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2012 Career Goals: The Good, the Bad, and the “What Can I Learn From This?”
Hot damn, you’ve survived the holidays! (Okay, let’s say we’re working on recovery….) Now it’s time to take a quick look backward and a bit of a longer look forward to keep moving forward toward your career goals.
Looking back at 2012, ask yourself what went great and what went, ah, not so great. On the “what went great” list, think about the why of these successes.
What had you done that lead to a great outcome? Had you spent some time brainstorming a new idea? Reached out to someone who helped you? Read a book or magazine article or blog post that sparked a creative solution to a problem? Analyzed a company process until you found a more streamlined approached? Built a rapport with a company client that caused them to spend more money with the company?
Pay attention to the things that you did before that moment of success, then find ways to ramp up those activities even more in 2013. You’ll be building not only greater success for your company, but also a higher level of professional performance – which is one of the best long-term career investments you can make.
Next, check out any failures you had in 2012, the more spectacular, the better. The good news about looking at the “what went not so great” side is that this is where you can really learn and grow. The often-repeated quote that we learn more from failure than from success is true – your job is to look beyond that cringe-worthy moment(s), step back from the emotions involved, and clearly assess what you could have done differently to possibly produce a different outcome.
Could you have spent more time preparing? Could you have vetted your assumptions with a senior colleague? Could you have done more research about a potential customer, vendor, or partner? Could you have used better people skills to manage a difficult staff situation? Would your presentation have been more compelling if you’d had better knowledge of the presentation software? Would your budget have had a better chance of being approved if you’d been more effectively able to use an Excel spreadsheet to more effectively lay out your department finances?
Yep, giving yourself a debrief on all the things that didn’t turn out the way you’d hoped in 2012 can be a bit of a downer, but only if you don’t recognize how valuable this information is for you in terms of creating your 2013 career agenda. By taking responsibility for what went wrong, you also have the opportunity to change the outcome next time by improving what you need to improve and learning what you need to learn.
And if you didn’t have any failures in 2012? Then your career goal for 2013 is to push yourself out of your comfort zone and start taking on new challenges. To quote automotive industry pioneer Henry Ford, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Here’s to a 2013 filled with lessons learned, challenges embraced, and new opportunities to grow.
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Find Recruiters Who Get What You Do
When you’re working with recruiters, it really helps if they already understand your industry, your job title, and the nature of the work that you do. (To put it bluntly, they can sell you better to a potential employer if they understand what they’re selling….) That means you need to find a niche recruiting firm or recruiter who specializes in your field, rather than one of the generalist companies that do placements for all industries.
The following free directories of recruiters will help you find the ones that are likely to work best for your particular area of interest:
Career Portal Online Recruiters Directory
www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com
Directory of recruiters and search firms, but with limited interaction – you can submit resumes to participating recruiters, but not click through their listings for more detailed contact information. However, this information is fairly readily available with a bit of online research.
Find A Recruiter: The Guide for Employment Search Professionals
Search for local recruiters or ones in the area where you’d ike to live/work, using your field of interest plus preferred location. Clicking on entries of interest will also bring up jobs that recruiter is currently trying to fill.
Net-Temps Staffing Agency Directory Listings
www.net-temps.com/staffing-directory/find-staffing-agency/index.html#axzz2A078CO96
Browse by state, major metropolitan area, or alphabetically by company name.
Oya’s Directory of Recruiters
Free directory of recruiters searchable by keyword or browsable by location or specialty.
Recommended Recruiter
According to this Top Echelon Network resource, the recruiters listed on the site “possess an average of over 15 years of experience, have earned high-profile industry certifications, belong to state and national associations, won numerous awards, and earned various accolades.” Searchable by keyword and location, with profiles and areas of specialization for each recruiter or firm listed.
Recruiting Life > The Career Seeker
http://www.recruitinglife.com/forcandidates/index.cfm
Resource provided by the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) to connect job seekers with recruiters appropriate for their needs. All recruiters listed are NAPS members; the database is searchable by firm name, state, or professional specialization.
And don’t forget to search LinkedIn to find a recruiter as well: go to the Advanced link next to the Search People box, type “recruiter” in the keyword or title box plus your area of specialization, then your zip code into the zip code box. LinkedIn will return a list of recruiters whose profiles and company pages you can check out for recommendations and to see where they’ve placed previous clients. If you like what you see, reach out and make that connection!
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
A History of American Careers [Infographic]
As the American job market evolved over the past few centuries, the need for a skilled and educated workforce has become more and more important. In 1940 only about 1 in 20 Americans held a bachelor’s degree. By 2018, 63% of jobs will require some form of higher education. This timeline looks back to early American careers and the skills necessary to fill them, how the need for education has progressed through modern times, and where job growth is moving from now until 2020.
Q&A with Career Services Manager, Kimberly Baker
Kimberly Baker is the Career Services Manager at Bryant & Stratton College Online. She has been with the College for six and a half years and has a passion for helping students be as career ready as possible upon graduation.
What can students expect from Career Services?
We are here to offer support with job search assistance, including where and how to look for jobs, writing cover letters and resumes, and how to prepare for an interview. Our services are free to any student as well as alumni.
What are you hearing from employers about who they’re looking to hire?
Employers are doing less on the job training so they are looking for future employees who are career-ready. The ability to demonstrate in an interview that you’ve done applicable work is key, which is why we emphasize portfolio development as part of the curriculum here. Equally important are “soft” skills. We’re hearing more and more from employers that they are looking to hire people who can demonstrate emotional intelligence, critical thinking and information literacy.
How does the Career Services Department help students prepare a portfolio?
