Please note: On a somewhat infrequent basis, Quintessential Careers asks noted
career experts five questions related to their expertise and publishes the interview
in the current issue of QuintZine,
our biweekly newsletter. Here is one such interview.
Marcia Merrill is career advisor at Loyola College, Maryland, Career
Development and Placement Center.
Q:
Can you comment on the importance of mentors and tell readers how
to find one if their organization doesn't have a formal mentor
program?
A:
I have coordinated the Career Development Mentor Program for nine
years. The value of having an alumni/professional partnered with a
student interested in his/her field is priceless. Students (mentees)
get to ask their mentors questions about the "real world." Mentors
report that it's very rewarding to help someone, remembering what it
was like when they were trying to decide on a career. They invite the
students to job-shadow them in the workplace to see how it really is
and experience firsthand what it's like to be an attorney, doctor, or
counselor/psychologist. Our program involves these areas of law,
medicine and psychology. Many more fields could be involved
depending on the need.
Having a mentor can be the first step toward deciding on pursuing a
given career. Many of the students began with making networking
contacts and grew into working part- or full-time for their mentor or
their mentor's contacts. Internships often result as the student
gains the experience needed to make a career decision. I tell all my
clients about the value of networking -- talking to someone in their
field of interest and how beneficial having a mentor can be.
A college career center is only one way of seeing about getting a
mentor. Usually colleges have an Alumni Network for this purpose. If
you're not affiliated with a college, you can find mentors by looking
at the association that corresponds to your field of interest.
Examples: Society of Women Engineers, Association for Sociological
Research, American Management Association, American Institute of
Physicists, to name a few. Every major/career field has one or more
associations dedicated to that particular area of interest. Most have
Web sites and outline membership benefits, usually including mentor
programs.
You can also informally find someone who has skills/knowledge you'd
benefit from learning. You can job-shadow or do an informational
interview with that person. Think of clubs/organizations. They're a
great place to find a mentor -- garden clubs, astronomy clubs,
sport-walking clubs, bicycling clubs. You can also check the
Encyclopedia of Associations at the library or look online and do a
'Net search.
There are several online e-mentoring Web sites, such as
Mentornet.com
and asktheemployer.com,
to name a few. Not having a formal mentoring
program within your workplace is not an excuse. You could start your
own! And you're never too old to have or be a mentor. I've been in
the career-development field for more than 14 years, and I have a few
mentors. I have one I've known for 10 years -- wise and wonderful. I
have another whose judgment and attitude I admire and want to
emulate. Certain aspects make someone good mentor material. When I
told her she was a role-model, a mentor to me, she felt very
flattered. I have an online mentor, too. She's an Internet
consultant, author, and friend. I'm also proud to say that I count a
few new professionals as folks I mentor. You gotta give back! So,
what are you waiting for? Someone you admire is mentor-ready and
maybe sometime, you can show a newcomer "the ropes." Both being a
mentee and a mentor can be extremely rewarding!
Q:
What do you feel is the most disturbing trend in job hunting today?
A:
I think the belief that all a job hunter has to do is to post
his/her resume "out there" on a Web site or several Web sites and
just wait for the employers to line up. Other avenues are often
forgotten or overlooked. The Internet is a tool -- not the only
thing! Networking with alumni/ae professionals, internship employers,
friends, associates, contacts from any source is one of the best ways
to get a job or valuable information that can lead to a job
opportunity. We know that all positions aren't advertised; the
statistic is something like 70-80 percent of positions are found
through the "Hidden Job Market." The Internet is one way of
establishing that networking relationship.
I think people in general
want the "quick fix" and see the Internet as THE job search solution,
which NO one way is. Interviewing on campus through your career
center (if you're a student) and using the job listings available in
the career library, posting your resume to employer Web sites,
researching companies that are in your field/geographic
preference/industry, by using the Internet and resource materials,
looking in the newspaper classifieds -- ALL are viable methods of job
searching.
Q:
What do you feel is the most exciting trend in job-hunting today?
A:
Same answer -- the Internet, coupled with the increased use of
technology! As I said, the Internet is a TOOL and it is a GREAT TOOL
for researching companies/industries to help the job seeker find
information that might aid him/her in deciding if there is a good
"fit." This information can help you "sell yourself" in a job
interview by showing you're obviously interested in the company;
you've done your homework. You've researched the company and thought
about how you'd fit in, make a contribution, be an asset to XYZ
company and why they should hire you!
