In this technology-rich era, it’s no surprise that many companies are incorporating it into their hiring practices through the use of on-line video interviewing.  On-line video interviewing may take the place of telephone screening, or could be used throughout the first round(s) of interviewing. Why?  Because it is convenient and can save the company time and money if initial interviews are conducted on-line versus bringing candidates on site.

On-line video interviews may be through SKYPE or other similar applications, in which candidates and interviewers are both “live,” or company’s may use technology that allows an interviewer to pre-record questions that candidates may respond to within a designated time period.  Either way, video interviewing requires preparation and practice if you want to present yourself as well as you would in person.

The CareerSpots video – On-Line Video Interviews – suggests the following tips:

• Do a test call with friends or family. 
• Check for technical problems ahead of time
• Dress as though you are conducting a face-to-face interview
• Make sure your space is tidy and clutter free with nothing distracting in the background
• Eliminate interruptions by informing others that you will be conducting an interview
• Plug your computer in so your battery doesn’t die during the interview
• Check lighting to ensure interviewers will see you clearly
• Frame your shot – make sure the camera focuses on your face
• Look directly into the camera lens – it’s the same as making eye contact
• Be enthusiastic!

Most importantly, practice, practice, practice!

Spring often means that many students are engaged in an active search for jobs or internships.  Identifying companies of interest is certainly the first step, but what comes next?  Your resume, along with your cover letter or presence/conversation at a career fair, is your opportunity to illustrate how you would be a good fit for a position or organization.  That means that you should be purposefully highlighting skills, abilities, and attributes that are relevant to the employer.

Figuring out what is relevant is the behind-the-scenes preparation before your resume is created, your cover letter is drafted, and your interview responses are practiced.  By researching the organization and industry of interest, you will be able to tailor your job search materials and create a strong personal brand that advocates for why you should be considered as a candidate.

According to the Digital Job Choices Magazine, available through the Career Services website, “Researching employers is perhaps the single-most important activity you will undertake in your job search.  The information you uncover can help you:

• Discover organizations that are a good match for you,
• Identify the organization’s goals and needs,
• Tailor your resume and cover letters to highlight your skills and experiences that match the employer’s needs,
• Know what questions to ask employers,
• Demonstrate your interest in and enthusiasm for the organization,
• Answer interview questions with confidence, and
• Make an informed employment decision."

Generally speaking, you are not likely to have made it to the interviewing process of your job search if the organization meeting with you didn’t believe you could do their job.  They still want to hear you speak about your skills and job knowledge, but if they didn’t think you had the basics, you wouldn’t even be there.

Although this is reassuring in some ways, it also puts the pressure on you to perform well during that interview by articulating your strengths, offering examples of your past behaviors, and providing relevant information that reinforces your fit with that company.  Many employers utilize the Behavioral Based method of interviewing, meaning they ask questions that require you to tell stories (give examples) about how you responded in past experiences in order to gain an understanding about how you might behave in future work situations.  The CareerSpots video – Behavioral Interviewing – gives an excellent introduction to this interview technique as well as examples of questions, good responses, and attributes they’re listening for.

How prepared do you think you are for a behavioral interview situation?

Time and again, we hear that communication is one of the top skills that employers and graduate schools seek.  You may truly be the perfect fit, but if you can’t articulate your strengths and experiences well, you may be passed over.  Good communication takes reflection, practice, and an understanding of what employers/schools are seeking.  On January 20, 2013, Career Services is hosting the first Becoming a Professional Dutchman…A Career Conference that Goes Beyond the Basics designed to help students learn and apply best practices for polishing their professional presentation in planning, writing, interviewing, and networking.

Participants will take the StrengthsFinder assessment prior to the conference and receive a complimentary copy of StrengthsFinder 2.0 in preparation for the keynote presentation: Discovering your Strengths.  Two concurrent sessions will follow:

• Session 1: Strengths 2.0: Building Credibility with Employers   OR   Graduate School Success
• Session 2: Ace the Behavioral Interview   OR   An Introduction to Inter-Cultural Communication

The final group presentation will focus on Etiquette Essentials for the Polished Professional .

Take advantage of this unique opportunity – a conference focusing on preparing you to Become a Professional Dutchman!  For more information, visit Career Services or go to the Career Events section of JobCenter.  Registration is required by December 15^th, 2012.

Becoming a Professional Dutchman - A Career Conference

“answering your phone during the interview…”
“having a tongue ring...”
“not knowing what job you’re applying for...”
“don’t come into the interview eating...”
“don’t show your tattoos...”
“don’t say ummm...”
“probably shouldn’t wear anything with cleavage”...

These are first responses from students in the CareerSpots video – Top 10 Interview Mistakes.  Take a look at the video for the employer perspective on the Top 10 mistakes candidates can make!

Although it’s important to know what you shouldn’t do, it’s more important to identify and understand things you should do.  Granted, you could assume that it’s correct for you to do the opposite of what’s on the top 10 list of mistakes, but hopefully you would already know not to answer your phone or arrive finishing off your breakfast.

Instead, spend ample time preparing so that you are ready with relevant examples and illustrations of the skills and abilities you will contribute to the organization.  Know the job description inside and out and research the company and industry so that you can ‘talk the talk.’  Draw from your work experience, classroom projects, campus or community involvement, athletics, study abroad, or any other venue in which you’ve developed skills.

Remember, it is not so much the activity that matters to the employer, but what you gained from that activity.  Of equal importance is the ability to articulate those experiences and highlight your accomplishments in a way that is relevant to the employer!  Make use of all of the electronic and people resources available to you as you practice your interviewing techniques.  The last thing you want to do is provide examples for next year’s Top 10 List of Mistakes!

