverbals to gauge your performance. You’ll know for sure how you’ve done because you’ll be invited to a face-to-face interview, where you’ll have yet another opportunity to prove you’re the best person for the job.

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More Interview Prep: Top questions for interviews

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Variations of these questions are most likely to be asked during a job interview, according to ‘Monster.com’ and Gannett News Service.

Do not hesitate to visit www.larrylitwin.com>student resources.handouts for many more interview and resume tips.

  • What are your goals?
  • What are your weaknesses?
  • Why did you leave your last job?
  • What was your greatest take-away from your internship?
  • If you are working, when were you most satisfied with your job?
  • From what you’ve learned about this company from your research, what can you do for us that other candidates might not?
  • What are the positive things your boss would say about you?
  • If you were having a dinner party and could invite three famous people plus two others (not so famous), who would they be and why?

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Resume guide: 3 tips from ‘Marketplace.com’ to make your resume standout

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Interview with Paddy Hirsch

Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Link to podcast is below:

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/your-money/money-matters/resume-guide-3-tips-make-your-cv-standout

On Friday, the Labor Department will report its latest monthly jobs report, which will reveal how many jobs were added in February and whether the unemployment rate budged from 7.9 percent.

If you are hitting the job market, the one thing you’ll need is a good resume. But how do you get yours to the top of the heap?

Paddy Hirsch, senior producer of personal finance at Marketplace, has these tips:

1. Create two resumes, a search-engine-optimized (SEO) version and a regular version. If you are applying through a search engine, such as Monster or Jobscore, a computer completes a first pass of all applicant resumes before a human ever reads them.

2. Make your SEO resume plain and include keywords. Use bold type sparingly. Format everything to the left side of the page. And make sure everything is spelled correctly. Search algorithms tally up the number of keywords in order to evaluate resumes. The easier you can make it for the computer to find keywords, the better.

3. Old resume rules still apply. After you’ve gotten past the computer review, your resume will be read by a human. Make sure it is clearly written, typo-free, and emphasizes relevant work experience.

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Internships become the new job requirement

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While some university programs no longer require internships, students are urged to pursue them. Here is a March 4, 2013 report from: www.marketplace.com. The numbers speak for themselves. This links you to the podcast and story:

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/education/internships-become-new-job-requirement (copy and paste if link is not working properly)

By the time most kids are in high school, they’ve probably heard some career advice along these lines: get into a good college, pick a marketable major, keep those grades up, and you’ll land a good job. But that doesn’t quite cover it anymore.

In a survey out today from Marketplace and The Chronicle of Higher Education, employers said what matters most to them actually happens outside the classroom.

“Internships came back as the most important thing that employers look for when evaluating a recent college graduate,” says Dan Berrett, senior reporter at the Chronicle. “More important than where they went to college, the major they pursued, and even their grade point average.”

Colleges have been listening. This year the State University of New York, or SUNY, system is piloting cooperative education on nine of its campuses. In co-ops, students work in paid jobs with faculty supervision and earn credit toward their degrees.

“Our goal is that all 465,000 students who enroll annually at SUNY have some sort of experiential education experience,” says SUNY chancellor Nancy Zimpher.

Kristin Hayes is one of the first students at Stony Brook University, on Long Island, to do a co-op. She’ll work part-time helping care for disabled adults at a group home run by the non-profit YAI Network. Hayes is a biology major and plans to apply to graduate school to become a physician’s assistant.

“To be a competitive applicant, you really need to have a variety of experience,” she says. “I really wanted to get more experience in the field.”

David Carter wishes he’d followed his professors’ advice to do an internship in college. He graduated two years ago from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he studied mechanical engineering. In spite of good grades and a practical major, Carter hasn’t been able to find work.

“If I had done an internship, then I wouldn’t have been sitting on my thumbs the last two years, trying to find a job,” he says.

The numbers back him up. In a recent student survey, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 63 percent of paid interns in the class of 2012 had at least one job offer when they graduated. Of those who did no internship, only about 40 percent had an offer.

About the author

Amy Scott is Marketplace’s education correspondent covering the K-12 and higher education beats, as well as general business and economic stories.
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More interview tips — Have YOUR questions, too

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As “CareerBuilder.com writer and blogger Debra Auerbach advises, “When preparing for interviews, many job candidates spend the bulk of their time researching the company and practicing answers to classic interview questions. While both are important, it’s just as essential to prepare some questions of you own.

“Remember, the hiring process is a two-way street, so,” she urges, “ask questions that will help you determine whether the job is right for you — make sure you are entering into an employment situation where you will be set up to succeed.”

Auerbach has seven suggested questions (check out The WorkBuzz.com):

1. What are you seeking in the ideal candidate for this position?

2. Can you give me examples of the types of projects I’d be working on?

3. With whom would I be working most closely?

4. What are the short- and long-term goals for this position?

5. What do you see as the biggest challenge for the person who assumes this role?

6. How did this position become available?

7. What do you like best about working here?

Check out Auerbach’s website.

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Who or whom? Here’s a simple trick

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(From ragan.com — news and ideas for communicators. Sign up for its RSS feed. It is a valuable resource.)

No need for a full semester on grammar; the clue lies in a single letter.

Do you lose sleep over rules of grammar?

I usually don’t, because I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where both parents insisted that I speak correctly all the time. My father was a writer and, frankly, a snob about English. His mother (who died before I was born) was from Oxford, and he spoke with an English accent his entire life, even though he’d never stepped off North American shores.

We were required to pronounce the word tomato, toe-MAW-toe, or get in trouble. Trust me, there were no ain’ts in our house, no sentences without verbs, and no double negatives.

As a result, I can usually count on my ear to guide me, even when I don’t fully understand the grammar rule.

The one exception? Who versus whom. I always have to think really hard about which word to use, even though the grammar isn’t terribly complicated.

I think my hesitation arises because so many people don’t bother using “whom” at all; they just say “who.” As a result, my ear (and likely yours) has never been exposed to the necessary “training” to make the correct choice.

So, here is the rule: Who is a subject, and whom is an object. If I yell at my son (because he just ate the last cupcake), then I am the subject and my son is the object. The subject of any sentence is the person doing something, and the object is having something done to them.

You use “who” when you are referring to the subject and “whom” when you are referring to the object. How do you figure that out, you ask? Well, the quick trick is to answer the question with either “he” or “him”:

Take: Who/whom were you yelling at? And ask yourself which of the following makes more sense:

I was yelling at him.

I was yelling at he.

Clearly the first choice makes more sense. Him. And because “him” ends with an M, you need to use whom (which also ends with an M.)

Let’s try another example: Who/whom won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2012? Now ask yourself, would you say:

S/he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2012.

Or,

Her/him won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2012.

Clearly, the first choice makes more sense, so “who” is the correct word.

Actually, that was a trick question. No one won the Pulitzer for fiction in 2012. The judges declined to award a prize that year.

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