3 WAYS TO WIN AT A CAREER FAIR

The economy must be improving, because I’ve noticed some announcements for career fairs. Yeah! How do you succeed at a career fair?

Let’s start with: what is a career fair? It is a place where many employers come together to look for prospective employees. The companies that attend have a need for people to come and work for them. They usually send the recruiter from the human resources department to work the fair. What exactly does this mean for you? It means they are looking for that one person to stand out from the crowd and be their answer to a job they have open.

This article is all about how YOU can be the answer to the company’s open job.

One: Be Prepared

When you enter a career fair, it will be crowded. People will probably be jostling each other. How do you stand out in this crowd? It starts at least two days prior to the job fair. In the notice are usually the top (meaning biggest) employers. See if you can find a more complete list. Then research those employers (big and small) that you want to work for in your field or job category. These are your target companies. Look at the “Jobs” page of these companies. Is there anything you qualify for there? Create a targeted résumé just for that job. If your job isn’t there, create a résumé for the job you want at that company. Put the company name in a cover letter to go to that company for that job at the job fair. Repeat for the top five to ten companies you qualify for and for where you want to work. Also, print out a few résumés that are more generic for other companies you discover at the fair.

This research will impress the recruiter. A mistake as simple as mispronouncing the name of the company, can be deadly. By knowing, how you can provide value to the company will sell you to the recruiter. It demonstrates you know for what they are looking. And, at an even more basic level, what they do and their concerns.

When you are at the target company booth at the career fair, be sure to meet the recruiter. Say your name slowly and understandably. Shake their hand and look them in the eye. Be pleasantly memorable. Ask for their business card (to send a follow up question, thank them for their time at the job fair and to remind about you to a specific job. Attach your résumé too.). Give them yours (another piece of paper to remind them about you). Talk about how your experience and skills match the job openings you researched. Ask about others that may not be posted online. If they have the time, ask when they anticipate interviewing for the job you targeted and one of those follow up questions you have during interviews. Listen to the answers they give you. Make notes during the meeting or between company booths, so you capture all the information they give you.

Remember too, recruiters only have so much time per person. If you go on too long, they will stop you. Don’t take it personally. If you acknowledge this up front in your conversation, “I know you need to see many people today. But, I just have a question. What is the status of the corporate training job?” Then they may be more willing to spend a minute answering your question. That may lead you to a follow up question.

If this whole face-to-face thing makes you nervous, practice at a company you didn’t do research at first. Practice the whole thing, or as much as you can. If it goes well, then it is time to launch at one of your targeted companies. If you flop, try again at another company before you go on to a target company. Remember, it likely will not be comfortable. So pay attention to the reactions you get from the recruiter. Do they engage with you, or do they keep scanning the crowd? Do they ask you questions? These are your measures of success.

Two: Dress for Success

Speaking of success. People will be watching people. Think of yourself as a walking, talking, breathing résumé. So mind your manners. You don’t know who will see you cuss at the person who just stepped on your foot or who you elbowed out of your way. Just because you don’t see the recruiter, doesn’t mean they didn’t see you.

Dress professionally. Choose one of your most conservative outfits to wear. Cover up any tattoos. Do all the personal hygiene stuff before you leave your home. Look like the professional you hope to be at their company. Look ready to go to work tomorrow. Look like you belong at their company. Yes, you will probably be dressed better than your average day at work, but looking ready to interview shows your commitment to working. It will make you stand out from all the people who just show up. Remember, studies show it only takes the first 10 seconds for someone to form opinions about you. Make your first impression a good one.

If you attend with your spouse or a job buddy, remember your goals. Your goals are to make a series of good impressions at your targeted companies. Then you canvass the fair for any jobs that may be a good fit for you. Then you pay attention to the person you came with to the fair. Agree to split up and met back at a certain time and location. This automatically means, do not take a child or baby to the career fair. Find someone for that time period. If you pay too much attention to your companion, you won’t maximize your attendance at the fair.

Stay focused and upbeat. Use your sense of humor and keep it in the crowds. It is easy to get distracted at a career fair. Smile frequently and often. Companies want happy and energetic employees. Look like one.

Three: Marketing 101

Among the details of research, behavior and résumés for attending a career fair above, I sprinkled some points about marketing yourself. A local public relations firm used a great definition of marketing in an advertisement for themselves.

“A great product without marketing is like winking in the dark. You know what you are doing, but no one else does.”

You are the Great Product. How you get that information to the recruiter is through your actions.

One of your actions is to have a short commercial about yourself. By short, I mean, 15-30 seconds. It should contain your name, how you are qualified for the job what you are looking for at that company. So, Name, qualifications, job. Something like the following (exclamation points equals smiles),

“Hi! My name is Lennon McCartney! I am a dynamic trainer and excellent curriculum developer for retail companies, with over 10 years of experience! I received my master’s degree in communications! At Widgets Unlimited, I created the entire curriculum in 15 different subjects and delivered training to all 150 employees. I am looking for a corporate training job with XYZ Company!”

