Attention College Grads: Ignore the Job Reports!

I remember back when I was in college (give or take, oh, about 10 years ago), I would read reports that projected which occupations would be the fastest growing over the next few years. These reports still pop up regularly today, with predictions and statistics and dialogue about which jobs will be most highly in demand. Problem is, with the nature of a dynamic economy that we have, I can't see how it's possible to predict which jobs will be hot even just a couple of years out.

Take, for instance, this story by the Associated Press that was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The gist of the article is that there is now a glut of teachers looking to get jobs in schools across the country, when just a few years ago a shortage of teachers was predicted. Whoops.

In my mind, all of the demographic predictions, economic analyses, and expert opinions can't give a definite answer as to which careers will be in most need in a few years. I think college students and recent grads, heck, even seasoned workers, need to determine what they want to do and go out and do it and do it the best they can, rather than trying to follow these ever-changing predictions and simply trying to ride the next wave of hot jobs.

Think about how many people wanted to be a real estate agent just a few years ago. Now it's one of the most challenging fields to get started in due to the housing crunch. Jobs in "green technology" were pretty much unheard of just a few years ago, now there seems to be a strong growth in these positions. And consider how many law school students are graduating and can't get jobs since law firms are suffering as spending on legal matters has dropped precipitously.

In a nutshell, the folks producing these job-prediction outlooks should get new jobs...

The Joys of Finding and Starting a New Job

Is there anything more agonizing than the job hunting process? From start to finish there is nothing fun about this ordeal. Think for a moment about all that it takes to get a new job and get started at it:

1. The decision to find a new job. For some it may be easy, such as if you currently don't have a job, or if you truly despise what you have to do day in and day out. For most folks though there is a groggy middle-ground. You feel safe where you are, but perhaps your job is dull, repetitive, not well-paid, or an infinite other number of problems. Or perhaps you hate your actual job but love your co-workers, or viceversa . This makes for a difficult dilemma-- "should I stay or should I go" as the Clash once said-- because you may be in a comfortable situation, but you'd like something better... however, there's always that notion in the back of your mind that your next job won't work out, or perhaps leaving your current job will jeopardize you and/or your family in some way (real or perceived), or various other factors that play into it. Ultimately, overcoming this first step and saying, "I want a new job, now I have to go out and get it," is the most important one when all is said and done. You either stay and tough it out, or leave and tough it out. Nothing is straightforward one way or another.

2. The resume. Next you have to polish your resume. Undertaking this process can be easy or daunting, depending on your level of perfectionism and your estimated opinion of what prospective employers are looking for. If you want to throw an average resume out there, you will certainly not be stressed over this step. However, if you begin to consider what other applicants might be writing on their resumes, as well as trying to determine what would most impress a hiring manager... well, you're in for a lot of self-analysis and poring over details. There's no real right or wrong way to put together a resume (other than some general guidelines such as avoiding typos and using poor grammar), and in fact if you were to ask 10 objective people about your resume, you'll like get 18 different answers about how it should look and what it should say. Resumes will forever be an imperfect and maddening science, at least as long as the job search process works like it does now.

3. The job search. In today's world it's rather easy to look for a job posting. Simply go online to a small handful of job sites, enter your criteria, and boom, you get dozens of listings. You can even have job openings emailed to you with various services likeCareerbuilder and Monster. Unfortunately, that's not the best way to do it in the real world. Let's face facts here: Job boards are full of job postings that you'll never get. Perhaps the company knows who it wants to hire already, but by company rules, they have to post the job to outsiders, meaning you're just aspeed bump in the road to hiring someone else. Or inevitably there will be the perfect job for you but it's 2 hours from your house and you're not ready to move. And so on and so forth. Instead you'd probably be better off going the hard way: networking. Start talking to people about your job search, but more importantly SHOW these people what you're capable of doing and they'll be more than willing to talk about you amongst their peers and help you get the job you want. This process takes longer, but in the end you'll have better results. Building solid relationships is much better than blindly throwing around a solid resume.

4. The numbers game. Whether you're replying to job openings, networking, or simply finding companies in the phone book and sending off resumes blindly (not encouraged, but may be worth doing if you're really in a pinch), you are still just a number in the machine of job hiring. After a while you'll find that it will take you "X" number of resume mailings, to get one interview. Some people will have an easier time than others (based on their experience, chosen field, etc.), but whatever the case, there is a ratio that will correlate to the number of responses. Perhaps it's 5 resume sends to 1 response, or perhaps 10:1 or maybe even 100:1. Just realize that you're not the only one applying, and you may never hear back from the vast majority of companies you try and reach. Daunting indeed, but something you must quickly get over and keep on avenging.

5. The interview. Okay, so you got that precious response, now you have to go present yourself to one or more interviewers. Just like in putting together a resume, there's no set criteria that works for every interview, just a few general guidelines like dress appropriately, answer questions openly and honestly, and show who you are. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of the interviewer and hopefully you'll appease them on that given day. Throw in the fact that you're secretly skipping out on your current job to do this, and you're in a very uncomfortable position. Encouraging, huh!?

