The Amateur Financier

It’s one of those inevitable moments in just about everyone’s life: you’re looking for a job.  Yes, except for those rare few who inherit so much family money that the very idea of needing any more sounds strange to them, we all have to find our own jobs, and that means job hunting.  Perhaps you’re a recent graduate, perhaps you found yourself on the wrong end of a downsizing, and maybe you simply want to go in a different direction with you life and need a new job to help fund your new direction; in any event, there’s plenty of reasons to need a new job, and thus, it’s good to know how to job hunt, when you find yourself needing to do so.

There’s a lot of information about job hunting out there, even more being published on a regular basis thanks to the current financial and job atmosphere.  With many people competing for just about every position, it’s more important than perhaps ever before to make sure that your job hunting approach is the best possible and that you have success with your hunt.  In order to do so, here are some answers to some common job hunt questions that might be going through your head?

Q: What Can I Do Before I Start Job Hunting To Speed Up The Process?

A: There are quite a few things you can do even before you officially start job hunting to make the task easier and quicker.  First, make sure you write out a quality resume and know how to create a good cover letter; the better you do with this, the easier it will be to find employment.  Learn the skills that are in high demand in your field of interest, and try to gain them (through classes or other training).  Lastly, be sure to start networking, connecting with others in your field to be the first to learn about future job opportunities.

Q: Where Should I Begin My Job Hunt?

In our highly wired world, a good place to start your search is on the many available job sites, from the broad-based ones like Monster and Career Builder to the ones for your particular field or local area.  Don’t limit your search to just job websites, though, as many good jobs don’t make it to those sites. Be sure to check individual company sites for companies you’d really like to join, and continue networking to see if you can’t find any unpublished job opportunities.  The more methods you try, the more success you will have.

Q: How Do I Make a Good Impression During An Interview?

Well, different companies have different cultures, so it’s hard to give a universal answer.  There are a few tips that should work for most places.  Dress nicely (suit and tie for most white-collar positions, possibly something more casual for a blue-collar job), speak clearly and politely, and be ready to answer the most common interview questions.  Also, make sure you are prepared with copies of your resume, a list of references, and anything else you were asked to bring.  When the interview has concluded, be sure to send out a thank you message within a few days.

Q: How Can I Stand Out From The Crowd?

A: While it is important to stand out from the crowd, make sure to do it in a positive manner; no sense in being the person remembered for your complete lack of knowledge (or horrible attitude).  To stand out in a good way, a depth and breadth of knowledge will be invaluable; being able to ask good, deep questions about the company in question and the field in which it competes can definitely raise your profile above that of those people asking things like ‘what does this job pay?’  Leave the interviewer stunned by your knowledge, and you will do fine.

Q: What Can I Do To Stay Motivated If I Don’t Get a Job Right Away?

A: I hear you on job hunt frustration; I’ve definitely been there, spending months of my life trying desperately to get even a hint of a job offer.  It’s easy to get disappointed, and want to throw in the towel.  If that happens to you, my best piece of advice is to take a short (two to three days, tops) break from job hunting, reconnect with your family and friends, and then, when you return to job hunting, try a different approach.  Don’t give up, but trying to keep searching 24/7 will drive you crazy.

Q: What Is The Single Biggest Tip You’d Suggest To Job Hunters?

A: To pick one thing: network, network, network.  Most job opportunities aren’t ever advertised, so keeping up with fellow graduates and former coworkers can be the difference between months of no luck and getting a job offer within weeks.  This is not to say that searching job sites can’t lead to jobs (it has for me), but given the choice between spending an afternoon searching job sites or with friends in your industry, go with your friends; not only will you have more fun, but letting them know you are searching can lead to job offers in the future.

There you have it, some basic job hunting advice from someone who’s done much more of it than he’d like to remember in the past.  Here’s hoping any job hunting you have to do goes quickly, and leads to a great job!

http://www.theamateurfinancier.com/blog/frugal-friday-home-maintenance/

If you’re looking for a job, as I am, one thing you’ve probably heard again and again is the importance of networking, that is, using friends, family and other contacts to find another job.  It’s apparently a rather popular method; about 70% of jobs are found through some form of networking, as noted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  For those of you keeping score at home, that’s less than one third of all US jobs that are found by applying to newspaper ads, searching online jobs sites, hiring headhunters, or doing every other form of job searching that you possibly can.

Given this reality, it’s important that you network if you hope to find a new or better job, a fact that’s never been more apparent than in the current environment.  The reality of the situation is that, no matter what your other skills, personality, or abilities, if you can’t network (or opt not to), you’re simply going to have a much, much tougher time finding a job, particularly if you are just starting out in your field and your work to date will not speak for itself.  To help you out, here are a few basics to keep in mind as you go about your networking:

DO consider everyone you know as a potential part of your network. You never know who your friends, family, and neighbors might know; sharing news of your job hunt raises the possibility that you can find out about job openings you may never have otherwise encountered.  Who knows, maybe your grandmother’s bridge partner’s daughter’s husband is trying to fill a job that you’d be perfect for, and simply mentioning that you need a job in that field is enough to get the ball rolling on putting you in that position.  It’s a game of Six Degrees of Separation; the further you can stretch the web of your acquaintances, the more likely you’ll reach someone who can hire you.