Developing a portfolio has been an important part of the curriculum for graduating students but recently we’ve been working on ways to integrate career services in to the whole life of a student. Now starting in their first year students will take a special one-day course once a year dedicated to portfolio development. The courses will examine strategies such as what to put in a portfolio, resume writing tips, advices for preparing for an interviewing and how to negotiate a salary. To complete the portfolio students will still be required, as part of their capstone, to have their resume and portfolio evaluated by an outside source. This last step has been incredibly helpful for some students, some of who have gotten a promotion after making changes to their resume based on feedback from the external review.
What are students most shocked by when it comes to entering the workforce?
One of the most common things I hear from students is they are surprised that looking for a job is a full time job in and of itself! In this competitive job market getting an offer takes some work. Students need to diligently search for positions, but that’s only half the effort. Once they’ve found something to apply to they need to make sure their cover letter, resume and portfolio are customized to match what is in the job posting. And, if they land an interview more time is needed preparing for that opportunity – don’t forget to grab a friend or family member and practice answering key questions. Last but not least of all, don’t forget that thank you note! Following up with a potential employer to thank them for the opportunity to interview for the position does not go unnoticed.
For more information about Bryant & Stratton College Online’s Career Services Department call Kimberly Baker at 1-800-836-5627 ext. 220.
Making Mistakes Work for You
When you’re new to the workplace, it’s normal to try to avoid making mistakes – after all, you’re working like crazy to impress people with how professional you are! But the reality is, everyone you work with has made tons of mistakes, from your boss to the company president. So instead of focusing on never making a mistake, shift your framework to what you can learn from your mistakes. That’s how you grow.
For example, assume you’re stepping up to a new professional challenge, such as giving a workplace presentation for the first time. Even though you’ve done the appropriate research and preparation, perhaps with this first presentation the outcome is completely, unpredictably awful – a stunning failure. Your smart move here? Focus on what you can learn from the mistakes you made during your presentation. it.
For example,
- What did you learn about yourself?
- What did you learn about giving presentations that can help you improve your next one?
- What did you learn about handling adversity?
- What would you do differently next time?
Then focus on laughing about it and realize you’re going to be able to tell great stories about this for years!
All professional growth involves doing something you’ve never done before, which pretty much guarantees that you’re not going to do it perfectly the first time (okay, or maybe even the second or third or fourth time). Take it from someone who has made their own mistakes: it’s a small price to pay for the career opportunities it may open up for you. To quote Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Go for it!
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
The Fine Art of Being a Great Team Member
How hard can it be to lead, manage, or be part of an effective team? Pretty darn hard according to best-selling author Patrick Lencioni (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, 2002), who stated:
Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.
It comes as no surprise, then, that so many employers list “ability to work effectively as part of a team” among their most desired employee characteristics. Needless to say, you want to be able to mention your strong team-participation skills when interviewing for a job, but you also want to actually be a great team member, able to contribute your skills in a way that boosts the overall effectiveness of any team you’re part of.
Strong team contributors share certain characteristics that make them the go-to choices when a new project is rolling out. Those characteristics include:
Reliability. Team members have to be able to rely on each other. That means they need to know that if you commit to something, you’ll follow through, meet deadlines, and produce whatever is needed at a high level of quality. (And if, for any reason, you’ll not be able to make a deadline, a great team member lets everyone know immediately about the delay, and when completion can be expected.)
Active listener. As basic as this seems, great team members actively listen to each other’s comments, questions, and issues in order to fully understand all of the potential issues that may derail (or enhance) a project. If team meetings end up being nothing more than verbal power plays between a couple of key participants, the entire team loses an opportunity to perform at a high level.
Ability to support team decisions. Because it’s made up of unique individuals with specific skills and points of view, a team necessarily will be dealing with lots of different opinions about the best way to do things. In fact, part of your job is to contribute your best professional opinion based on your skills and experience. However, once the team leader has made a decision, your job is to support that decision to the best of your ability.
Willingness to help others. Being a great team member means that you not only actively support the team’s goals, but are also willing when occasionally necessary to help other team members meet those goals. (Of course, if this happens regularly, it’s a sign that the team leader may need to allocated additional resources for part of the project.)
“Collaborative” attitude. Organizations tend to be made up of departmental “silos,” where, for instance, people in the marketing department tend not to reach out to people in engineering. The impact is that information and expertise gets locked up within departments, when instead it could be contributing to the overall success of the organization’s goals. So someone with a collaborative attitude is more likely to break down those artificial barriers and find ways to bring together shared knowledge and information for the mutual benefit of the team. A great team member is one who actively shares information, and encourages others to do the same.
If you want to be known a great team member, start seeking out opportunities to demonstrate these characteristics to your team leaders (and boss). You’ll quickly develop a reputation as a terrific company resource, and will have solid examples to give potential new employers should you find yourself interviewing for a job.
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
So, Are These People Crazy or Not? Sussing Out Corporate Culture
One of the challenges of job-hunting (and, hopefully, landing) is trying to figure out if your future colleagues and company executives are going to be great to work with, or if you’re instead about to land in yet another toxic workplace populated with evil co-workers and sociopath bosses. So it would be nice if there were some way to get at least a bit of an inside scoop on the corporate culture before you make the leap and become part of it.
Happily, there are, in fact, a number of ways to do this.
For example, you could check out the company on one of the anonymous review sites that have current and former employees evaluate the employer in question. (Needless to say, always keep in mind that the individual writing the review may have formerly been one of those evil co-workers, so be prepared to filter any information you read.) The best sites for this approach are CareerBliss.com, CareerLeak.com, and GlassDoor.com.
Another way is to check with your personal and LinkedIn network to see if you or any of your connections have contacts at the target company with whom you can do an informational interview. You’ll need to frame your questions very carefully and diplomatically, so that the person you’re interviewing doesn’t feel awkward discussing the company with you. Some potential questions might include:
- What is your job (and responsibilities) at [company] and how long have you been doing that?
- What do you enjoy most about working at [company]?
- What type of soft skills are most highly valued at [company]? (If the answer is “obedience,” run very, very quickly.)
