Add Value

Christmas shopping can be exhausting.  It's even worse when the store you're shopping at is short staffed.  That day, standing in the electronics department, not only was my patience tested but I learned a valuable lesson from the clerk that assisted me.  I'd like to share it with you.

I walked by and it caught my eye - a laptop.  The price was good - really good, in fact - and I decided to make the purchase.  There was just one obstacle: the glass display case.  No problem.  Simply ask the clerk to hand me one of those priced-right laptops and I'd be outta there quick (I hate shopping, by the way). 

There was only one clerk working in the department, and he was busy with a customer that asked lots of questions.  I spotted the "Press Button For Service" stand on the counter, and I pushed the button.  More questions from the customer.  I shifted my weight from one leg to the other.  Then another customer walked up to the clerk and asked for assistance.  I pushed the button again.  And more questions from both customers.  Push...Push... Somebody paged the store manager to assist the poor clerk in the electronics department.  Push...Push... My button-pushing must have resembled Morse Code (anybody who knows me can tell you I'm not the most patient of people).  Then the clerk finally made eye contact with me and said he'd be with me in a second.  Hallelujah!  I was only standing there for about 20 minutes or so... 

I had my own set of questions regarding the laptop.  Well, maybe it was more like a cross-examination, but I don't remember.  Hey - I don't like shopping, and I like returning purchased items even less!  Before the clerk and I were finished speaking, several more customers had arrived and were frustrated about the lack of clerks to assist in that busy department.  But the clerk kept a great attitude.  He handled the situation like a pro.  He maintained a smile on his face and patiently answered questions.  Watching him in action was worth the wait.  

The clerk added value...  He added value to the store's reputation.  He added value to his manager when I paid him a compliment to his supervisor for his great service.  He added value to my shopping experience. 

How can you add value in the coming New Year?  Clients, vendors, your company, your coworkers or staff... Even if it's a kind word, someone will appreciate it when you go the extra mile.  

What I Did Over Summer Vacation

What I Did Over Summer Vacation

Every year, when returning to school in the fall, this was the first assignment given.  Some years, I really looked forward to writing this essay, because I had a phenomenal summer.  Vacations, adventures with friends, and just plain having a blast.  Other times, you could tell my summer was uneventful.  Listening to my friends recall their spectacular summers made it worse and put me in a funk. 

When you’re unemployed, you’ll probably be asked in your interviews, “What have you done to get a job?” or, “What have you been doing since being unemployed?”  Like the summer essay, it will be obvious if you’re fulfilled and happy or totally bummed. 

You want to maintain a vigor and freshness about you that’s contagious.  What you do during your time of unemployment will directly feed into your attitude.  Here are some ideas:

Apply to as many staffing agencies as possible.

Post your resume to as many free sites as possible, especially niche boards.

Get new skills.  Find someone in your occupation that you can connect with, and ask what skills you need to learn.  You may need to schedule an informational interview if you don’t personally know anyone that can advise you.  Google “free online computer training”.   Join a public speaking group.  Improve your typing speed.

Learn a new language.

Take an online college course.

If you’re not using social media for your job search, take this time to learn the most popular sites and post your resume.  Make connections, too.

Volunteer somewhere, and hopefully the volunteer opportunity will line up with your occupation.  I know a woman that volunteered at a non-profit for nearly a year before they hired her full-time.  

Improve your appearance.  Exercise will make you feel great, and look great. 

Start your own group.  Get creative; the sky’s the limit.  Are you really good with resumes?   Then find a way to market this to job seekers that need help.  Start a Bible study.  Help people with their public speaking and interpersonal communication skills. 

Attend a one-day seminar or week-long workshop.  There are many topics to choose from. 

I hope this brief list gave you someplace to start.  Put together your own program.  You will actually look forward to the question, “So what have you been doing since being unemployed?”   

I’d love to hear your stories about how you made the most of your time of unemployment.  Feel free to contact me. 

10 Smart Enterprise Uses For Twitter

10 Smart Enterprise Uses For Twitter

Interviews... A Mutual Exchange

For me, interviews are like a first date.

I spend extra time choosing the right clothes, make sure every hair is in place, and try to say the right words and do the right things while I’m in the presence of “my date” (the hiring manager). I want this person to like me and hope they call me back for a second date. I’d be exceedingly happy if they were ready to jump into a long term commitment with me, say, by the end of the week.

Can you relate?

It’s taken some time, but I’ve talked myself out of this approach. If anything I’ve wrote so far lines up with your experience, then read on to see if you can glean anything.

Decide what your values are and who you are, and the rest will be easy. Too much adaptation will leave you without a sense of who you are and what you can contribute. How can you give when you don’t know what you’re giving? There’s nothing wrong about wanting to make a good impression in an interview. But this shouldn’t be you first priority.

Instead of simply answering the questions out of a sense of obedience, hoping saying little will help you avoid saying the wrong thing, help guide the conversation back to how your skill set is a good match for the position and the company.

How you can guide the conversation:

If you’re asked the infamous, “So, tell me about yourself” then you have a great opportunity to guide the conversation. How? Because you know that you score the most points by keeping this brief description focused on your skills and how they apply to the position. You may also prompt a question from the interviewer that they may not have thought to ask. Google “30 second commercial for job seekers” and practice this.

Ask questions of your own – especially questions that will help you screen the company and your potential manager and coworkers. They have their wish list, why ignore yours? Google a list of potential questions you can ask at your next interview, then pick which are most meaningful to you and take them with you.

