Career Doctor: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips #4

Career Doctor Q-TIPS #4:
Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips

These tips have been gathered from job-seeker Q&A's with the Career Doctor, Dr. Randall Hansen. For more information, go to The Career Doctor.

If you'd like to do research in a career field you're interested in, start by searching the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is a great source of information about careers, trends in those careers, and salary information.

Next, locate the professional association of your chosen field. Many libraries have a book in the reference area, the Encyclopedia of Associations, published by Gale Research, which lists associations. Or, you can check the Web. Go to General Professional Organizations and Associations. Or, try your favorite search engine; ours is Google.

Third, use your network of friends, colleagues, professors, family to find people currently working in the field. Set up interviews and discuss careers and salary with them. You can find out more about networking by visiting Quintessential Careers: The Art of Networking.

Fourth, surf through a few of the major job sites as well as some of the industry-specific sites, which you can find at Quintessential Careers, and review the job postings.

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The stigma of being downsized or fired has been greatly reduced thanks to the numbers who have been through it in the past decade. If it happens to you, your focus should be putting a positive spin on the departure -- that the decision was mutual because both you and the company were going in different directions, then change the subject and focus on your strengths and the many benefits you can bring to your prospective new company. When you are asked about the job from which you were let go, don't make excuses, prolong the discussion, or blame the person who terminated you. These kinds of actions will immediately end your interview.

Read our article The Impact of Getting Fired: How to Pick Up the Pieces and Find an Even Better Job.

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Worried that your current boss will find out you're job hunting? It is not always a bad thing that your boss knows you have outgrown your current position and are seeking new challenges and responsibilities. People are not supposed to stay in the same jobs forever; you are expected to grow and develop as new challenges change the way you do business or as you move up the management chain into higher management positions. Having a supervisor know you are ready for such a change can be a signal for that person that he or she should be ready to move up as well.

Of course, it's true that being honest could also backfire -- yet still have a good outcome. We know of someone who told her boss she wanted to interview for another position within the firm. The boss turned her down and blocked the transfer, citing her as too valuable to his department. Though she did not get that initial transfer, she did receive more training and responsibilities in the department she was in, which later helped her transfer out when an even better internal position became available.

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As you make a career change, one of the most important things you can do is talk with people currently working in your potential new career. Before making the jump, talk with several people at varying sized companies to get a better picture of the field. Conduct some informational interviews. Check out the ins and outs of informational interviewing by visiting Quintessential Careers: Informational Interviewing Tutorial.

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While the Web is taking some business away from traditional travel agencies, more and more people are traveling; thus, demand is still strong for knowledgeable agents. And according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment of travel agents is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. Many job openings will arise as new agencies open and existing agencies expand, but most openings will occur as experienced agents transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.

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According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment of paralegals is expected to grow much faster than average -- ranking among the fastest growing occupations in the economy -- as law firms and other employers with legal staffs increasingly hire paralegals to lower the cost, and increase the availability and efficiency, of legal services.

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Applying to jobs online? When you are looking for a job, make everything you do easy for the employer. If the employer has to spend more time on your application than on others, guess what? He or she won't; he or she will simply move on to the next applicant. Make cover letters and resumes sent over the Internet as easy as possible for employers so they'll consider your application.

Always send your cover letter and resume as unformatted text within the email message as well as formatted as attachments. If you don't provide both options, you risk not being considered. Why? Because some employers only want text, while others request formatted attachments. Still others don't open attachments for fear of viruses or other security reasons, and some may not be able to open your attachments because of software incompatibilities. For guidelines to follow on text-based resumes, read our article, Text Resume Fundamentals.

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If you're planning to relocate, will it enhance your chances of being interviewed if you state in your cover letter that you will relocate at your own expense? No. In fact, just the opposite may be true. Stating at that early a stage in the job-hunting process that you will fund your own relocation makes you sound a bit too desperate, and employers tend to shy away from such people.

Instead, focus your efforts on building a network of people in your desired new location through professional associations, friends, colleagues, alumni associations, etc. Consider taking a working vacation there and schedule interviews -- job or informational -- during that time. Before you go, set up interviews with potential employers and a few recruitment agencies. Being available for interviews is what is important at this phase; moving expenses don't enter the picture until a job offer is in the making.