It's important to remember that the Internet was first developed as
an information exchange for research. This is where it is at its most
powerful. Sure, there are plenty of Web sites that have employment
opportunities, but reliance solely on this one method is like what
doing a mass-mailing of resumes and cover letters used to be -- only
now, we're electronically mass-mailing! The increased use of numerous
kinds of technology is a very exciting trend!
By technology, I mean the increased use of resume databases, systems
like eRecruiting, Career Connections, First Place, that manage the
resume referral/job-matching and interview signups for some college
career centers. Ultimately these systems make it easier to connect
the job seeker with the employer. Students should definitely check
out what the career office has to offer. On-campus interviews are a
super way to facilitate that connection. Check out what your school's
career center has to offer. Almost all schools have Web pages with
the career center linked to them. Students can access information on
workshops, services, occupations/majors and more. Most career centers
have links to helpful Web sites that not only list employment
opportunities, but also information valuable to the job seeker.
There are sites dedicated to salary information, industry/employer
profiles and even information to aid in the interview. As the one who
maintains and updates my career office's home page, I can tell you
that many career-center Web pages have information on recent
graduates, resources to help with graduate-school searches, as well
as job-search resources.
Another example of the use of technology is DISCOVER, a multimedia
career guidance system, usually housed in the career center. It has a
great graduate-school database with links to the schools' Web sites.
Prospective graduate students can often take a virtual tour and get a
better idea of the campus environment, which is very helpful if you
can't visit every school in person. For the job seeker, DISCOVER has
an excellent section where you can look up occupations and get labor
market information, salary ranges, what workers like and dislike.
These can greatly aid in the decision-making process. DISCOVER also
has interviews to help you practice possible answers; this
interactive module allows you to choose the response and then gives
you feedback on the answer. You can do a practice interview and hone
your interviewing skills.
Technology is a very exciting trend for the job seeker. It can be
used in so many ways and is a constant source of innovation. It
sparks my creativity!
Q:
When you give presentations on Internet job-hunting, what
surprises your attendees the most about what kind of career help they
can find on the Internet?
A:
I've been doing Internet Job Search presentations for about four
years. The questions have moved from simply "how do you search?" to
specific search engines and Web sites. I think attendees are
surprised at the depth of information and how it might prove useful.
For example, at several employer Web sites, you are shown a picture
of the people in the company, which can be used to get a look into
the "corporate culture." Are women shown? What's the typical office
dress? How many minorities are pictured? Certainly, this is not the
only way. Remember this Web site is used for PR purposes! Going to
the workplace, meeting the key players, interviewing face-to-face is
the best way to form an opinion -- positive or negative -- of a
prospective employer. But the Internet does enable the job seeker to
research a prospective employer in greater depth. By researching the
employer, you can often find an annual report or other document
available online to help you prepare for the interview.
Many do not realize there are online assessments you can take and pay
for on the Internet. There are some that are free, but I caution
against relying solely on these to make a career decision, as many
have no validity and are not based on sound research. I also tell my
attendees about the ability to network online and join a discussion
group or read a newsgroup on a topic of their choice. Looking at
dejanews.com
[Editor's note: Now housed at groups.google.com] or
www.liszt.com
gives you a list of numerous newsgroups or discussion
lists that the job seeker can join. Establishing an "Internet
presence" by posting on a discussion list (after learning the rules
"Netiquette" one should follow for posting a message or reply)
facilitates others getting to know you and your area of
interest/expertise. Often you can connect with an employer and feel
that you "know" each other before having actually met; the interview
might be more of a formality as you've exchanged ideas online before.
Now, more attendees want specific information on a certain area of
interest and a Web site that has that answer. More of my
teaching/workshop presentation revolves around search techniques --
narrowing the search, using particular sites. For example,
LatPro.com
looks for professionals that speak Spanish and is more targeted than
just using Monster.com's jobs database when looking for employers
that want Spanish. Using
hotjobs.com and doing a keyword search for
"bilingual" is better than a site like CampusCareerCenter.com and not
narrowing your search criteria. Questions have become more
sophisticated in my Internet Job Search presentations. I always
stress that if someone had told me I'd be presenting on the Internet
Job Search, I'd have thought they were nuts! Now look -- see the
importance of being flexible in any career.
Q:
Thinking "outside the box,"
what's the best way for job-seekers to
figure out what career will give them the greatest happiness?
A:
I believe you have to be happy with what you're doing. We spend
more time with our "work family" than our real one -- five days at
work vs. two for the weekend. It's imperative we like what we do.