6. The wait. So you had your interview. Now you wait to hear back from your interviewer. Perhaps it's a few days, perhaps a couple of weeks, but hopefully the amount of time delay will be cleared up during the interview. In any event, it's challenging to sit back and
wait for an answer, especially as you have to keep going to your
current job every day. Meanwhile, as you wait to hear back, you need to decide what kind of offer you would expect from them, and whether or not you'd even want to work at this place. Sometimes you interview perfectly and get the job offered to you, but the place of employment just isn't up your alley... you have to work this out in your heart. Sometimes your instincts are right on this one and you're better off not taking the job. This is up to you, but perhaps others can help you make the decision.

7. The offer. Mr. or Ms. Interviewer has now offered you the job. (Congrats!) First is the difficult part of negotiating your salary and benefits, which may not be negotiable but are important to have all on paper right up front. Assuming you accept, now you have the fun part of telling your current boss that you're leaving. This may be really difficult if you're very attached to your job, or it may be a breeze if you're actually hoping your boss will let you leave right away (aka--getting fired). Giving that letter of resignation can be a sigh of relief or a ball of stress.Everybody's in a different situation, just be prepared.

8. The start. Day 1 on your new job... meeting people and trying to
remember names, taking in the atmosphere, learning all the ropes to
your position, getting a feel for the rhythm of work, and all of the
other experiences make for another stressful situation, though one that will dissipate over time. In the end, you will hopefully get used to it all and succeed. And if not, well, you can always go ahead and start the search all over again!

Best of luck in your hunt... may you be a fortunate one and find your dream job without all of this hassle!


(Thanks to PeoplePlus Consulting for the image!)

7 Interview Tips for College and High School Students

Last week I had the priviledge to interview about a dozen young adults who were throwing their hat in the ring to try and earn a college scholarship from a Philadelphia-area non-profit of which I'm a member. It's always a highlight of my year to take a day off of work, meet with bright, young, interesting kids (mostly) and give out other people's money. By listening to and observing each applicant, it amazes me to realize just how different these students really are. Here are some things I noticed and tips that may help other students who interview for a scholarship or job in the near future:

1. Dress professionally. This is an old cliche, but the first impression you give really does make a difference. Some really amazing kids came in dressed in shorts or wearing sneakers. Doing this really doesn't get you off on the right foot and makes it seem like you don't care. Each interview is different in terms of formality, but at the very least, it's important to look sharp.

2. Drop the slang. I met a sweet young girl who talked about her time growing up in a not-so-great neighborhood. I was impressed with how she climbed out of a difficult lifestyle, but listening to her say "axe" instead of "ask" and "mines" instead of "mine" really got annoying. I realize that slang becomes part of a person's vernacular no matter where s/he is from, but it makes me cringe to hear somebody interview for a chunk of money and talking like they don't even care how they sound. That ain't cool.

3. College = Education. Perhaps it's just a fact of life now, but I get the feeling that college (or high school) kids are entitled to think that college is supposed to be fun first, educational second. Granted the college/high school years can and should be the most fun times of a person's life, but ultimately you go to school for an education. If I ask you in an interview-- "How did your year at college go?"-- the answer shouldn't be-- "Oh it was a blast." Tell me what you learned, interesting projects you worked on, or advances you made in your education. If I'm giving you moolah for a college education, prove to me that you're getting educated!

4. Ask questions. In a job interview, it is wise to ask questions at the end of the interview. It shows you were listening and thinking ahead about the job, plus it gives the interviewer a chance to talk more naturally about the company he represents. Same goes in a scholarship interview. Ask about the scholarship. How is money raised? What type of people do you look for? Anything! If I say-- "Do you have any questions?"-- don't say-- "Ummm, no, that's about it."

5. Come prepared. Sadly, quite a few kids had no idea about the organization giving away money. That should be the first order of business once you are called in for an interview, if not earlier. Learn what the organization's mission is, learn what the culture is like, etc. With the ease of searching online now, there's no excuse to not at least give an "elevator speech" about what the organization is all about.

6. Be ready to talk past, present, and FUTURE. I admit that I am often guilty of this one. I can always talk about what I did in the past and what I'm doing now, but I don't always think ahead about what what I plan to do in the future. But in an interview, you need to show some initiative and at the very least pretend like you have a plan. Otherwise, why should I give you money if you're just going to flounder around with it?

7. Send a thank you note. Just common courtesy.

Interviews are a challenging part of life, but it's important to know what works best. And knowing is half the battle. Good luck!

Pithy Thought of the Day: American Jobs

There's been much discussion about American jobs getting outsourced overseas. While I do feel for the people who lose their jobs here to cheaper labor in foreign countries, perhaps we should at least be flattered that the world actually wants to take our jobs, such as sitting in cubicles answering customer complaint phone calls, mining in hazardous conditions, and sewing away in sweat shops. These are jobs that we created that are not generally desirable, yet other countries actively want them. Whodathunkit!

America has enough talent, ingenuity, and resources to now focus on making the world a better place-- environmentally, socially, medically, etc.-- , rather than dwelling on mundane tasks that, while necessary in many ways to the world's economy, may just be better off being done by someone else.

So instead of striving to maintain jobs that "suck the life out of us", perhaps we can reach for the stars and create better jobs to take on challenges to improve the world-- such as improving the environment, improving the health of others, and improving job conditions in developing countries (how ironic), to name a few. Hopefully other countries will then want to copy those jobs as well...

The Mystifying Ways of the Auto Industry

I was never a big admirer of cars. