The Young Professional- What To Bring To An Interview

Brock University's Homecoming was this weekend, but I missed it due to work- functions on Friday and Saturday. I did follow along on Instagram and Twitter. It seemed like a really fun weekend and I'm so sad that I missed out. Countdown is on for Homecoming 2016!!

I put this series, The Young Professional, on hiatus for the summer. I'm looking forward to bringing this series back and thought I would start the post-summer hiatus with a post about what to bring to an interview.

• Paper and pen. During interviews, I always place a pad of paper and a pen on the table in front of me. By doing this, I'm showing the interviewer that I'm taking this interview serious, that I'm engaged and I'm prepared to take notes- which I have never done during an interview.
• Copies of your resume. The interviewer will likely have a copy of your resume, but it's a good idea to bring a back up. I went to an interview once, where the day of my interview, the printers weren't working. The interviewer was going to use an electronic copy of my resume. She was thankful when I handed her a paper copy. 
• References. A lot of interviewers will ask you to bring references with you. Even if they don't ask, bring them anyway. I was in an interview once, where I was asked by the interviewer if she had asked me to bring references. I told her, that she hadn't asked me to bring them, but I had them anyway and was able to hand them over. Who you should use as a reference is a future post.
• Questions. I always prepare questions to ask during an interview. Even thought I have the questions memorized, I write them down on a piece of paper and keep them tucked away. This way if I get nervous or forget the questions, I can pull them out to refer too. 
• Portfolio. Whether or not you are asked to bring a portfolio, bring one anyway. I tell the interviewer (usually towards the end) that I have my portfolio and ask if they would like to see it. I have had an interviewer tell me no (and I still got called back for a second interview) and have had them say yes. It's a great way to show what you can do and what you have done. Portfolios showcase your work in a way that answering questions can't and they can either highlight things you talked about during your interview or things that didn't even get brought up. What to include in your portfolio is a future post.

Looking for more from this series? Check out The Young Professional label.

The Young Professional Returns

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. It was rainy here, but I got to spend TONS of time with family- which was great!!

Early this year, I introduced a new series on the blog- The Young Professional. I loved writing this series and sharing tips, tricks, resources and ideas about being a young professional. I but the series on hiatus for the summer, because who wants to be thinking about work and being professional when you can be at the beach having fun?

 

Since summer is practically over, it's time to bring this series back!!

 

 

 

The series will be back in full force next week. In the meantime, you can check out past posts from this series!

Questions to ask during an interview

Interviewing- How to prepare

Cover Letter 

Resume

Job Search 

The Young Professional- Questions To Ask During An Interview

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had the opportunity to celebrate with one of my oldest friends (I've known her for over 20 years!!) as she married her best friend. It was a lovely and fun event. So happy for her!!

Monday means another Young Professional post! Last week, we talked about how to prepare for an interview, including coming up with questions to ask during an interview. This week, I thought I would share some questions to consider asking during the interview. 

Most interviews end with the interviewer(s) asking "Do you have any questions for me/us?" You should always answer this with yes. Not only is this a chance for you to learn more about the job and the company, but by asking questions, you are showing that you are engaged, and interested, in learning more.

You do not want to ask too many questions during this part of the interview (you should be asking questions throughout the interview process) and a good rule is to ask 2-3 questions. I like to prepare 4-5 questions, so that if my questions gets answered during the interview, I still have more questions to ask.

Here is my 'go to' list of questions that I have asked during an interview:

