4 Steps For Taking Your Networking To The Next Level

4 Steps For Taking Your Networking To The Next Level

While being on the job search is a daunting task for most, it’s important to enjoy the process. After all, having a positive attitude can make a world of difference! But how can you maintain a positive attitude during a long, frustrating job search? Good networking!

Instead of spending all your time and energy on mainstream job boards, get off your bottom and meet new people! While I don’t recommend giving up on job boards altogether, I definitely feel networking is the best way to use your time wisely during your job search.

For example, one great analogy I love to use is the person who goes to the gym for an hour but doesn’t even break a sweat. This isn’t working out. Sure, you drove to the gym and stayed there for an hour, but did you truly leverage your abilities? Similarly, when on the job hunt, it’s important “sweat” a little – work hard and use your time strategically to obtain your dream job.

The key to networking is to create mutually beneficial relationships by expand your professional contacts. These contacts may provide industry advice, other contacts or the key to your future job. The following steps will without doubt get you on your way to be a networking expert.

Pre-Networking Check-List:

• Figure out what you want to be “when you grow up” and make a list of your target organizations and key people within those organizations.
• Have a defined unique selling proposition (USP) that describes what value you would bring to the organization.
• Perfect your “elevator pitch.” Those first 60 seconds with your contact are crucial. Make sure you are prepared and make an extraordinary impression.

Step 1: Value-Added Networking

Give VALUE to your contacts. I cannot stress this enough. This means you must listen, listen, and listen before you ask about questions regarding your own self interests. Listening will not only present you as polite and professional (remember, be cognizant of your personal brand), but also it will allow you to find out your contacts’ needs. By listening and figuring out the missing elements, you may paint a mosaic in the minds of your contacts of your transferable skills that will match their needs or the needs of someone they know.

Step 2: Staying In Touch After Your Initial Contact

After initially meeting, make sure your regularly stay in touch with your contacts. I recommend every four to six weeks you find a reason to e-mail them. Stay abreast of industry news (read a lot), and hopefully you took copious notes on the back of your contacts’ business cards. If you don’t’ already this, make sure you start! Taking copious notes on everything from jargon to business will help you create a more personalized and tailored follow-up e-mail.

A great idea would be to leverage your digital technology skills in these e-mail correspondences. For example, if you find an article, podcast, or video you think might interest your contacts, make sure you send it their way. This is a great opportunity to keep yourself fresh in their minds, and again, you will be adding value to the relationship!

Step 3: Leveraging The Relationship

You can gain wonderful insight from your contacts, but make sure you also show an interest in them! For example, people love talking about themselves and one icebreaker is to ask how the individual got started in their career.

Also, do some thorough research on your contact’s personal and/or professional blog, Twitter feed, and LinkedIn profile so you can ask tailored questions about their career, interests and specialties. Demonstrating research with pertinent and customized questions will impress your contact because you went through such lengths to learn about him or her. This gesture will reflect well on your part, and will almost certainly persuade your contact to continue building the relationship.

Step 4: Using Call-To-Action

Eventually, once you have built a relationship with this contact and you feel like you have added value, it’s time for you to ask for a call to action. You may ask the person if they know of anyone from your target list of organizations to work for, or even better, if they can refer you to a key decision maker.

Ask the person if they are willing to refer you to other contacts and thus, the process continues. Repeat steps two through four with this new contact. The goal is to build as many contacts as possible to eventually land a job.

Important Reminders:

Repetition and dedication are important. Success does not come easily and people who are truly serious about networking and finding their dream jobs will, in the end, differentiate themselves. It’s important to repeat effective strategies and not lose hope in your job search.

Stay positive! Please do not get discouraged or lose confidence in yourself or your abilities. This process will be unbearable if you do not enjoy meeting new people, learning industry insights from them, and more. Trust me — your hard work will pay off, and you WILL find a job. Of course, this may take some time due to the economic climate, but soon the day will come when you have three different organizations calling you to come in for an interview! Remember, don’t sweat the small stuff. Networking is a process and if you are willing to put your time, energy and mind into strategies that are effective, you will see a HUGE return on your investment.

Remember your manners. Always say “please” and “thank you.”

Best of luck to you all!

How To Create An Effective Resume Even If You Were Fired

How To Create An Effective Resume Even If You Were Fired

How can you make an effective resume after getting terminated? People get fired from the job for various reasons. However, to a potential new employer it may leave an unfavorable connotation on the candidate.

If you find yourself in such a situation, you may have a number of questions concerning how to address the adverse reactions a potential employer may pose. You may have questions, such as:

• How do I impress an employer given I was fired from my last job?
• Do I include the job on my resume?
• How should I answer when asked the reason for departing my previous job?

Understandably, there are many questions on your mind. And yet, there are ways to be truthful in answering the questions your potential new employer may have for you, along with tips to make such a situation feel a little less threatening.

