Six Steps to a Well-Rounded References Strategy

Six Steps to a Well-Rounded References Strategy

There are books abound on how to prepare a "knock 'em dead" resume or how to interview with finesse. You are not likely, however, to find a book on creating a strategy around references at your local book retailer. A strong candidate knows the power of a solid reference and will create a strategy to make the most of these relationships. Follow the steps below to create on for yourself:

1. Choose the right references: Optimal references are people who have direct experience working with you. They can speak to your work habits, interpersonal skills, accomplishments, and team-orientation. Supervisors are ideal, as are coworkers with which you have had direct contact. The longer you have performed work for or with these individuals the better.

2. Get permission: Contact all of your references to obtain permission for you to use them as references. Briefly update them on the jobs for which you are applying.

3. Create a bank of references: Most applicants stop after obtaining three references; do not do this. Instead, obtain a "bank" of references: around six to ten people. Creating a bank will help you with the following step.

4. Match your references to the position: When you are applying for positions, scrutinize the position descriptions to determine what knowledge, skills, and abilities the organization is looking for. Based upon this information, choose references that can best speak to your qualifications for the position. For example, if the position seems more technology heavy, be sure to include a reference that has worked with you on a technology-oriented project.

5. Prep your references: If you are contacted for an interview, contact all of the references that you listed for that position to notify them that they may be contacted. Send them the name of the company as well as a copy of the position description so they know for what you are applying and answer any questions that they may have.

6. Send thank you notes: The graciousness of your references should be paid back. Send them a thank you note for agreeing to be a reference and for helping you further your career. 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. This is What I Learned from 3 of Silicon Valley's Giants
"Most of us walk around with an artificial glass ceiling on what we can accomplish.  We find 100 reasons why an idea won’t work.  This holds us back from reaching our true potential."

2. Networking Tips to Help You Land Your First Job
"I think people misjudge Twitter as a career and networking tool. It is a phenomenal research tool for following companies, people and industries that interest you and learning what they want you to know about them."

3. When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters
"Some organizations will excite you. They'll stimulate your success and growth. Others will be stressful. They may lead you to quit before you've accomplished much or learned what you hoped to."

4.  Does "Ready, Fire!, Aim" Describe Your Job Search Approach?  
"So, then, what’s the answer to effectively competing in today’s job market? It is to have a good, well-thought-out action plan, and then to effectively implement that plan."

5. Why People Stay Mired in Their Careers
"Here are five reasons people stay stuck in their careers and what you must avoid to find satisfaction and success in yours."

Following Directions

Do you find yourself frequently misinterpreting or even questioning directions on the job?   Following directions at work is important in helping you to be successful in your career.  If following directions is an issue for you, it is time to step back and take a good look at what’s going on.


Identify the Cause
Congratulations, you’ve conquered step one—recognizing there is a problem.  Next you need to identify what might be causing you to misinterpret, question, or even outright ignore the direction of those in authority.  


Miscommunication
A common culprit can be miscommunication; you may be misinterpreting verbal or written directions from management. Be sure you are listening to directions carefully, then restate the directions in your own words and clarify anything you do not understand.  Another idea: if directions are verbally communicated, follow up by reiterating them in writing.  This is particularly helpful if directions are unclear, ambiguous, or complicated. Avoid impromptu hallway discussions about detailed tasks and directions; instead, request a meeting so you can come prepared or request directions in writing.  


Challenging Direction 
If you’ve decided miscommunication isn’t the issue, ask yourself if you are challenging direction because you disagree with the approach?  Most employers welcome employees who use their knowledge and expertise to develop solutions and ideas, but be sure to present these in a professional manner.  If management disagrees with your approach and instructs you to implement the original directions, do so respectfully unless extreme circumstances will compromise you or the company legally or ethically.   If your inability to follow directions stems from a lack of respect for your direct manager, explore opportunities to move to another group within the organization.  If the issue is a lack of respect for company leadership, you may need to find a different employer altogether. 

Fake it Until You Make it, How to Fake Confidence in the Job Search

When meeting potential employers, it is important to remember that in their eyes, confidence is equal to competence. In other words, if you appear confident, they automatically assume you know what you are doing. Many people take the process - and its inevitable rejections - personally. Therefore, one of the first victims in the job search process is self-confidence. 

Confidence, however you may be feeling on any given day, can absolutely be faked. You may find that after using the non-verbal and verbal tips below to "fake" your confidence that you will soon "make it" and feel the confidence you have been faking!

