Category Archives: Job Search

What motivates someone to be happy at work every day?

Posted on October 2, 2017 | 1 comment

by contributing writer, Dave Clark, TTI Success Insights

Looking for a new job can be a lot like buying a car. It can either be an invigorating, exciting experience or it can suck the lifeblood out of you. Depending on how prepared you are during your job search, you can help determine which direction the job search goes for you. While assessments such as DISC (behavioral style) can help explain “how” someone does what they do, it’s his or her underlying Driving Forces, also known as values or motivators, that explain “why” a person does what they do.

Why you do what you do, if aligned with a career choice’s intrinsic rewards and work, will generate much high personal job satisfaction.

Understanding the forces that drive behaviors can give a person true insight into what careers they are best suited as well as those that may not be a good personal fit. This can extend to jobs and companies within a career direction you’ve already invested in.

StudentSupportDirectionSignsConducting a job search with a plan

Sometimes we go into our job search without having a plan. Maybe there is an urgency to find a new position due to monetary needs or displeasure in a current position. But going into a job search with a plan can completely change the outcome of finding a job versus a career.

When it comes to leveraging assessments to help with career matching, an assessment that predicts behaviors doesn’t paint a complete picture. By adding the personal motivators (values, driving forces) behind the behaviors, matching career options become much easier and more accurate. The person also sees what jobs or career direction is not a good match, especially in the long term.

These motivators, also known as Driving Forces, are based around six keywords that describe how a person approaches a particular situation. The six areas of focus include: knowledge, utility, surroundings, others, power and methodologies. Each keyword contains two driving forces that addresses the keyword from a different, if not opposite, perspective. Understanding these Driving Forces, and how they apply personally, and in those you work closely with, is key to success in the workplace. Keep in mind there is no right or wrong side to be on regarding Driving Forces; the two sides are simply different ways to approach the same topic.

12 Driving Forces defined

The two sides of the knowledge continuum are Instinctive and Intellectual. The Instinctive person does not do a lot of casual reading for fun, instead they seek out knowledge when it is pertinent to a specific purpose. The Intellectual person, on the other hand, considers learning a sport and cannot get enough of it. Both are addressing knowledge but in very different ways. The Intellectual will be motivated in a job where there is opportunity for continued learning and may want to avoid jobs that do not present these situations. The Instinctive person uses their “street smarts” to handle a situation as it arises, learning as much as they need to know to accomplish the task at hand. An instinctive person may become very well versed in a particular subject where needed, and attain expert level qualifications. Trades showcase Instinctive learners who may specialize in a specific area of expertise such as plumber, electrician, architect or brewer. A college professor will likely be an Intellectual. The main difference between the two knowledge related Driving Forces is learning with a specific purpose versus continual general learning.

When it comes to utility, our two sides of the continuum are Selfless and Resourceful. Selfless describes people who are driven by completing tasks for the sake of completion, with little expectation of personal return. They might be known as “team players” or “worker bees.” Their opposite group is the Resourceful group who are driven by practical results, maximizing both efficiency and returns on investment of time, talent and energy. A Resourceful person always operates with the bottom line in mind, while the Selfless person is not concerned with the bottom line much, if at all. Many entrepreneurs will be strongly resourceful while members of their staff may be more Selfless. A great example is found in a restaurant setting. The owner better be focused on the bottom line or he or she is destined to fail. However, the kitchen staff knows they need to put out a certain amount of plates over a specific period of time and approaches the task as something that needs to be done systematically to completion.

The surroundings keyword discusses how people perceive the things around them. An Objective person is all about function over form, concerning themselves with everything having a practical reason for being where it is, even if it is not visually appealing. The Harmonious person always prefers form over function and seeks beauty and balance in their surroundings. The Harmonious person is likely to be very unhappy in a cubicle setting or a place that is visually unappealing. The Objective person may not even notice what his surroundings look like, as long as he knows where everything is located. A Harmonious person would excel in a position of interior design, a national park ranger or as an artist or musician while an Objective person may excel as a call center representative or a computer programmer working from a cubicle.

When viewing others, we have the Intentional person who is driven to assist others for a very specific purpose, not just for the sake of being helpful. And, if this purpose may be of some use to this Intentional person in the future, all the better. The opposite is the Altruistic person who is driven to assist others simply for the satisfaction of helping others. They do not pick and choose who to help and are willing and energized to help anyone they can. A social worker or customer service rep who is Altruistic would be a natural fit while a business owner who needs to focus on specific tasks and has limited time may lean much more strongly to the Intentional side.

Regarding power, we have those who are Collaborative and Commanding. Collaborative people are driven by being in a supporting role and love to contribute to the betterment of the team. They seek very little individual recognition for the work they provide. The Commanding person is driven by status, recognition and control over person freedom. It’s safe to say that Gene Simmons of Kiss would be the poster child for Commanding, as he is driven by status, wants to be recognized continuously and has complete control over the empire he has created. Collaborative people are energized by being part of a team and knowing that their contributions have made a difference to a project. Workers on an assembly line may lean toward the Collaborative side while company presidents, rock stars and movie stars may often be found on the Commanding side.

Career Coaching for Students article imageThe final subject is methodologies and the Receptive and Structured folks operate in a very diametrically opposed way. Those who are Receptive are driven by new ideas, methods and opportunities that fall outside a defined system of living. These are the doers who like to dive into a project, usually before they have all the information needed to complete the task. They rebound quickly and make many spontaneous judgement calls, often trusting their gut feelings. The Structured person loves traditional approaches, routine and proven methods. They live by the mantra “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Structured people believe what they believe and they are willing to go to great lengths to defend it. Change, especially quick and regular change, makes a Structured person uneasy. A Structured social worker and a Receptive police officer would probably both excel in their respective positions but may not fare very well if their Driving Forces were switched.

