From Informational Interviews to Job Offers

What is an informational interview?

An informational interview is a meeting where a job seeker asks for advice rather than employment. Rather than get a job offer, a job seeker uses an informational interview to:

1. Learn more about a company or job function
2. Inquire about job leads
3. Network

For job seekers, informational interviews can secure meetings with managers, shape positive first impressions, and develop relationships that may pay off in the future. Managers are open to informational interviews because:

1. They do not require a big time investment. Informational interviews can be done during lunch or during an afternoon coffee break.
2. They can give managers an opportunity to identify new talent, either for now or in the future, without a formal recruiting process.
3. Informational interviews allow managers to give advice.
Who doesn’t like to have their ego stroked?

Seven Secrets to Successful Informational Interviews

Here are my tips on how you can succeed in your informational interviews:

■ How to ask for an informational interview. After you’ve identified who you want to meet, ask friends, family, ex-coworkers, & fellow alums if they have contacts at a certain company or a particular line of work. Utilize social networking tools, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, to find contacts. In the introduction e-mail, keep it short and simple. Provide some background information on yourself and explain why you want to meet.
■ Clearly define what you want to get out of the meeting. If you don’t know what you want, the person on the other side of the table will have a hard time helping you. I’d recommend going for easy wins such as learning more about a company or a job function. So prepare questions such as: “What do you like working for company X?” or “When you think about successful folks in position Y, what made them successful?”

 Click here to go to Page 2

Top Job Sites Pros & Cons

I'm sure you know about all the famous job sites, simplyhired, monster, dice, the list goes on. As a new grad, you've probably used most of them. But how do they stack up when reviewed by job-seekers? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each site? In this post we take you through the Top 6 sites related to job search and analyze each so that you will be able to understand their full potential and use them wisely.

 Best job search engine

SimplyHired.com • Aggregates results from other job sites
• Multiple search options
• Can send resume to other major sites
• Networking features

• Cannot post resume directly to site

Analysis

SimplyHired.com is reviewed by two major sources: Searcher magazine, which compares this job search site to Indeed.com, and PC Magazine, whose writer offers a glowing write-up of the site. BusinessWeek readers voted SimplyHired onto its list of top websites, but no commentary is offered.

SimplyHired.com aggregates results from major job websites, newspapers, company websites, associations and other online sources. Employers cannot post jobs on SimplyHired; this site is strictly for job seekers. Users can search by occupation, job title or location, and results can be filtered by job type, education, work experience, company revenue, company size or niche characteristics (like fastest-growing companies). After using the site for a while, reviewers note, you'll receive job suggestions based on your search criteria. You can't post your resume here, as you can on Monster.com or Yahoo! HotJobs, but a free feature allows you to send your resume out for posting on five other job sites. SimplyHired has partnered with LinkedIn and also has features and widgets that allow users to connect to Facebook, Myspace, and iGoogle for greater networking possibilities.

Features:

Resume Posting? N
Career Advice? N
Types of jobs? All

Best large job search site Yahoo! HotJobs
• Can see how many times resume has been viewed
• Block resume access by specific companies
                           • Multiple search options

• Not as many job postings as Monster.com

Analysis

TopJobSites.com, JobHuntersBible.com and ResumeHelp.org all compare Yahoo! HotJobs to other large job search sites, and recommend it as a top choice. The Wall Street Journal mentions HotJobs in an article about job site trends and notes how fast it is growing despite the slow down of competitor supersites.

Yahoo! HotJobs ranks below Monster.com in sheer number of listings, but reviewers say HotJobs' features are more appealing. Users like the "status" feature that allows you to see how many times your resume has been viewed (Monster has a similar feature), and if you're afraid that your current employer might find your online resume, HotJobs allows you to block certain companies from accessing your profile. You can browse this site by keyword, industry or state, and there are tools for resume writing, interviewing and networking. You can also subscribe to newsletters that cater to particular segments of the market, such as technology, government, sales, health care and college grads.

Features:

Resume Posting? Y
Career Advice? Y
Types of jobs? All

 Click here to go to Page 2

Merry Christmas from New Grad Life

As the season turns to beautifully decorated trees, gracious gifts, and family and friends, we would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. Enjoy your holidays and take care!

5 Job Hunt Mistakes New Grads Make

1. Parents are too involved

Millennials routinely involve their parents in the smallest details of their lives, even after they graduate from college. Recruiters have come to expect heavy parental involvement in the interviewing, recruiting, and negotiation process of recent college grads. Recruiters aren't thrilled about it, but they have adapted to that reality. You'll stand out from the pack as exceptionally mature and professional if you keep your parents' advice entirely behind the scenes; recruiters shouldn't experience any direct involvement by your parents.

2. MySpace mistakes

Do not post anything on publicly accessible websites that you wouldn't feel comfortable showing a recruiter. No racy photographs, for example, or rants about a job or professor you hate. Google yourself and see what comes up, because recruiters will see the same results.

3. Failing to network

Networking is a powerful tool in landing a good job after graduation. You may think you don't know anyone of consequence, but if you sit down and draw up a list of everyone you know (including your friends' parents and your parents' friends), you'll likely be impressed at how wide your network is. Each one of those people has a network in turn, so even with just two degrees of separation, you are well on your way to building a solid network. Let your network know that you're looking for a job, explain what kinds of roles or industries you're most suited for, and make sure to follow through on any leads.

 Click here to go to Page 2

Creative Approaches to Getting a Job

Creativity can land you a job

   Share    

Ever want to slap your forehead and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” You might, after you discover how one New York man found the right job, largely as a result of blind luck … or was it creative smarts? Read on to judge for yourself and, more importantly, to find the two lessons that can get you hired, too …

The Sandwich Wrap Resume Trick

“College prepares you for the real world. That’s what my guidance counselors told me, anyway,” says Robert Basso of Hicksville, NY. “I thought a Bachelor of Arts degree was going to guarantee me a job with great benefits and a pension after I graduated from college in 1994. Wrong.”

After finding it impossible to get a position, Basso was reduced to begging for his old college job back — making sandwiches at a deli on Long Island.

Fortunately, the owners supported Basso’s efforts to find a job related to his degree, and gave him latitude to promote himself to employers while at work.

One day, Basso hit upon an idea.

“I decided to wrap every sandwich I prepared with my resume and include it with the order. I sent out about 75 resumes that way over three days. Much to my surprise, I got customer reactions — some nice and some not so nice,” says Basso.

Geographic Employer Targeting

While this may seem like a low-tech equivalent of email spam, Basso was targeting potential employers in one respect — geographically. All the sandwich orders went out to office buildings within a few blocks of the deli. And Basso knew that, like a fax, his resume would likely be carried to a manager who could give it their attention.

“I was aiming for any entry-level job, but all the calls I got were for sales and marketing positions. The resume itself was pretty standard, but I guess the delivery method was extraordinary and convinced employers that I knew something about marketing,” says Basso.

Within two weeks, Basso’s “sandwich” resumes had produced five job interviews and four offers, one of which he happily accepted in the marketing department of a health care firm. Success, right? Wrong.

| 1 | 2 | Next Page

Featured Job Posting: Account Manager

Position Account Manager (2 open positions) Location: 1. Tampa, FL 2. Orlando, FL

To apply click here

Description Are you looking for an opportunity to showcase your professional Relationship Building Skills? Look No Further. Divisions Inc. Maintenance Group, one of the fastest growing maintenance companies in the United States, is looking for talented, energetic, professional and highly motivated Account Managers in the Tampa and Orlando areas. The Account Manager reports to the District Manager and is responsible for maintaining and adding on sales of services in the assigned territory. This is an entry level position with opportunity for advancement. Candidates must be centrally located within the designated city with the ability to travel to clients within a 20 mile radius, within 1 hour. The key success factors include: • An individual who possesses a professional demeanor that believes and understands that thinking out of the box and a creative entrepreneurial spirit breeds long-term success • Self Motivation • Excellent relationship building capabilities • Superb follow up skills • Excellent time management skills • Self Confident • Proven success of setting and achieving goals for future growth opportunities • College degree preferred but will also consider candidates with the right qualities Responsibilities: • Sales o Business to business customer relationship building with a concentration on the large box retail market. o Account management for established local and corporate customers. Focus on routine visits and upselling of additional services. o Creation and presentation of sales proposals • Operations o Overview of maintenance services assessing provider quality, service and performance o Researches providers to be used within the area o Provider relationship building • Management o On-site quality and accuracy audits o Administration responsibility A competitive compensation package that includes a $30k base with uncapped variable earning potential, in addition to a generous benefits package. EEO/MF

To apply click here

Job Hunt Strategies for New Grads (video)

As a college grad, you're probably not too experienced in job hunting - in fact the simple idea of developing job search strategies can seem confusing to you. To help you out in getting a job during this economy, we suggest you watch this video.

Done watching the video? Why not subscribe to our free newsletter to get more resources?

Are you reading this from our daily Newsletter? Then click here to watch the video!