• How was this position created? In the first 3 months of 2015, I interviewed for 8 different positions and 5 of them were brand new positions. Some of the reasons for how the position was created were great ("We want to be more proactive in our community involvement"), some more standard ("We finally got funding to create this position") and some were red flags ("We had a similar position, but the person is going on maternity leave. Instead of filling her position, we decided to create a new position." What this actually meant was, "You'll be doing the same amount of work as her, but you'll be in a junior position so we don't have to pay you as much.")
• How long has the position been vacant? Generally, the longer a position has been vacant, the harder it will be to transition into; there will likely be a back log of work and usually a number of 'messy' situations. I had once interviewed for a position that had been vacant for almost 2 years; they were struggling to find someone with the right skill set, which told me they were looking for someone very specific.
• Why did the person in this position leave? This can be asked in conjunction with the above question or as a stand alone question. Finding out why a person left can be good ("They moved up in the company") or bad ("The last 3 people in the position didn't make it through probation." I've actually had this said to me and it was a red flag...why weren't they making it through? Were the targets that unrealistic? Are you that difficult to work for?)
• What are the short and long term goals of the team/company/department? Again, this just provides insight into the job and can help you determine if it's the right fit for you. This questions also shows that you are interested in the work they are doing.
• How can I help achieve the goals? This is a follow up question to the one above. This shows you are interested in how you personally- not the position- can contribute to the success of the organization.
• How does this position work with others within the organization? Another insight question. A lot of times during interviews, you learn a lot about the position on a stand alone basis but not how the role plays into a bigger picture. I once interviewed for a coordinator position but when I asked this question, it came out that on top of coordinating my own events, I would essentially be an administrative assistant to other departments.
• Who will I be reporting to? On more than one occasion, I did not met the person I would report to during the interview process. I also had a position where the person I would be reporting to was not in the office a lot and had no interest in me.//not a good situation. Plus, it's important to meet the person you report to prior to accepting a position; it needs to be someone you can see yourself working with.
• Who else will I be working with? Another insight question. In my current job, the interviewer disclosed who my immediate supervisor would be and the four other senior positions-and their teams- I would be working closely with.
• Do you have any concerns that I might not be the right fit for this position? It gives you an opportunity to address something that might not have come across during the interview and to provide clarity on why you are a good fit for the position. Or it can confirm to you that you are actually not a good fit. I once applied for a marketing position and when I asked this question, they were concerned I wouldn't be able to close a sale, which not only lead to me asking about sales quotas (which I felt was too high), but made me realize that "marketing" was code for "sales", which I didn't want to do. Another time, it came up that they were concerned I was too nice and that sales people (who are known to be push) would walk all over me. I was able to talk about how I used to be an insurance broker and can handle my own (I did get offered the job, FYI).
• Would you like me to expand on or provide clarity around any of the questions that I answered? This is a good question to ask, because it allows you the chance to make sure you answered their questions and that they got the information they needed.
• What is the main quality you are looking for in an ideal candidate? A lot of these qualities are listed in the job posting. This is a good question to ask, just to confirm that what is listed in the posting is actually what they are looking for and you can make sure you are qualified.
• What does a typical year look like for this position? A lot of people ask about 'typical day' but asking about what year looks like puts a twist on this predictable (and not a good) question. It also makes it seem like this is an original question and not something you found by googling "what to ask during a job interview. On top of that, a lot of jobs don't have a "typical day" or the answer doesn't provide a lot of insight ("Typical day consists of replying to emails, meeting with clients and completing contracts"). Getting a yearly view provides not only a better picture of what types of tasks the job entails, but also things like high and low times, major events ("We have booths at 4 trade shows a year") and aspects of your job that you might only do once a year (April is spent preparing files for our annual audit, it's all hands on deck so we have a 'black out' policy for employees taking time off during this month and you can expect to work longer days").
• What does success in the first 90 days of this position look like? This is my favourite question to ask and I always ask it. It's not a standard ask, which takes interviewers by surprise. The answer to this question can tell you what will be expected during your probation period and you can judge if it's realistic for you. It also makes them think and it provides great insight into the role (and sometimes company) which can help you decide if you're really interested. I was once interviewed by 4 different people at the same time and they actually had an argument in front of me about the answer; they were all on different pages and one even felt that anothers expectation was not realistic for a 90 day time frame. This not only provided insight into the position and expectations, but I had the opportunity to observe them and how they handled conflict.

There is no such thing as a bad question, but it's a good thing to always ask questions. When I am the interviewer, if I don't have candidates asking me questions, it shows me that they are not fully interested in the position or organization and that they couldn't be bothered to prepare a question or two to ask me, which makes me wonder how serious or committed they are to working with me. 

Next week, will be another post about interviewing, specifically what to bring with you. 

Looking for more? Check out The Young Professional Tag.

The Young Professional- Interview Prep

May ended up being a bit of a crazy month for me, so I took an unplanned blog hiatus. I've been back blogging for a week or two, but I held off on any new The Young Professional posts; I wanted to start fresh in June. So, here we are. 

Recap: The Young Professional is a weekly (every Monday) blog series here on Dreams and Colour. We have covered job searching, resumes and cover letter writing. All posts can be found under The Young Professional tag.

Today, we are talking about interviews and how to prepare for them. 

 

It's so exciting to get a phone call (or email) asking you to come in and interview for a position. All of your hard work and energy spent looking for and applying to jobs is starting to pay off when people want to meet you. It's motivating to get interviews. Interviews can also be daunting. It can be intimidating to go in and meet someone new and have to sell yourself as to why you are perfect for the position. Being prepared can help calm your nerves when you are in the actual interview. 

What should you do pre-interview to prepare?

