Simply Hired Blog

How a New Graduates’ Best Intentions Can Go Wrong in the Job Interview

If you're graduating and looking for your first job, you may have all the right intentions when it comes to what you say and do in interviews. But employers look for more than just what candidates say; they look for evidence that they’ll be able to contribute on the job.

Here are few of those things new graduates might be doing right, but could use a bit of tweaking.

1. A Job is a Learning Opportunity

What they do right:

New graduates say they're excited about learning. Employers appreciate the fact that new graduates are open, willing and eager to learn. 

Where they go wrong: 

They often ONLY talk about the fact that they're excited about learning and that the reason they want to work for a company is the learning experience. They seem to overlook an important point: employers don’t hired new graduates to teach them the business or trade. They hire candidates who solve problems. Be prepared to explain how you'll do that. 

2. I <3 Social Media

What they do right:

New graduates are excited about and participate in social media and technology—an area in which many companies need help. 

Where they go wrong:

They don't know when to turn turn off technology.  Many keep their phones on during interviews and will even take a phone call. They respond to questions as if they are dealing with technology instead of a live human, by giving one-word or one-sentence responses, talking super fast or not elaborating when the interviewer is trying to engage them in a conversation.

3. Just Give Me A Chance

What they do right:

New graduates can be confident and certain they have a lot to offer an organization if only someone would give them a chance.

Where they go wrong:

They don't do a good job of talking about themselves, explaining what kind of person they are, what their skills are and how they've used them in school projects or other areas of life to help the employer see their potential. They also don't seem to understand the job they're going after and how their skills and interest in this field will justify them getting a paycheck.

Making these few adjustments to how you approach the interview could make all the difference in whether you get the job or not. Try it and see what happens!

Andrea Kay is a career consultant and syndicated columnist who has helped tens of thousands of people find new jobs and take charge of their careers. She is the author of six books including the newly released THIS IS HOW TO GET YOUR NEXT JOB. She’s been interviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Money, Kiplinger Personal Finance, Redbook, and on radio and TV across the U.S.

4 Ways to Get Noticed by Graduate Employers

Today the job market for recent graduates is extremely competitive.

Here are some tips from Graduate Recruitment Bureau on how to best get noticed by graduate employers and land a job after college.

 

Network-

Social media is second nature to current graduates, and this should be used to your advantage. Use your twitter account to follow relevant companies and angle your tweets so that they get noticed by employers. Sign up for LinkedIn and start building your profile; add your qualifications, experience, achievements and a professional looking photo. Then, start being active; connect with people, join groups, share content and like updates to get noticed. Make sure you set your Facebook profile to private, especially if there are photos or comments that shouldn’t really be seen by potential employers. Make a professional Facebook account to add and link companies, so you can keep your work and private life separate.  Start a blog as a place to showcase your thoughts and work. It acts a something to show at interviews as a portfolio of the type of things you can do and is a great way to get noticed. Once you’ve got your own personal ad campaign down to a T…

Develop your personal brand-

There’s no point creating exposure for yourself and potentially getting noticed by many companies if you aren’t someone that they would be interested in. All that work that you’ve put into social networking will go to waste if they look at your profile but aren’t impressed by what they see.  You need to find out exactly what skills, achievements, qualifications and experience that people in your industry are looking for in their ideal candidate and then make sure you tick every box on their list. Then, when they stumble across you on twitter or LinkedIn they can see that you and they will be a match made in heaven. If they still haven’t noticed you on social media…

Approach them-

How are they going to know you exist if you don’t tell them you do? Social media isn’t the only way to get in touch with companies. You can try the old fashioned method of, shock horror, picking up the phone. Giving them a call, or an email, introducing yourself and that you’d like to get some experience at their company has the advantage of the personal touch. They can get a sense of who you are and if you include your links to your social media at the end (if you have sent an email) then they can have a look on those too. They will appreciate the effort, but they are busy people, so if at first you don’t succeed…

Be persistent and professional-

Expect to make more than one point of contact before you get a response. Make sure you don’t call or email too close together; there is a fine line between being keen and harassing them. Keep your messages at least a week apart and attach your CV and tell them your contact details in each one. No one gets their dream job land straight in their lap and it will take a good few attempts before they begin to acknowledge you. As long as you are professional and polite then they should notice you eventually.

