Careers

According to a recent survey, 91% of executives from the nation’s largest companies consider their administrative assistants’ opinions of candidates as an important part of the selection process. Here are the four most important things to remember in a team interview.

1. Respond to each member of the group on an individual basis. Refer to each person by name whenever possible.
2. Don’t ignore anyone. Give good eye contact to all members of the team.
3. Take your time, just as you would in a 1-on-1 interview.
4. Send a thank-you note to each individual on the team.

Sometimes employers will request information regarding your salary history on initial application or during an interview. Employers utilize salary histories to gauge where they should begin their salaries, to determine if a prospective employee’s salary is likely within the budget for the position and to indicate a prospective employee’s performance in previous positions based upon frequency and amouts of raises the candidate has received. How should you respond to to questions of salary history? On an application, the words, “open,” “negotiable,” and “competitive” are appropriate. In discussing your salary history during an interview or in a letter to an employer, acknowledge the request, but be vague in your response. Regardless of how you vaguely acknowledge the request for your salary  history, creating a relationship between your salary history and a current potential offer should be avoided. The current salary should be based only on the value of the vacant position and your qualifications for that position.

The U.S. Deparment of Labor has recently released its 2006-2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook. This handbook tells you the training and education needed for each job, earnings and potential, expected job prospects, working conditions, etc. This is a very easy site to navigate and has almost every job or somthing similiar. This is a good site to find out expected earnings, that way when you are offered a job you will know the average earnings. Next, check out my page section about how to negotiate a salary and benefits.

www.bls.gov/oco

1. Speak in specifics, not generalities. Think of the interview as a process of storytelling in which your role is the dissemination of specific information about your personal qualities and life experiences.
2. If you don’t understand a question, simply ask, “Just so I understand, what you’re asking is…..” or paraphrase the question back to the interviewer.
3. Stress important skills that all employers are looking for including initiative, honesty, reliability, teamwork, and communication skills. Use personal examples to reinforce these qualities.
4. Be honest at all times. Integrity is a highly valued quality in today’s world.
5. Be yourself. Beyond the professional skills and education you bring to the interview, the process is a lot about whether your personality fits into the culture of the organiziation.

I found an article today that including the main skills employers are looking for under each skill set. I have listed them here so you can take a moment and figure out in each set where your strengths and weaknesses lie. By doing this you can have the ideal skill set to land your dream job!

Basic Skills- reading, writing, mathematics, speaking, listening

Thinking Skills- creative thinking, problem solving, decision making, visualization

Personal Qualities- self esteem, self-management, responsibility

People Skills- social, negotiation, leadership, teamwork 

Although some people still prefer traditional portfolios, digital portfolios are quickly becoming the new standard for delivering resumes and work samples. There are many advantages of digital portfolios:

• Portable and easily duplicated.
• Can easily be left with a client or potential employer.
• Delivered in person, by e-mail or through the Web.
• Password protected and secured so that the person viewing your work cannont copy or make changes to the portfolio.
• Produced so that the viewer doesn’t need to have the original software you used to create a file in order to view it.
• Can be printed if the viewer prefers printed copies.
• Can be shown over and over again without showing signs of wear.
• Duplicated quickly if you need more than one copy or want a backup.

A digital portolio not only tells an employer about your qualities but can show them as well. By incorporating multimedia you can present a video of yourself doing your job, making a speech or documenting your success. Being able to read it, see it, hear it and interact with it make this type of porfolio an extremely effective method of communication.

After you create your portfolio, you can easily pull out, or extract, different pages to create special mini-portfolios that target specific needs of a job or company.

You never know when an oppurtunity might surface, so keep a copy of your portfolio on your flash drive or CD so that you can show it to others.

This book written by Richard Nelson Bolles has been repeatedly called a practical manual for job-hunters and career-changers. It is updated and revised every year to provide the most useful information. It has helpful tips on a variety of topics. For example, how to find your dream job, how to go about geographically relocating and even how to negotiate a salary. It also contains of couple of exercises to guide you through the career process. I really enjoyed going through this book and I often refer other students to it as well. The following website has more information on this great book and its author http://www.jobhuntersbible.com

It was just brought to my attention that some people might wonder what the difference is between your college career services office and the main university career services office. Well, I am here to give you the answer. Everything goes through the main office in 360 Student Union and they are the office who coordinates the big events and finds employeers who want to hire OSU graduates. A few of the services they offer include: Job Listings, Career Fairs, On-Campus Interviews, Résumé Referral, Mock Interview Days, and a helpful web site for students. For more individualized attention students are directed to the career services office for their particular college where the following services are offered: Résumé Development/Critiques, Job Search Strategies, Internship Information, Career Exploration, Job Search Correspondence and Individualized Career Advice. This is only a partial list of things that career services can help you with, to find out the rest visit your college career services office.

Thursday’s career fair is expected to be the largest career fair ever hosted by OSU. There are over 140 employeers that are going to be there recruiting students for full time employement as well as internships. So come in professional dress with copies of your resume and be ready to network! OSU is also hosting an information session before the career fair. The information is listed below:

How to Make the Most of a Career Fair Workshop — 2/1/2006
Time: 5:30 - 6:30pm
Location: 313 Classroom Building, OSU-STW

Guest speakers include:
Charlie Olson of Ferguson - a Wolseley Company