Visit this link to view an interesting and informative article about how to use small talk to your advantage.
http://www.cnn.com./2009/LIVING/worklife/08/17/cb.start.conversations.at.work/index.html
Click here for a great article about what to do if your job offer is rescinded.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/29/cb.where.did.my.job.go/index.html
By Anthony Balderrama
CareerBuilder.com writer
When two people fall in love, they only see sunshine and rainbows when they look into each other’s eyes. If you asked, “What’s the worst trait of your boyfriend or girlfriend?” they would answer, “Absolutely, positively nothing!”
Ask that same question a few years later when they’re living together and have seen each other at their respective worst. You’ll get a pretty good list:
“She cuts her toenails on the coffee table.”
“He speaks in a cutesy voice on behalf of the dog.”
“She kicks me in her sleep.”
Hopefully none of these nuisances find their way into your work life, but other ones probably do. Everyone has some weaknesses in their work behavior that they need to work on, and they often extend beyond annoyances (such as eating a smelly lunch at your desk) and become problems for your career.
Here are 10 work habits that you should try to break:
1. Procrastination
A lot of people work best under pressure, or at least they say so. With everyone having a different personality, you can’t say a strict schedule works best for all employees. Putting tasks off until the last minute, however, invites plenty of problems, even if you think the final result will be glorious.
When you leave yourself no wiggle room to complete a task, you run the risk of encountering an unexpected obstacle that makes you miss the deadline. Even if the situation’s out of your hands, everyone will be left wondering why you didn’t plan better and account for last-minute emergencies.
2. Being a sloppy e-mailer
E-mails are second nature to most people these days, and in informal communications they’ve become a digital Post-It note. We type out a message and send them without proofreading or double-checking the recipients. That’s a recipe for disaster.
If you haven’t learned your lesson by now, the day will soon come when you accidentally “Reply All” to an e-mail and a slew of unintended readers receive a silly note you only intended your co-worker to read.
3. Confusing informal with disrespectful
In many workplaces the boss might be the decision maker, but he or she isn’t the stern, humorless caricature you saw on TV. Using your supervisor’s first name and going for some drinks after work are common in many industries.
Still, you are the employee and the boss is the boss — the one who can fire you and tell you what to do. Don’t cross the line by talking to him or her as if you’re talking to one of your direct reports or even your best friend. You need to show some respect for their authority.
4. Taking advantage of leeway
Some companies are strict about the time you clock in and out. Others have guidelines but no hard rules. So you can arrive at 8:35 a.m. and no one cares. If over time you’re arriving at 9:10 a.m. and leaving at 4 p.m. (with plenty of breaks in between), your reputation will suffer.
This also goes for dress codes. Business casual is up to interpretation, but ripped jeans and concert tees probably don’t fall under your company’s accepted definition.
5. Refusing to mingle
Plenty of wisdom lies in the advice not to mix personal and professional lives. However, refusing to take part in any social activity — such as the office potluck or a happy hour — will not help your career.
You don’t need to be the resident party animal, but being personable with your colleagues helps build camaraderie. You get to know other people better and they get to know you as more than the person they pass in the halls.
6. Always running late
This isn’t the same as abusing leeway; this is a matter of trust. If you’re late to work, to meetings and with projects, your boss and colleagues will associate that trait with you. When it’s time for a promotion or to deal with an important client, everyone will think twice before giving you the opportunity. Who wants to trust the person who can’t manage his or her time?
7. Being rigid
One of the unfair aspects of the working world is that sometimes it seems you can’t win. If you’re hired to do a job, most bosses don’t want you passing the day by reading your favorite book.
The reason: You were hired to do a job, so do it. But if the boss comes to you with a new project that’s outside the parameters of your usual duties, it’s still yours to do. “You don’t pay me to do that” isn’t something you want to tell your supervisor.
8. Acting as the resident contrarian
We all love your spirited personality, but try not to be the person in the meeting who always has a better idea and can tell you why everyone else’s idea is dumb.
Voices of opposition are often missing in many workplaces because too many eager employees want to be “yes” men and women. But too much negativity grates on nerves and makes people dread hearing your voice. Continue to be a critical thinker, but make sure you’re doing what’s best for the company and not just trying to be the loudest voice in the room.
9. Badmouthing the company
With blogs, Facebook, Twitter and a host of other sites, you have plenty of opportunity to vent your frustration with life. If you’re going to complain about how dumb your boss is and how much you hate your job, keep those rants private.