Essentially, before updating your resume for the next job opportunity, think about:

Is The Experience From Your Last Position Relevant?

If there is little to no relevance between the positions, you do not have to showcase it on your resume. The hiring company is primarily interested in relevant experience and skills you can bring to their company. You may be able to break your resume into Relevant Experience and Other Experience sections.

How Long Were You In The Position?

If you were in the position for only a few months, it may not be necessary to mention it on your resume. Determine if the gap of unemployment, should you choose not to include it, would be cause for concern by an employer. In today’s market, it’s not a surprise to see some candidates unemployed for a year before finding a new job.

How Severe Was The Cause For Firing?

Were you laid off due to lack of performance or conditions outside of your control? If the latter, then you should put on the resume the reason such as “Major Downsizing,” “Company Relocated,” or “Management Reorganization” all of which indicate that the termination was not due to your performance.

If the reason you were terminated was due to a minor issue that can be easily explained and seen from your point of view by a potential employer, than including the position on your resume should not be a concern. Be honest with yourself and think through your response to a potential interviewer.

Your answers to the questions above will tell you whether it is appropriate to include the job on your resume. If it is included, consider the following to help you through the application and interview process.

1. Showcase Your Achievements And Accomplishments

Your mission is to get your foot in the door for an interview and to make an outstanding impression. You do not need to bring up that you were laid off from your last job on paper, especially if you were there for a few years. If necessary, you will have the opportunity during an interview to explain further details.

2. Don’t Insult Your Past Employer

Even if you were fired and have bitter feelings toward your former boss or co-workers, this is not the time or place to reveal it. It is seen as unprofessional and leads to questions that focus on negative aspects. So, even if the interviewer wasn’t planning on asking you the reason for leaving, you may have just brought it upon yourself.

3. Don’t Lie About Your Employment

If asked, you need to address the question truthfully, but keep it brief regarding the reason for your departure and move on to more positive points. At least you now have your foot in the door and have a greater advantage to explaining the reason for departure in a more positive light.

You can also use it to your advantage to reinforce points of achievements and accomplishments that may apply for the job. Remember that companies do check references and background information. Any candidate caught lying is grounds for dismissal.

4. Pull Together Your References

Gather people you worked with on the job as references, whether it’s co-workers, clients or vendors. Individuals who worked with you on the job and who can speak positively about your work can help effectively rid any negative connotations associated with being fired. In this instance, it makes sense to include references with your resume, especially written recommendations.

5. Focus On Functionality Rather Than Chronology

This is a last resort option. Functional resumes typically are not used since it lacks detail on dates of employment – information most employers want to know. A functional resume focuses on grouping specific skills and experiences together as the highlight of the resume.

This type of format is also appropriate to use for the career changer and those with gaps in employment history that are due to other pursuits, such as education or family.

Being fired means you have an additional hurdle to overcome to find a new job, but it is not insurmountable. It’s all in the way you handle yourself in addressing the matter if the subject comes up. Remain positive, address any concerns succinctly and honestly and then move on to the more positive highlights.

The Real Reason You’re Still Unemployed

There’s a saying that “holding onto anger is like drinking poison and hoping someone else will die.” This couldn’t apply more for the over 40 and unemployed or long term unemployed.

Many people are willing to tell you what to do when moving forward in your job search with little understanding or regard for circumstances of the reason you are out there looking.

Whether you left quietly or went all “Jerry Maguire” on your ex-employer when you were terminated or laid off, you have unresolved emotions like confusion, anger, hurt, and bitterness. This is the “poison” you are drinking.

These unresolved emotions are affecting your ability to get hired whether you realize it or not. When you have questions about why you are unemployed it is hard to be focused on getting hired.

When you attend an interview it comes out in your answers. When you don’t get yet another job, your situation deepens. When you end up being unemployed longer than you had planned it gets magnified. And the cycle continues.

You need to STOP doing what you are doing – right now. Stop feeding this beast of anxiety, confusion, shame, and depression by continuing to apply for job after job and not getting the result you are looking for – to get hired.

Once you have stopped what isn’t working I want you to find a friend, a spouse, or a confidant and talk to them about the way you feel. It’s time to bury the past and find resolution. You won’t be able to get answers from your previous employers or companies that have chosen not to select you, but I want you to find confidence in the things you can control. The things you love and want to do, the value you bring and what you require in return from a company to be successful, long term.

You need to forgive the people that are responsible for your “current” situation. Deal with your emotions, forgive them and then tie a bow around it and put it in the past. Make a promise to yourself that “they” can and will not affect your job search. Do your own “internal shuffle” and take the power you are giving them back and invest it in yourself.