Basically, follow the AIDA marketing technique- get the attention of the target audience; interest them; create desire for your product (in this case you) and follow it up with action.

Anna Pitts, a Marketing Assistant and Online Researcher at the Graduate Recruitment Bureau. Her work involves PR and outreach and writing informative, interesting advice based articles for graduates and students.

4 Keys to Preparing for Your Career while in College

Your job is what you will be doing during the major portion of your life and it is what that will define how your life will be spent. You have to spend half of your waking hours on your job which is why this most critical decision of your life warrants for a lot more attention than what it currently gets.

Keeping in view the importance and magnitude of the impact of your job on your life, no amount of planning can be enough for it. Therefore, it is recommended that you start giving your job and career a serious thought early on. By ‘early’ we mean the times when you are at school and your fellows are still planning their proms and partying hard!

Yogi Berra very rightly once said that “It gets late early out there” and this is true for the job market as well. As soon as you are in your final study year, you need to start preparing the ground and get in touch with the job world out there.

Here is a guideline to help you get on with the act to get the early bird’s worm!

Find your passion – To start with, you must pay the utmost importance to your inner voice and ask yourself what is it that you will love to do for the rest of your life as Confucius’s words of wisdom - “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” - stand very valid even today.

Research & shortlist employers – After you are adequately sure of what you want to become, do your research and make a list of organizations that have the jobs that you are interested in. Scrutinize this list carefully and pick out the ones that you find in line with your personal values, work environment, lifestyle, compensation expectations or any other criteria that are in the value-list. Looking for information on employers can be tough but if you have the will, you will get your way. Make use of your network and contacts like your family & teachers; use the social media platforms like LinkedIn & FaceBook; approach their current employees and ask them your questions and you will surely get the information that will bring out the true image of that organization’s ‘employer brand’.  Certain clues like a company’s culture, dress codes, availability of federal labor law posters, working relations and employees’ attitudes can give out lots of information about that workplace.

Be known – Once you have your wish-list of employers ready, make it a point to get in contact with them and never miss any opportunity to network with anyone from those organizations. You have a number of options to become a ‘familiar face’ to your target organizations. Think about doing your projects with those companies, find internship openings, add them to your LinkedIn network, get in touch with their hiring heads and make the best use of job fairs and on-campus events where your favorite employers are present. After making that first contact, never lose sight of them and find suitable occasions and events to keep reminding them of yourself until you are ready to apply for jobs following your passing out from college.

Persevere and succeed – There will be times when you might not find your way through the first time around but keep in mind that perseverance and a positive outlook is the key to success. Never let your beliefs waiver for a second and keep pushing ahead gently until you will land your dream job which is bound to get you to the top and expand your horizons so that you never have to ‘work a day in your life’.

7 Best Employment Sectors for Career Flexibility

The traditional college student, or even the adult college student, may begin his or her educational path without a distinct plan of what to do afterwards. The truth is that plenty of people have a strong sense of what they don't enjoy or what they find boring, but aren't sure what they are passionate enough about to pursue for a lifelong career. Fortunately, there are several options that allow some "wiggle room" after college graduation.

Office Management

This covers a pretty wide range of possibilities. Check the wanted ads in your local newspaper and you'll notice that a lot of companies, large and small, are constantly looking for entry-level players such as receptionists, office managers and assistants. These positions are often a great way to get your foot into the door of an industry that you find appealing. For example, if you decided a career in publishing might be right for you, but your degree is in Literature, it might be wise to get a job at the front desk of a publishing firm and work your way up.

Sales

Are you an outgoing person with a natural talent for convincing others to eat out of your hand? A career in sales makes a challenging and interesting life path for many people. One of the key benefits of a job in sales is that each day is different, so if you are the type of person who thrives on constant change, then sales may be the right choice. And if you have exceptional time-management skills, creating your own schedule can be rewarding.