The Internet is public domain and comments have a way of finding their way back to all the wrong people. If you wouldn’t stand outside your boss’s office and tell a co-worker how ready you are to quit, don’t express the same thoughts in an open forum.
10. Politicking
Office politics are often unavoidable, and sometimes having a grasp on what’s going on can benefit you, but you shouldn’t spend more time masterminding office warfare than you do working.
Getting caught in the crosshairs of a workplace controversy can be out of your control, but if you’re the one instigating the drama, you’re earning a bad reputation. You’re the person who starts trouble and whom no one trusts. That’s the kind of notoriety that follows you from one workplace to another.
From http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/06/03/cb.10.worst.work.habits/index.html
Many graduating seniors find that the adjustment to a 9-5 workday can have an impact on their health and the fitness routines they had been accustomed to during their college years. When transitioning to a full-time job, students often find their time management skills challenged. No longer are the days structured so that you can hit the gym between class periods, or swing by Liberty for a cheap, fresh, and healthy lunch. It’s important to make an attempt to stay healthy when you transition to your new workplace or graduate school. Here are a few tips for a healthier transition:
1. Check for company discounts
Many companies have a local gym that offers discounted memberships to employees. (Some companies even reimburse employees for their gym memberships). Check with your new employer and see if they are aware of any local discounts!
2. Lunch time fitness
If you’re not a morning person and hate crowded gyms during the after work rush, fit your fitness routine in during lunch. Use your lunch hour to walk outside, use a workout DVD, or even go to a nearby gym. If you don’t like to workout alone, find a co-worker who is also interested in lunch hour fitness; working out with a buddy gives you a social outlet and more accountability for fitting in that workout.
3. Pack your lunch
Stay healthy while saving time and money by bringing your lunch to work. You can also save time in the morning by packing your lunch the night before or cooking larger portions of meals over the weekend and individually packing them for the week. Preparing your meal at home allows you to control the calories and nutritious content- plus it’s much cheaper!
4. Keep clothes in your car
Keep a pair of athletic shoes and workout clothes in your car. This way you can fit a workout in without making an extra trek back home to pick up your gear. By the time you fight traffic, get home, and unwind a little you’re likely to lose all motivation to get that work out in. Fit a quick workout in right after work and then head home and unwind!
5. Schedule it in
Write exercise ‘appointment’ times in your daily planner. Scheduling your workouts in as an appointment on your personal or work calendar helps you to prioritize this time for yourself and not get too busy to fit in your daily fitness routine. If this is part of your weekly routine it will also help you to maintain a regular fitness schedule over a long period of time.
Graduating from college doesn’t mean you have to lose your personal wellness routine. With a few minor adjustments you can maintain and continue a healthy lifestyle as you transition into the working world.
Know what you really want. Where do you picture yourself working? For many graduates, this is the biggest hurdle to overcome when conducting a job search. If you just apply to anything and everything, you are just taking a “shot in the dark” and hoping that you’ll eventually hit something. But this approach leaves everything to chance – and do you really want to end up with “whatever“?
Take into consideration your interests, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses when planning the next step in your career. What are your skills? Just because your previous experience hasn’t been in your chosen career field doesn’t mean that you don’t have relevant skills. Perhaps you’ve also gained transferable skills from part-time or volunteer work. A job search takes time and energy, so it is critically important that you focus your energy on jobs and career fields you would want to do – for now anyway – even if not forever.
If you don’t know why you want the job, you cannot convince an employer to hire you. We see this all the time, a graduate just thinks, “Well, here I am, and I have a college degree, and I have a great personality, so you should hire me.” But, when asked why they want this particular job with this particular company, the answer is a blank stare. This is why research is so important. What does the company or organization do or produce? Why are you interested in them? What would you be doing in the job? Why is this type of work important to you? How does it fit your skills, abilities, and knowledge?
You should not just post your resume to a job listing site (like Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.) and expect to get the perfect job offer (or any job offer for that matter). This approach requires little to no effort, and typically will yield little to no results. First of all, many job openings (particularly those for recent college grads) are not advertised on major job boards. Over 80% of the job openings available are not advertised. They are filled either through word-of-mouth or through direct application (meaning you go directly to the organization, either applying to a job you see on their homepage or by contacting them directly to find out how to apply for jobs). Check out major job listing sites – absolutely! You don’t want to miss out on any possible opportunities. Just do not use them as your only job search tool.