- Would you say that [company] looks for innovative thinking among its employees?
- How important is teamwork and collaboration at [company]?
- Does [company] usually promote from within?
- Does [company] tend to invest in its employees through training and professional development support?
- On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate [company] as a place to grow professionally?
You can also check on LinkedIn for former employees of the company, who may be more comfortable talking frankly about the pros and cons of their previous work environment.
Keep in mind as you do your research that especially in large companies, the “corporate culture” may vary from department to department. Often people will hate or love their jobs because of their specific managers, rather than because of the company as a whole. So as you get feedback from individuals about their insights about a given organization, try to determine how much of their responses are based on their boss versus the company. Also keep in mind, however, that a company that allows a toxic manager to stay in place is, by default, making a statement about how much – or little – it values its employees’ well-being.
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Negotiating Your New-Job Salary: How to Ask For What You Deserve
The terrific news: you’ve been offered the job. The high-anxiety news: now it’s time to talk money. Being able to negotiate for yourself when it comes to compensation (salary, additional income such as bonuses, etc., and benefits) is, for most of us, one of life’s ongoing challenges. The potential employer holds all the cards, right? Not according to authors Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, who gained fame with their first book Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation – and Positive Strategies for Change (Bantam Dell, 2007).
In Women Don’t Ask, Babcock and Laschever pointed out all the ways women unconsciously undermine themselves in all types of negotiations, but especially starting-salary negotiations. That well-known pay differential between men and women? Often, this is the place where it starts. Essentially, the authors found that the vast majority of women always accept an offered starting salary, while the vast majority of men successfully negotiate for a higher amount. Additionally, the authors’ research indicated that senior-level women who consistently negotiate their salary increases earn at least $1 million more during their careers than women who don’t. Talk about an incentive to improve your skills!
In their follow-up work, Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want, the authors focus not just on recognizing self-defeating patterns of negotiating behavior, but also on practical strategies and tactics for replacing those behaviors with specific, learnable alternatives. The chapters focus on various aspects of the negotiating process, grouped into four key concepts: everything is negotiable, lay the groundwork, get ready, and put it all together. (Note to self: rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.)
Think of Ask for It as the coaching and insider information you always knew you needed, but never knew how to ask for. And make sure your sisters, mom, daughters, nieces, girlfriends, and any guys you know who need to build up their negotiating muscles read it, too….
Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want, by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. Bantam, 2008. 324p. ISBN 9780553383751.
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
So, Just What is an Elevator Speech – And Why Do You Need One???
Think of an elevator speech as a 30-second explanation to a complete stranger of what you do (or what you would do amazingly well if given the opportunity) in language that’s clear, concise, and conversational. It’s an essential part of your professional brand, and yet often it’s one of the toughest things to come up with.
Based on the idea that you’re in an elevator with someone who asks you what you do and you’ve got the length of the elevator ride to dazzle them (or at least pique their interest), your elevator speech should focus not so much on what you do, but on the benefits of what you do for your employer, customers, patients, or perhaps clients.
Putting Together a Great Elevator Speech
As noted, you want your elevator speech to explain not just what you do, but also the benefits those skills provide. So, for example, your elevator speech may start out with a statement similar to one of these:
- “I’m a nurse at the local VA hospital, and I use my nursing skills to work with veterans who’ve suffered spinal cord injuries to help them regain their independence.”
- I’m a programmer with a company that develops websites for online retailers, and I help clients translate their ideas into terrific purchase experiences for their customers.”
- “I manage a great team of customer service reps for a cable telecommunications company that prides itself on placing in the top five customer satisfaction rankings every year.”
- “I’m an HR specialist and I get to work with all of our new hires to make sure they’re successful in their new careers with our company.”
- “I’m studying to get my associates’ degree in paralegal studies so I can get my dream job working with a law firm that specializes in environmental law.”
- “I recently graduated with a degree in interactive media design, and I’m currently volunteering with the local high school art program while pursuing job openings with all of the different types of companies that need interactive media design.”
Notice how each of these statements “positions” you to your fellow elevator rider: you’ve expressed enthusiasm for what you do, you’ve indicated that you’re an engaged professional, and you’ve demonstrated that you’re sufficiently confident to be able to talk to a stranger.
In addition, each one of these statements gives your companion an opening to ask you more about what you do. It’s almost as if you’re providing the opening line of an interesting story. If you’ve expressed enthusiasm for your work (or potential work), people are likely to want to hear more, which gives you an opportunity to talk a bit more about your career and/or career aspirations (with the goal of demonstrating your value and contribution). If asked, you can give an example of something your skills enabled you to do that you’re really proud of, or think especially interesting.
Always Reciprocate – Ask Them What They Do!
This is the element of an elevator speech that people often fail to mention: always reciprocate! With genuine interest, ask them to tell you about their work or career.
This provides you with two benefits: 1) you don’t come across as a self-absorbed, boring jerk, and 2) it tells you whether this conversation might develop into a valuable professional connection for one or both of you.
Perhaps the Best Payoff of a Good Elevator Speech….
And just in case you’re wondering if working on a killer elevator speech is really worth the effort, keep in mind the other really important benefit you get from this: your folks/spouse/in-laws/kids will now have something they can tell people when asked what you’re up to!
About the Author:
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Make the Most of That Informational Interview or Job Shadow Opportunity (Without Asking for a Job!)
You probably already know that two of your most effective techniques for exploring career options are informational interviews and job-shadowing. Both put you in positions where you can ask questions, discuss alternative career paths, get insights from insiders on job and industry pros and cons, and in general figure out if this is a career path of potential interest to you.
And you know that you never, ever use an informational interview or job shadowing as a sneaky, sideways approach to landing a job interview (basically, that’s the fastest way to get bounced out the door….)