Twenty seconds of pure gold. (She said modestly.) It can stand alone after each sentence. Name. Experience (what, type and how long). Education (if relevant). Job that I’m seeking. Additionally, come prepared with a challenge a former employer had and how you (and the team) solved this problem. Include how this solution saved the company: money, time, resources, etc.

You’ve done your homework and researched the company. You know what they want and you know what they do. You know how you fit into the company. Now, put yourself into a busy recruiter’s shoes for a minute. You’ve been standing for a couple of hours on a cement floor. You have a ton of work back at the office that is not getting done, because you are working the career fair. You are overwhelmed by all the people coming up to your booth wanting a job. You are hungry, thirsty and tired. How do you imagine a job seeker could stand out to this person? Right, by being the answer to a job opening.

You stand out by looking right for the company. First impression, remember? Then you pleasantly introduce yourself with your commercial. You acknowledge they are busy. You ask a relevant question. You get their business card for follow up. You thank them and say good-bye. You ARE the answer to their job opening!

You are no longer “winking in the dark.” With the business card in hand, go to your computer and send a thank you email to the recruiter. If they asked a question you didn’t have the answer for at the fair, answer it now. Type out your commercial, adjusting it to any new information you received at the career fair. Attach your résumé, just in case. Every action is telling the recruiter you are the right person for the job. Even if, your experience isn’t exactly what they are looking for, your actions are what they want in an employee. That gives you the winning edge.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund

Executive and Life Coaching

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Cover Letters – the Secret to Getting an Interview

What is more important – the résumé or the cover letter? For many hiring managers, it is the cover letter. Here’s why. People often hire professionals to write their résumé, but they write their own cover letter. Some hiring managers do just glance at cover letters, but others study them, looking for reasons to read your résumé ... or to toss it in the trash. What do you include? You have created a great résumé that highlights your skills, knowledge, abilities and experience in the best possible light. What do you have left to give to the hiring manager? Remember, a résumé and a cover letter have different jobs. A résumé demonstrates that you can do the job. It is all about what you have done and your past accomplishments. A résumé is all about you. A cover letter matches you to the stated job requirements of a specific company and how you will fit into that company. The cover letter is all about the hiring manager’s needs. Assume every hiring manager will read your cover letter. Here are some ways to write an effective cover letter, following a tried and true advertising formula. After all, you are marketing yourself to the hiring manager. GET THEIR ATTENTION Your cover letter should have an opening paragraph makes them want to read more. Here are some ways to accomplish that:

• Drop the name of a mutual acquaintance in your first sentence: “Pat Smith in IT suggested I contact you about your need for a Project Manager.”
• Begin with an intriguing question: “How often have breakdowns in your customer service resulted in lost business and costly headaches? I can help you.”
• Be high energy: “I am very enthusiastic about your need for a HR professional in your Benefits department.”

Notice how “you” or “your” appeared a couple of times? The cover letter is all about the hiring manager and what you can do for THEM. This is your opening statement that tells the hiring manager what to expect from you when hired. DEVELOP INTEREST Next, tell the hiring manager what's in it for them by hiring you. Remember; focus on the hiring manager, instead of on yourself. What do you know about this kind of work that isn’t in the job advertisement? For one, you know types of challenges that are particular to this kind of work. Mention how you have resolved or neutralized these challenges in prior jobs. This presents you as a knowledgeable insider.

• “One of the challenges of great customer service is the varieties of people and situations. Coming up with a “best practices” for common events, helps to take the anxiety off the customer service desk.”

DEMONSTRATION TIME Take the top 3-5 key requirements for the job and match them to your specific experiences and accomplishments. This is particularly great if you can present your accomplishment in the Problem-Action taken-Results format and state the results in a quantifiable way. An example of this is:

• “Instituted a Customer Log of customer service issues. Was able to see repeat problems, came up with “best practices” for most events and quickly return mechanical problems to the manufacturer. This resulted in a 25% reduction in repair service time and $50,000 savings from the manufacturer.”

If your job is not “quantifiable” then tell a passionate story. For a social worker, tell how you helped turn someone’s life around. Go for the heart. Be specific about your accomplishments. The more specific, the better. A PERFECT MATCH Using the job ad, list the needs of the position you are applying for and match those needs to your experience and accomplishments. It is as simple as it sounds. This should not just be a restatement of your résumé. Here’s an example: Your Needs: Marketing experience My Qualifications:

• Five plus years as a successful marketing consultant.
• Significant consumer-oriented technology marketing in the retail industry.

Your Needs: Product Management experience My Qualifications:

• Led product-marketing efforts for an online store, resulting in a 12% sales increase.
• Spearheaded product management efforts for major retail chain as a product manager. This resulted in a 17% cost saving by streamlining the product line.

Your Needs: Leadership Skills My Qualifications:

• Leading by example, led projects and teams to highly successful outcomes.
• Ability to communicate through presentations to all levels of management. Strong ability to influence others.

A word of caution: For some of the more technically able among us, you may create a table and put needs/qualifications side by side. Or, for the more creative, you can use boxes or columns. If you copy this over into an email, be aware if the reader uses a plain text email viewer, it will hopelessly scramble your columns or table. Use the above, admittedly less elegant, design to ensure your intended information is received as conceived. Even if you decide not to use this type of document, this exercise will help you familiarize yourself with how close a match you are for the position to which you are applying. A few steps now will make it an easy task that can serve you well in the long run. THE CLOSING Ask for an interview. In the last paragraph tell the hiring manage that you want to interview for the job. Tell them that you will be contacting them to setup a meeting time. This is not the time for shyness. The interview is the next step in the application process, so go for it. “Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I am sure I can be an asset to (the Company). I would like to get together to talk in person. I'm available mornings until 12:00 noon. You name the time and date and I'll be there. I look forward to hearing from you soon.” You can send this as an attachment or as the email with your résumé as the only attachment. What is right for you? If it is an attachment, ensure your email is professional, with complete sentences. More than just, “See attached” in other words. FOLLOW UP! You have poured heart and soul into your résumé and cover letter. However, nothing happens! Send a follow-up email two weeks after your first résumé and cover letter, attaching your cover letter and resume. This will give you a second chance to get noticed. A two-week time frame means you aren’t pestering, just following up. In this letter, you inquire on the status of the recruitment, restate your enthusiastic interest, restate that you are qualified and acknowledge how busy they must be. Depending on the company, a hiring manger is conducting the recruitment in addition to all their other duties. So cut them some slack, but not so much you fall off their radar. That is why you wait two weeks to follow up. They are busy. A cover letter is more than just a business letter; it is a sales letter. Is your cover letter selling you to the hiring manager? Need help? I can help you! We will sort through your skills, experiences and your dreams to get the right job for you. Don’t wait, contact me now. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

The Inside Scoop on Hiring Managers

“Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.” — Sun Tzu (The Art of War) I am not suggesting the hiring manager is your enemy. I am saying that if you understand some of the pressures and concerns of the people in the hiring chain of the company you are applying for a job, you will have a better chance of success. In large and mid-sized companies, you will have a Human Resources (HR) department. That is where you will send your résumé. If it is a large company, there may a person (or more) who does mainly recruiting for the company. That is good for you. They are practiced at seeing the people who will be successful at their companies. They have lots of experience reading résumés and interpreting what makes for a successful employee. They can read the résumé and cover letter faster and separate out those who will go on for interviews and who won’t. If it is a smaller HR department, the HR professional may do recruiting as part of other duties. Some of these other duties are sexual harassment claims investigation, salary surveys, new employee orientations, payroll, benefits, employee relations issues, and on and on. Not every person likes to do recruiting. Some people thrive on it. You won’t know whom you will get at HR. At least in HR, there has been some training in recruiting, reading résumés and doing interviews. That is good for you. From HR, your résumé will go to a hiring manager. Alternatively, HR might also do a first “screening” interview, before passing you on to the hiring manager. In some companies, your résumé will go straight to the hiring manager. Depending on how long they have been a manager, there may be no experience to lots of experience doing hiring. In either case, this is just one more thing that is keeping them from doing their job. They will probably have to work more hours to get it all done. While they are looking at your résumé (do they know what to look for?) the work is piling up around them. In today’s economy, it is an employers’ market. That means there are many more applicants than there are jobs. Therefore, for one job, a hundred applications (or more) may come in. That means whoever is looking at the résumés, only has 15 – 30 seconds to spend on each résumé before making the decision: “Keep or toss?”

• How do you stand out?
• How do you get the person looking at your application materials to spend more than 15 seconds looking at your résumé?

YOU have to make it very easy for them to decide to keep you. How? Tell them you are the right candidate. Be passionate about the company or the job (or both) you chose to send your résumé. Use sentences in your cover letter like, “I am passionate about helping people become healthy and that is the business of Healthy Company.” Similarly, be passionate about the job with statements that demonstrate that passion. “I enjoy being a geologist because it exercises my educational skills and it’s an ever-changing environment as I manage projects out in the field or in the office.” Do some research about the company and let them know it with, “I have always admired the way ABC gives back to the community and I want to be part of that.” It is up to you to demonstrate that you are the right candidate in your application materials. HR or the hiring manager does not have the time to research you. That is your job. You have to set it out plainly, obviously for them. Do that, and you are more likely to get the job. If you aren’t getting any calls for an interview, it may be that your cover letter or résumé is not connecting you to the hiring manager. Need help? Email me and we can put together a relevant résumé and a cover letter that will demonstrate you are the right candidate for the job. Don’t wait, contact me now. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com