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Why do some employers want to know your salary history, and how does this information relate to your potential salary if you were to be hired? While employers sometimes ask for a salary history (as opposed to salary requirements) to see the frequency with which you've received promotions and raises, they often request a salary history as a screening device.

With salary histories in hand, they can easily screen out the underpaid and overpaid applicants and focus on the applicants within their chosen range. Because salary negotiation is partly based on information, most certainly the employer has the upper hand in negotiations if he or she knows exactly what you have made in your past jobs. In this situation, in fact, the employer holds all the cards, and you have very little power to do any kind of negotiating. To try to even the playing field, find out the salary range for the new position. Armed with this information, you can decide whether you are willing to work for that amount and begin to position yourself in case the salary is a big leap from your current pay.

How do you position yourself? Do not list your salary information on your resume. You could put a simple table in your cover letter providing "ballpark" salary figures. But remember, the more information you give out, the less room you have to negotiate. Find out more about salary negotiating by visiting Quintessential Careers: Salary and Job Offer Negotiation Tutorial and our list of Salary Negotiation Do's and Dont's.

One of the best books on the subject is Jack Chapman's Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1,000 a Minute.

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If you're a young person just embarking on the process of choosing a career, don't eliminate any possibilities just yet. The key to a successful work life is finding employment that you love to do -- not just a job that pays well.

Whatever fuels your passion will likely lead to a choice of jobs that offer a good salary while allowing you to work at something you enjoy. Do keep in mind, however, that your interests may change as you mature and continue your education.

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What salutation should you use in a cover letter if you don't know the identity of the hiring manager? Simple. You should make it a point always to know the identity of the hiring manager and address your letter specifically for that person. There should be very few times in your job search correspondence that can't find out the name of the person you are writing to. As long a want ad provides the name of the hiring company, it is quite easy to call the firm and obtain the name of the hiring manager. In fact, doing so often results in your letter and resume getting more notice because it shows initiative.

On those rare times when you do not know the name or gender of the person you are writing to (such as when respond to a blind ad), try "Dear Boxholder," "Dear Friends," or just begin the letter without a salutation.

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If you've had an interview, sent a thank-you letter, but not heard anything by the time you were told you would hear, call the decision-maker immediately. Tell this hiring manager that you are following-up on the position and would like to know where things stand.

The old saying about the squeaky wheel is true here; be persistent about calling and getting the status, but don't call every day and make a pest of yourself. At best, you'll get an answer; maybe there is a temporary hiring freeze. At worst, you'll get strung along some more, but at least you are showing your interest in the position and the company.

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Thinking of majoring in economics? Quite a few occupations are available to those with an economics degree, including economist, market analyst, claims adjuster, systems analyst, inventory control specialist, demographer, geographer, and many others. For a great source of transferable skills, list of occupations, and other resources, visit the University of North Carolina at Wilmington's What Can I do with a Major in ....

Another great source of information to search is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. Finally, see the Choosing a Major section of our tutorial on Jobhunting on the Internet.

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You're barely into your first job out of college, but you already realize it's not the right job for you. Perhaps it's a dead-end and not challenging at all. Do you stick it out so you'll have a longer period of employment to list on your resume -- or do you leave? A lot depends on whether you have a probationary period, how often you are being reviewed, and your relationship with your supervisor. If you are in a probationary period in which you will have a 3-month or 6-month review, you might want to wait for the next review period and raise your concerns about the job and express your interest in doing something more challenging.

If you have only an annual review process, consider raising your concerns after the probationary period unless you have a very strong relationship with your supervisor. Once you make your desires known, there are two possible outcomes. In the better one, your boss will take your concerns under advisement and help you find more challenging ways to use your skills. In the other scenario, Your boss will either ignore your concerns or think you are rushing things, in which case the ball is then in your court to stick it out or start looking for new employment.

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Writers get writer's block and sometimes job-hunters get job-hunter's block, especially when they are new to job-hunting. The key is getting focused on what you want to accomplish, which should motivate you to get you on the right path to finding that ideal opportunity for you. A step-by-step plan for job-hunting can help keep you on course. Identify key companies in the geographic areas that interest you. A number of reference books in your local library or university library that list corporations and divisions by location. You could also contact the area chambers of commerce to get that kind of information -- or even track down the phone books. Check out our Quintessential Directory of Company Career Centers

Once you've identified the companies, contact each company to get a name of a person to whom to send your cover letter and resume. Next, write dynamic cover letters to these people; look here to find some great sample cover letters. Then do the required follow-up. Call the people you wrote to about 10 days later and request an interview. Be prepared for some rejection. While the cold-contact method is much more successful than responding to want ads and job listings, you will still get numerous rejections.

