Online Degrees: Perception and Reality

Employers have a wide variety of perceptions when it comes to on-line degrees. Some are accepting of this new mode of credentialing and others aren’t, and it’s important to understand and accept that not everyone shares the same perception.

Most people who choose an on-line degree program do so because logistical considerations make it tough for them to attend the classroom. No matter how good an education they provide, the truth is that the jury is not in for everyone on how much actual value an on-line degree provides. Attitudes are certainly changing as the Internet is now considered a necessity for doing business, but there is definitely not parity yet.

Some argue that a person who gets an on-line degree possesses good technical skills along with initiative and good time management. Others find the fact that on-line degrees are hard to trace and aren’t backed up by a commonly known institution causes them concern and skepticism.

Some of the more famous on-line schools are beginning to be recognized, but the reality is, they are still not as valued by the employment community as brick and mortar universities.

Anyone who has an on-line degree can expect to answer they question, “Why did you choose an on-line degree.” They can also expect some background research by a potential employer.

If you are a hiring manager, we urge you to probe to make sure a prospective candidate with an on-line degree will, in fact, meet the credentialing requirements of your open position.

Fair and accurate or not, this is the perception in today’s environment. The best way to meet it is with accuracy and transparency.

Networking for Job Hunters

Many job seekers think that they will have no problem finding a job using the myriad of job boards to respond to ads and post their resume for hiring managers’ consideration. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. It’s more likely their resumes will get lost in cyberspace, and they will spend several weeks spinning their wheels, not realizing their efforts are in vain.

With the advent of Web 2.0, your networking opportunities have grown considerably.

The Internet is a marvelous tool, but it must be used correctly. Technology has greatly enhanced our ability to connect, but it’s still old school networking skills that land job seekers that next great career move. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” is a perennial truth no matter whether you use a tin can and a string or a Blackberry to contact them.

So let’s talk about networking.

Networking brings to mind a 6 am donut meeting in a hotel where everyone walks around shaking each others’ hands and passing out business cards. It’s actually much broader than that.

A good way to immediately grow a network is to get involved in the community. There are endless groups, clubs and volunteer organizations, providing the chance for people to meet who may otherwise not. The old school networking has you joining these groups.

You now also have the on-line options. The social media also provide a terrific resource for joining with like minded people on any topic from sewing to stock car racing. Check out Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Yahoo Groups for some of the more popular venues. There is plenty of free information on how to use these sites on Google.

Another way to network is to re-connect with past classmates and former co-workers.

Alumni lists and industry directories can help track down people who haven’t been contacted for awhile. Linkedin is an excellent way of networking with business contacts and former co-workers. Facebook has recently reached critical mass and is an excellent way to contact people from the past and people you know personally. What started as a tool for Harvard classmates has mushroomed to include suburban housewives, retired grandpas, and everyone in between.

If it is possible to meet with any of these people for coffee or lunch, that is a great way to build relationship. Many, many more jobs are landed through a referral than from responding to a job board. There are also many organized events in every community listed at the chamber of commerce.

One of the most proven ways of making new contacts is to ask for referrals. Connecting two people through a third person builds immediate rapport and trust. Everyone is familiar with Six Degrees of Separation, so take that seriously. The more connected you are, the better. Who knows who else is connected to that person? The idea is to keep drilling down and allow the connections to reach critical mass.

The most important aspect of networking is multiple contacts. Meeting a person one time and never following-up is not really networking. It’s meeting a new person! Studies show it takes five or six contacts with someone to remember them. A good, innocuous ways to follow-up may be to drop them an e-mail or better yet a hand written note and include a business card. If possible, invite them to another networking event. Or, see if you can add them to your Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter.

Relationships take time, so a network will not grow overnight. The key to growth is consistency rather than networking in spurts. It is important for a job seeker to spend time every day looking for a new position and networking. With consistent effort, networks grow exponentially and with the new technology and the right savvy, more and more people are landing jobs that involve making a living doing what they love.

Launching a Job Search

Conducting a job search is expensive. It takes your hiring managers away from their day-to-day responsibilities to devote significant amounts of time to reviewing resumes, setting appointments, interviewing and discussion with other staff members.

We have seen our clients have some very real problems that caused them a lot of wasted time. Most of the problems are caused due to a lack of clarity about what each staff member needs from the person they are hiring. Before you place an ad, or call a recruiter to find a candidate for you, it’s important to get very clear on what you want. Some things to consider are:

• Who on your staff will be included in the interviewing and decision making process?
• Do you all agree on the requirements and career path for the open position?
• What do you want this new person to do?
• Is there an immediate problem the new person will be expected to solve?
• What specific skills do you want this person to come in with?
• What level of education and specific degrees do you want this person to have?
• Will you make exceptions do the degree requirements and under what circumstances?
• What level of ambition are you seeking in a candidate?
• How quickly would you be prepared to promote a talented candidate?
• Are you willing to re-locate a candidate?