Other people are your best resource in finding a job. Utilize your former professors, your parents’ friends, neighbors, and friends who may already be working. Tell everyone you know, (and everyone you meet) that you are seeking a job, and tell them a little about the type of job or career field you are targeting. Don’t be afraid to ask for to ask for advice or leads. You may be surprised at how many job leads you get from networking.
Be flexible and realistic. Maybe you are finding that you aren’t getting job offers because you don’t have relevant experience. Could you get this experience through a part-time job or though volunteer work with an organization? Maybe you can work two part-time jobs – one for $$ and one for experience. Or maybe you can work a subsistence job (something for now, not related to your career, but will pay the rent), and volunteer with an organization that will help you develop skills and contacts in your chosen field of interest. With the economy right now, you may not find the job you really want right away, but this doesn’t mean you should just give up and not try. There are many ways to get from point “A” to point “B” and it isn’t always a straight line!
Don’t be easily discouraged. You will be turned down for jobs, and you may be turned down for a lot of jobs. The job search is not for the faint of heart. This is where you show what you’re made of. Research-time-energy-practice-patience. Repeat.
If you listen to the news about the economy, you may come away with the idea that there are no jobs out there, so what is the point in looking? Actually, there are still job opportunities, but fewer of them. This means that there is more competition, and upcoming graduates must work harder and smarter in order to find the jobs available.
Here are tips for finding jobs in the current economy:
A job search in the current economy is not for the faint of heart. And experts agree that “waiting it out” and doing nothing is the worst strategy, because it shows a lack of energy and interest in your career. At least if you are trying and making an effort, employers may appreciate that fact and consider you when they have an opening come available.
Check out this recent graduate’s job search success story and learn from his experience!
It’s happened to all of us. We’re going about our day, doing our jobs, when suddenly someone is screaming at us, insulting us, or generally making us wish we hadn’t gotten out of bed that morning.
Learning to manage emotions is an important part of becoming a professional. So how do you project a professional image while you’re screaming inside? Here are some tips to help you when emotions threaten to bubble over.During the conflict or incident:
1. Focus on doing your job. Specifically focusing on your duties and the task at hand will help you keep your emotions in check, and ensure you continue to perform well under stress.
After the conflict or incident:
Managing your emotions at work is an important skill to learn. It will take time and effort, but is definitely worth the investment!
Clothes make the man (or woman). Have you ever heard that statement? In most cases this is not true-we are not who we are because of the clothes we wear, but in the interview it is the case. When meeting the employer for the first time our clothes convey an unspoken statement about ourselves. With the right clothes you can say a lot of positive things to your employer, but with the wrong clothes you can say goodbye to your dream job. Martin Yate, writer of “Knock ‘em Dead” a great book to guide you in the job search, sums it up perfectly. “When you dress like a professional, you are likely to be treated as one, and that’s a good head start to give yourself without saying a word” (Knock ‘em Dead, p120). Here are some simple rules to help you decide what to wear for the interview.
Rule 1: Be Conservative (everyone). While at heart you may be the most liberal minded person, you are trying to get a job-not speak out about your personal beliefs through you style of dress. When thinking conservative clothing, think about neutral colors like black, navy, gray, or white, though I would suggest avoiding the white leisure suit. No bright colors, so no hot pinks or teals or purples. You do not want the employer to focus so much on your suit that they are not even listening to you because you chose to wear that purple suit with the black wing tip shoes. Not a good choice.
Rule 2: For the Men When choosing your interview attire remember to keep a professional image in mind. This includes a suit (2 or 3 button), a nice tie, matching shoes (preferably in leather), and a solid or small patterned shirt. Always make sure that your suit fits and does not sag or is to tight. If you do not have a suit you can buy an reasonably priced one from any of the local department stores. Make sure your tie and shirt match your suit. No animal or art inspired ties. Remember to stay conservative.
Rule 3: For the Women Ladies your rules are very similar to the men’s but with a few additions. Women should try to go with skirted suits versus a pant suit. Skirts are the most conservative for women, but if you only have a pant suit do not panic, it is not the end of the world or your job prospect. The skirt of your suit should rest at or just above your knee. It is a nice length that allows you movement but does not show too much leg. Also check the length when you sit down. If it crawls to far up your legs go for another suit.