Posture
Stand up straight, put your shoulders back, and hold your head up high. The next time you feel down or less than confident, run yourself through this posture checklist. Slumped shoulders make you look like a deflated balloon. Poor posture is one of the first signs of low levels of confidence.

Eye Contact
People who are self-confident are not intimidated by looking directly at people - especially in the job search process. Candidates who avoid eye contact are deemed untrustworthy and lacking in self esteem.

Tone of Voice
Project enthusiasm, passion, and excitement for your career field and the job for which you are applying. This rule applies whether you are talking with the receptionist, the human resources manager, or the hiring manager. Don't think for a minute that everyone who you interact with does not come together to discuss the candidates.

Appearance
People who are well-groomed, wear clothes that fit them properly, and are flattering to their individual shape often appear the most confident. The old saying of "When you look good, you feel good" definitely applies in this case.

Listen More, Talk Less
People who are nervous or lack self-confidence tend to talk more and listen less. Unfortunately, it often comes out as nervous babble that will provide the impression that you are a nervous, know-it-all. Try to strike a balance in these situations that involves talking less, listening more, and adding a few questions to keep the other person engaged in the conversation.

Confessions of a Real Post Grad: Shikole Struber and Allison Sass, founders of the blog "The Real Post Grad"

I will be interviewing different post grads to document their journey, give advice, learn from their triumphs and mistakes and so other post grads know they aren't alone. I will be talking to those lucky few who got their dream job right after their degree or those who went in a completely different direction than they had planned.

1. Explain to readers where and when you graduated, your degree and your current job/schooling.
Shikole Struber: I graduated from American University in Washington DC in 2010. My degree was in Political Science and minor in Communications, both of which I loved at the time. I now manage the office of an IT consulting firm, which is pretty much the farthest thing ever from my major.

Allison Sass: I graduated in 2010 from The State University of New York at Geneseo with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in Art Studio. My current job is as an Online Content Manager for a water conservation company in Rochester, NY. Basically, my job requires me to manage website text, create press releases, maintain our company blog, and send out our bi-monthly newsletter.

2. You just described your current situation, is this where you thought you'd be as a post grad?
SS: I of course had dreams of post grad life, but I can't say I really thought I'd be anywhere. My expectations were low with the economy how it is. I was just happy to get an offer.

AS: My job itself, yes, but where I'm actually working? Definitely not! It's turned out to be a great experience and I've learned a lot about an industry I never imagined I would write about for a living.

3. What is the best thing about being a post grad?

SS: I have the (semi) freedom to do whatever I want. If I want to order in pizza 3 times this week, I can (if I can afford it that week). I can eat ice cream and wine for dinner if I want to. It also finally feels like the world is my oyster again.

AS: Independence. I love making my own money, being able to pay my rent, and being able to provide for myself, on my own terms.

4. What is the worst?

SS: It sounds cliche, but the worst part is student loans and how much they drain my finances, increase my stress and generally make me sad.

AS: I miss college breaks most and having the chance to visit my family and home for extended periods of time. Full-time jobs obviously have limited vacation days, so it's been an adjustment from my college days of having off all summer long and for a month in the winter to only seeing my parents for a weekend or so every few months.

5. What advice do you have for recent post grads?

SS: Pay yourself first. It's Personal Finance 101 but barely anyone listens. Just $10 from every paycheck will REALLY add up when, say, your car breaks down again.

AS: Don't worry if you're not pursuing your passion or working at your dream job right away! Every job isn't going to be a "dream job" and you should be proud of all of the steps you take along the way in your post grad journey.

6. You started your own blog about being a post grad. I love it! What made you decide to start it?

SS: After graduation Allie, my business partner, and I felt lost. In every way. We realized we can't be the only ones so we decided to start our blog, The Real Post Grad, to bring community to a generation who desperately needed it.

AS: Thanks so much! We decided to start the blog about a month after college graduation when I was still job hunting and Shikole had just started her job. We both just wanted a place to write about day to day issues and hoped that putting our thoughts online might help others who felt excited, lost, and completely overwhelmed by post grad life like we did/still do sometimes.
7. What has been the most rewarding part of having this blog?

SS: I love interacting with our readers! Seeing all the comments and tweets make me smile every time. It feels like we are not only reaching our target audience, but getting through to them exactly how we wanted to.