Understanding “why” we behave how we do will help us determine what positions we should be seeking in the first place. If the job doesn’t match the primary Driving Forces, chances for success are very limited. And, even if the person stays on the job, there’s no guarantee of happiness. Matching your primary Driving Force with a job’s corresponding driving force will help put a person in the best possible position to succeed.

deap-tng-logoAbout the Author
Dave Clark is a staff writer at TTI Success Insights. The Nielson Group and Success Discoveries are associated with TTI Success Insights.

KeysJPGCarl Nielson uses assessments that measure a person’s motivational driving forces in his work with organizations through The Nielson Group, including team dynamics workshops, executive coaching and hiring for fit candidate analysis. Success Discoveries™, founded by Carl Nielson, offers career and job search coaching and resumSD evolution2e writing services. Career Coaching for Students™, a program developed by Carl Nielson that has helped thousands of students with career exploration and planning, offers high school and college students a step-by-step approach to understanding personal talent design, connecting to high-potential career options and developing an action plan for success.

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Posted in best career, career choices, career exploration, career options, career test, choosing a major, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, Resume best practices, student assessments, Student Career Exploration, Uncategorized

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Internships – So You Didn’t Get One This Year

Posted on June 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

State of Internships InfographicEvery college student knows about internships. It’s the thing to do – right? So in the Spring of your freshman year you attend career fairs, visit the Career Center on campus, create a resume, do a little research to see if there are any available internships and call it a day after finding out employers only talk to upcoming juniors and seniors.

So your sophomore year you go in a little smarter, prepared to “find” the internship opportunity that eluded you after your first year. Now, you “qualify” since you will be an incoming junior. All engines at full throttle! Then you find out all the internships are going to “incoming seniors” (this year’s juniors). Once again you are locked out.

Here are some interesting statistics from the infographic to the right before I share “the rest of the story”.

  • 97.6 percent of interns recommended internships to other students
  • As of April 15th, only 16.6 percent of seniors had received a job offer
  • 68.9 percent of college seniors have done at least one internship
  • Students with paid internships are three times more likely to have job offers than students with unpaid internships
  • Students with three or more internships are twice as likely to have a job offer than students with just one internship
  • 48.3 percent of internships were paid in 2014

Here’s the rest of the story…

So you have one last chance at an internship – next summer between your junior and senior years. You could approach it the same way you’ve done in the past – and likely end up empty-handed. Or you can take control of your own destiny and step up to the challenge. Here are some ways you can step up:

A. Meet representatives at the on-campus career fair. Get their business card. Attend profession-related association/chapter meetings in cities close to you, take business cards and get business cards from attendees.

B. Create a “drip marketing campaign“ where “you” are the product you are marketing (not selling!).

Identify the top 25 employers for internships based on your career direction. Don’t stop until you have 25 on the list.

Contact someone at each company to confirm an internship program exists. If not, you have to evaluate the value of keeping that company on the list or replace it with a different company. For example, the company may not have a formal internship program but you know someone who works there and they have told you it is possible to get a summer job there. In that case, you might want to keep them on the list. However, with no formal internship program and if you don’t have any “warm” or “hot” networking contacts at the company, you either need to get the networking contacts quickly (see LinkedIn) or drop the company.

Connect on LinkedIn with all employer contacts you can find at the employers on your list.

Construct a “Contact Management” Excel spreadsheet includes the name, job title, company name, mailing address for the contact, phone number and email address.

Use the Excel spreadsheet with Word Mail Merge to create printed letters and other materials you’ll be mailing (via USPS or FedEx) to your contacts. You can also track all activity with each contact using the contact management spreadsheet. For 25 companies, your goal is to obtain at least two contacts at each company. One is the key HR or “Talent Acquisition” specialist that handles internships. The other is a line manager, meaning a department head. This might be a VP, Director or Manager.

Design a campaign of ten communications, use e-mail, printed letters/postcards and phone calls.