When preparing for a career fair, an interview, or a networking event in which you will be interacting with employers of interest, preparing ahead of time will help you to make a strong first impression.  We frequently receive feedback from events that employers wish students would spend more time researching their organizations beforehand; doing so will help you to prepare good questions and have a more targeted conversation.

CareerSpots has recorded a 4 minute video offering employer suggestions on how to begin Researching Companies.  A few specific points offered in their corresponding TIP sheet are as follows:

• Start with the company website.  You will find all the basics: information on the company’s products or services, mission statement, history, press releases, locations, job openings and much more.  Read the company’s annual report.  Look through company personnel profiles and, if possible, find information on the person who you ill interview with.
• Get an industry view of the company.  Check out trade journals at the university or public library to see what other people are writing about the company.  This gives you a broader sense of the industry as a whole and how the company fits into the larger picture.  You can also find out who are the company’s top competitors.
• Check out company blogs…

Informational interviews are also an excellent way to learn more about a company, industry, or profession.  Refer to last week’s blog on Informational Interviewing to learn what they are, their value, and how to conduct one!

Don’t underestimate the value of being prepared!  Spend the time researching companies ahead of time; it will be noticed by employers and will help you to stand out and move farther in the job search process!

What are they? Why do them? What do you ask? What’s next?

To start, watch two students prepare and receive feedback in in this CareerSpots video: Informational Interviewing.

Conducting an informational interview does not have the same objective as a job interview.  While the latter is part of a hiring process to land a job, the former is about networking, learning, and practicing.  From informational interviews, you can gain a first-hand perspective about a company, a specific job, or an industry.

Informational interviews are extremely valuable for anyone looking to gather information.  When done professionally, they can open doors and help you make decisions about your own career planning.  So, how do you conduct one professionally?  Figure out who you would like to talk with and make the connection; prepare in advance and ask thoughtful questions; and follow up to express your appreciation and keep the conversation going.

Like job interviews, informational interviews should be taken very seriously from start to finish.  Your first step is to think about your purpose for conducting an informational interview – what are your interests, plans, etc?  Taking the time to articulate your reasons will help you to target the type of individual you might like to contact.

Second, determine who to connect with!  Think about your personal connections, explore the Career Connections alumni mentoring database, or initiate contact with someone from a company of interest.  Then, introduce yourself (usually through email or letter for the first contact) and ask for a half hour of their time.  Let them know your purpose for contacting them and give them an idea of what you’d like to discuss.  Don’t forget that professionals are busy - you may need to follow up!

Once a connection is made and an informational interview is scheduled – they can be conducted over the phone, in person, via email communication, or Skype – be sure to research the company/industry/profession and prepare questions that will direct the conversation.  You want to approach an informational interview with a plan; but you should always be prepared to improvise.  This should be a conversation, not a rapid-fire question/answer session!

If you are meeting them, be sure to dress as professionally as you would for a job interview.  Take your resume with you just in case (don’t forget, this is not a job interview, but you never know where it will lead!) and your notes with questions.  Your goal is the leave the interviewee impressed with your efforts!  Follow up with a thank you note afterword expressing your interest in continuing the conversation.  Congratulations – you are well on your way to building your professional network!

Although networking might be a daunting thought, informational interviewing is absolutely worth the effort.  Gain valuable information that you would have difficulty learning otherwise, and meet professionals who can be helpful to career path.  The more you practice, the easier it will be when participating in real job interviews and the more you will be familiar with the professional world. 

When you made the decision to come to college, hopefully your primary concerns were doing well in classes and increasing your understanding and application of many different fields of study.  Your academic performance should be your top priority; however, there are many other things that ‘the college experience’ can give you if you take advantage of your time here.  It's true that getting involved on and off campus is valuable socially, developmentally, and personally.  But doing so is also extremely valuable when thinking about the job and internship search.

Being a well-rounded student demonstrates to employers that you are ready to handle the world of work.  Depending on your involvement, it is also where you are developing many job related skills that can help you to stand out from your competition.  All you need to do (aside from participating!) is to make the connection between what you are accomplishing and how it relates to necessary job/internship skills.

CareerBuilder recently conducted a survey, finding that “one-in-four hiring managers say relevant experience is the top thing they look for in a new graduate.”  You may be thinking that one in four is low, but why risk it in a tough economy?  Especially when you may already have plenty of experience from your involvement!

Take a look at THIS ARTICLE to see how CareerBuilder writers suggest that you connect your coursework, part-time jobs, campus leadership positions, clubs and other extra-curriculars, and volunteer work to your future job search efforts.  If you are a senior, be sure these things are sufficiently illustrated on your resume, in your cover letter, or through your interview responses; for those of you with a year or more left, take advantage of your time to get involved!

What’s different about a telephone interview?

The telephone interview, often conducted by someone in the HR department, is the most common way to perform an initial screening interview.  The interviewer is trying to determine in a short amount of time if you have the interest and skill set needed for the job, and whether you will likely fit within the company.  The interview typically follows a set, logical format.

Keep in mind that employers are seeking to discover several things from the phone interview, including your ability to communicate verbally, your willingness to relocate, and your knowledge of their company/organization/school.  They also are listening for your qualifications and experiences to determine how closely you match their employment needs.  Telephone interviews can be problematic for candidates, especially if time and energy is not spent in preparing for the telephone meeting.

It’s a fact that most of us are more comfortable expressing ourselves in face-to-face situations where our facial expressions, gestures, and eye contact reinforce what we are attempting to say. Luckily, with some organization and practice, you can still make the impression you need to make over the phone in order to get to the next step in the hiring process – an on-site interview.

• Try these tips for increasing your telephone interview effectiveness.
• Check out the Phone Etiquette CareerSpots video