AS: Connecting with all of the bloggers online and just having the chance to read blogs by other post grads.
8. The hardest challenge of maintaining it?

SS: Having time to keep it fresh. We both work 40+ hours a week, usually on the plus end of the spectrum. Between work, sleep (we all need sleep!), and friend time, it's hard to find time to keep everything rolling.

AS: For me, it's figuring out time where I can just sit down and write entries. I write all day long for my full time job, and sometimes it can be hard to make myself sit down and write during my free time.
9. Anything else you'd like to add about your blog or life as a post grad?

SS: Us post grads need to stick together. After writing that I realized how much it sounded like a segue into a Beatles song, but I'm okay with it.

AS: Contribute to our blog! This past February we launched a new website and we really would like to make it a more interactive place. This means we need opinions about post grad life from people that aren't us! We're also planning to start a "post grad chats" video series in the coming months, so even more changes are on the horizon.

As far as life as a post grad goes, we are by no means experts. When we share an "advice" post it's purely based on things that have worked for us and our experiences. We're still learning how to succeed at this stage of our life and want our readers to know that we are right there with them, figuring this whole 20-something thing out.

The Importance of Focus in a Job Search

I spent most of my day today at a career fair for veteran's, transitioning military members, and their family members. I looked at more than 40 resumes today and talked to many job seekers. In more than half of these conversations, when I asked them to name their career focus, they either said they were looking for anything or they named three or four different career fields that had nothing to do with each other.

I spent much of my day explaining the importance of focus in the job search, so I decided to repeat myself, one more time, here on my blog. As I explained again and again today, the job search and resume writing process is like strategic marketing. These are the three stages of strategic marketing as they relate to your potential employer being the "customer" in the job search process.

First - Identify your Customer
In order to create a compelling marketing statement, you must first clearly define your customer. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as an effective, generic resume. When we try to appeal to everyone at once with our resume, we end up appealing to no one. Clearly define your target industry and profession before you even begin writing your resume and launching your job search.

Second - Identify your Customer's Needs and Wants
In order to create a targeted marketing approach with your resume and interview answers, you have to know what your customer wants to hear. Once you know your target, you can define key words, skills, and qualifications that must be in your resume and discussed in the interview. You can also focus on the accomplishments in your past experience that will demonstrate the type of results that will appeal to your target industry.

Third - Define What you Can Do to Meet your Customer's Needs
This is the step where you define your transferable skills. Those all-important marketable skills and accomplishments that show you can add value to your potential employer's organization. In this step you think about how you will be cost-effective as an employee and the benefits your employer will receive from adding you to the team. Once again, these are determined by the specific needs, wants, and interests of the potential employer.

So you see, it is nearly impossible to complete step 2 and step 3 without successfully accomplishing that first critical step of defining your customer or your target job. Have you ever tried to aim for a target or walk in a straight line with your eyes closed? It is nearly impossible to be successful. It is just as difficult to be successful in the job search without a clearly defined goal in mind.

Landing a Sales Job

Almost every industry has a need for salespeople, so if you’re interested in working in sales, the tips below may help you land the right sales job. 


Assess Your Traits and Skills
Although every individual brings unique skills and character traits to a job, certain skills and traits are more prevalent in salespeople and tend to lead to success in sales.  For example, salespeople typically have strong communication and negotiating skills. They are self-starters, persistent, and able to handle rejection and competition.  They know how to ask probing questions to better assess the needs of their customers and can often anticipate client needs before they are even expressed.  Salespeople characteristically understand the client’s business objectives and challenges and are able to present viable product or service solutions.   


Consider the Company, Products, and Services 
As with any job, do your homework.  Start by considering whether you believe in the products or services you would be selling and the company you would be representing. For example, ask yourself the following questions: Does the company have a reputation for doing business with integrity?  Do they treat their clients and employees fairly?   Has the company established itself as a reputable provider of quality products and/or services?   Are these priced competitively?
  
Quantify Success
When going for a sales position, quantify your success, whether it be through sales targets achieved, revenue generated, size of market or territory, etc.  Be prepared to answer interview questions about prospecting and qualifying clients, working with client budgets and deadlines, handling objections, and techniques for closing the sale.  And because many sales jobs are based on commission or a small salary plus commission, be sure you can handle a salary that may fluctuate quite a bit.

Working in sales is not for everyone; however, for the right person, it can be a very fulfilling and often lucrative profession.