Drip Campaign Sample Design

  1. SEPTEMBER: “I Want the Internship” postal mailing – This could be a letter or postcard design stating that: “I am so interested in what [xyz company] is doing related to [your field of interest] that it would be a great thing to intern at their company. I will be completing my junior year this upcoming May and want to intern at your company. I know this is a little early but I do want you to know of my interest. I’ll be reaching out to you a few more times over the next six months. If the possibility of an internship goes away just let me know and I’ll stop sending these. I’ve attached my resume in case you are personally interested. If you know someone who might be interested, don’t hesitate to send my resume to them.
  2. OCTOBER: “My LinkedIn Profile” – Hopefully you are already connected but if you aren’t no problem. If the contact has a LinkedIn profile, you can send them a “message” (if you are connected) or an “Inmail” (if you are not connected). In this message, you have to be brief. You might ask a question related to news you read about the company like “Hi ___, I read about the 80% layoffs at the corporate headquarters today. I hope you weren’t one of them but I feel for everyone who lost their job. Speaking of jobs, is the internship program going to survive the cuts?” That example, while using great ironic humor, probably won’t be seen in a humorous way. A better example might be “Hi ___, I just read about the new product release [check their Media page on their website for latest press releases]. Congratulations! I’m sure it took a lot of work by a lot of people. Reading about it made me wish I had been one of those contributing. I hope to do an internship with your company next summer so maybe I will be able to contribute in some small way. “
  3. NOVEMBER: Postal mailing, postcard or letter. Dear ___, Just a short note to say I am still very much interested in the ___ internship opportunity this upcoming summer. On a related note, I made a 4.0 in my Fall semester classes which included [name a relevant course, don’t name a course that they wouldn’t care about]. I also was elected president of the ___ club [if relevant to your career direction or if you feel it helps identify your leadership or project management skills development focus].
  4. DECEMBER: Phone Call
  5. JANUARY: Postal letter. Attach resume. This is a more formal letter requesting to speak with the person about upcoming opportunities to intern at their company. This may be customized based on what you already know.
  6. FEBRUARY: Email. Find something relevant about what positive things are happening at the company. Let the reader know you saw it/heard about it and that you are excited about the possibilities of working at xyz company. You can state that you’ve submitted your resume to the online applicant system per recommended procedure. [if that is true] or you can state that you are hoping to hear about any possible internship soon. If they can provide insight, it would be appreciated greatly.
  7. MARCH: If necessary; if no action has taken place. Obviously, if you are in mid-stream of getting the internship, you’ve stopped the regular drip marketing campaign by now and following the company’s requests/directives. But if they are like 50% of companies, an internship job posting hasn’t even happened.  Send another more formal letter with resume attached. You might expand who you send it to as well. Go higher in the organization if you can identify the right contacts.
  8. APRIL: Time for a phone call. Time is running out. At this point you need to talk to someone who knows what is going on. Certainly, you need to call the people you’ve been sending all the other communications to. But ask for and look for others who may be more appropriate or have more decision making authority.
  9. MAY (twice): Check the job posting site for internships that might have come in late. Make follow up phone calls to all you know in the company.
  10. Late MAY: Email. Send your contacts a short note saying you haven’t landed that internship at their company yet but remain extremely interested. Tell them that “if an opportunity to job shadow for a week is available, you’d like to talk with the right person to make that happen”.

USPS mailings are low cost. If you have the budget, FedEx envelopes cost more but they are more notable. Remember that for the higher-level executives, there may be a gate keeper opening the mail for them. The more you can be appealing to the gate keeper, the better the chances your material is seen and discussed. Designing all ten communication pieces up front makes it much easier to do the actual design work and follow a theme. Use respectable humor occasionally but also be professional and direct with most of your communications.  For example, all of your pieces might open with “From [Name], Your #1 Prospective Intern”.

Don’t forget how to use the phone.

Calling these contacts too often will not be good, however, perfect call timing has to do with one time of the year it is and what time of the day it is. For a summer internship, a first inquiry phone call in September (about 7 months before the actual internship timeframe) is very appropriate and accepted by most. A phone call in December just before the holidays hit is a great time for the second call. People are feeling the giving spirit and starting to wind down from the year. Your purpose of the second call is to ask for career advice (if a line manager, not HR) or, if it is HR you are contacting, you are inquiring about their plans for internships related to your field. Keep in mind you’ve already sent emails and postal mailings to these people.  A third call is appropriate around February if you haven’t already been invited to interview.

So, if you really want an internship, move out of your comfort zone, manage yourself like a PR firm would manage you and get proactive in your pursuit.

Good luck next year!

Carl

Carl Nielson is Chief Discovery Officer of Success Discoveries and Managing Principal of The Nielson Group, an organizational development consulting firm serving Fortune 100 company clients. As creator of the Career Coaching for Students program for high school students and Career and Success Skills Mastery for College Students and Recent Grads, Carl and his team of licensed facilitators across North America have helped thousands of students find a better way through a career exploration process that works.  Self-directed assessment and career exploration coaching packages start at $399. Local public workshops, distance-coaching and in-school programs available. Call for more information at 972.346.2892.

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Posted in career exploration, Career Exploration and Career Coaching, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, Managing My Career, Resume best practices, student career counseling, Student Career Exploration, summer internships, Teen Career Exploration

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Free Download: Knock Em Dead Secrets and Strategies for First-Time Job Seekers

Posted on April 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Wall Street Journal says Martin Yate is “One of the most admired authors in the career space.” The US News and World Report says “Classic…” and the Los Angeles Times says “Nineteen editions says something about quality”.

Martin Yate is a New York Times bestseller.

Martin Yate has an exciting free gift available on Amazon this week!  You can get a free copy of the Kindle version of  Knock Em Dead Secrets & Strategies for First-Time Job Seekers from now until Sunday (April 27) at Midnight.  I invite you to share this book with the young people in your life. It’s perfect for college students, recent graduates, emerging professionals and anyone who wants to get their career started on the right foot.  Click  here to download.

Click HERE to download your FREE copy today. Please tell your friends and  share the offer with your social networks – the offer expires at Midnight on April 27th.

Don’t own a Kindle? You can download a free Kindle app on almost any computing device HERE.

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Career Coaching for Students™

So what do you want to do with your life?

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Posted in Find a Job Advice, Job Search, resume writing, student career counseling, Student soft skill development, summer internships

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The Dreaded Phone Interview

Posted on March 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

This article is one of literally hundreds we’ve posted or referenced in Student Resource Central™, the online research portal for high school and college students. Student Resource Central supports the various research tasks that students complete in the Career Coaching for Students™ program.

Even adults will benefit from taking the advice in this article to heart.