“To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.” – Confucius

The Most Important Part Of Your Resume

The Most Important Part Of Your Resume

What’s the most important part of your resume? I hate to say it, but the attention span of hiring managers seems to be getting shorter. In fact, I was speaking with an executive-level employer the other day (who regularly reviews resumes), and he commented about how quickly he can scan through a stack of resumes and choose the candidates he plans to call.

He admitted that it really is an unfair process—that so many job seekers are judged solely by the quality and presentation of their resumes (documents that too often are afforded a review of only a few seconds). And if it’s a poor presentation, or boring to the reader, or just doesn’t communicate the right message—they are quickly passed over.

It’s a given that the average employer will invest only a few seconds—literally—in his or her initial resume scan. So, it’s critically important to your candidacy to ensure that the part of your resume in which he or she is willing to invest five seconds of attention grabs—and keeps—their attention. So, where is the employer’s attention going first… and how can you make the most of that section of your resume?

The First Third Of Your Resume Is The Most Important

The top third of your resume is where the employer will direct the bulk of his or her initial resume scan. So what you put here is vitally important. If it’s boring, too text-dense, or doesn’t speak to the position they’re trying to fill, you’re sure to be passed over.

What Should You Put In This Critical Section?

The top third of your resume should contain the most dynamic, persuasive, and noteworthy information about yourself and your career. Top load your resume with accomplishments, successes, and quantifiable results that are the most applicable to the position you’re applying for. Here are some critical areas:

The contact information – Include links to your LinkedIn profile, career blog, or professional Web site. Direct the hiring manager to places where he or she can find more engaging information about you.

The job target title – Use a job target/job title at the top of the resume to make the mental connection between what you do and the position the employer is filling.

Include a branding statement – A great one-line branding statement that communicates your relevancy as a candidate for the opening. Remember… the employer has a need they’re trying to fill, and if what you are known for meets that need, you’ve just become very employable.

A career summary that isn’t all fluff—Don’t create a career summary full of generic statements that are vague and speak nothing to who you are or what you can bring to the table as an employee. This is the time to set yourself apart as a candidate. Use specific keywords and quantifiable achievements.

Accomplishments and career highlights are a must—Create a section that speaks to your most notable career achievements and that are quantifiable. Employers want to see results, and they want to know what you’ve accomplished in the past.

Having a friend or family member look over your resume and then provide an opinion is nice when it comes to proofreading and pointing out errors within the resume—but someone who knows you and has a vested interest won’t be able to really tell you in an unbiased way if your resume is boring. Try to have an unbiased third party give you some feedback on how engaging they consider your resume.

6 Ways Volunteering Can Boost Your Career

6 Ways Volunteering Can Boost Your Career

Income… $0. Value… Priceless.

It’s always a good thing to give back. Whether it is doing hands on service with a group like Habitat for Humanity or assisting in the back office of a local non-profit, there are benefits beyond money that come from volunteering. Apart from just the positive feeling of sowing good actions into a cause you believe in and the impact on the lives of the recipients, volunteering can also help your career. Here are six ways volunteering can boost your career:

1. It Can Fuel Your Passion

If your current job is not your ideal work, volunteering at something you enjoy is an alternative source of the passion you can’t get from your job right now.

2. You Can Practice New Skills

No opportunity in your current job to stretch or learn something new? Find a volunteer opportunity that allows you to explore new roles and skills you’d like to develop. You can add this experience to your resume.

3. Volunteer Your Way Into A Potential Job

Maybe you don’t have the experience to earn the paid position yet. Signing on as a volunteer gives you a chance to learn the organization, build relationships there, and show you have what it takes to do the job.

4. Volunteering Is An Opportunity To Expand Your Network

Not only will you meet people who support the same cause, you will find people that have personal and professional connections that can help you – especially if you are looking for a job.

5. Exposure To New Ways Of Doing Things

Seeing how another organization runs things, and being exposed to different ways of managing, brainstorming, solving problems, can provide a fresh way to look at the challenges you face in your paid position.

6. You Can Use It As A Team Building Experience

This one goes beyond just you. Do you lead or work with a team? Finding a group volunteering opportunity can be a low-cost way to do good and re-establish positive connections with your team.

Looking for volunteer opportunities? Here’s a few links to jump-start your search:

• Idealist.org
• 1-800-Volunteer.org
• Network for Good
• Volunteer Match
• Global Volunteer Network
• BoardNet

3 Pre-Interview Confidence Boosters

Sweaty palms.

Shaky voice.

Blank mind.

These symptoms of nervousness can seriously sabotage a job interview, no matter how prepared and qualified you are.

To quell these natural responses and help you muster more confidence in anxious situations, consider these quick pre-interview confidence boosters to help you perform better right before your next job interview — no energy drinks or cheesy motivational speeches required!

Pre-Interview Confidence Boosters

Amy Cuddy, social psychologist of Harvard Business School, talked about what people do while do while waiting for a job interview to start in a recent TedGlobal presentation.