When asked a question that goes to the tune of, “Tell me about a time when…” it’s rather easy to guide the conversation back to your skills. But when the question can be answered with a simple yes or no, it can be more difficult to guide the conversation. Take initiative and say, “Yes, I have trained someone, and I’d like to tell you more about this if time allows.” Hopefully you’ll get the go-ahead, and then the door is wide open for you to expound on your skills.

Word of Caution: if at any time the interviewer is abrupt, not patient enough to hear your answers, and interrupts you often like it’s a polite conversation habit, think long and hard about whether this is something you can deal with if offered the job. Remember you can hold your own behavioral interview just like they can with you, and not listening when your potential employee is speaking is a red-flag.

Instead of using the word “interview,” use the word “conversation” instead. That’s all it really is. Yes, most of us have been interviewed by people that wanted to intimidate us (once again, remember this and decide if this is a trait you can live with) but it all really boils down to a conversation. They have something you (possibly) want, and you have something they (possibly) want.

10 Rules For Job Seekers

There’s so much advice for job seekers. It can leave your head spinning and hopping from one trend to the next. Believe me, I’ve been there, done that, and visit on occasion.

The following list has become my go-to whenever I’m job hunting, which for most people will be once every five years. Maybe you can glean from my job search adventures.

1. Reject the “one-size-fits-all” mindset.

I wish I could give you a step-by-step list of how to land your next job. I sincerely want to tell you exactly how to dress for the interview, how to format your resume to solicit more views from hiring managers, and how firm to shake the interviewers hand. But I can’t. Why not? Because all job seekers are different, and not all companies are alike. Each and every company is looking for something different from their employees. Each company has their own culture, values, and leadership style. For example: some companies steer clear of single parents, fearing the employee will need too much time away from the office to attend to sick children, dentist appointments, etc. While other companies seek single parents because they view them as hard workers – one works extra hard for the sole income stream sustaining your family.

So in light of this, what can I tell you? Know yourself. Determine your values and make decisions based on those values.

2. Get online – now!

If you’re already on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you know this. You can move on to #3. These are the bare minimum, regardless of your occupation.
But what if they Google me? Assume you’ll be google’d, yahoo’d and bing’d. I used to avoid social media because of this, but instead of fearing the HR manager that wants to know more about you, make social work for you and not against you. It’s better to project a professional image online than no image online. Besides, so many HR managers, department managers, and CEO’s are online, so it only makes sense to be where they are so you can rub cyber elbows.
Why get online? Many companies are tweeting their open positions and posting open positions on LinkedIn. You’ll be notified immediately, and you’ll be ready because you’ve posted your resume and accomplishments on LinkedIn, along with links to your twitter account and Facebook page. And be yourself online -- be as professional or unprofessional as you want, because this is your job search and you want the right companies to target you. Just remember you reap what you sow…

3. Remove street addresses from your resume and business cards.

Email, cell #, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are plenty contact info to provide your professional contacts. Don’t forget to sanitize your online identity of street addresses, too. City, State and Zip are plenty for employers to identify local talent. Protect yourself.

4. Smurf-out at your next interview.

No, singing a happy tune is not the new interview trend. More people prefer blue as their favorite color. So wear some blue to your next interview, and it doesn’t have to be navy blue. Try baby blue, sky blue, ocean blue, turquoise, slate blue or midnight blue. Plus, blue flatters all skin colors.

5. Treat your job search like any other job.

Try to maintain your schedule as much as possible when you were employed. The early bird gets the worm. Keep your skills sharp by taking classes. Volunteer, too, if your schedule permits. Bonus points if the volunteer position lines up with your occupation. These activities will keep you busy, keep you fresh, keep you from suffering the “unemployment depression”, will help you meet new people that can help you with your job search, give you good references, and will give you a great answer when you’re asked, “So, what have you been doing while you’ve been out of work?” Yes, you will be asked this question in your interviews.

6. Get some referrals.

Referrals go a long way, especially in today’s job search when there are tons of candidates and one position. Hiring managers simply want to hire the right person for the job, and there are just so many good candidates. Make yourself stand out.

7. Take care of yourself.

Maintain your self care as much as possible. Exercise, eat well, and maintain friendships. The results will be obvious in your interviews and in your overall attitude.

8. Master your Deer-in-the-headlights-look

Sure, you can search the latest HR trends on the internet and probably have a good handle on what kinds of questions are being asked in interviews these days. I’m all for that. And you are certainly practicing your answers to these questions. But let’s face it -- there will be the one question asked that you didn’t expect. You’ll freeze, look around the room, and it’ll be obvious you don’t have an answer. Avoid this scenario by practicing how you’ll answer a question you weren’t expecting. You’ll probably get asked one or two; these questions are designed to see how well you think on your feet and react to situations you didn’t see coming. Usually there is no right answer to these questions. But you can have a good reaction hidden up your sleeve.

9. Don’t wait for them to make the first move.

Do a lot of research on the companies you want to work for. This means you have to target companies and purposefully get to know these companies – it’s the only way. Be bold – set-up an interview with an HR rep in the company. Prepare an agenda and a list of questions.  Ask for just a few minutes of their time. Have them tell you about their company, things that you can’t find out by simply searching their website. Say, “I’ve done some research about your company and I’d like to hear more.” Of course, they may not be hiring at the moment, and that’s OK. You’ll be gracious enough to listen to them describe the company, and you’ll be confident enough to ask for their business card and their LinkedIn profile, so you can connect online.

10. Update your look

Get some honest feedback about whether your professional attire could use a makeover. Try to look as modern as possible with your clothes and hair, without spending big bucks.

I’d love to hear your tried-and-true, never-fail job hunting strategies. Follow me on Twitter: @kkelley805. I'm also on Facebook and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kelley805. Happy Hunting!