Phone interviews have become a common way for employers to screen interns and potential employees during the hiring process. Unlike traditional, in-person job interviews, phone interviews are usually fairly short. This makes phone interviewing an effective way to narrow down the list of candidates before scheduling in-person interviews. Unfortunately, many people are not comfortable conducting a conversation of that importance over the phone. Many times the student feels intimidated. The truth is, when it comes to students, especially for internship opportunities, the employer is NOT wanting to learn more about your academic accomplishments or those extracurricular activities you did in high school. They are also not looking for perfectly polished phone presentation skills. They are looking for an authentic, engaging and intelligent person.  The following tips can help turn an awkward interview into a confidence-inspiring success.Phone_interrview_The_Office_images

Preparation is the Name of the Game

When preparing for a phone interview, don’t forget that not all recruiters and employers schedule the call ahead of time. At any moment, anyone connected to your network could stumble across your resume or an employer you’ve contacted could decide to call you. Your chances for success in your job search will be greatly improved if you try to always expect the unexpected (especially during a job interview).

Keep Your Resume Near the Phone

Knowing that you could get a call from an interested employer at any time, whether for an internship opportunity, summer job or that first job out of college, you should always keep a recent copy of your resume near the phone. That way, whether or not your phone interview is anticipated, you will have all the information you need right at your fingertips. Of course for a job interview, your resume is not the only resource you should keep handy.

Create a log for keeping track of the resumes you send out, recording each company, position title, contact name, date the position was applied for, and qualifications for the job. If you have a chance to research the company, make a file with that information, and keep it near the phone as well. Finally, you should always have access to a notepad and pen during a phone interview, so that you can write down additional instructions they might provide such as a name and phone number of someone at the company. Be sure to write down the interviewer’s name, key questions he or she asked, and your responses.

Practice (and a Cheat Sheet) Makes Perfect

Just like with a traditional job interview, you should try to anticipate questions the interviewer might ask. If you have come up with examples and practiced your answers ahead of time, you will sound much more intelligent and confident in the interview. You might record in a journal the questions you are asked in phone interviews and write an ideal answer with it. Moreover, since the interviewer cannot see you, there is nothing to stop you from referring to a “cheat sheet” – notes to help you remember your practiced answers, so that you never sound like you have been taken off guard. Your cheat sheet should be bullet points only, do not read directly off the cheat sheet.

When you practice your answers and put together your cheat sheet, you should think about job interview questions that are traditionally asked, such as:

  • Tell me about yourself.
  • What are you looking for in [an internship] [a job]?
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • Where do you see yourself in 1/5/10 years?
  • What is your leadership style? Please give an example of a real situation where you took the lead.
  • Describe a situation where you had to work with others to solve a problem.
  • Give me an example of a stressful situation you have encountered on the job or at school (not a personal situation). How did you handle it?
  • Tell me about your three greatest accomplishments so far.
  • Do you have any questions? [Have a few questions that are directed at getting more information about the opportunity and what traits or experience the employer is looking for in the ideal candidate.]

Many of these questions are difficult to answer on the spot. By preparing your answers ahead of time, you give yourself the opportunity to think through your answers carefully. Your notes will refresh your memory if you draw a blank, and help prevent you from freezing up during the interview. As for the first question above, “tell me about yourself”, that is not a speed dating question. The interviewer wants to know about you relative to the job opportunity. If you are sharing things about yourself that have no relevance for how you fit the job, you have crashed in the ditch.

Giving a Fabulous Phone Interview

If you’ve done your homework, the phone interview itself should be a breeze. The important thing at this point is to remember to make sure the interviewer can hear and understand you – and vice versa – as well as possible. Be articulate in the way you talk. You don’t have to use fancy words but you need to project what you say with a clear voice. No mumbling.Student phone interview

During the phone interview, you should:

  • Find a quiet place immediately. Other students, children, pets, televisions, and music are all noisy distractions that should be avoided. If the phone interview is scheduled in advance, you can arrange to have a quiet room all to yourself. If you receive the phone call unexpectedly, retreat into a quiet room or suggest another time for the interview. If using a cell phone, be sure you are stationary and have excellent reception.
  • Sip water periodically but quietly (no bottles). Nervousness often causes your mouth to dry out, which can in turn change the way your voice and pronunciation sounds to the interviewer. If you know about the phone interview ahead of time, you can have a glass of water on hand, along with the other materials you have prepared.
  • Avoid eating, smoking, or chewing gum. Excess movement of your mouth and throat will make you harder to understand, and possibly distract or even irritate the interviewer.
  • Give short answers. This is a critical element to conducting a great phone interview. If you are talking more than 40% of the time, you are too long winded. Many people talk too much when they are nervous. This is especially easy to do in a phone interview, because you don’t have the other person’s visual cues to indicate when it’s their turn to talk. To make sure you don’t make this mistake, only talk long enough to directly answer the question –  and do not repeat the answer. A moment of silence, while it might seem awkward to you, lets the interviewer know that you are done. Silence on their end is probably them taking notes.
  • Speak slowly and clearly. Speaking too fast, whether out of nervousness or habit, will hurt your chances by making you harder to understand. Instead, make a conscious effort to slow down and enunciate clearly.
  • Stand, stretch, or pace occasionally. Standing improves the quality of your voice by increasing airflow to your lungs. Additionally, many people find it easier to adopt a salesperson-like attitude when they are standing or moving around. As a result, changing your posture occasionally can make you sound more confident to the interviewer.
  • Smile. Believe it or not, a smile changes the quality of your voice. If you are smiling, the interviewer will hear it in your tone!

Finishing Your Phone Interview on the Right FootPhone_Interview_student_image

The phone interview is drawing to a close; what do you do now? These final moments are just as important as the preparation and the interview itself, as they can determine what comes next.

  • Thank the interviewer. Verbally thank the interviewer for taking the time to speak with you. If you don’t remember his or her name, ask for it again and write it down, so that you can send a thank-you note as well.
  • Suggest an in-person interview. The whole point of the phone interview was to score a traditional face-to-face job interview, so if the interviewer doesn’t mention what will happen next, you should bring it up. For example, you can say, “Thank you very much for taking the time to call me. I’d like to have the opportunity to meet in person. When will you be scheduling the next round of interviews?” If you don’t feel comfortable being that direct, you can ask “What do you expect to be the next step for me?”
  • Reiterate your interest in the position. You want to leave the interviewer with the impression that you are enthusiastic about the job. Let him or her know how interested you are about the prospect of working with the company.
  • Send a thank-you note. Just as with a traditional job interview, you should follow up with a polite thank-you note (written on paper and mailed with a stamp!). You can also use the thank-you note to reiterate your interest in scheduling an in-person interview. Just be sure to send the thank-you note out promptly (same day), as the interviewer may soon be making final decisions about who to call back!

Phone_Interview_hiring_mgr_2_imagesMany people find a phone interview more nerve-wracking than a traditional job interview. This doesn’t have to be the case, however. While some phone interviews happen with little or no warning, in most cases you have just as much time to prepare as you would ordinarily, with the added benefit of being able to use your notes during the interview.

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Posted in career exploration, Career Exploration and Career Coaching, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, Resume best practices, Student Career Exploration, Student soft skill development, summer internships, Teen Career Exploration

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5 Things Lucky People Do

Posted on March 22, 2014 | 1 comment

Luck starts with a plan and action“The Luck of the Irish” is an American phrase that comes from the days of the gold rush in the 1800s.  Intolerant Americans figured the Irish people weren’t smart enough to find gold, and blamed their success on being lucky rather than skilled. In reality, America’s early immigrants have time and again proven themselves to be hardworking and smart enough to generate their own good fortune consistently.

We often excuse our own inadequacies by crediting the success of others to luck.  If everyone went at their personal goals with the level of commitment and follow-through as the “lucky ones” the probability of success becomes fairly equal. In baseball terms, the big hitters are simply swinging the bat more often.

good_luck_four_leaf_cloverThe truth is that seemingly lucky people are opportunists. They do things to be prepared so that they are ready to take advantage of the world around them. For them, it’s not about being in the way of good luck or bad. It’s the actions they take to get what Jim Collins refers to as a high return on luck whichever way the pendulum swings. Follow these five tips and you can be as lucky as anyone, no four-leaf clover required.

1. Play to your strengths. So much time and energy is wasted trying to do things you probably don’t do very well. Author and Inc. columnist Lewis Schiff learned from his survey of incredibly wealthy people that they got that way by focusing only on what they do best. Choosing a career that aligns with your personal motivation and talents gives you an advantage over 50% of those currently in the workforce. By knowing your strengths and weaknesses, you will shine where you excel and attract opportunity. You’ll find ways to compensate for your weaknesses, such as delegating or partnering with someone that has your weakness as a strength. Good things come to those who emanate success.

2. Prepare in advance. Unlucky people often get that way because they’re reactive and unprepared for whatever comes. The college student who chooses to organize and follow a self-study program so they can take and pass a difficult certification exam outside of their course work – just so they are better qualified to secure a key summer internship – are expecting to be successful. They wouldn’t consider themselves lucky when the internship offer comes. Some people consider planning to be useless because everything changes and you can’t predict the future. The point of a plan isn’t to follow it no matter what, it’s to establish a structure for smart decision making that allows you to succeed no matter what the future might bring.

3. Start early. Some people seem to have more hours in the day. They get that way by planning projects in advance – this gives you the extra time you need – and then using a disciplined approach to allocating time on a consistent basis. Make promises to yourself using integrity to hold yourself personally accountable. So many people only want to put their energy into things that provide immediate gratification. The most fortunate people I know are the ones who planted seeds early and took the blind leap of faith that the investment in time would be personally rewarded exponentially.

4. Connect with as many people as possible. The key to success is access to opportunity. Access comes from influence. If you aren’t meeting people of influence regularly, your ability to access opportunities is limited. In a way, your network of influencers becomes your following. The bigger your following, the more opportunity you are being exposed to. The only way to build a big following is to provide value to many people. You have to provide the sort of value that will cause people to think of you at the right time. Influencers take great joy in knowing a wide range of people and recommending or connecting others. Being open and making yourself available to be known is a kind of value. Are you creating that kind of value? If not, figure how you can. Being an influencer isn’t important, being of value to influencers is critical. If you want more luck, you’ve got to break out of your cocoon.

5. Follow up and be of value. Opportunities often come and go because people don’t respond in a timely manner. I’m constantly amazed when people ask me for something and I respond immediately only to never hear from them again. I make it my business to know and recommend only the best ideas – whether to family, friends, colleagues or clients. That takes work – which I am always glad to do. I believe that following up is often more powerful and impressive than the act of initiating. I have learned to become wary of those that use me for my ideas and never seem to see the need to be of value to me. To be of value to me is simple. It could be as simple as letting me know you followed my advice and the outcome (the value of letting me know I was helpful). On a bigger scale, in a business context, it could be that you recommended me to someone that would benefit from my services (The Nielson Group or Success Discoveries) or, if you were in a position of authority in an organization, and recognized how I could help, that you made it a priority to introduce me to those stakeholders that need to know I exist. Whatever you do, don’t allow yourself to be seen by others as a user. User equals looser in the end. Following up is simple.

