Great! You've had the interview and now you wait
anxiously by the phone. A cat watching a gopher hole,
waiting for the little beast to pop its hairy head out
any moment now could not be as anticipatory as you are.
So what do you do to forestall driving yourself and your
loved ones nuts during this time?
QuintZine regular contributor Kathryn Lee Bazan
first advises you to back up a second to you at your interview.
Find out what you need to know about following up after the
interview by reading the entire article.
Special Feature: Interview Follow-Up Dos and Don'ts
Remember that your work is not done once you
finish the interview. You can't sit back and wait
for the job offer.
College Seniors: FutureCollegeGrads.com wants to know
what you think about the process.
Whether you've already accepted an offer, are still
looking or are just getting started, we'd love to hear
how its going. You can access the College Senior
Job Search Survey by going to:
http://www.futurecollegegrads.com/survey/studentsurveyintro.asp.
As a good career portal, Careermag.com offers
the gamut of expected features, from a job-postings
search engine, to the opportunity to post resumes, along
with lots of helpful articles, advice columns, and tools.
One feature that greatly enhances Careermag.com's
offerings is a Job Match Agent that enables jobseekers
to register and have lists of matching job postings sent
weekly via e-mail.
A bit more skewed to on-the-job success than
some career portals, Careermag.com also provides
bulletin boards on various career-related topics, so
participants can post questions and get help from
others in similar situations. Forums that appear to
be particularly hopping are Job Search Issues, Internships,
General Discussions, and especially, Working from Home. Other
forums include Workplace Issues, On Campus, Military to
Civilian Transition, Career Coach, and Diversity Issues.
JobNext.com
-- where all job-seekers -- though especially recent college grads -- can search for jobs and post your
resume. You can search by job type, job status, industry, location, qualifications, and keyword. Free to job-seekers.
JobWarehouse.com
-- a job site for job-seekers in the computer and high tech industry, where you can browse job offerings by location,
search a job database (but only after free registration), and post your resume. Free to job-seekers.
Junior Jobs
-- a great resource for part-time jobs and career resources for teens -- and run and managed by teens. Job-seekers must register (free)
to apply for jobs online and received email alerts of new job openings. Currently only serving Mid-Atlantic
states, but hopes to expand nationwide soon. Free to job-seekers.
Planetmedia
-- a great site for job-seekers looking for television jobs (such as anchors, reporters, weather, sports, producer, etc.)
and newspaper jobs (reporter, editorial, graphic, etc.). Also includes links to major newspaper, television, and
radio company Websites. Free to job-seekers.
Find even more additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest
Additions section.
Susan writes: "While using a variety of job search sites,
some require KEYWORDS or SKILLS and I find that I get either
too many or too few "hits". Do you have any suggestions of
where to find the best listings of these words. Also, because
I have an extremely diverse work background, and am in
'middle management.' this makes it more difficult
(industry is not important to me at this time)."
Lucille writes: "I have a unique question. After a promising
second interview, is it necessary to send a second thank-you
letter? I had already sent one after the first interview."
Georg writes: "I'm a 39-year-old MBA. On the Internet
I found a number of universities and colleges that give
degrees in different fields based on the applicant's work
experience. What are the prospects of such a graduate?
Specifically, I am interested in DBA."
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Follow-up should occur at more than one stage of the job
search. Our feature article and special feature focus on
AFTER the interview, but here's a tip for following up an
e-mailed resume submission to a company's Web site. In their
syndicated column, Kate Wendleton and Dale Dauten advise
mailing a hard-copy version of your resume and cover letter
as a follow up to an online submission through the employer's
site.
"As it nears the time to actually make the decision
about whom to interview," Dauten writes, "paper has the
advantages: Managers can easily take a stack of resumes
to lunch or on a bus; they can circle items of interest or make
notes right on the resume; the person leading the hiring
can sit with colleagues and look together at the candidates'
qualifications; and finally, many hiring managers will use
resumes in interviews." Dauten adds that mailing a paper version ensures
that the resume will arrive looking the way you intended, "while
having both versions circulating can only improve your chances
of your resume ending up in front of the right pair of eyes."
Another follow-up tip from the Kate & Dale files: Responding
to a reader who received a rejection letter after an interview
but then saw the same job advertised again, Dauten and Wendleton
suggested the reader again contact the employer. The jobseeker,
Dauten notes, could say something like this: "I saw your ad, and I
still think I could make a contribution in that position. I guess
I failed to make that clear when we spoke before. I'd like to start
over and apply again."
Wendleton adds that if the response is
positive, you should ask probing questions to get at exactly
what type of person the company wants to hire. That way you
can plan an approach to a second-chance interview that targets
what the employer wants.
Most Fortune 1000 companies allow
telecommuting but very few employees work from
home, and even fewer do so on a full-time basis.
Cutter Consortium reports that 87 percent of the
companies it surveyed allowed telecommuting, but
53 percent said fewer than 5 percent of their
employees worked from home. None of the
respondents said that more than half of their
employees worked from home.
Two thirds of those polled also said that their
telecommuting employees only work from home for
one day each week. Cutter says that most
employees telecommute only if they cannot travel
to work because of bad weather or a personal or
family emergency.
The respondents said the biggest advantages of
telecommuting were that workers had more
flexibility, companies could hire workers that might
not otherwise be available, and that less time and
money is spent on commuting.
The biggest disadvantages cited were the belief of
managers that workers need supervision, security
concerns, and the conflicts that can arise between
an employee's work and home life.
Quintessential
Career Profiles: Tell Your Story!
Quintessential Career Profiles features QuintZine
readers and visitors to Quintessential Careers
who have interesting career stories.
Did you obtain a job in an unusual way? Has
your career path been out of the ordinary?
Have you held one or more unusual jobs? Has
your job search been especially troublesome,
inspirational, or remarkable? We'd like to
tell your story. Tell us a little about your
career saga, and we may contact you for a
full profile. Write us at kathy@quintcareers.com
and let us know about you.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Case-based interviews
* Phone etiquette in the job hunt
* Guide to the company visit
* Researching your next job
* Letters of recommendation and references
* Career Portfolios
* How to handle a request for a salary history
* How to land an internship
* How to get a promotion
* Should you go to grad school/get an MBA?
* 10 easy ways to improve your resume
* Cover letter specifics
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
. . . and much, much more!
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RESUMES * JOB SEARCH CORRESPONDENCE FROM TRUSTED EXPERTS * COVER LETTERS
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QuintZine
A publication of
Quintessential Careers
Publisher: Dr. Randall S. Hansen
Editor: Katharine Hansen
ISSN: 1528-9443
