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Company Research & Effective Job Search Strategies Presented by Karen M. Landolt September 16, 2013
Company Research &
Effective Job Search Strategies Presented by Karen M. Landolt
September 16, 2013
Karen M. Landolt • Karen M. Landolt, Director, HireTexas Interview Center
• 18 years’ experience in organiza9onal programming, teaching, and advising in non-‐profit, legal, and academic se@ngs.
• Previous roles at UT since 2004: Director, College of Natural Sciences Career Design Center, Senior Associate Director and Adjunct Lecturer at the McCombs School of Business – MBA, BBA
• Prac@ced IP law at a large venture capital/intellectual property firm. Founding partner of a bou9que business & IP firm.
Cer9fied Mediator and is admiSed to the MA bar.
• Before the Bar: Worked in the non-‐profit arena as an Emergency Housing Counselor with the YWCA, a Development Officer with St. Vincent de Paul Society, and as a Community Organizer with the Hunger Ac9on Network of New York State.
• Degrees: Juris Doctor at Northeastern University School of Law; Bachelor of Arts in Government from The University of Texas at Aus9n.
Agenda • Job Search Strategies
• Resources for Identifying target companies, organizations, and non-profits
• What do you hope to learn today?
The Top 10 Reasons Why it Takes People Too Long to Find a Job
1. They don’t put much time or effort into job hunting 2. They waste time on unproductive activities 3. They have no way of measuring their progress 4. They’re not sure what kind of work they are looking for 5. They don’t make a list of prospective employers – or it’s not long
enough 6. They don’t define and analyze their own personal job market 7. They have no systematic approach to the job search project 8. They only pursue announced job openings and use no proactive
approaches 9. They don’t realize that search is a numbers game – or they
seriously underestimate the numbers needed 10. They go it alone, without any objective advice or support
Many of the strategies discussed today are adapted from this book.
Start with a Project Plan 1. What kind of work do you want to do?
- Think about your Values, Interests, Skills
2. Create a Target List of Employers - Identify a group of organizations, specifying the
geographic location, size and industries you like best 3. Your Core Message: Why should we hire you?
Job Search Timeline
• The average person in the average search needs to talk to 25 Decision Makers
• If you talk to 2 new Decision Makers every week, your search will take 12 ½ weeks
• If you talk to 15 friends, acquaintances, and insiders every week and ask the right questions, you will likely reach 1 Decision Maker (15:1 ratio)
Job Opportunities Where do you Look?
Hidden Market ~ 80%+
Open Market ~ 20%
The Open Market
• Indeed • LinkedIn Job Search • The Versatile PhD • AccessUT
The Hidden Market
• Networking/Relationship Building – Start small to go big! – Anyone and everyone!
• Approximately 80% of jobs are never formally advertised
MANAGE YOUR TIME
• Treat job search like your research! • Keep a calendar • Work on job hunt daily • Establish goals and priorities:
– give yourself a reasonable goal for each day: look at 3 websites, type 2 letters, make 4 phone calls, etc.
Where Can You Start?
YOU
Organiza9ons
Family, Friends,
Teachers – Anyone you already know
Events
Weaker Ties = Stronger Networks
Structure for Success INTERNET • How much time should you spend
on the Internet? • What sites should I look at? • What kind of responses should I
expect?
TARGETED • How many companies should I
target? • How do I know if they have a job
open? • How do I find someone to talk with
at the company?
RECRUITERS/Temp Agencies • How can I find recruiters? • How do I know if the recruiter is at
the right level for me? • Do they even work? NETWORKING • How can I build my network in
Austin? • What professional groups can I
plug into?
Informational Interviews • Purpose - to obtain information
• Learn duties, qualifications, and personality traits of people in the target role
• Learn experience needed
• Learn trends in career field
• Ask for additional professional contacts
GUIDELINES
• Identify contact names from professors, advisors, family
• Call and ask for 20-30 minutes • Be prepared with a list of questions to ask • Make a good impression • Ask for other contact names • Send a thank-you letter
Informational Interview: Success Strategies Rapport—what do you know about the contact? Ques9ons—what are your learning objec9ves? Stories of Accomplishment—connect to industry/target Time—begin and end on what was agreed Request Contacts—2 contacts from your list of companies Follow-‐up—24/48 hours e-‐mail or wriSen note
What do you see as developments in this field, company, industry?
Areas of greatest opportunity? Expansion? Markets/Products? Greatest needs---currently IT + Security + Regulatory + International
Key Questions
What are the key talents of people who are successful in this field? Typical mistakes that prevent people from entering this field? Personal advice about entering this field? What do you do to keep up-to date and build your network?