May you be so lucky to have people in your life that follow up. So start creating your own luck. Now.

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Posted in Find a Job Advice, Job Search, Managing My Career, student career counseling, Student Career Exploration, Student soft skill development, summer internships, Teen Career Exploration

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Unpaid Internships Ruled Illegal – Is That a Good Thing for Students?

Posted on June 15, 2013 | 3 comments

FoxSearchlightLogoAn article by Steven Greenhouse in the New York Times reports that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case that could upend the long-held practice of the film industry and other businesses that rely heavily on unpaid internships.

The judge noted that these internships did not foster an educational environment and that the studio received the benefits of the work. The case could have broad implications. Young people have flocked to internships, especially against the backdrop of a weak job market.

Employment experts estimate that undergraduates work in more than one million internships a year, an estimated half of which are unpaid, according to Intern Bridge, a research firm.

On the Intern Bridge website, the firm makes a statement and provides additional information for companies  and students considering unpaid internships:

At Intern Bridge, we strongly believe that all internships should offer hourly monetary compensation. This best practices recommendation is based on countless hours of proprietary research utilizing survey responses from over 100,000 students, discussing the issues with our nationwide network of career center and human resources practitioners, and taking into account critical business and economic principles.

While we consistently advocate for paid opportunities for students, unpaid internships have built a strong presence in the internship space. Recently, the Department of Labor began an awareness campaign to share information regarding potential legal issues with hosting unpaid interns. This Unpaid Internship Resource Center has been designed to share as much up-to-date information as possible.

“Employers have already started to take a hard look at their internship programs,” said Rachel Bien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “I think this decision will go far to discourage private companies from having unpaid internship programs.”

busboybwUnpaid Internships: the corporate equivalent process for getting into a fraternity in college

Freshman in college choosing to go the social frat route have a couple of hurdles to overcome before being accepted. They must endure embarrassing acts (hazing) and subordinate themselves to the upperclassmen – all while trying to pursue academic standing and other extracurricular activities. And, they have to pay for the privilege to be hazed.

Unpaid company internships, commonly, are general sanitation, lunch order takers and delivery drivers, doing work that in no way enhances their skills and knowledge and prepares them for a professional job upon graduation from college. I consider it a form of hazing when it is a standard way of doing business in a specific industry, such as the film and television entertainment production industry.

This illegal process is so prevalent that students believe they have to do it in order to “break into the business”.

The power of LinkedIn to see the value of unpaid internships vs paid internships

With LinkedIn now the business world version of Facebook, you can find people in your career field that graduated two, four, six or more years ago, took an “unpaid” internship (their profile won’t say it was unpaid but based on what you know about company reputations around internships you can make some assumptions) and see where they ended up. In other words, did the unpaid internship lead to something bigger and better? For the film industry, most did not. Do the same with people that completed a paid internship. Not sure, “inmail” them asking for their insight about the value of their internship.

Are you considering taking an unpaid internship?

Don’t. Unless the following have been provided to you:

  • A specific job description or written objectives that assigns work that increases your skills and knowledge (taking lunch orders and emptying trash cans does not in any way add skill and knowledge of any benefit).
  • The names of the people you will be assigned to work for. Are they managers and/or senior experienced professionals with expertise you want to learn from? Have you met the people you will work for? Did they discuss their commitment to assigning you meaningful work and mentoring you?
  • A path for how the internship will lead to full time opportunities after graduation or after the internship is up. The benefit for the company should be one focus: to evaluate the internship for possible hiring upon graduation.
  • A specific period of time that the unpaid portion will last. Ideally, you are then converted to paid internship or full time.

The film and television entertainment industry including the dramatic arts (theatre) may be the worst industry that abuses the internship model. All companies in all industries that abuse the internship’s true purpose are broadcasting a message that they are a backward thinking, short term-focused and unethical company. Do you really want to work for that kind of company?

If you want to work for one of these companies, just apply for the open janitor position. At least then you’ll get paid.

Carl Nielson is a professional career coach and author of the Career Coaching for Students program. For information about career direction and job search coaching, check out Success Discoveries’ Career and Success Skills Mastery for College Students and Recent Grads. Assessment and coaching packages start at $349 – special Summer 2013 offer.

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Posted in career exploration, career interest, career options, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, summer internships

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Congrats College Grads! Are You Using LinkedIn for Your Job Search?

Posted on June 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

LinkedIn for College StudentsThree Ways Recent Grads Can Leverage LinkedIn for Long-Term Success by John Hill, LinkedIn June 6, 2013

You have your new degree in hand and your future at the forefront, so now what? Whether you’ve landed a job or are still weighing your options, LinkedIn can be an invaluable tool for your next steps post-graduation. We’ve pulled together three simple things you can do now to successfully transition from campus to career.

Take Charge of Your Professional Identity
Your LinkedIn profile makes it possible for opportunities to find you. It is a virtual billboard that communicates to current, potential and future employers, and colleagues 24 hours a day. That said, a complete profile doesn’t mean just replicating your resume. Here are a few steps to take to create a standout profile:

  • Use the Summary section on your LinkedIn profile to tell people who you are professionally and who you want to be professionally
  • Make your profile your portfolio. Upload documents, videos and images to your LinkedIn profile to showcase your successes throughout your education. Share a presentation you gave in your business class, a video you produced for your film class, or an architectural drawing you are particularly proud of.
  • Add Student Sections to capture your experiences in and out of the classroom like projects, honors and awards
  • Define your Skills and Expertise
  • Follow the Companies, Influencers and Groups that relate to the industries you’re interested in

Remember, a great profile not only ensures you are putting your best foot forward, it also makes it possible for recruiters and great opportunities to find you!

Create A Network Based on Quality Contacts, Not Quantity
LinkedIn is where business takes place, so your connections should reflect who you are as a future professional and be made up of trusted relationships. Here are four affiliations you should focus on while growing and maintaining your network:

  1. Friends and family
  2. University connections
  3. People you shared work experience with
  4. Those who you share volunteer and causes with (including student groups and fraternal organizations)

Connecting with the great people you meet along the way will enable you to build a community of experts that will support you throughout your career. Need more ideas for who to connect with? Get some help along the way from People You May Know.

Dream Big
LinkedIn showcases the successes of your school’s alumni through features like the Alumni tool. You can see how someone went from the classrooms you attended to become CEO. Or, find people who graduated from your university who now work in the industries and companies you’re interested in joining. Once you have identified and connected with them, consider reaching out and setting up an informational interview. LinkedIn can be a directory of dreams, showing you where you can go and what you can do based on the success of others with similar professional pathways.

Good luck!

For information about career direction and job search coaching, check out Success Discoveries’ Career and Success Skills Mastery for College Students and Recent Grads. Assessment and coaching packages start at $349 – special Summer 2013 offer.

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Posted in Career Exploration and Career Coaching, e-portfolio, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, Managing My Career, portfolio, Resume best practices, resume writing

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E-Portfolios – The New Resume for Students?

Posted on May 5, 2013 | 5 comments

The traditional resume is far from dead. You’ll need that for most internship or job applications. But many colleges and employers are wanting a more insightful (and creative) view of your talents – even if you aren’t in a creative major or profession. And you will want to stand out from the crowd.

e-portfolio by CarbonmadeCreative professionals need a repository of work that shows engagement and abilities. This need to showcase creative work was the first application for e-portfolios. Whether you are focused on a creative profession such as photography or trying to stand out competitively as a business major, an e-portfolio is quickly becoming a popular and effective tool. Creativity is an asset valued greatly by any employer in any industry.

A portfolio is a collection of work developed across varied contexts over time.
The electronic format allows faculty and employers to evaluate student and applicants using technology, which may include the Internet, video, animation or audio. Electronic portfolios are becoming a popular alternative to traditional paper-based portfolios because they offer practitioners and peers the opportunity to review, communicate and assess portfolios in an asynchronous manner.

For college students, an ePortfolio is a collection of a student’s work in electronic format. You should include a welcome/introduction to your ePortfolio. This is the first virtual impression that people will have of you, so make it a great one! You may even want to include a video welcome where you explain the organization of your ePortfolio and direct the viewer through the site. Your ePortfolio may contain all or some of the following:

  1. Supporting files of various formats (text, pictures, video, etc.)
  2. Evaluations, analysis and recommendations
  3. Evidence of General Education competencies
  4. Writing samples (which might include several drafts to show development and improvement)
  5. Projects prepared for class or extracurricular activities
  6. Evidence of creativity and performance
  7. Evidence of extracurricular activities, including examples of leadership

Employers are starting to look at the portfolio as a means of assessing the total talent of an individual.

Since we now live in the internet age where anyone can access anything anytime, it is imperative that you have an online portfolio. The only real problem is figuring out where to put your work – there are so many online portfolio tools and communities, it can be challenging to determine which one will work best for you. Many e-portfolio solutions are offered at no cost. Below are just a few that have different strengths.

Online Portfolio Strategy

Online portfolios are an easy way for potential employers to view your work samples.

The Internet makes it easier than ever to share your work samples. Include your portfolio’s web address on all job search communication. If you participate in online networking, add a link to your online portfolio. This will make it easier for your network to recommend your work to others.

Organize your work samples thoughtfully as you would with paper portfolios, but take advantage of the Internet’s ability to link pages with one another.

Research your technical options carefully. Free services allow you to get up and running quickly with limited design skills, but may come with some disadvantages:

  • They may restrict how many files you can upload as well as the type AND size of the files.
  • They may allow limited customization.
  • They may insert ads on your pages. (This is how some can offer it for free.)

There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. Which you choose will depend on your needs, time, budget, and web skills. Carefully compare features to determine which one meets your needs.

Portfolios

Free or subscription-based portfolios tend to allow larger and a wider range of file types. These files are uploaded directly to the host site. There are a variety of free portfolio options. Most are geared toward presenting graphic elements rather than text. These are ideal if you need to showcase work visually.

Check these out to find the best fit for your needs:

Whatever your discipline or career direction, you can rest assured that there is an online portfolio tool specific to your niche waiting for you to create your very own portfolio and help you market and sell your talent.

Carl Nielson is the creator of Career Coaching for Students and Student Resource Central, the most comprehensive one-stop resource for career exploration, major and education institution research and leading thought for students in high school and college.

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Posted in e-portfolio, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, portfolio, Resume best practices, resume writing

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Countering College Student Objections to Joining LinkedIn

Posted on March 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

LinkedIn5 COLLEGE STUDENT Objections to Joining LinkedIn

While it is true that some college students may be beyond help, below are some excuses you can meet head on. To support students, my connections exceed over 2,000 which connect me to over 17 million on LinkedIn. I use my connections to help both high school and college students find people in their career of interest as part of the Career Coaching for Students program (high school program or college student program).