There is no magic formula to find this fit. There are, however, some
steps you can take in this process.
First, know yourself. There are some online inventories. They're fun,
but unless you know that they're valid and reliable, you might not be
getting a true picture. I give my students the Strong Interest
Inventory. It's an inventory that looks at both your interests and
people that are happy in their field and how similarly you scored to
persons in this field. So if you scored similarly to a certain field,
maybe you'd enjoy working in that field. It's based on John Holland's
work, and there are codes for each area of interest and each
occupation. You can also take it online and get the scores. You might
want to take these to a career counselor to get a more complete
interpretation. The written one they give you is rather comprehensive
and could be a good place to start. If you don't have access to a
career center, taking this assessment online is a good idea as you
know it's valid and reliable.
Sometimes I also give them the MBTI -- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
It looks at personality type: How they take in information. What
information do they use when making a decision -- data based on
impersonal information or more values-driven? Whether they prefer a
spontaneous mode of living or are more planful, organized, or
structured. Sometimes this assessment reveals more than just the
Strong, thus, putting career ideas into a larger context of how
people prefer to operate. Sometimes career passions may be buried as
many well-meaning people, such as parents or friends have told them
their ideas are just dreams, not practical. Having taken these
inventories often takes the conversation to a new level; other ideas
are revealed. Now they need to add the second step in the career
decision-making process.
Second, know the world of work. You can do this by investigating
possible career fields in a number of ways. Some people prefer to
read about careers. In your career center's career library, public
library, or a good Barnes & Noble/Borders-type bookstore, you can
find numerous resources to help you. You can use the Occupational
Handbook either hard-copy or online, "Opportunities in...," a VGM
Horizons series, "Real People Working in. . . Law, Advertising,
Education, etc...," "Great Jobs in" series, as well as Peterson's
Guides to Computer Science or Liberal Arts or Business.
[Editor's note: You can find many of these books in our
industry-specific
career bookstore.] You can go to
CareerPlanit.com's
information and search by occupation or major
under Resource Mining, or you can talk to people in fields you're
considering. Doing informational interviewing/networking can be very
helpful as you talk to someone in the "real world" who's doing what
you might want to do!
Then you put your knowledge about yourself with your knowledge of the
world of work and see what matches. The more information you have,
the easier the decision. Add to that knowledge your experience,
whether through a part-time/summer job or an internship. Employers
want you to have that experience, and you do, too, because it's
easier to know whether you like that field/environment or not. Also,
I think it's incredibly important to know that you need to be
flexible. People have more than one career in a lifetime! Stats say
two to three. You may be a CPA and begin your career in a public
accounting firm but work in a variety of industries, one of which is
the construction field, do a trade show presentation for this job,
get seen by a training/consulting firm, and now design presentations
for that company. Or start out as a journalist, and after doing a
six-part story on the reclamation of wetlands, work on internal
newsletters for a corporation that does environmental consulting.
These are but two true-life examples. Careers don't have to be linear
-- a traditional move up the career ladder often is not the way a
career grows.
I often ask my students to tell me what they'd do if education level
and experience weren't a factor. These daydreams often reveal their
career passion. Someone who'd love to be an actress and has a strong
value of helping others might look at training or teaching. Someone
who dreams of being a novelist could channel that love of writing and
words into publishing, corporate communications, news writing, and
numerous other fields.
Job seekers need to look at possibilities when deciding on a career
path. They also need to determine what their likes/dislikes are and
have information about the world of work. By doing some
self-assessments, research of various fields/industries, and having
experience in some areas, the process of determining what career(s)
might give them happiness is easier to manage.
Marcia Merrill, career advisor at Loyola College in Maryland, Career
Development and Placement Center, has been in the career
development/higher education field for more than 14 years. She holds
a Master of Science degree in counseling psychology from Loyola, a
Master of Arts degree in instructional systems
development/bilingual-bicultural education from University of
Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), a Certificate in Employee
Assistance Programs from Loyola and is currently in the Certificate
of Advanced Studies-Counseling Psychology program, also at Loyola.
She is co-chair of placement for Commission VI of American College
Personnel Association (ACPA) and on Executive Board for Middle
Atlantic Career Counselors Association (MACCA). She regularly answers
online career questions on NACE's "Ask the Experts" panel. She
developed and maintains the Career
Development and Placement Center's home page. You can contact
Marcia at mmerrill@loyola.edu.