However, you should also consider scheduling informational interviews with the firms that tell you they have no openings; this networking technique often leads to other job interviews. See our Informational Interviewing Tutorialfor more information.

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A number of free online personality- and career-focused tests are available to give you some career direction and focus. But be aware that these tests will not give you magic answers. The results may even raise more questions, but at least they will provide food for thought that you may not have had before.

You can find what we consider the best free and inexpensive tests on the Web at Quintessential Careers: Career Assessment.

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Responding to help-wanted ads is a part of the job-hunting ritual but has an extremely low payoff. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only about 5 percent of people obtain jobs through the "open" job market -- consisting primarily of help-wanted ads on the Internet and in print publications.

If responding to ads is all you've been doing, branch out and focus your energies on productive job-hunting techniques, such as networking. Use your circle of friends and colleagues to help find a new job. But your circle of friends and coworkers is just one part of your available network. Your potential network includes people in professional groups where you are a member, religious organizations, social groups, college and high school alumni groups, and more. If you've already begun networking, go back and examine whom you have networked with and see if you can expand that circle. Don't be shy.

To get more information and tips on networking, visit Quintessential Careers: The Art of Networking. Another technique is the cold-contact job search in which you identify employers and directly targeted letters (and resumes) to them in search of a job. The U.S. Department of Labor says that about 24 percent of job-seekers obtain their jobs through such direct contact, and the better you target the companies best suited to you, the more you can raise the odds of obtaining a job this way.

Don't put all your faith in the Internet, but don't abandon it either. Examine some job sites that you haven't looked at before or look for sites that specifically target either your location or your profession. You can find the best collection of these resources at: Quintessential Careers: Job Resources.

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A number of companies use group or panel interviewing techniques. If they happen late in the job-hunt process, these interviews sometimes are more like informal meetings where the focus is on the level of a general discussion. However, these group interviews can also be extremely tough sessions, in which each person is lobbing questions at you in rapid fire.

To prepare yourself, try to talk with someone at the company to ask what to expect at the interview. If this interview is your first with the company, prepare as you would for any job interview. Anticipate questions these people might ask you and prepare responses. Prepare for both traditional interview questions (such as, "why do you want to work for this company"), as well as behavioral interview questions (such as, "tell us about a time when you had to overcome huge obstacles.").

You can find information about interviewing and interviewing tips at Quintessential Careers: Guide to Interviewing Resources.

Finally, be prepared and be yourself; show enthusiasm for the position and for the company. Be ready with some questions to ask your interviewers, and make sure you send thank you notes to everyone who interviews you. Ask for business cards to make sure you have everyone's name with the correct spelling.

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Self-assessment and career exploration are constructive processes when you're first starting to choose a college, a major, or a career, but don't get too caught up in the process early on. So many students have changed their majors several times while at college -- and most still find a way to graduate in the typical four years. The key is finding something you'll like doing, using your strongest skills, and realizing that your career choice may certainly change or evolve over time.

Assessment tests can be helpful, but keep in mind that all these tests are simply instruments to give you a little more focus and direction. For example, we knew a student who took one of these tests, and the results said he should be a construction worker or firefighter, among other occupations. He got upset because he wondered why he was attending college if his "fate" was in of these two jobs. Of course, he was taking the results too literally. Thus, if you don't like the results of one of these tests, simply ignore them and move on to the next one.

You can find more detail and links to some of the best tests by going to Quintessential Careers: Career Assessments.

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Is it okay to take notes to an interview -- in other words a sort of "cheat sheet" with key words/phrases to help you focus and remember situations? Most experts discourage taking notes to an interview. While they do show you are prepared for the interview, they also show that you are not prepared enough -- otherwise you would have the information in your head.