Building your network • LinkedIn www.linkedin.com • Alumni groups • Professional associations • Volunteer associations • Social groups • Former and current colleagues • Religious affiliations • Community ties • Friends • Family
How effectively are you networking? • National Associations
– Reduced student rates – Provide job listings, networking events,
conferences – Join their LinkedIn networking groups to grow
your network • Chamber of Commerce
– Lists of local business, networking events • Alumni Directory
– Undergraduate Institution and Graduate
Take Action! • Create your targeted list of companies
– This should include at least 25 targets
• Develop your core message – What you want to do, who you want for and why
• Tell everyone you know – How they can help you
GET ORGANIZED • Index card file, notebook, data base
• Keep track of: – people you meet, where they work, advice
they gave – all correspondence with companies, including
interviews – your accomplishments, jobs, internships,
activities
SAMPLE CONTACT LIST
• Contact Person • Title • Employer name • Address, phone, fax, email • Position applied for • What you sent them and when:
resume, references, transcript, other
KNOW YOURSELF
• Values • Interests • Personality • Skills • Experience • Goals
• Geographical preference
• Work environment
Top 10 Personal Characteristics
Employers Seek…
• Communication skills
• Honesty/ Integrity
• Motivation/ Initiative
• Self-confidence
• Interpersonal skills • Strong work ethic • Teamwork skills • Leadership skills • Maturity • Flexibility
Social Media for Job Search
• 52% of job seekers use Facebook to help find work
• LinkedIn was used by 38% of job seekers, up from 30%;
• Twitter usage in the hunt rose from 26% to 34%.
Passive Job Search
• 33% of Recruiters use Facebook to identify candidates
• 42% use Twitter
• 98% use LinkedIn
• hSp://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2013/03/24/3-‐9ps-‐to-‐op9mize-‐your-‐job-‐search-‐on-‐twiSer/ 3 Tips to Op9mize Your Job Search on TwiSer
Facebook for Job Seekers
Facebook for Job Seekers
• Set privacy settings to ensure appropriate profile for employers
• “Like” possible employers & interesting brands to stay current
• Use Apps like “Branch Out”(largest professional community on Facebook) to connect to open positions
• Keep profile updated to let connections know where you are working
Facebook Adds Professional Skills Category for Job Seekers
• The new category appears as an option in a Facebook profile’s About section under the heading of Work and Education.
• Click on the edit button near the heading to see the new category that automatically offers links to pages focused on the skills the user has entered.
Published 9/11/13 http://www.ere.net/2013/09/11/facebook-workday-entelo-and-koofers-on-the-move/
Twitter for Job Seekers
Who to Follow on Twitter
All professional or industry-specific organizations
Local, state, or nation-wide governmental entities that impact your industry or job search
Past colleagues, employers, and any other professional
profiles
Key companies in your industry
Companies where you want to work
hSp://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2013/03/24/3-‐9ps-‐to-‐op9mize-‐your-‐job-‐search-‐on-‐twiSer/ 3 Tips to Op9mize Your Job Search on TwiSer
Posted on March 24, 2013 by ComeRecommended
Job Seekers
• Make sure the profile is professional, including a picture, the Tweets, & who you follow
• Show expertise in outgoing tweets
• Demonstrate your brand in 140 Characters
Twitter Tools
@Microjobs: Search specific job openings using hashtags (#)
TweetMyJobs: can personalize Twitter feeds to your search
Gozaik: Twitter resume
Twellow: yellow pages for Twitter
TwitJobSearch: Twitter job search engine using keywords
Twitter Keyword Searches • #UXdesign
• #Userinterface
• #information architect
• #reference
• #archivist
• #cataloguing
• #collectiondevelopment
• #academic
• #libraryjobs
LinkedIn for Job Seekers
ü Over 100 Million Professionals ü 200,000+ Organizations ü 150 Industries Represented ü 2.1 Million Students ü Members in Over 200 Countries ü Executives from Fortune 500
Companies Growing at a new member per second
LinkedIn for Job Seekers
• Join groups for the industry you want to work in
• Make sure your profile is 100% complete & up-to-date
• Get recommendations
• Explore every company before you interview to see who you might know & find out more about the types of people hired
LinkedIn Professional Groups
Resources for Research
How to Identify your target companies/organizations
Austin: Book of Lists INSERT screen cap from PCL
www.indeed.com
TANO http://www.tano.org/en/jobs/search.asp
Leadership Development and Rotational Programs
• Designed to recruit and develop leaders in an organization.
• Include in-depth experiences, ongoing mentorship, and targeted training across a range of business areas within a company.
• Most have special recruitment timelines (usually in the fall semester).