After you identify some candidates, get together all the people who will be conducting interviews and make sure you are singing from the same songbook. It’s important to go into the recruiting process with a clear intent so you can find the right fit for your open position. As professional recruiters, we find that a little forethought can make the recruiting process far more effective.

Job Hunting in a Down Economy

By Bill Quackenbush, CPC, CTS
President, QCI Technical Staffing

It is in all the papers, on all the airwaves, we are in the worst recession in years! Run for the exits! So what are you to do?

First of all, stop reading and stop listening to all the naysayers. White collar unemployment is still under 4% and the long term demographics still look good so the sky is not falling. The economy will recover, my crystal ball is broken so I can not tell you when, but it will. This means that it is NOT impossible for you to find a job if you are laid off, or even find a new job if you are unhappy in your current position.

Opportunities will continue to present themselves to candidates who use a strategically targeted campaign, versus shooting from the hip. Landing a dream job has nothing to do with luck. It’s all about making sure you are prepared to meet opportunity as it presents itself.

Based on my 25 years as a successful professional recruiter in a variety of turbulent economic situations, I have the following advice for anyone serious about finding a new job.

Finding a job is a full time job. Plan on focusing 40 hours a week on your job search if you are unemployed. If you find yourself unexpectedly laid off, be sure to begin your job search immediately. Do not allow yourself even a moment to wallow in self-pity, do not enjoy the severance package, get started ASAP. I highly recommend you treat your job hunt like a JOB; establish a schedule, create a workspace at home, get up and get going, and hold yourself accountable to certain activities every day. If you can leave the house to work on your search, even better so find out of your company provides outplacement, go to your local library, or bring your laptop to a coffee shop with Wifi and free refills.

Network, Network, Network! It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Cast a wide net. Do this first, even before you work on your resume and then do it every day for as long as you are looking (and actually continue it after you have found a new position). Use every resource available to you: alumni groups, business networking groups, volunteer organizations, church, tennis club, alumni and professional directories, social media like Linkedin, Plaxo, Facebook and Twitter. Keep your antenna up everywhere you go. Linkedin and Plaxo are very good for networking with business contacts, Facebook is good for networking with personal contacts.

Pay it forward. While casting your net, remember Zig Ziglar’s famous advice, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Cultivate a “serve then sell mentality.” Help others with their networking, with their job searches.

Think about and document why someone should hire you. What are your accomplishments and who can use them? First develop a list of your accomplishments and what you excel at. Pull from this list when you are developing your resume, use the list to decide what companies / industries could utilize your expertise. Where might you be able to step in and assist a potential employer from day one of your tenure? What do you bring to the table? Why are you right for the job? Why should they hire you? When answering these questions, it is critical that you answer with regard to your past behavior and not from the ego and “what a great person you are.” Emphasize things like, “I reduced scrap from 15% to 2% over 4 months,” rather than, “I am organized and detail oriented.” Hiring managers are looking for evidence that you can do the job based on the assumption that the best indicator of future performance, is past performance. If you have examples of how you have dealt with a soft economy in the past, be sure to highlight them.

Market Yourself as an MPC (Most Place-able Candidate). Even if a company isn’t actively hiring for an open position, management will always have questions about how they can improve. If you have the expertise in a particular to provide the answers they need, that’s a great way to get in front of a hiring manager. Sometimes it is best to work with a professional recruiting firm, like ours, because we have access to such a wide network of hiring managers as well as other professional recruiters we are affiliated with throughout the country.

Consider a geographical change. Are you in a position to relocate? Is there another area of the country where your industry is flourishing? Do you have skills that are transferrable to an industry located somewhere you’d be open to living? Please do NOT say I will look locally for 6 months, regionally for the next 6 months and then nationwide; if you are open to relocation ever then start out considering relocation. Instead of doing it by months, allocate your precious time by geography. So spend 50% of your time looking locally, 30% of your time looking regionally and then 20% of your time looking nationwide.

Discuss this with your family. This is especially important for relocation. We placed a candidate once at a location that required relocation. After he accepted the offer his high school daughter spend the next 2 weeks crying every night and he decided the night before he was going to start that we was not going to take the new job. Discuss your options with your family; are they willing to relocate, are they willing to give up some things if you decide to take less money (consulting, different position or industry, etc.)?

Don’t forget you and your family. First take care of yourself. Make sure you are getting enough rest and exercise. Now is the time to look and feel your best, it will give you the energy for the search and will also help you in the interview. Don’t let the stress of being unemployed and living on a severance package take a toll on your health. Set time aside every day for quiet contemplation, stay hydrated, eat healthy. Steer clear of no-brainer activities like computer solitaire. Work during the day, spend time with your family during the evening and weekends.

Alternative Strategies

Get creative and remain open to side gigs. Many firms are cutting fixed costs by outsourcing to niche consultants. Interim or contract positions can help you draw income and stay on your tools. It can also put you in a position for a full-time hire once business conditions improve. Our firm has a large contract business. Consider registering as a candidate with us or other contract firms and indicate that you are open to an interim situation. You can always go into consulting if you feel you have the contacts but it is very hard to find time to market yourself when you are also working on your consulting gigs.

Can you work in another area of the country by telecommuting? Are there free-lance or contract services you could offer from a home office using the Internet, phone and fax services? We have found that here in the Midwest clients are resistive to this with new employees but it is used occasionally.

Reinvent yourself. If you have a skill set in a particular industry, see if it can transfer to another. You may have to take a step back to enter a new arena, but long-term, you’ll be more well rounded.

Be a big fish in a small pond. If you find yourself outsourced from a large corporation, consider trying to get in front of a smaller or firm that may be in need of your executive skill set.

Think lean. Companies will be looking for any way you can use your skills to help them get lean and mean. If you can help cut cost and save money, you will be sought after. Think about how you can cut costs in a department you’d like to enter.

Continue your educations. Obtain professional certifications that put you head and shoulders above your peers. There are many continuing education courses available in most professions that can help keep you up-to-date and qualify you to approach a potential in a more consultative way.

If you think you can can’t , you are correct. Be sure you are not using the soft economy as a reason for your own failure. That may sound harsh, but it is only natural some times to seek the relief of a scapegoat during uncomfortable circumstances. Make sure you are honest with yourself about the time and effort you are putting into your job search. How realistic are you being? Are you doing the same thing over and over expecting different results? What are the things that you know if you did them every day, without fail, would get you where you want to go? What is keeping you from doing those things? Are the obstacles real? How can you get around them?

Finding a job is a state of mind. Fake it till you make it. Think in terms of what is possible. Be enthusiastic. A proven way to move from mild depression or irritability to calm and balance, is to take a minute to jot down five or six things you are grateful for. Prosperity flows from an attitude of abundance, not scarcity.

Above all, do not panic. Trying to make an impression in a fear based state can backfire in that you end up appearing over eager. Desperation is off-putting and hiring managers can smell it.

Giving just a little bit up front and focusing on what you can contribute makes you more appealing to others than a hard ego-based sell.

Interview Fiascos

You finally got that interview you’ve been wanting for weeks. It’s crunch time. If you really want the job, it’s as important to know what NOT to do in the interview as it is to be qualified. Keep in mind the things listed below, or you are likely to get a “thanks no thanks” e-mail before you even get home!

Do Not Forget Facts: Most companies require a job application or assessment tool in addition to your resume. Writing “see resume” is not acceptable. Bring an extra copy of your resume so you can fill out the job history section on the application accurately.

Do Not Dis Your Old Boss: Praise in public and criticize in private. If you have nothing nice to say, better to say nothing at all. If you hated your old boss, focus on your accomplishments. People tend to think if you’ll talk that way about someone else behind their back, especially to someone you just met, you will do the same thing to them. Loose lips sink ships.

Do Carefully Research the Company: Visit the company’s website and learn as much as you can before the interview. If you know nothing about the company, there is no way you will get hired. Plain and simple.

Do Not Show up Dressed for Un-success: The rule of thumb is to wear a suit to a job interview, always, even if the culture is business casual. Groom yourself well, get a haircut, shave, clean under your fingernails, polish your shoes, and use a scant amount of cosmetics. Watch scents. Don’t walk in reeking of either cologne or cigarette smoke. Avoid offensive foods such as garlic and onions the night before the interview. Make sure you are rested and hydrated and appear “bright eyed and bushy tailed.”

Do Connect with the Hiring Manager: Don’t look at the ground, make eye contact. Wipe your palms off to make sure they are not clammy. Exude confidence and don’t be a shrinking violet. Walk tall and sit up straight.

Do Not Be a Chatterbox: Sometimes when people get nervous, they feel the need to fill dead air with noise. Don’t be tempted to do that. Answer the question you have been asked and then shut up. Pause to give the hiring manager a few minutes to digest your answer and move on. Don’t take over the interview process. Let the hiring manager lead.

