Tips For Recruiting ABLE Grads

Reason #1: You have given him/her what they want by reading the job description completely. Know why you are sending your resume to the recruiter/hiring manager? Do you have what it takes? Are you qualified?

Reason #2: Your resume is clean and concise! No 2-toned colors! No Pictures! No frames around your text! Use the BOLD to highlight your old company's name, what industry they are in and what you did. No Rambling! Get to the point.

Reason #3: Include in your resume important phrases that stand out in the job description. If the recruiter/hiring manager doesn't know that you have the appropriate qualifications as described in the job description, why would they call you?

GOOD LUCK!

Research The Company Before The Interview

What you should know about the company before you go to the interview?

Preparation, preparation, preparation! This is an absolute must prior to you interviewing for a job. You must prepare. You need to know about the company, you need to know about the person interviewing you, not to mention every detail about the job you are interviewing for. So what exactly do you need to know?

1. You need to know the company's history. Search it out on Google or Manta.com. Find out all you can. Make sure you know if the company has subsidiaries or is international. Those questions will be asked. Is the company publicly traded or is it solely owned?

2. You need to know who is the leader of the company, the CEO or the owner and a little history about them like where are they from, their education, their school?

3. You need to know the company's recent financial performance. If they are a publically traded company, their annual report is on their website. If they are a private company, search the website for clues.

4. You need to know what are the company's core strengths and competencies?

5. You need to know what products and or services the company makes or sells?

6. You need to know what if any products or services the company has in the pipeline.

7. You need to know who are the company's primary competitors? Knowing this is essential and how the competitors stack up to the company you are interviewing with. Also, never talk badly about a competitor. Just give facts.

8. You need to know the industry trends that are specific to the company including new regulations.

9. You need to know the company's mission statement.

10. You need to know what are the company's guiding principles and values?

Please note 2 more things:

- The above holds true whether your interview is in person or on the phone!

- There is no such thing as an informal interview. Just because you are meeting over coffee doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared.
Good Luck!

No one ever said that job hunting was easy!

Hi, no one ever said that job hunting was easy. In fact, if you are reading this blog, you know that it is very difficult. Let us take a look at why it is difficult. We all know that the economy is bad and that jobs are at a premium. I'm sure many of you have interviewed for a job that you didn't get because simply, there were a ton of other applicants who were more qualified because of all the layoffs. I hear stories where companies are overwhelmed with hundreds of applications in a day for a job. Numbers and qualifications aside, why is job hunting so difficult?

I think one of the main things that we need to overcome when looking for a job is our fear for rejection. Oh, you know what I mean. You don't want somebody, anybody to tell you that you are not good enough. It hurts! I submit to you that as an adult moving forward in the workforce that the first thing you need to do is to lose the fear of being rejected. If you don't, it will show in your interview. You will be on the defensive rather than the offensive. Employers want a confident, "go getter". Do not show weakness.

Make sure that you are interviewing for the right position. Remember, the job you get today can be your career. Is it what you want? If it's not then that will show in an interview to get the job. For instance, let's say that you have a business degree and you are interviewing for 2 positions, one is in finance and the other in management. Two totally different field paths, how can you show the confidence necessary in an interview to land either job? My advice! Pick the one that you like better and focus you job search on that particular field. I believe you will have a better chance at landing a job.

Job hunting in today's environment needs to be a full time job. If you think that you are going have a job fall into your lap, think again. Not with this economy. You may need to search 8 hours a day for 3-4 months to land a good job. Are you prepared for that? You better be! It's a job to get a job. You need to be willing to work hard so that you can work. Are you ready? I hope you are!

A couple of more tips:
1) The phone is your friend. Do not, I repeat, do not simply email potential employers, pick up the phone and call somebody. It works! Make that connection!

2) Do not limit what you can do?

3) Do not get discouraged.

4) Re-connect with old friends. They may have a lead to a job.

5) Branch out! Join a club or an organization. Volunteer! This will force you to meet new people and new people increases your network and networking may just get you a job.

Don't you dare lie on that interview

Is there ever a reason why you should lie at an interview? I'm here to say no. Why? The obvious reason is because it isn't right. Most of us have morals and ethics left, don't we? I hope so. The other reason is because sooner or later, you will get caught.

If there are issues in your past that you know may come up in an interview, my advice would be to be prepared. Let's take a scenario. You are heading to an interview and you're afraid that you are going to be asked if you have ever been arrested? You are always afraid of that question because when you were in college, you were at a bar with friends, things got out of control, you were caught in the middle, everyone was arrested and that arrest is part of your permanent record. My suggestion is not to lie about it but be proactive. Bring it up in the interview before the interviewer does. Explain the circumstances and that it was years ago. Chances are if you do that, your arrest won't be an issue. Don't lie about it though.

The interviewer asks if you have your bachelor's degree. You are one credit short. Do you say you have it and hope that they won't check? No, tell them the truth. You can state here that you will be headed back the next semester to get that credit. Explain to him/her why you are short. It's better than getting fired for lying when the find out that you don't have a degree.

If you are asked if you have ever been fired and you have, tell him/her the reason why. Being fired does not hold the stigma that you may think. People get fired every day for various just or unjust reasons. Explain why you were fired. HONESTY!

For goodness sakes, do not lie about your experience. If you think that you would need training for the position you are applying for, sell your strengths. Let them decide to hire you or not based on who you are as a person. DO NOT LIE! You will be exposed immediately because you won't know what you are doing.

You get the drift. Know you weaknesses as well as you strengths going into an interview. Do your homework. Develop a plan to mitigate your weaknesses the same way you strengthen your strengths.

GOOD LUCK!

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