• Columbia University has good information about these programs on its website: • http://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/
Online Resources STEM Graduate Students American Associa9on for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (www.aaas.org) • helps science PhDs transi9on into policy Science Careers (hSp://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/) • One-‐stop career shopping for the science PhD student. MyIDP (hSp://myidp.sciencecareers.org) • IDP stands for Individual Development Plan. helps STEM students explore
careers, set goals and stay on track as you make progress. LinkedIn: Alterna9ve PhD Careers & Peter Fiske’s Put Your Science to Work • groups for scien9sts seeking non-‐academic careers
Online Resources for Humanities and Social Science Graduate Students
Beyond Academe (hSp://www.beyondacademe.com/) Non-‐academic career site created for historians but applicable to anyone in the humani9es. #Alt-‐Academy (hSp://mediacommons.futureomhebook.org/alt-‐ac/) A leading resource on non-‐faculty careers within the academy. Aimed at humanists. Sellout Your Soul (www.selloutyoursoul.com) Good blog started in September 2010 by a humanist who successfully lem the academy.
Online Resources for All Disciplines PhDs.org (www.phds.org)
• searchable job lis9ngs, including both academic and non-‐academic jobs.
Chronicle of Higher Educa9on (hSp://chronicle.com) • Look especially at Grad Hacker, Careers, On Hiring, and Beyond the Ivory
Tower.
Inside Higher Ed (hSp://www.insidehighered.com/) • Similar to Chronicle. Compe9ng publica9on. Good resource. See “Career
Advice” link.
Online Resources for All Disciplines University Affairs (hSp://www.universityaffairs.ca/)
• Canadian version of the Chronicle. Look at “Careers Café,” a career blog within the site.
Vault.com (hSp://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa) Good for researching specific industries and companies. There’s free content and your CSO may have a subscrip9on to the premium content.
Listservs and LinkedIn groups: Hunt around for listservs for non-‐academic or “applied”professionals in your discipline, or even for specific non-‐academic fields that interest you. LinkedIn groups for all disciplines include PhD Careers Outside of Academia, and The Versa9le PhD.
Government Jobs • Why consider the government?
– Stay in your industry of interest – Higher pay than you probably expect and faster
acceleration of pay in early career than private sector – Opportunity to have an important impact – Great benefits
• A pension! • Great healthcare coverage • Competitive salary and quick acceleration of pay • Loan repayment programs that can provide up to $10K a year • Work/life balance • Flexible work schedule programs • 2.5 weeks of vacation + 10 holidays
Where do you find these?
• Start with USAJobs website – www.usajobs.gov, search keywords (MBA, Marketing, Finance,
Operations), sort by salary
• See www.gogovernment.org for tips on how to navigate the application process
Other Government Programs
Pathways Programs https://www.usajobs.gov/StudentsAndGrads
Other Government Programs Presidential Management Fellows Program
– Deadline is in the Fall (ex: 2013) for following Year (August 2014 start date)
– Application usually Opens & Closes in November http://www.pmf.gov/becomeapmf/index.aspx
State & Local Government
• Go to workintexas.com – Search “By Occupation and Location” – Select Occupational Category – Select employer types that interest you
• Go to austincityjobs.org – Not easy to search – Click Search Positions, then filter by Category:
Professional
TARGET, TARGET, TARGET!!!! • You cannot use a “form” resume or cover letter • Consider your resume a fluid document
• Highlight the most relevant experiences for the role by moving them up in bullet order or rearranging the wording of bullets
• Cover letters are very important • Show your knowledge and interest in their
organization • Pull from experiences outside of your paid work
experience if it ties you to the organization or role
Effective Resumes • Tailor resume to the target organization!
• On resume, streamline description of for-profit work experience that is not directly relevant
• Highlight volunteer/social sector experience – Tutoring, volunteer consulting, fundraising, organizing community
service events, coursework, etc.
• If you have extensive experience in the organization’s field, you may want to include more detailed curriculum vitae
Resources for Conver9ng a CV to a Resume • UT Liberal Arts Career Services (hSp://www.utexas.edu/cola/orgs/lacs/Students/Graduate-‐Students/CV-‐Cover-‐LeSers.php) • OWL Purdue Wri9ng Lab (hSp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/719/01/)
• Chronicle of Higher Educa9on – The CV Doctor is Back (hSp://chronicle.com/ar9cle/The-‐CV-‐Doctor-‐Is-‐Back-‐/49086/)
Summary of Resources • AccessUT (for broader scope of professional
opportunities) • Professional Associations (in areas of interest)
– Austin Forum on Science & Technology – Directory: Weddles.com
• Networking and mentoring: Texas Exes Career Network (exploring professions)
• Government Partnership for Public Service • Nonprofits (TANO.org) • Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational
Handbook
Rejection? It’s NOT personal
Moving boxes and running shoes….
We are expecting over 75 top employers and 1,000 alumni. Job Seekers: www.recruitaustin13.eventbrite.com
$5 - $10 Registration Fee Required Question? Contact Kelly Grunther: 917-841-2657 or [email protected]