“You’re sitting down. You’re looking at your iPhone or Android. You’re looking at your notes.”

This common waiting room behavior is not really ideal for maximizing your confidence right before an interview. Instead, the following activities will make you way more confident before meeting a potential boss:

1. Strike A Power Pose For Two Minutes

According to Cuddy, rather than hunching up and making yourself small in the waiting room chair as you scramble to soak up last minute notes or practice one final interview question, what you should actually find a private place to do what Cuddy calls a power pose.

There are a few different variations, but the Wonder Woman pose is really easy to remember. So, 10 minutes before your interview, go somewhere private, like the bathroom, and strike a strong pose where you take up as much space as possible.

In an interview with Inc. magazine, Cuddy talked about an experiment she did where she brought people into the lab and had them spit into a little vial to get baseline testosterone (the hormone associated with dominance) and cortisol (the hormone associated with stress).

Then, some people did a high-power pose for two minutes and others did low-power pose (hunched over). She tested their hormones to find that:

“The high-power pose caused a decrease in cortisol of about 25 percent and an increase in testosterone of about 19 percent,” Cuddy told Inc.

There you have it! Strike a power pose to prevent releasing those stress hormones!

2. Repeat A Positive Affirmation

“Repeating a positive affirmation can reduce production of cortisol and stress hormones by almost 50 percent, slow the mind, lower your blood pressure and heart rate and make you feel confident and powerful,” says Kathleen Hall, founder and CEO of The Mindful Living Network and the Stress Institute.

Hall offers the following examples: I am confident in all things. I have unlimited potential.

Joyce Marter, psychotherapist and CEO of Urban Balance, would agree and suggests deep breathing while you recite a positive mantra in your head “using language you will want to use in the interview, such as ‘I absolutely will succeed in this job if given the opportunity.’”

You might feel a little silly at first, but these words will help you emit a more positive appearance — and that sure beats a nervous one!

3. Read Over Nice Things People Have Said About You

Thinking back to a time when you were successful and confident is a great way to recreate that confidence right before an interview. A quick and easy way to do this is to print out and compile anything nice that someone has said about you.

Read old letters of recommendation, LinkedIn endorsements, letters or notes from colleagues or teachers that have boosted your confidence in the past.

If you’re not really feeling this method, “Quickly review your biggest accomplishments in your head before going into the interview,” says Katherine Walker, founder and executive director of Lifetime Behavioral Health. “This trip down memory lane will instantly create a sense of confidence and serve to get your brain thinking about items the interviewer will no doubt ask you about.”

It’s the best way to remind yourself that all of your previous experiences have helped shape you and prepare you to succeed in this job interview!

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR VETERINARIANS

You have it made, right? You’ve got an interview coming up for a veterinarian opening and you know that you are a fantastic veterinarian and can perform a routine vet exam in no time flat, diagnose an ailing animal and perform a difficult surgery without breaking a sweat. All you need to worry about is the salary offer and what you’re going to wear… but what about interview questions for veterinarians?

Well, here’s the real deal. You can, from a technical standpoint, be the greatest veterinarian that ever walked the planet, but not be someone who is an ideal candidate. Something to truly consider before your interview is what kind of questions that you might be asked during an interview. Remember, it won’t all be about your skills and talent.

Interview Questions For Veterinarians

Things aren’t as simple as knowing how to do the job. You have to be relatable, not just to animals but to people as well. Here are several questions you should prepare yourself for when the big day arrives.

General Preparation

Make sure and bring the following:

• A copy of your resume and any certification letters you have
• Letters of recommendation/references
• List of questions to ask the interviewer

Personality

• Describe yourself
• Describe your strengths/weaknesses
• How do you cope with stress?
• How would your friends describe you?

General Questions And Ethics

• What makes you a good veterinarian?
• What do you think a veterinarian’s role is in the community?
• What made you decide to be a veterinarian?
• How do you feel about euthanasia? Why?
• What would you do if there are obvious signs that an animal you are treating has been abused?
• What would you do if a client comes in with an injured animal that will surely die without medical attention, but they only have a few dollars and the cost for animal care, and extended care, will be much higher than what they are able to pay?
• If a client brings in a perfectly healthy animal and wants to euthanize it because they no longer want the dog, what do you do?
• If you make a mistake and cause the death of an animal, what would you do?

Veterinary Experience

• What is the most difficult situation you’ve been faced with since you got in veterinary medicine? How did you handle it?
• Describe any previous experience. What did you like and dislike about it?
• How do you do stay up to date in the field of veterinary medicine?

Future And Other Interests

• What do you do in your free time? Any hobbies?
• What was the last book you read?
• Do you have any volunteer experience?
• Do you have any questions for us?

If you study the above veterinarian interview questions, you’ll be well prepared for your next job interview. Preparation is the key to interview success!