Some people benefit from composing interview responses in writing and reading over them before the interview. Don't memorize your responses or they will sound over-rehearsed. Try not to take any notes to the interview; instead, use a copy of your resume to help trigger your key points. But if you feel as though you really must have notes, keep them as unobtrusive as possible -- perhaps using a small notepad. And don't fret about not saying all your key phrases and comments. You can always include some follow-up in your thank-you letter (which you must write), samples of which you can find at Quintessential Careers.

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Ever heard the expression, "He who speaks first loses"? The saying can be true when it comes to salary histories. It's true that if employers know what you are making in your current position, they tend to have the upper hand in salary negotiations. Employers often ask for a salary history as a screening device to narrow the field of applicants. Job-seekers with salaries too high or too low are put in the "B" or "C" pile (possible rejects and rejects, respectively), rather than the "A" pile. You don't have a whole lot of options here. If you don't include a salary history, you might get rejected. Another option is to include your salary history, but stress that salary is negotiable.

You can gain an upper hand for yourself, however, if you can determine the pay range for the job. And you can often do this simply by contacting the human resources office and asking for that salary range. If that is not possible, try to figure it out by looking at comparable jobs with similar requirements. For more information and resources about salary negotiation, visit Quintessential Careers: Salary Negotiation. For more specific help with salary negotiation, visit Quintessential Careers: Salary and Job Offer Negotiation Tutorial. (By the way, one reason employers ask for a salary history as opposed to salary requirements is to see the frequency with which you've received promotions and raises.)

Job satisfaction comes from many sources, so decide what the most important factors are to you for job satisfaction. A good book on the subject is Career Satisfaction & Success: A Guide to Job and Personal Freedom, by Bernard Haldane, Ph.D. He writes from his many years of experience helping people make the most of their careers and lives.

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Is a resume in ASCII format the same thing as a resume in text only? Yes. "ASCII," "text only," and "scannable resume" all basically mean the same thing -- a resume that is stripped of all formatting, making it easier to scan and store in databases. But there is a little more to it because some fundamental content differences exist between a regular formatted resume and a scannable resume. To learn all about these differences, read Quintessential Careers: Text Resume Fundamentals.

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If you quit a job voluntarily, is it okay to ask your former boss for a letter of recommendation? It totally depends on whether you left your old job on friendly terms and your relationship with your old boss. Have you been keeping him or her informed of your progress? Did you leave on good terms? Did you have a good working relationship with your old boss? Assuming a "yes" answer to all these questions, definitely contact your old boss about a recommendation. There is no time limit or expiration on recommendations.

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Is it inappropriate to ask for a job/salary offer in writing? Is it possible to ask too many questions about compensation? If an employer doesn't offer any form of contract, it's advisable to ask for the offer in writing. If an employer seems unwilling, one way around the issue is to write an acceptance letter of the job offer in which you spell out what you understand to be the conditions of employment. That way, if there's a misunderstanding about the terms, it can be red-flagged before you start working there.

For a position such as sales, where the various salary issues include commission levels, it is extremely important to get the specifics in writing. If a company will not put an offer in writing, you are probably better off not working for that firm.

For tips on negotiating salary, visit Quintessential Careers: Salary Negotiation. This page has some links to some great resources, including our Salary Negotiation Tutorial.

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To understand the importance of networking, it's helpful to examine how people get their jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only about 5 percent of people obtain jobs through the "open" job market -- consisting primarily of help-wanted ads on the Internet and in print publications. Another 24 percent obtain jobs through contacting companies directly -- the cold-contact method of job-hunting. Twenty-three percent obtain jobs through such means as employment agencies, college career-services offices and executive-search firms. The remaining 48 percent -- nearly half of all jobhunters, obtain their jobs through referrals -- that is word of mouth. How do they get referrals and find out about jobs through word of mouth? By networking.

See How People Get Their Jobs.

Read more tips from the Career Doctor in Career Doctor: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips #5.

Review all our Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips.

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Career Doctor Q-TIPS #4: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips

These tips have been gathered from job-seeker Q&A's with the Career Doctor, Dr. Randall Hansen. For more information, go to The Career Doctor.

Review all our Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips.

Maximize your career and job-search knowledge and skills! Take advantage of The Quintessential Careers Content Index, which enables site visitors to locate articles, tutorials, quizzes, and worksheets in 35 career, college, job-search topic areas.

Career Doctor Q-TIPS #4:
Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips