Transcript Interviewing: The Secret to your success

Resumes, Interviews, &
Networking: Using Your Brand in
the Job Search
KEITH MUNSON
CAREER SPECIALIST
FALL 2010
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • (612) 330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Agenda
 Personal brand in the resume
 Articulating your brand in the interview
 Asking others to market your brand
 Questions and Answers
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
What comes to mind?
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Purpose of a resume
 Marketing tool
 Communicate the highlights
 Focus on relevant/important information
 The “trailer”, NOT the whole story
 To generate interest and get you an interview
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Resume Basics
 Use formatting to make important information stand
out
 Be consistent in formatting, grammar, etc
 Make absolutely sure there are no mistakes
 Formatting is the easy part.......
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Heading
Professional
Summary
Education
Experience
Optional
Required
Resume Sections
Objective
Honor and Awards
Additional
Involvement
Leadership/Activities
Classroom Skills
Other Work
Experience
Volunteer Experience
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Articulating a “brand” in your resume
 The section headings you choose
 The information you highlight
 The experiences you include
 How you write your skill phrases in your experience
section(s)
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Write Effective Skill Phrases
 Skill phrases are action statements that describe
your experiences.
 Components of a skill phrase
 Bullet point
 Action verbs in the past-tense
 Specific skill that was learned or honed
 Results of your work, or how or why you did the work.
 Avoid personal pronouns when writing skill
phrases
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Skill Phrase Example
Fair
 Sold sporting equipment to customers
Better
 Developed sales strategies for selling sporting equipment to
customers
Best
 Developed effective and creative sales strategies that resulted
in the top sales of sporting equipment for four consistent
months
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Interviewing: Selling Your Brand
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
What to Expect in Interviews
 Questions about your background
 Tell me about yourself
 Walk me through your resume
 Questions about your education and goals
 Why Augsburg?
 Why your major?
 What do you hope to do?
 Behavioral based questions
 Situations that demonstrate a trait of skill.
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Behavioral Interviewing
PAST BEHAVIOR
OR EVENTS
FUTURE
BEHAVIOR
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What does it look like?
 Examples:
 Describe the last time you had to lead a team to solve a
complex problem.
 Tell me of a time when you needed to influence a group or
individual.
 Describe a project you managed from start to finish.
 Skilled Interviewers will follow-up with several
probing questions as you answer.
 Interviewers want stories…..
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Characteristics of a good story:
 Just enough details to give the listener a picture of what you were




doing or how you work
Concise enough to demonstrate your point
 includes important details
 excludes unimportant details
Not too short; not too long
There’s a character that the listener needs to “see” in action
Leave enough for the interviewer to ask follow up questions…don’t
start with the whole story
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
How is it done?
 S.T.A.R. technique is ONE tool:
S ituation-What was happening?
Task (goal)-What were you trying to accomplish?
A ction-What did you specifically do?
R esult-What was the outcome? How did your work affect the
organization or situation?
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
How is it done….well?
Interviewing…..
presentation
of you.
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Select stories that express your “brand”
 What do you want the employer to remember about





you?
Focus on your strengths
Don’t be afraid to address your “gaps”
Make your story relevant to that company, industry,
function, role
Note about Liberal Arts
Two approaches
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Marketing the liberal arts:
 Employers want:
 Communication Skills
(written & verbal)
 Honesty/Integrity
 Teamwork Skills
 Strong Work Ethic
 Analytical Skills
 Adaptability
 Interpersonal Skills
 Motivation/Initiative
 Computer Skills
 Detail-orientation
 Organizational Skills
 Leadership Skills
 Self-Confidence
 Liberal Arts teaches:
 SEE PREVIOUS LIST
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Prepare
 Focus on your brand in choosing stories
 Use the stories that demonstrate your strengths
 Create 7 good stories that highlight what you bring to the table
 Certain themes are almost guaranteed:
 Leadership, teamwork, influence
 Resolving conflict, interpersonal communication
 Weakness, failure AND what you learned from it
 Managing a project
 Creativity; innovative
 Interest in field, passion
 The unexpected
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Practice, then practice again
 Start with writing if it helps
 Move to bullet points of most important points
 Rehearse-over, over, over
 Ad lib story to different speakers
 Adjust story to answer several questions, but make
sure you answer the question!
 Practice out loud, not just in your head!
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Hone your presentation.
 Evaluate your presentation (from your point-of-
view)
 Learn from your experience
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Presenting YOU
 Arrive early
 Answer questions
 Introduce yourself
 Ask questions
 Be professional
 Do not bring up salary or
 Watch your eye contact
benefits
 Get business cards
 Close the interview
and body language
 May bring and use your
portfolio
 Leave your cell phone at
home!
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Interview Attire
 Men
 Well fitting suit
 Pressed shirt (white, offwhite, gray)
 Conservative colors
(gray, black, navy)
 Professional hairstyle
 Little cologne, jewelry
 Traditional tie
 BLACK dress socks
 Portfolio, NO BACK
PACK
 Women
 Well fitting suit
 Conservative colors
(gray, black, navy)
 Professional hairstyle
 Little perfume, jewelry,
or make up
 Knee length, If wearing
skirt
 Avoid high heel shoes
 Sheer hosiery
 Portfolio, NO
BACKPACK
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Networking......
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Do I really have to network?
 Continuously learn about a field, company, or career
field
 Many jobs are not posted
 Employers hire people they know or hear about
through trusted sources
 NOT networking will cause you to miss out on a large
portion of the best jobs
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Networking Defined:
yes
 Building relationships
 Connecting with people




in your field of interest
Most effective way to
find opportunities
Helpful tool for learning
more about your field
Necessary at some point
Lasts a lifetime
no
 “Using” people
 “Smoozing”
 Not necessary; only
necessary when looking
for a job/internship
 Being replaced by the
internet
 Purpose is to ask for a
job
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Networking at a glance
Build a list of
organizations
that interest
you.
Develop a list
of contacts
within those
organizations.
Make your
connections.
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Build Your List
 Tell everyone you know about your goals/plans
 Industry lists
 Big Book of Lists (SC&IC)
 Resources in SC&IC library
 Reference librarian in library
 Journals/papers related to field
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Dig for contacts
 Alumni
 Family and friends
 Professional organizations
 Faculty/staff
 Classmates and colleagues
 Coaches
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Make your connections
 Elevator Speech and your Brand
 30 second “pitch” about you, your experience, and goals
 Focus on them
 Ask good questions and listen
 Begin thinking about how you can help them RIGHT AWAY
 Informational Interviews
 Develop a list of questions you want to ask
 Do your homework on the industry-know something about it!
 STAY CONNECTED!
 Follow up and continued relationships
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Social Networking
 Linkedin
 www.linkedin.com
 complete a descriptive profile
 search for connections for informational interview
 get company information and connections
 Facebook
 become a fan of company profiles
 check the profile for news and information
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/
Questions
Strommen Career & Internship Center • [email protected] • 612-330-1167 • http://cswl.pbworks.com/