• Ask who you are meeting with. Get the name of the person interviewing you and look them up on LinkedIn. See if you can find any common ground; mutual friends, same alma mater or former employer. If you can find a connection with someone, it will make you feel more comfortable. Also, don't be afraid to bring up the connection. A few months ago, I interviewed with someone I met almost 3 years ago at Brock Homecoming. I mentioned this and aspects of our meeting to jog his memory. He went from all business to friendly, which helped me relax.
• Know where you are going. Going somewhere you've never been before can be stressful, add this to the already stressful pending interview situation and things have the potential to not be good. Google map your interview location and, if possible, take a drive to the place. It will give you a chance to figure out where you are going, find parking, etc. You might think you don't need to do this because you have GPS, but do it anyway. The morning of an interview, my GPS turned on and then died when I put the address in. Did I start to panic? Of course. But I knew the general area of where the interview was and I also remembered the google map directions, so I got there ok and on time.
• Get a phone number. You never know what might happen to prevent you from getting to your interview. I had my car break down on the way to an interview for my current job (I called a taxi and got there with 3 minutes to spare). If I was going to be late, I would have called to give them a heads up- which is just the considerate thing to do, FYI. Another time, I knew where the interview was, as I had been on that street many time, but I hadn't been in a while. I'm driving down the street, I could see the building, and the train track you used to be able to drive over is now blocked by a fence. Thank goodness I had a phone number! I was able to call them and explain the situation and they were able to give me directions on how to get to their building.
• Watch Dragons Den or Shark Tank. People on these shows are not only there to sell their products or ideas to investors, but also themselves. Watch a few episodes and study how people sell themselves, take note and apply them to yourself and interview skills. The Dragons/Sharks, also ask interview questions; these are great questions for your to practice answering. (I wish I could take credit for thinking of this tip...but it actually came from a friend I had lunch with the day before I had an interview).
• Visit the website of the company you are interviewing with. This is so important. This is your crash course on the company. Take a look at their history/about page and make note of some key information that you can memorize. In my current job, I was able to mention who founded the organization and why. In a previous interview, I was able to mention that the company I was applying to had been bought out by a different company less than a year ago. Other times, I was able to comment on awards the company had won, charitable work they do, new products they were getting ready to launch and different divisions of the company. There will be a lot of information on the website, look at it all and pick two or three key things you think you will be able to naturally bring up during your interview.
• Review the job posting. Look it over before you go. Be reminded of the position you are applying for, the skills they are looking for, and how you and your experience would be an added benefit to the company.
• Prepare questions. There is always an opportunity at the end of an interview to ask questions...ASK QUESTIONS!! This shows you are interested in learning about the position and organization, and finding out if both are a good fit for you. I like to prepare four or five questions, knowing that I will only ask two or three of the questions. I always prepare more in case my questions get answered during the interview. Next week, I'll be sharing some questions to ask during an interview, so I'm not going to go into them right now.

 

Preparing for the interview will help you feel more confident and calm. It will help you focus and put your best foot forward. Even though interviews can be scary or intimidating, remember they saw something in you that they liked...they WANT to meet you. You are setting out to impress them, but they need to impress you too.

The Young Professional- Cover Letter

I know so many people who dread writing cover letters. I get it...if you don't write a decent cover letter, the hiring manager might not even bother to look at your resume. Your resume, as discussed last week, is a snap shot of who you are professionally. Your cover letter is an introduction to you, it's the first impression.

 

As with everything, there so many idea about what makes or breaks a cover letter. I'm going to share what has worked for me and what I look for in cover letters. 