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t reap other cool benefits from your informational interview or day(s) spent job-shadowing. For example,
Build your professional reputation. Both informational interviewing and job shadowing give you an opportunity to impress someone with your professional, mature demeanor. So be prepared with thoughtful questions, be on time if not a few minutes early to your meetings, dress professionally, take notes when your contact provides you with advice and counsel, listen way more than you talk, and always follow up with a thank-you note.
Build your professional network. Every time you come into contact with someone in your profession (or the profession you’re working towards), you want to capture that connection. That’s how you start building the professional network that will sustain you over a multitude of career changes, and potentially open up a similar number of career opportunities. So after you’ve impressed your contact with how professional you are (and sent your thank-you note), follow up shortly with a request to connect on LinkedIn so you can stay in touch.
Learn how the company hires. One of the most important questions to ask in an informational interview or job shadow is “how did you get your job?” If you’re potentially interested in working for the employer in question, this will give you an indication of how they hire (for example, through a recruiter, based on resumes submitted online, via internal referrals, etc.) for future reference.
Get a sense of the company culture. When you ask people what they like most/least about their job, their answers may have more to do with their employer than the actual work they do. Try to distinguish between the two, so you can understand what responses indicate a positive or toxic organizational culture if you’re potentially interested in this employer. (However, keep in mind that in large companies the “corporate culture” can vary by department and by boss.)
Get a broader sense of the industry – and additional employers/job opportunities. One of the questions you can ask during an informational interview or job shadow is who your contact sees as his or her employer’s main competition. Although you would never disclose any information about the company that your contact shared with you, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use what you’ve learned to understand what type of job or career you might want to pursue with a different company in the same industry.
Ready to start exploring your career options? Now’s a great time to start lining up some informational interviews and job-shadowing opportunities!
About the Author
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
You Said What Online????
The great thing about starting a new year is that you can resolve to change all sorts of bad behaviors – you know, things like downing four glazed donuts every morning or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey every Friday night, spending way too much money on that online gambling site, or waiting until the last minute to get started on your course assignments.
Right. We all know that probably most of those resolutions will be toast by, oh, mid-February at the latest. However, there is one resolution you need to make – and can probably keep – right now. It will not only make this year better for you, but in terms of your career future, it will likely keep potential employers from deciding you don’t quite have the professional maturity they were looking for.
What resolution is that? Simple: you resolve not to ever again say negative, whiny, snarky things about anyone in any online venue. Being critical of others in an online setting (think LinkedIn, Twitter, facebook, a school social media site) is guaranteed to do more damage to you and 
your professional reputation than it will do to the person you’re criticizing. It makes everyone who reads your comments doubt your professional judgment (remember, as a student, you’re laying the foundation for your career), it leaves the impression that you’re a critical, negative person (who no one will want to work with), and in case those two damage factors aren’t bad enough, your comments never go away.
Since one of your goals when creating your career options is to build a strong, positive professional reputation (your professional “brand’), you want to make sure that you’re not demonstrating the exact opposite through your online comments. It’s long been a management best practice that you praise in public and criticize (if necessary) in private. It’s exactly the same with your online communications: social media sites are public environments, and you want to be sure to treat them as such. One, it’s the right thing to do, and two, this will keep potential hiring managers from seeing any sarcastic, snide, or otherwise embarrassing comments you might have otherwise made in the heat of the moment.
Here are some basic online etiquette resolutions to make right now:
- Never criticize online any person by name (or obvious identifiers); it makes you look petty, and gives the impression that you’re a bully (which of course we hope you’re not).
- Never criticize online any organization with which you’re affiliated (for example, as an employee, former employee, student, or alumni); this will pretty much kill any chance you have of getting positive references from them, and future potential employers will shy away from hiring someone who vents their anger online.
- Avoid “flame wars,” the online version of road rage; when someone’s using confrontational language online, disengage and let them make idiots of themselves all by themselves. Protecting your online reputation is way more important than winning an argument or having the last word.
- Remember when your mom used to say “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?” Amazing how smart she turned out to be! Channel your inner mom and keep your online posts to information or comments that are useful, helpful, supportive, and/or positive.
When in doubt about an online post you’re about to make, ask yourself this question: Will this comment demonstrate to others how mature, professional, and smart I am (for years to come)? If not, you probably want to back away from that keyboard.
About the Author
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Researching Careers on LinkedIn
Before you start applying for jobs, it helps to know as much as possible about the types of jobs that will best fit your skills, and to get the broadest-possible frame for how many ways you might develop your career. Happily, LinkedIn has been developing a terrific tool to help you do just that.
It’s called the “Skills & Expertise” section, and you can find it by clicking on the “More” tab at the far right end of the LinkedIn tabs shown across the top of the page. This will bring up a selection of options; you want to click on the one that says “Skills.”
This will bring up a page with a Search box where you can enter the career title or skill or keyword you’re interested in, and then all sorts of cool stuff will be presented for you to explore. For example, you’ll see information about:
Career description. In the center top of the page, there’s a description of that role, and the primary industry of which it’s a part (keep in mind, however, that these career profiles/descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, so some of them are right on target while others, shall we say, miss the mark?). In the description box, there’s also a small arrow pointing up or down with a number; this indicates the amount of growth (or contraction) going on in that career.
Related skills. To the left of the description is a list of “Related Skills” that like the career description, are a bit diverse in how on-target they are (for example, a search on libraries brings up baths, closets, and model homes as related skills in addition to other very relevant terms). Essentially, this section generally pulls up other careers that use skills similar to the ones in your search term, so you can see a potentially broader universe of opportunities for your skills.
LinkedIn members whose jobs include your search term. Doing a search on the term nursing, for example, brings up a list of “Nursing Professionals” on LinkedIn, so you can check out their profiles, where they work, what their career track has looked like, and what keywords they use to describe themselves and their work (to help you determine what keywords you want to use in your profile and search on for additional career info). You’ll also be able to see if anyone you know or are connected to through LinkedIn shows up in this list (LinkedIn will point them out for you).
The relative growth of this career path. Located at the top of the search-results page is a box that provides information about what aspects of the profession are growing or contracting. In the results for nursing, for example, two areas of better-than-average growth are midwifery and nurse practitioners.
Major employers in this field. Under a section title “Related Companies” (right-hand side of the search-results page), you’ll find a list of the major employers in your area of interest. Click on their name, and you’ll be taken to their company page, where you can explore more about them, their career opportunities, and job openings.
LinkedIn groups related to this career path. Most major professional associations now have LinkedIn groups where people can exchange information, talk about trends and issues, and connect with others in their field. Under “Nursing Groups” (lower left side of the page) you’ll find four groups: American Organization of Nurse Executives (3,837 members), Nursing Network (7,449 members), The R.N. Network (6,337 members), and the American Nurses Association (4,515 members). This section tells you a bit about the LinkedIn group then provides a “Join” button so you can join the group. Why join groups like these? To learn more about what people in this career do, where they work, what their concerns are, and reach out to them to start building your professional network.
Job listings. You may not be ready to apply for jobs yet, but there’s still great value in reading about various job descriptions in your potential career path. You have a chance to see what skills are expected, what aspects of the work are likely to appeal to you (or not), what employers look like they offer the best/most interesting opportunities, and what keywords seem to be used most commonly, so you can be sure you have these in your LinkedIn profile.
If you’re just starting your career, the LinkedIn “Skills & Expertise” section provides a great place from which to launch your career-exploration efforts, both in what potential job opportunities might look like, and who might be able to help you go after some of those opportunities when you’re ready to do so. If you’re already well into your career, this section can help you decide how to keep growing in your existing area, or learn more in preparation for a career change.
About the Author
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Portfolio Development Seminar: a New Process for Student Success
Bryant & Stratton College has changed a lot throughout its 157 years of operation, but a few things have remained the same. We have always put student success and preparation for a career as our top priorities. One of the ways we are helping to add value to your education as an online student is a process called Portfolio Development Seminars (PDS), which are modeled after Portfolio Development Days held for our campus students.
This process includes four career preparatory seminars that all Bryant & Stratton College Online students will eventually take as they progress through their respective programs. Three of the four seminars will be attached to three general education courses: SOSC102: Introduction to Sociology, PHIL250: Practices in Analytic Reasoning & Critical Thinking, and the Capstone course unique to each major. The fourth Portfolio Development Seminar stands alone in the form of the Career Management Seminar, which is meant to be taken before a student enrolls in their Capstone course. The launching of Online’s Portfolio Development Seminars started about a year ago when the Career Management Seminar was introduced for the first time. The second installment will commence this fall with the first PDS attachment to SOSC102.
The goal of these seminars is to help students prepare for their career by building portfolios in the Optimal Resume program, creating and updating a resume, learning job searching and interviewing skills, as well as many other subjects to increase your chances of job placement and advancement after graduation!
Keep an eye out as Bryant & Stratton College continues to add programs and benefits to fulfill our goal of producing prepared and competent graduates ready to succeed in a competitive economy!
Kathryn Grow, Registrars Office
Mastering the Fine Art of the “I screwed up” Statement
The longer you work, sooner or later it’s going to happen to you: the major mess-up. You did something that was the result of perhaps not quite paying attention, missing a major detail, skipping a step in a work process to beat a deadline, or figuring that it wouldn’t really make that much difference if you just relied on someone else’s information rather than verifying it for yourself. The result: a classic screw up, the kind that’s going to be embarrassing at best, send your boss through the roof at worst.
It’s happened to all of us who’ve spent any time in the workplace, and after being read the riot act several times, you realize that the best way – in fact, the only way – to handle this type of career crisis is head-on. As soon as you realize you’ve made a mistake that may have an impact on the company, you want to pull together the following information, and be prepared to lay it out for your boss:
- Identify what the mistake was, and the potential damage that did or may result from the mistake.
- Identify what steps you can take or have taken to remedy the situation. (Your boss may have different or additional actions steps for you to take, but it helps if you’ve already tried to come up with some solutions.)
- Identify what happened to cause the mistake (focus on the relevant process malfunction or missed step; you don’t need to tell your boss that you missed something because you stayed up all night playing Texas hold’em with your friends and were suffering from major sleep deprivation).
- Describe what steps you will take in the future to make sure the mistake doesn’t happen again (again, focus on the process – how you will double check the key information, verify that all steps have been completed, etc. No need to mention your pledge to avoid playing cards til 4:00am on a weeknight in the future….)
Your goals in mastering your “I screwed up” statement are to make it clear to your boss that you know you messed up, and you intend to take responsibility for it (thus building your boss’s confidence in your honesty and reliability). Also, you want to make sure that you’re the one delivering this information rather than the woman three cubicles down who’s got it in for you.
Bottom line:
- Never let your boss learn of your screw-up from anyone other than you.
- Never try to hide information about a mistake; know that it will almost always surface, and in the worst ways at the worst possible time.
- Never let your boss get blindsided by something you did and concealed from him/her; it makes bosses look bad, and they’ll never forgive you for it – or trust you again.
So start rehearsing your speech now: “Boss, do you have a moment? I need to tell you about a situation that came up and how I’d like to handle it if this meets with your approval….”
About the Author
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Webinar: “It Really Is a Team Effort – How Employees and Employers Create High-Performance Workplaces,” with Kim Dority
Are you striving to create a positive and performance-driven work environment?
“Negative workplaces often frustrate managers, disengage staffers and generally demoralize the entire group, causing an uncomfortable and low-performance work environment,” said Scott Traylor, Associate Campus Director for Online Education at Bryant & Stratton College.
