Q TIPS:
Career Expert Quintessential Career & Job Tips -- #5
These tips have been gathered from individual interviews with career, college, and job experts, part of our
Q&A with Career Experts series.
The Internet is a huge boon to networking, according to Debra
Feldman, specialist in cyber-savvy strategic job-search
consultations, in the
Q&A
interview she did with Quintessential Careers. "Let's
face one big and simple fact, whether a job is posted in a newspaper
or on the Internet job site, company Web site, or trade newsletter,
among online resources, they all come down to the same thing - a
listed opening," Feldman says. "We all accept that more than 85
percent of job seekers find their jobs through networking and
contacts. The new technology will make accessing one's contacts
easier and faster, reducing delays in turnarounds and eliminating
some sources of potential data loss."
In the Q&A
interview he did with Quintessential Careers,
teacher and writer Martin Kimeldorf observed that "the temporary
nature of employment in America has finally hit home. This phenomenon
has created a community of job-seekers that now really is inclusive
and helpful. This community now includes people who are unemployed
and the rest of us who are temporarily employed. As a result, more
and more people are willing to help their fellow job-seekers. Most of
us are willing to help people with informational interviews or with
networking because we know we might be job hunting next."
Authors Gen and Kelly Tanabe observed in the
Q&A interview they did with
Quintessential Careers that
many students say that the college admission process is a mystery.
"They send off their applications and several months later receive
either the coveted acceptance letter or hated denial letter in the
mail," the Tanabes note. "They wonder who the dark figures hiding in
the shadows are who read their applications. The truth is that they
are real people. They come from all kinds of backgrounds, former
English majors who love to read, alumni who love their colleges, and
educators. And perhaps even more surprising is that they are not your
critics who take evil pleasure in denying you. Admission officers are
actually rooting for you, looking for reasons to admit you," the
Tanabes continue.
"Of course the reality is that colleges cannot
accept all applicants, but for the most part admission officers
approach the applications they receive positively. They review all of
the pieces of the application, building a complete picture of who you
are from your academic record to the passions you describe in your
essays to what others say about you in recommendations. While your
academic fit with the college is the most important, admission
officers also seek to find your personal fit with the college as
well. Will you thrive on the campus? Will you be challenged? Will you
contribute to the campus community? The truth is that the great
majority of admission officers enjoy the process, especially when
they see the new students they have admitted on campus. Help them by
giving them reasons to admit you. Don't be afraid of showing them who
you really are and what is important to you," the Tanabes advise.
Updating one's resume as the first step in job-hunting is often a
knee-jerk reaction and may not be the best initial approach,
according to Debra Feldman, specialist in cyber-savvy strategic
job-search consultations, in the
Q&A
interview she did with Quintessential Careers. "This
reaction just leads to an updated version of a document that may not
adequately represent all that a person can offer a potential
employer," Feldman says. "It would be far better if each person spent
the first phase of the job search figuring out just what he or she
wants to do and uniquely has to offer. Then the next step would be to
determine what types of businesses might best utilize such talents,
and using that industry's jargon, prepar
The Internet is a huge boon to networking, according to Debra
Feldman, specialist in cyber-savvy strategic job-search
consultations, in the