• Contact information- Just like my resume, I have a header that includes my full name, address, phone number, email and LinkedIn profile. Make it easy for them to contact you.
• Address the letter- Sometimes job postings will say who to submit your resume too (example, Jane Doe, Company Owner), so this is who your cover letter should be addressed too. Other times, they won't include a name but will say something like 'submit resume to mediarelations@company.com.  In this case, address your letter to 'Media Relations Manager'. As a last resort, 'Human Resource Manager' will work. 
• Opening Paragraph- I always include the phrase 'from my attached resume' somewhere in the opening paragraph. I also mention my education and that I have 'several years experience' in whatever type of job I'm applying for. For example, if I'm applying for an event job, I say 'I have several years experience in managing events'.
• Current/Most Recent Employment- Next I mention my most recent employment and briefly mention what I was responsible for. For example, I say what type of events I managed (educational conferences, Annual General Meetings, fundraising campaigns). Keep this brief, as your responsibilities should be extensively listed on your resume. There is no need to repeat them here.
• Customize- With the exception of the 'Qualification' section of my resume, I do not customize my resume to the job I'm applying for. Instead, I do that in my cover letter. For example, if the job talks about making presentations in the community- which is something I have done but not a regular part of my job- in my cover letter, I would talk about how I made presentations about the company to Group A, B & C, with audiences ranging from 20-100 people.
• Highlight- Building on the point above, aim to highlight 3-5 qualifications that make you right for the job. Try and provide solid examples of what you have done based on what they are looking for. For example, I was applying for a job with a municipality, and while I have never worked for one, I have years of volunteering with them. I mention specifics (where, what, how long) of this volunteer work in my cover letter (and have it listed on my resume). Also, use keywords from the job description.
• Standout- Last year, I was nominated for several Chamber Awards, including Employee of the Year. I always mention this in my cover letter. I mean, how many Employee of the Year nominees are applying for this position? Not many. Mention something, anything, that will make you standout from others.
• Additional Information- Sometimes job postings will say to provide specific information, such as salary expectations. Your cover letter is a good place to provide that information. A cover letter is also a good place to mention if you are able to relocate, if you are applying for a position outside your geographical location.
• Wrap It Up- I always close with the same format; mention the job you are applying for and the company. I also provide a 'call to action', which is 'I look forward to hearing from you and discussion my experience and qualifications further.'
• Proof Read- This isn't part of the template, but is something you should do. Check your spelling and grammar. Also double check who the letter is addressed too (don't address it Jane Doe, when it should be Joe Smith) and that the position and company stated in your letter are correct.

Remember, your cover letter is an introduction to you, it's your first impression. Tell a little bit about yourself. Showcase what makes you unique and perfect for the position.

Next week, we'll be talking about interviews.

Looking for more on this series? Checkout The Young Professionals tag.

The Young Professional- Resume

Another Monday, another start to a (hopefully) great week and another edition of The Young Professional! So, last week we talked about job searching and today we are talking about resume writing. I will be sharing how I set up my resume and what I look for in the resume of others. 

We all know that a resume is essentially a list of your experiences and qualifications; your resume is a a snapshot of who you are as a professional.

 

What should you include on your resume?

• Contact information- On the top of my resume (and top of my cover letter) I include my contact information. This includes my first and last name, street address, phone number, email and my LinkedIn profile. Make it easy for the person doing the hiring to contact you.
• Cover Letter- Next weeks post will be dedicated to cover letters, so I'm not going to go into details in this post, but it's always a good idea to include a cover letter with your resume.
• Qualifications- Highlight why you're qualified for the job. This are general qualifications, such as 'strong written and oral communications skills' or 'proven success rate with special events'. Not sure what to include? Look at the job description. For example, if the job description lists 'fast paced environment' your qualification can be 'comfortable working in fast paced environments and under tight deadlines.' This is a great place to customize your resume to the position. I also include the social media outlets I'm experienced using and any certifications I have, for example, First Aid.
• Education- Pretty self explanatory...included where you went to school, what your major was and your graduation year.
• Work History- This should be listed in order, with the most recent on the top. Include the name of the company, your title and how long you worked there. Underneath, list what you did. For example, at my last job, I was an Event & Fundraising Coordinator, so I listed things like 'oversaw 14 major events a year', 'responsible for maintaining community partnerships' and 'build and maintain event budgets'. 
• Volunteer and Work Related Experience- This is the place to list your volunteer work and related experiences that are not quite 'work history' but more than 'volunteer experience'. An example of this would be pro bono work. I cannot stress enough how important it is to list your volunteer experience. I have actually not hired someone-who was an ideal candidate- because she didn't have any volunteer experience. Employers want to see people who are involved in their community and who have things going on outside of work. Volunteer experience shows time management, leadership and it's a good way to explain gaps in employment. Volunteering IS working, it does count for something.
• References- I include this section on my resume and then underneath it put 'available upon request' unless the job posting says to apply with references, then I include them.

Now that you have the content of your resume, what about the layout?

• Length- try and keep your resume 2-3 pages.
• Point form- people do not have time to read blocks of text, and blocks of text can be hard to read; people will skim and have a good chance of skipping over key points of your resume. Keep it to the point and concise. Remember, this is a snapshot. 
• Proof read- This is so important. Make sure words are spelled correctly and that your grammar is correct (example, consistently using past tense). I have passed on interviewing people because of spelling mistakes.
• Name & Contact info- Make sure you include your contact info in an easy to find spot, like the header on the first page. It's also a good idea to include your name at the top of any subsequent pages; if pages get separated, they know which ones belong with your resume.
• Font- make sure it's easy to read. Arial, Helvetica and Verdana are good choices. For my name and contact info, I use a 'fancier' font, like Lucinda Handwriting to make it stand out. Since it's just a small piece of text, it's not too hard to read.
• Colour/Uniqueness- You want to be professional, but you also want to stand out and make your resume memorable. To make my resume unique, instead of using a standard bullet point, I use a red star. A pop of colour is refreshing, without being overpowering, and it makes your resume stand out while still being professional. 

There are so many theories and ideas as to what makes a resume a good resume. I format my resume the same way every time and 9 times out of 10, I get a call for an interview. Every employer will look for different things in a resume. Just remember, your resume is a snapshot of you...keep this in mind when putting together your resume and you're sure to have a great one!


Next Monday...Cover letters.

Looking for more on this series? Checkout The Young Professional Tag.

The Young Professional- Job Search

Happy Monday and welcome to week two of The Young Professional! Today we are talking about job searching. 

 

A lot of people say that looking for a job is a full time job...which it can be. You will invest hours going through job listings, applying, preparing for interviews and actually interviewing. It is time consuming and can be frustrating. 

 

 

So, how do you find jobs? 

• Websites- These days it seems like everyone is posting jobs online, especially since there are so many free job posting sites. Not only can employers post but people searching for employment can upload their resumes; employers can find you and the website can send you postings that match your qualifications. My favourite job search website is indeed.com, this site compiles job posting from around the web that match your search criteria. Other good sites include Simply Hired, Workopolis, Linkedin and government job banks.
  
• Newspapers- Fewer companies are advertising jobs in newspapers, but some still do. These are usually bigger organizations or organizations that have had a hard time filling a position. 
  
• Recruiters- I have worked with two recruiters and highly recommend it. Recruiters will put you in their system and match you with jobs that will be a good fit, and will keep you in mind for future jobs that would be a good match for you. The Recruiting Agency will also post jobs on their websites, which you can apply to even if you aren't already connected to the agency. In the future, I'll have a whole post dedicated to working with a recruiter. 

• Check your LinkedIn feed- LinkedIn has a job posting section, which you should check, but also read your LinkedIn Feed. So many of my connections have posted that their companies were hiring. I've also interviewed for a job that I found because one of my connections 'liked' a post by one of her connections...because she 'liked' it, the original post ended up in my feed. I contacted the original poster and one thing led to another. 

• Talk to your friends/contacts- I mentioned to a contact that I would love to working for the same company as her, because they always seemed to be having fun. She started forwarding internal job postings to me and even told her regional manager about me. I mentioned to friends that I was looking for a new job and they proceeded to tell me about jobs they heard about. I had another friend tell me that an organization he was on the board of director for was hiring. 

• Send your resume to companies you want to work for- I got two jobs this way...just because they aren't hiring doesn't mean there isn't a job. The first time, I dropped my resume off at an Insurance Brokerage (at the time, I had my insurance license) that I walked past numerous times. I knew nothing about them, just walked in and dropped off my resume. They weren't hiring, but were impressed with my resume and wanted to meet me. They were impressed after meeting me and created a job for me. The second time, it was a specific non-profit I wanted to work for, they weren't hiring but I sent them my resume on a Monday. Wednesday of that same week, their event coordinator (which I am) announced she was going on sick leave. Friday morning I went in to meet them and had a job offer Friday afternoon. It was pure luck...but I covered that sick leave contract for almost 2 years AND led to my next job- the same position but at another office.

There are tons of ways to find jobs, the ones listed above are ones I have tried and have had success with. Job searching is tough and it can take months to find something. You will, eventually, find something that is the right fit for you.


Next Monday...Resumes.

Looking for more on this series? Check out The Young Professional tag.

New Blog Series: The Young Professional

Happy Monday!! I hope that everyone had a great long weekend and a great Easter! I spent mine surrounded by family and friends...it was the typical way that I spend Easter, which I was perfectly fine with!

For the past couple of months, I have wanted to start a series on this blog and was having a hard time making it fit into my editorial calendar. After a circumstance of events and some reflection, last week I announced that I was putting 'Inspire Me' on hiatus and would be introducing a new blog series this week- You can read more about that here.

Do you want to know more about the series?

For the longest time, I have wanted to share my advice, tips, tricks and experiences about being a young professional and I am so excited that I am FINALLY going to do so!

Every Monday, I will be talking about a different topic related to being a young professional. Topics will include:

• Networking
• Resume & Cover Letter Writing
• Volunteering
• LinkedIn
• Interviews
• Mentorship
• Job Searching
• Portfolios
• References
• So much more!

It's a long and varied list...there are so many aspects to being a young professional and I can't wait to share more about it with all of you!



Next Monday...The Young Professional-Job Searching
On the Blog tomorrow...Hey, It's Ok!