DO try to build and develop your network before you need it. Ideally, you want to know who you can contact should you need help in finding new employment, before you need to rely on them.  Knowing who among your friends and family could be the most helpful if you find yourself seeking a new job will make it that much easier to try to find a job through your network when the time comes.  Keep in touch with your college classmates, former coworkers, and others in your field of work, and your network will be healthy and robust if you need to find another job at some point in the future.

DO be sure to thank anyone who helps you find a job. If you manage to get a job through a former colleague or an old school mate, be sure to thank him or her for all their help.  Depending on the person and the relationship you share, this thanks could be anything from a simple hand written note expressing your appreciation (notes being much more classy than emails or phone calls) for someone you barely know, to taking your group of friends out on you to celebrate their help in getting a new job.  The important thing is to show your appreciation and make those who helped you know that you remember all the help that they provided.  Speaking of making others feel appreciated…

DO help others out when you can… If you’re employed in a decent job, you may end up being asked to help someone else in your network find employment.  Do what you can to help, from passing along the resume to Human Resources to setting up a preliminary interview (if it’s in your power).  In doing so, you can (potentially) improve your standing at work, boost your status in the network, and most importantly, help out someone else in need.

…but DON’T put your job on the line… It’s one thing to pass along a resume to a hiring manager, it’s another to personally vouch for the work ethics and skills of someone you’ve never met.  If your third cousin’s daughter’s babysitter wants help getting a job, getting her information to someone who could hire her is a good deed; promising that she’ll work out when you haven’t even met her is downright foolish.  If the person you help doesn’t work out, you don’t want to be in a position where your boss looks to put the blame (and the negative consequences) entirely on your shoulders.  Don’t vouch for the work quality of someone with whom you’ve never worked; instead, provide what information you can and hope that opens the door.

…and DON’T demand payback. If you helped someone find a job and you are now unemployed (or looking for other work), don’t think it is his responsibility to find you a new position.  There are any number of reasons why he might be unable to help you (beyond providing moral support, of course).  Attempting to force the issue, besides being unlikely to help you find a new position, could make him less inclined to help you in the future, and make it less likely to get any help from your broader network, to boot.

DON’T expect your network to do all the work. While that 70% figure makes it awfully tempting to think that all you need to do to get a job is telling your immediate friends and family and waiting for the job offers to start appearing, but life doesn’t work that way.  You’ll need to keep up with all the people in your network, to see if they’ve heard anything, and follow up on any leads you happen to receive (networking can help get your foot in the door; it’s your job to get the rest of your body through).  In addition, you can’t forget the other job hunting methods; even if they aren’t as productive as networking, they can still yield job offers, and you should leave no stone unturned.

DON’T lose hope. It’s easy to get discouraged if you’ve been looking for a job for a long time without any success; trust me on this one, I speak from experience.  Unfortunately, there are no guarantees in the job market, and if you find yourself unemployed, it could be weeks, months, or even years before you find something new.  The best thing you can do is to focus on the good things in your life, try not to panic about your job, and keep up the search.

Good luck to all those who are job hunting, and happy networking!

Hello, good readers.  If you’ve been following my little ramblings for the past month or so, you’ve heard me give advice on several aspects of job hunting, from how to behave at a job fair to how to follow up on a job interview.  Of course, the ultimate goal of job hunting is to find new employment.  (Unless you’re a rich tycoon with an odd sense of fun who gets a kick out of interviewing for jobs you would never, ever, really accept; in that case, do whatever you want.)  So, if (or more properly, when) you get your chance, how should you behave on your first day of work?

First, even before you get to work, dress appropriately.  What constitutes an appropriate outfit will depend on what sort of work you’re doing.  If you work on a construction site, blue jeans and a T-shirt will likely be all you need; if you’re working in an office environment, wearing a suit and tie (or nice skirt and jacket, if you happen to be a female) will work best.  If you need to wear an uniform or other specialized outfit, be sure you know whether you need to put it on before you get to work or whether you are changing on the job.  In either case, ensure that you have the appropriate outfit available before you get on the job site (unless it’s provided in a locker room or other staging area at your job site).  If you don’t know what to wear, or will have training in a classroom setting before getting on the actual job site, business casual attire is a safe bet, such as seen here:

An example of Business Casual Attire

Speaking of training, know what you’re going to be doing on your first day of work.  If you have several days of training, covering the details of your job as well as the rules and regulations of your company, be sure to bring any needed supplemental material to your training session.  Handouts from your interviews, paper for notes, writing implements, folders for any handouts (and there can be lots of handouts), all should be part of your first day training session supplies.  While attending your training, listen closely, take any notes you need to follow the material, and be sure to ask questions, particularly if there is anything you don’t understand.