Rule 4: Jewelry (for everyone)
Again keep it conservative. Only women should wear earrings. Sorry guys leave them at home. For women the earrings should be small and not flashy. No other body piercing should be visible. Rings: only one per hand. And women if you wear a necklace keep it simple. If you have a question about a piece of jewelry better to err on the side of caution and not wear it.
There are a lot of other rules written and unwritten that you should consider when dressing for your interview. Click here for more information about Interview attire at the Virginia Tech’s Career Services. For more tips please go to the Career Center website or visit our office and peruse our reading material.
Do you have any interview clothing stories or tips?
Reference: Yate, Martin. Knock ‘em Dead. Avon, MA: Adams Media. 2006. (This book and others are located in the Career Center library).
A cover letter serves as your letter of introduction to the employer, and is also a valuable marketing tool in the job search process. So the answer is yes, you should definitely include a cover letter when applying to job or internship opportunities. Also, think of it this way: your resume lists your credentials…your education, experience, training, skills. But the resume doesn’t communicate WHY you are interested in the specific company to which you are applying, WHY you are interested in this specific job or career field, WHY you would be good fit for the position, or WHY this opportunity fits your interests and career goals. The cover letter needs to address those questions.
So how do you go about writing a cover letter? Look carefully at the job listing – it usually lists the requirements and duties of the job. Take a highlighter and mark the key words in the job description and the qualifications or requirements. Now, how do you fit those requirements? Have you gained experience and/or knowledge of some or all of the job duties? (Don’t forget about your classes and class projects – you may have gained experience and skills from those as well as from internships or jobs!) Try to tailor the letter to the job description as much as possible, because these are the key points for the employer in looking at candidates to interview.
Another tip: When emailing your resume to an employer, your cover letter should be the actual message you send, not sent as an attachment (unless you are instructed to send the cover letter as an attachment). When applying to a position via email, it is critically important that the employer see something which entices them to read your resume – and a well crafted cover letter can provide this information.
For more information, including sample cover letters and a sample email cover letter, download our Help Guides at: http://www.cofc.edu/careercenter/tipsheets.html.
Also, for a great article, with additional tips and another sample cover letter, go to JobWeb at www.jobweb.com. This site contains a wealth of career and job search advice for college students!
And remember, once you have draft of your cover letter, the Career Center will be happy to review and critique it and provide you with feedback and tips for improvement. Just call our office for an appointment or come in during our drop in hours Monday – Friday, 1 – 4 pm.
As a child, when I would try something and be unsuccessful, my teachers or family would repeat this old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” Nowhere is this advice more true than in the job search.
The job search always requires persistence and resilience, even in good economic times, but even more so in bad economic conditions like we are now experiencing. The job search will likely take more time and effort than it may have in the past. There is no use sugar-coating it, hiding from it or complaining about it. (Okay, you are allowed to complain a little).
In this economy, you are likely to apply for many, many positions before successfully landing a post-graduate job opportunity. Upcoming graduates seem to be shocked when we tell them that applying to 3-4 jobs will probably not result in a job offer. You will most likely have to apply to many more than 3-4 jobs in order to even land an interview! This is where the persistence part comes in. Apply to as many jobs as possible, as long as they are opportunities that interest you in some way, or will provide you with skills and experience you need to move to the next level. Also, if you aren’t getting interviews for the types of jobs you desire because you lack experience, look for positions that are the next level below the type of job to which you aspire. Depending on the career field you are seeking to enter, this may be the only way to gain a position, due to the levels of competition for certain types of career opportunities.
Rejection is also just part of the process. You will apply to jobs, and despite following up with the employer with a well thought out phone call or email, you won’t hear back from them at all. You’ll interview for positions and be turned down. Here is where the resilience comes in…pick yourself up and just keep applying and interviewing. Don’t let the rejection get you down, because this will negatively affect the next interview. Learn from each experience and you’ll do better the next time. And don’t eliminate a company just because they turn you down – if they have other jobs later on, apply for those as well! Sometimes the employer may like you, but just not think you’re the right fit for one position – but you may be the right fit for a different one! (Yours truly would not be writing this blog entry if I had given up on the College of Charleston – I applied twice for the exact same position. I was rejected the first time, but the second time…well, here I am!)
If you have questions or concerns about how to conduct an effective job search make an appointment to see a staff member in the Career Center. We’d be happy to assist you in developing your own personalized job search plan of action.