Do Not Clam Up: If you answer the hiring manager in monosyllables, he or she will have to work too hard to elicit the information needed to make a decision about you. Respond fully but briefly to all of the interview questions. If you give too little information, you may be seen as evasive.

Do Send a Thank You Note: Many hiring managers will consider it down right rude for you not to send a thank you note and re-express interest in the open position. Ideally, this should be sent the minute you get home from the interview so the hiring manager gets it right away.

A mistake is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it. So, if you have a fiasco, pick yourself up and try again.

How to Write a Resume

By Bill Quackenbush, CPC, CTS
President, QCI Technical Staffing

Whether or not you are looking for a job, it’s good idea to keep your resume updated. It can be overwhelming to try to revamp your resume when there is an opportunity knocking. In an effort to respond to an ad on a job board, some people rush, and don’t give their resume the careful consideration it deserves.

Thousands of resumes have crossed my desk over my professional career so I believe I can tell you what will make your resume stand out. Unless you want your resume to get overlooked and lost in cyberspace, consider the following:

• Use bullets rather than long paragraphs. Using bullets shows that you are a good communicator. Information presented in bullets is easier to read and you are less likely to make grammar mistakes in shorter phrases.
• List your accomplishments rather than your duties. Again, use bullets, and focus on your specific successes (e.g., reduced cost by a certain $ amount or %, or improved productivity by X%). These days, companies are looking to hire someone who can solve a problem, fix a situation, or improve the bottom line. They know you will be working, but the want to know what you will accomplish – so tell them what you have accomplished in the past.
• Do not list an objective. That is my professional opinion. Objectives will be used against you if they do not match the position exactly. Also, you might be considered again in the future for a different position and the objective is the first thing they see on a resume. Instead, use some kind of summary of your experience or accomplishments at the beginning.
• How long can a resume be? In the old days you were told to restrict your resume to one page, and then it was two. With the advent of the internet, there is no hard fast limit, but I would recommend 2-3 pages. A two-page resume might come out as 2.5 pages on some printers anyway, so a hard limit of two pages can not be followed.
• Will a long resume help me? Not necessarily. I actually thing a long resume can hurt you. If you are having problems with length, trim off the objective, summary, references and personal information. You can also provide more information about recent positions and those relevant to the position you are interested in, and less information on older or less relevant positions. Still too long? Try “Previous positions available upon request.”
• Use a Chronological resume rather than a Functional resume. Every recruiter I have ever met prefers them and so do all my clients. The only time I would ever recommend a Functional resume is when a large career change is involved. Even then, I would suggest including the Chronological information at the end of the resume. If you are worried about age bias remember that first of all it is illegal and companies know that, and second of all if you do not include dates they will probably assume you are older than you really are.
• Be conservative with your fonts and layout. Also, don’t adjust the margins to fit more information on fewer pages. Your recipient may have trouble printing it.
• PLEASE, spell check and grammar check your resume! I can not believe the number of resumes I receive with misspelled words on them – true example for a candidate’s current position – “Platn Manager.” Run your spell checker, print a hard copy and read it carefully for words your spell checker will miss and even have someone else proof it for you.

Your resume is your first impression. You probably know the saying, “You do not get a second chance to make a first impression” so make sure you are ready when opportunity knocks. So make sure it is a good first impression.

How to Resign from a Job

You’ve just landed a terrific opportunity with a new company and it’s time to tell your boss you’re leaving.

Even though you can wait to get out the door and onto with your new life, it’s critical that you resign

responsibly and avoid burning bridges and marring your professional reputation.

Give appropriate notice. Two weeks is of course the standard, but if you agreed to something different in a contract, you should abide by that.

Write a resignation letter. Even if you told your boss in person that you are leaving, you should still write a resignation letter which includes the last day you plan to work. Retain a copy for your records. Make sure you give it directly to your supervisor so he or she receives it and the appropriate notice.

Be discreet. Allow your employer to tell the rest of your staff you are leaving. Don’t be part of the gossip mill.

Are you owed any money? Be sure to find out up front what you will receive in terms of unused vacation and sick time, bonuses, etc. Make sure your expense account is up to date. Consult with HR regarding your benefits. Also, make sure HR has your correct address so they can forward pertinent information to you once you are gone.

Don’t leave lose ends. Complete as much of your work as you can before you leave and provide your supervisor with a written status update or progress report on unfinished business along with all your project information.

If offered, do an exit interview. This is your chance to praise your former employer and offer suggestions for improvement.

Wrap up your work area. Hand in your parking pass, ID badge, office keys, cell phone, etc. Also, make sure your email account and access to company computer files are disabled.

Clean out your desk. Make sure you take all personal items with you and leave your work area neat and clean.

Get a reference. Now is the time to ask your supervisor or peers for a letter of reference and whether they’d be willing to take a reference check call from a potential employer. Do not wait until you need the reference to get it.

How to Answer Illegal Interview Questions

You finally landed an interview for your dream job. You’re prepared and the interview is going well, when out of blue the hiring manger asks a question you think is illegal.

The truth is, many hiring managers ask illegal questions innocently, with no intent to discriminate. They may ask accidentally and not even be aware that what they asked is illegal or you might be wrong and the question you think is illegal actually is not.

So, what do you do in this situation? You basically have three choices.

1. Answer the question. Just because the question is illegal to ask, doesn’t mean it is illegal for you to answer. If you choose to answer the question, do so briefly and move on. Unless it is obvious we would actually recommend this. It is well within your legal rights to refuse to answer it however it may fit into the category of “no harm – no foul”.
2. Refuse to answer the question. If you take this route, be careful not to use the loaded word illegal. You could tell the hiring manager that question is inappropriate, but do your best to not get offended. Give the interviewer the benefit of the doubt in terms of their knowledge of employment law. He or she may simply be nervous or not realize their faux pas.
3. Circumvent. “Why do you ask?” can be a good way to neutrally address an illegal question. This may actually help the interviewer save face if they asked the question inadvertently.

If you really want the job and don’t think the interviewer is intends to discriminate, don’t cry foul. If you feel that your potential employer is harassing you or does intend to discriminate, graciously end the interview.

On our employer blog we will be counseling out clients NOT to ask illegal questions, the purpose of this blog was not to encourage clients to ask illegal questions but to assist you on how to handle them. Remember we are not attorneys and this is not to be considered legal advice.

From School to Work: Landing Your First Job

Transitioning from college life to the working world is full of big changes. As a student, you were given a syllabus of what was expected of you for the entire semester. In the working world, it’s a lot more fluid. Your report card showed how well you were doing in your classes and your grades were a reflection on you alone. As an employee, your performance affects more than just you; it affects your entire company. You are one cog in a big corporate machine and if you are not working, it’s your supervisor’s job to replace you. How can you succeed in making a transition from dorm to desk with as few pitfalls as possible? Here are some tips.

1. Come to work early, even just fifteen minutes. Make sure you have your computer booted up, coffee, and your work out by the time you are required to start. Do not slide in at 7:58 and use the first fifteen minutes of your work day to get set-up to perform.
2. Dress appropriately, even if this means that you have to recycle outfits. Business casual has reached an all-time low for some people. As has been said, “Dress for the job you want.”
3. Take it from Abraham Lincoln who said “Better be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Listen and watch before you make suggestions.
4. Remember, “All you really know, you learned in Kindergarten.” True wisdom is learned on the playground. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
5. Smile before you pick up the phone. Find a mentor in someone you admire who is willing to nurture your career.
6. Learn what you need to know and be honest about what you don’t know.
7. Ask for clarification BEFORE you begin, even if you feel stupid. Better to do that then delay the project by turning it in wrong and having to re-do it.
8. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines! Stick to them.
9. “When in Rome…” Watch those around you and make sure you adapt to the culture of your new company. Student life was the time for rebellion. Working for a paycheck that someone other than you signs means having the maturity to do what is expected of you.

Self Confidence for Job Seekers

Looking for a job can be exciting! It can also produce a lot of anxiety and self doubt. Doing well in a job interview and landing the job you want is going to depend as much on your confidence as your skill set and credentials. No one has confidence in every aspect of life. However, you will need to call on your deep reserves, if necessary, to project the image necessary for success as a job seeker.

Here are some tips to help you develop healthy self confidence:

1. Bravado and confidence are not the same things. Confidence is tacit yet palpable. Bravado rings hollow and is easily seen through.
2. Cultivate confidence by engaging in activities that you are good at. Carry this feeling over into other areas of life where you are less confident and observe how much better you perform in a confident state of mind.
3. Brainstorm a list of all your accomplishments and everything you are good at to bolster yourself.
4. Don’t underestimate your soft skills. So you may not be skilled enough to be a CEO. But what about your skills in self-motivation, working in teams, communication and being coachable. These skills are very much in demand in today’s competitive marketplace.
5. Make sure you have a good resume.
6. Research the company you are interviewing with in advance and know why you want to work there.

In low moments, remember that not everyone who appears to have it all together feels that way on the inside. We all have stresses and concerns. Boost your self-esteem realistically, walk tall, and land that job!

Your future depends on it.