Acclaimed career coach Kim Dority discussed in depth, multiple strategies to help managers and staff work together to improve workplace morale with acclaimed career coach Kim Dority. Kim is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online and has been writing about and teaching courses on career training for more than a decade.
Registrants who attended this free event learned more about the best practices on how to improve the workplace, including assuming personal responsibility, engaging with fellow colleagues and creating strategic plans on both the individual and team level.
This webinar will enable attendees to:
- Create and take charge of their own professional growth agenda
- Align their agenda with the strategic goals of their team, department and organization
- Help managers create an environment that elicits and supports the best efforts of their diverse team members.
Kim’s Resources from the webinar for High-Performance Contributors, Managers, and Workplaces:
Buckingham, Marcus and Donald O. Clifton. Now Discover Your Strengths and Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance.
Dorsey, Jason R. Y-Size Your Business: How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business.
Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ and Working with Emotional Intelligence.
Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Pink, Daniel H. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
Allen, David. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
Leeds, Regina. One Year to an Organized Work Life: From Your Desk to Your Deadlines, the Week-by-Week Guide to Eliminating Office Stress for Good. (The “Zen” organizer)
Levit, Alexandra and Julie Jansen. They Don’t Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something’s Guide to the Business World.
Klauser, Henriette Anne. Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want and Getting It.
Tracy, Brian. Goals! How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.
For more recorded webinars or to register for our next event click here!
Changing Careers? Use These Questions to Make Sure You’re Headed in the Right Direction
Considering a job or career change? If so, you may want to invest some time in identifying your work preferences first to ensure the change you’re making turns out to be a great fit. To start developing a solid picture of what your ideal work situation might look like, consider your responses to the following either/or combinations. Naturally, for some choices your responses may be more of a mild preference than a strong response, but this still gives you useful information, by telling you that this particular issue isn’t a deal maker or breaker for you.
Nonprofit vs. for-profit: Nonprofits may include political and religious groups and professional and trade associations as well as socially beneficial or community-based organizations, but they are usually mission- rather than profit-driven.
Technology-focused vs. technology-neutral: Technology-focused organizations assume and demand a high level of tech expertise, and necessitate an ongoing commitment to staying ahead of the technology curve.
Emerging industry/discipline vs. established industry/discipline: Organizations based on emerging industries and disciplines tend to offer exciting and challenging opportunities, while those in established or maturing disciplines often provide saner workplaces.
Large organization vs. small: Large organizations generally bring the tradeoff of stable job expectations vs. rigid management structure, while smaller organizations may tend to be more responsive to new ideas but offer less direction and management control.
Established organization vs. start-up: Established companies can usually offer superior benefits, while start-ups may be more willing to negotiate other perks such as stock options and flextime in lieu of traditional benefits.
Local or community-based vs. national: Local or community-based groups often invest more in being good community citizens, but are prone to mirror the ups and downs of the local economy, whereas national organizations may have less of a commitment to your community but are also less damaged by its economic woes.
Structured vs. unstructured workplace: Do you do your best work in a structured environment, or thrive in its absence?
Formal vs. casual: Organizations vary immensely as to their tone and expectations of their employees. Do you feel more comfortable with established standards of dress and behavior or prefer a week of casual Fridays?
Hierarchical vs. flat organization style: This choice is about how decisions are made. Hierarchical enterprises are primarily top-down, flat ones more likely to distribute decision-making responsibilities (which may impact quality and speed of decisions).
High accountability/reward vs. more moderate accountability/reward: The former usually is found in the for-profit world; although it can be financially lucrative, it can also carry a substantial stress factor.
Project-focused or consistent workflow: Projects are typical of client-focused work (for example, in a marketing firm), while a consistent workflow is usually found in more traditional, structured environments.
Established hours vs. flexible or nontraditional schedule: If you prefer a traditional Monday-Friday, eight-hour-a-day work week, avoid jobs that put you on the front lines with customers (for example, any form of customer service/support).
Family-friendly vs. family-neutral: Depending on your life circumstances and what personal responsibilities you are juggling, this may be the most important consideration for you.
Think of these questions as a starting point to better understand your preferred work style, then incorporate that information into your career-change choices.
In case you missed the “Career Change: Getting from Here to There” webinar, watch the recording now! – Career Change- Getting From Here to There . The “Getting from Here to There” webinar provides advice and tips on how to create and execute an effective career plan, including information on strategic planning, targeted goal setting and identifying valuable contacts and resources.
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Webinar: Career Change – Getting From Here to There
The “Getting from Here to There” webinar provides advice and tips on how to create and execute an effective career plan, including information on strategic planning, targeted goal setting and identifying valuable contacts and resources.
The webinar will enable attendees to:
- Clarify the type of career change they want to make and why
- Identify what actions and information are needed to accomplish this change
- Put together a realistic action plan for achieving this career change goal
Career Change- Getting From Here to There - Watch the recorded webinar NOW!
Kim’s Take Away Resources: “The Classics” for Exploring Personality and Career Matches
Career Match: Connecting Who You Are with What You Do What You’ll Love to Do. By Zoya Zichy and Ann Bidou. AMACOM, 2007.
Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You through the Secrets of Personality Type, 4th edition, revised and updated. By Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron. Little, Brown and Company, 2007.
Finding Your Perfect Work: The New Guide to Making a Living, Creating a Life. By Paul and Sarah Edwards. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2003.
I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What it Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. By Barbara Sher. Dell, 1995.
The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success. By Nicholas Lore. Touchstone, 1998.
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2012: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers. By Richard N. Bolles. Ten Speed Press, 2011.
Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design, expanded and updated. Laurence G. Boldt. Compass, 2009.