If your first day has you shadowing someone, be sure to pay close attention and study what they do as  you watch; it might be your best chance to learn what the job entails.  Chances are you will spend your first day observing and learning the ropes, but don’t let that be an excuse to slack off.  You only get one chance to make a good impression on your instructor, who is likely to be your overseer on the job, as well.  It’s best to be on your best behavior and try to make a good impression.

On that subject, one last consideration: be friendly with your coworkers.  You don’t have to find a new best friend on the job site, but if you are pleasant, cheerful, and willing to chat with your new fellow workers, chances are that you can make your on-the-job time more enjoyable.  In addition, if your coworkers have a positive impression of you, it’ll only help when you face job reviews or have to get their help with some aspect of the job.

That’s all there really is to getting started on the job; dress appropriately, be prepared for the first day’s tasks, and try to make some new friends.  Have a great first day on the new job, and enjoy your work!

The week before last, we covered some techniques on job interviewing techniques, which turned out to be perfectly timed, as I had two job interviews last week and the blog entries were a nice refresher course on the dos and do nots.  Of course, as I mentioned in that entry, your job hunting task doesn’t end when the job interview is over; you need to do the proper follow-up if you want your name to be on the top of the pile for the post.

The most important part of the follow up is a thank you letter.  Remember, the people you spoke with during your interview have been working hards to find someone for this position, and frequently are pulled from other areas of the company in order to have experts in the field present at interview time.  In any event, a positive response, however brief, would definitely be appreciated by everyone you spoke with during the interview.  Sending thank you notes to everyone with whom you spoke during the interview (or at least, everyone who provided you with a name and contact information) will help you to show your appreciation.  It can also help to set you apart from other interviewers or prevent yourself from being singled out as one person who did NOT appreciate the interview enough to send a thank you note.

Given the number of styles (hand-written, informally typed, business letter style) and methods of delivery (regular mail, email, faxes) that exist, it might be tough to determine just what sort of thank you note to send.  Unfortunately, there are few hard and fast rules out there to guide you.  A thank you guide by Quint Careers notes that emailed or faxed thank yous might be acceptable, depending on the culture of the company to which you are applying; I would tend to play it safe and opt for a mailed thank you, unless you were told specifically to send your thanks by email (or don’t have a street address for your interviewer(s) ).  As for the style, that’s a bit more flexible; although, if your hand writing it truly atrocious (as mine tends to be), it might be best for your chances at the job to stick with a word processed thank you.

More important than the style of the note is the timing; the opinions of job search experts are almost unanimous in suggesting that thank you notes be written and sent within twenty-four hours of the interview.  So, if your interview was on Monday, you should have your thank you note in the mail by Tuesday.  If by chance you can’t send the letter within that time frame, send it anyway; a late thank you note is better than no note at all, and many places have such long job filling processes that you might be able to get your thanks expressed before a final decision is reached.  Also, be sure to send a note to everyone involved in the interview; determining who will have influence over the hiring process can be tough, and you don’t want anyone to feel insulted by your lack of consideration.

As for what to put in the thank you note, it’s best to keep it brief; one or two paragraphs, at most.  Use the first paragraph to express your thanks, preferably by referencing something memorable that occurred during the interview.  (It’s always good to differentiate yourself from the crowd, as well as help the interviewer to put your name to the particular interview.)  The second paragraph, if included, can be used to clarify one or two points from the interview, to elaborate on something you discussed, or simply to further comment on the job itself.  Several example thank you notes can be found at About.com.  Be sure that if you are sending notes to multiple to people at the company, that you vary them between recipients, even if all the letters have the same general format.

Now, you’ve sent out all your thank you notes; you can just sit back and wait until you get the job (or at least a second interview), right?  Not quite.  While you may get a response with no more effort on your part, you might instead have to keep asking the interviewer in order to find out the final decision.  If you don’t hear back from the interviewer within the agreed upon time frame, or it has been a few weeks without a response, you should try to follow up on the interview.  In these circumstances, a formal letter is not usually called for; instead, a simple phone call or email can suffice.  Should you find that the job hunt is still ongoing, ask politely when a decision is expected.  You migh not get a response right away; don’t be discouraged and follow up every few days (once or twice a week).

If you end up getting the job, congratulations!  I hope this guide proved to be helpful.  Should you find yourself called back for a second (or third, or even fourth) interview, simply follow the hints for interviews already provided, and follow up with another set of thank you notes.  If you don’t get the job, try to contact one of the interviewers to ask how you could have made a better impression.  That way, when the next interview arrives, you will be in much better shape to get the job.

That’s it for following up on your interview; good luck to all the job seekers out there, and hopefully we’ll all be employed soon!

Thank You image by Kitera Matar