Marketing/Advertising

Did you major in a program such as Creative Writing or Studio Art only to have people constantly ask you what you are going to do with it? Well, be sure to inform those people that marketing and advertising is a fast-growing industry (especially online) with plenty of opportunity for creative individuals. If you can write copy or if you can create eye-catching art, you will probably find a place in this industry.

Retail

Retail also covers a wide range of topics, from cookbooks to hardware. If you dread the idea of cubical-land after graduation, retail can offer a fun and diverse career path with plenty of movement (forget being stuck behind a desk) and interpersonal communication. And retail isn't all big-box stores; plenty of small businesses offer good environments for gaining product knowledge, communication skills and management skills--all of which stand out on a resume.

Media

Another option for creative and technical personalities alike is the enormous world of media. Television, film, radio, web and print are all sectors of media that require more than one skill set, from building web sites to budgeting and editing. It's important to remember how much work goes into making a blockbuster film or running a television station; your talents just might find a niche.

Education/Child Care

Education is a mainstay in every city, and both private and public schools are constantly looking for college graduates who can teach, run after-school enrichment programs, work as office administrators and excel as team players.

Hospitality

Another wise choice for those who love to work with others is the hospitality industry, which can mean anything from catering a wedding to supervising a bed and breakfast. The opportunity to make people feel happy and relaxed is rewarding, and if your career takes you to a sunny place, well, that's even better.

After reading over this list you may have noticed something important: practically any career can be yours as long as you are persistent and open-minded. So instead of worrying that you won't have enough options upon finishing your degree, consider that choosing one might be the hardest part!

LIzzie Wann, the author of this post is the Content Director for Bridgepoint Education. She oversees all website content and works closely with New Media, Career Services, and Student Services for Ashford University.

Essentials in Preparing for Your Nursing Interview

Every year, new nursing professionals graduate and make the transition into their chosen field. In their minds, they have big dreams of making a difference in the world. They expect to find a job that allows them to make that difference. Some new nursing professionals will hit their sweet spot and find a great career right out of school. Others may work for a period before discovering the facet of their profession they find most appealing.

Through classes, the interview process, advanced education and certifications, and hands-on professional experience, each nursing professional can find a path to a rewarding lifelong professional career. Here, we will discuss preparing for the first exciting and critical steps of a career as a professional nurse.

Know Your Goals

Knowing your career goals can help you target your job search and tailor your responses to the specific interview questions, giving you a better chance of landing your ideal job. Target employers that offer exposure to the facets of profession you most want to work. If you are “undeclared”, look for organizations with a variety of nursing positions, this will give you a chance to figure out your goals while on the job.

Create a “wish list” of employers and make contacting them for interviews a priority. Once you contact them your next step is learning how to sell yourself. Start by making a list of your strengths, prepare to recite them on demand. If you have a master’s degree or plan to return to school to earn an advanced degree, share this with your interviewer. If you have relevant leadership experience in prior jobs or volunteer work, mention it as well. To really impress a potential employer, tailor each of your strengths to show how they will meet the their specific needs.

Ace the Interview

Your next step, once you have done your “homework” on your prospective employers and yourself, is to prepare to ace the interview. All of the preparation in the world won’t do you a bit of good if you get tongue-tied in high stress situations. So practice interviewing with a friend beforehand, until you feel comfortable with the interview format.  You can find lists of potential interview questions online to practice with. If you have graduated from a nursing master programs that offers career counseling, use these services to prepare as well.

Also, plan what you are going to wear, and make sure you feel comfortable moving in it. Be sure to dress for the occasion – if you have tattoos or purple hair, for instance, do your best to play those down to avoid distracting the interviewer from your qualifications.

Finally, prepare a list of questions to ask the employer about the job you are applying for. While it is best to steer clear of salary and benefits-type questions until you have received an actual offer, asking about training and advancement, the composition of the department you will work in, advice the interviewer has for you and more are all valid questions. They will show you are motivated, trainable and willing to be a team player.

If you follow this process, you will have the best chance of landing a new job in nursing on your very first interview.

Author Bio: Marguerite Cancho had never been more excited than on the day she finally graduated with her Master’s Degree in Nursing and mildly recalls her first interviews. After working as a clinical nurse for the last 15 years, she decided to go back to school and is now currently pursuing her masters in curriculum and instruction.