Your key to success1. “Creating a LinkedIn profile takes too much time” is a common complaint; however, creating a profile is actually a motivational exercise. Students can easily copy and paste their résumé to their LinkedIn profile and revise it from there. Once their profile starts to fill out, they begin to feel better about their developing profile.

2. “I don’t have time to add a LinkedIn update once a week?” Posting an update once a week is not that hard to do. With most students now on Facebook and Twitter, posting an update takes the same effort. It’s as simple as commenting on a topic such as something interesting being covered in a core course that aligns with your career direction, attaching an article, posting a great quote, letting people know what you are up to, etc.

3. “I don’t think people in my occupation use LinkedIn” might have been a valid point two or three years ago. Some occupations, namely the trades, were slower to jump on the LinkedIn wagon. Today, people in all industries and all types of work are on LinkedIn. With the number of connections I have, I love taking friendly bets on this false perception. I’ve won every bet.

4. “There’s no way I can get 50 connections” is an interesting challenge. LinkedIn allows users to download contacts from their e-mail account from the beginning of registering for membership. One just has to select the members they want to invite and soon acceptances and invites will come their way. An exercise I do with high school and college students is to have them write down on a worksheet everyone they know (friends, extended family, parents of friends, professional contacts). I then poll everyone to see how many they wrote down. In a 5 minute time limit, the average student writes down between 30 and 50 names. I then ask them if it is reasonable to expect each person they wrote down to have the same number of contacts. We then do the math. Using the least (30), the math looks like this: 30 x 30 = 900. Each of us can easily get something between our direct contact count and the 900 within one week. For college students, making this a competitive challenge with a reasonable $$ prize for the highest number of contacts after one week generates amazing results.

5. “I’m just a college student.” LinkedIn will most likely not offer immediate gratification. This isn’t a sprint; it is more like a marathon. The smartest students will invest in the time to begin their lifelong network. They’ll be ahead of their classmates and will most likely receive more interviews and offers when the time comes for the payout.

Carl Nielson is an organizational development consultant, professional career and executive/leadership coach and creator of the nationally recognized program Career Coaching for Students™ . Career Coaching for Students is available as a district-wide high school program, college program and in group and on-one-one offerings through certified career coaches throughout the United States, Canada and other countries. Contact Carl Nielson at carl@successdiscoveries.com or call 972-346-2892 to discuss specific needs. Or visit us at http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net

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Posted in best career, career choices, career exploration, Career Exploration and Career Coaching, career interest, Choose a major, Job Search, student career counseling, Student Career Exploration, Teen Career Exploration

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Job Hunting in the 21st Century for Students and recent College Grads

Posted on January 27, 2013 | 3 comments

Forbes The ConnectorFor some time now, I’ve watched the number of college students graduating without a job go to unacceptable levels. We can blame the economy of course. But how does that explain that some students are getting jobs. And these are graduating seniors with GPA or class standing all over the board. In fact, there are some graduating seniors with extremely high GPAs being passed over for others with a substantially lower GPA. The solution is more complex than any one thing. The economy isn’t even close to the top reason (I’m sure some readers will disagree and argue this point but watch the slide show below first).

Part of the solution is something called “networking”. Let me share a real story that emphasizes the value and “fun” in networking as part of that solution.

Recently, a college junior (engineering major) discussed their passion for sports equipment engineering as a career. Short term, this student had hoped for a student internship before entering their senior year. Long term he wanted to know the industry and work for the best company engaged in sports equipment engineering. – What a vision! –

I suggested he “search for and find” the professional association that served the continuing education needs of sports equipment engineers. Sure enough there is such a thing (http://www.continuinged.uml.edu/isea2012/) and he signed up as a student member (discounted price) and flew from Dallas to Massachusetts to attend the conference last summer. He met many in the “business” and has built a networking foundation that will very likely lead to a great first career job and perhaps a career company when he graduates this next year. He doesn’t have a 4.0 GPA. What he has is passion for the career, a good GPA from a good university and a vision.

To help students and recent grads in the job hunt, I’ve put together a slide show that can easily be narrated by a Career Services professional but is also of value as just a slide show for anyone trying to figure out the mystery to effective job hunting. This “guide” applies to the hunt for an internship as well.

Click on the “Full Screen” button (bottom right) to view the presentation. Good luck in your job search!

Career Coaching for Students is the solution
Career Coaching for Students™ offers high school and college students (two versions of the program) the opportunity to develop a clear picture of self and their future that lifts self-esteem, increases academic performance and helps the family avoid unnecessary costs of changing majors and extending college due to changes in direction. Student Resource Central is the most comprehensive resource portal for career exploration and educational strategy research links. The Career Coaching for Students program assists students in finding their passion and establishing a path to success. For more information, visit the website at http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net.
Chief Discovery Officer, Success Discoveries

Carl Nielson

Carl Nielson is an organizational development consultant, professional career and executive/leadership coach and creator of the nationally recognized program Career Coaching for Students™ . Career Coaching for Students is available as a district-wide high school program, college freshman class and in group and on-one-one offerings through certified career coaches throughout the United States, Canada and other countries. Contact Carl Nielson at carl@successdiscoveries.com or call 972-346-2892 to discuss specific needs. Or visit us at http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net

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Posted in best career, career choices, career options, Find a Job Advice, Job Search, Managing My Career, new careers, student career counseling, Student Career Exploration

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