Acclaimed Career Coach, Kim Dority is a frequent presenter for Bryant & Stratton College Online. Dority is an information specialist, consultant, career coach, published author and adjunct professor at the University of Denver in Colorado. She has written extensively on career development for students and new graduates and is a frequent presenter, lecturer and panelist on career-related topics. Kim’s areas of expertise include professional branding, career transitions and career sustainability.
Career Branding for Introverts: How to Tell The World You’re Terrific When You Don’t Want to Talk to Anybody
Recently, Bryant & Stratton College Online hosted a series of three Career focused webinars which were presented by KimDority, president of Dority & Associates and writer on career topics. Below is another take away from the series that Kim has provided on how self proclaimed introverted students can approach career branding. She offered the following tips .
Personal branding – showcasing your professional strengths – is one of the most important aspects of building a resilient career. However, if you’re an introvert, the idea of telling others about yourself can be unnerving at best, nausea-inducing at worst.
So what if your “elevator speech” generally consists of a muttered “which floor do you want?” The good news is that you’re living in the right era, because these days you can do a major portion of your brand-building online.
In fact, resources like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter offer an invaluable opportunity for those of you likely to be hiding your light under a bushel, if not in a cave. These social communities and communication sites allow you to connect with the world without actually having to talk to it. Blogging or creating a personal website is another great way to get the word out, as are the online communities of professional associations.
LinkedIn. The fastest way to get your professional brand visible is via LinkedIn, the online professional community that enables people to create profiles (basically, your resume on steroids) that highlight areas of expertise and interest.
In addition to the standard information about your current job, you’re able to not only create a showcase for past projects and engagements, but also provide a summary of your most outstanding career highlights, areas of expertise, and “specialties.” In the Experience section, you can post information about previous jobs and/or projects, but then can enhance that information via “recommendations,” statements about the amazing wonderfulness of your work posted by colleagues, bosses, clients, etc. You may need to request these from your contacts, but most people are happy to oblige (and of course you’ll do the same for them).
What if you’re a student just starting out in your career and don’t have a lot of job experience to list? Then look for other evidence of your potential value to a prospective employer. Are you doing interesting projects or research in one of your courses that relates to your career interests? Have you volunteered with an organization in a way that lets you point to leadership skills or personal initiative or community impact? If you find that you don’t have any items to describe that indicate your value, then you’ll know this is an area you need to focus on.
Also, whether you’re a working professional or still a student, consider joining the LinkedIn groups that relate to your field, and posting a helpful comment or question now and then. You may never be one of the people who are contributing all the time, but even occasional participation will help establish your professional presence.
Blogs and websites. Blogs and websites can be a great way to let the world – or at least potential employers – know about your areas of expertise by writing about them. You might want to comment on key trends you’ve read about in your profession, or on books by industry thought leaders. Or, if you’re a student, you could discuss interesting aspects of what you’re studying in your courses or research/assignments you’re working on. The point is to demonstrate your engagement with your chosen field, and your enthusiasm for exploring and contributing at a professional level.
In addition – or as an alternative – to having your own blog, you can identify and monitor the best blogs in your field and then post thoughtful comments about the ideas or information being blogged about. Again, this helps to establish you as an individual who is interested in your field and its issues.
Associations. Joining the key professional association(s) in your discipline will not only help you stay current, it will also help you build your career network and can provide you with an opportunity to connect virtually and start building your professional brand via the group’s online community if they have one (most do).
Although you may be tempted to “lurk” rather than participate in the discussions, try to start contributing questions, answers, or resources after you’ve gotten used to the flow and format of how people communicate. Remember, everyone now contributing to the conversation was a newbie at one time, too.
In her wonderful, wise, and empathetic book Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead (McGraw-Hill, 2010), author Nancy Ancowitz notes “While the inward-facing nature of introverts can be a source of strength, if we neglect to reach outward, we miss out on the richness that human interaction can bring – not to mention the career advancement associated with our increased visibility.”
Start easing into that “outward reach” by using online tools to let the world – and potential employers – know how terrific you are.
How to Ace the Interview to Land the Job You Want
Over the years, I have interviewed hundreds of candidates for various positions. Some of the things people have done in these interviews have been disrespectful and outright shocking. I hope that by sharing my thoughts with you about job interviewing, you will be able to walk into a job interview with confidence and make all the right moves.
Don’t wear flip flops. It is never okay under any circumstances to wear flip flops to a job interview. Be in the practice of dressing at least one level above what the job you are interviewing for requires. This means if you are interviewing in an office that requires business casual, you should wear a suit. If you are interviewing for a contracting job that requires jeans and a t-shirt, you should wear dress pants and a dress shirt with a tie. Other tips are to avoid wearing too much jewelry, makeup, and fragrance. Cover up those tattoos and make sure your midriff is not exposed. If you are a smoker, try to hold off on the way to your interview in case you are in a small office with your interviewer.
Don’t forget to bring a copy of your resume. It always amazes me how many people do not bring a professional portfolio or even a copy of their resume with them to a job interview. This is your much needed confidence booster during a job interview. What better way to answer questions about your previous work experience than referring to your portfolio or resume which is right in front of you? Say goodbye to those blank stares when you can’t remember what to say because you can’t forget if the answer to your question is right in front of you.
Practice does not make perfect, but it sure helps! When you are interviewing for a job, it is obvious if you are not prepared. If you don’t feel confident, you will be less likely to make eye contact throughout your interview. You should always do a bit of research on the company that you are interviewing with beforehand. Even if you just go to the company website and get the basics, this will show your interviewer you have done your research and also help you feel confident. You need to practice interviewing. It doesn’t matter if it is with your spouse, your friend, through the mock interviewing students have available with OptimalResume™, or with yourself in a mirror- practicing will help you improve your interviewing skills. Another helpful tip I have found is that it becomes very easy to be the interviewee once you have had an opportunity to be the interviewer. Take turns and practice asking questions as well and see what your partner comes up with for answers. Their answers might give you helpful ideas.
Don’t ask about the pay or benefits. I think that people commonly forget that when they are on a job interview their sole purpose should be on selling themselves to that company or organization. I always give this advice to others when job searching, sell yourself first and then when the company wants you they have to sell themselves to you. There is nothing worse than being asked questions about salary or benefits by someone who just sat down for their first interview with your company. There are sometimes circumstances where this gets brought up and it is okay, but my general consensus is don’t bring it up on the first interview unless they do.
Mind your manners. Being polite, mature and professional still do go a long way. Make sure to arrive on time and leave your cell phone in your car or make sure your ringer is set to silent. Do your best to avoid fidgeting during your interview. Nerves can cause us to do things like use over pronounced hand gestures, twirl in our chair, bite our fingernails, or tap our fingers repeatedly on the table in front of us. Try to be aware of your nervous habits, because the more aware you are of them, the more you will be able to control them during a job interview. Also, it is important that you give your interviewer a chance to talk; don’t feel like you need to do all the talking. Make sure that you give your interviewer the opportunity to ask you all the questions that they want to ask you.
Be prepared for the unexpected. Some people like to ask weird questions just to see how well you respond on the fly. My personal favorite to ask people is what is their favorite dance move and why? I have heard others from what is your favorite cereal to what kitchen appliance would you be and why? These questions are meant to see how you react and are often a bit silly. Just be honest when answering and if you feel comfortable enough this is usually a good place to show off your sense of humor.
Lastly, send a follow up email or a thank you note after your interview. (Hint: Traditional “snail mail” thank you notes are the most memorable and in my experience less than five percent of people do this.) If the company told you when they would make a hiring decision or when they would follow up by and you haven’t heard from them, then it is okay to follow up with them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you did not get selected. This is some of the best feedback you can get to find out what you are doing wrong so that next time you can get it right.
Feel free to share your own personal tips for job interviewing success in the comments below.
Q&A with Kim Dority on Building Your Career Opportunities While in School
Recently, Bryant & Stratton College Online interviewed Kim Dority, president of Dority & Associates and a frequent presenter and writer on career topics, on what students should keep in mind while in school to boost their job prospects when they graduate. She offered the following tips (in addition, of course, to staying in regular contact with your Bryant & Stratton Career Services Department!)
B&SC: What’s the most important thing for students to start doing now to improve their career options?
KD: Realize that every day, you’re in charge of building your career opportunities. It’s easy to become completely focused on classes and assignments and studies – in fact, it’s a good sign that you’re working hard to achieve your dreams. But at the same time, you also want to keep in mind the reason why you’re in school: to create a career path that will pay you well and grow with you.
B&SC: What steps should students take to start building their career opportunities?
KD: First, you need to decide what you hope to accomplish related to your career goals while you’re at Bryant & Stratton College, in addition to completing your programs. For example, you might decide you wanted to learn more about the top healthcare employers in your area, you wanted to find out more about salaries in your field, and you wanted to practice taking on a leadership role in a safe environment.
In that case, you might interview the HR heads of those healthcare employers for a class assignment, might work with the campus librarian to research salary information, and might seek out opportunities to lead group projects.
The important thing is to determine what career goals you want to focus on, what actions you can take before you graduate to accomplish those goals, and then work with your instructors and school administrators to do those things.
B&SC: What else can students do to start focusing on their careers while still in school?
KD: Focus on the “Big 3” of career-building: networking, professional branding, and getting work-related experience.
Networking involves building positive professional relationships with as many people as possible, including classmates, teachers, administrators, and class guest speakers. It’s important to keep in mind that these relationships are built by offering to help as often as you’re asking for help. So whenever you ask someone, for example, to write a job letter of recommendation for you, you not only send them a hand-written thank-you note and let them know the outcome of the interview, you also offer to help them in any way you can.
Another way to build your professional network is by joining the professional association in your field, and taking an active role in the local chapter. (Tip: volunteering for the membership committee means you get to meet everyone in the group!)
B&SC: What about building your professional brand?
KD: Building a professional brand means finding multiple ways to showcase your professional strengths. This can be both face-to-face and online. So, for example, you have an opportunity to build a positive professional brand through your actions and behaviors every day with classmates, co-workers, and your teachers and administrators. These are all people who may be in a position to recommend you for jobs someday – but only if you have built positive relationships with and demonstrated your professional strengths to them.
In the online world, you have an opportunity to build a positive brand or reputation through a blog, a personal website, and of course the social tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Just make sure you’d be happy to have a potential employer see what you’ve posted!
B&SC: And work-related experience?
KD: Having work-related experience will give you a competitive edge when it comes to landing a job in your field for two reasons. First, it tells potential employers that you not only have the classroom knowledge about a given topic, but you also know how to apply it. Basically, you’ve got proof of your ability to contribute. Second, you build connections in your field – connections who can recommend you, let you know about potential job openings, and counsel you about what to expect in an interview, how to conduct yourself when you’re new on the job, etc.
Internships work great for getting work-related experience, but if your degree program doesn’t require an internship, you may need to do some volunteering for a local organization in your field. But you definitely want to make sure that by the time you graduate and are looking for that first job, you’ve gotten some solid work experience in the profession.
B&SC: Anything else students should do to build their career options?
KD: I would say to simply recognize how much you are already achieving in your lives, and to understand how valuable that will make you as potential employees. Going to school as an adult is not easy: you may be working part-time or full-time, you may have family obligations, but still you manage to succeed every day to do the work necessary to achieve your goals.
You’re already building a professional brand as a self-motivated, independent, hard-working individual who has what it takes to see things through. That’s quite an accomplishment, and the mark of someone who will be a strong professional contributor.
For more information about the upcoming career webinar, “Building a Resilient Career,” presented by Kim Dority or to view archived webinars from this series, visit http://online.bryantstratton.edu/webinar/.
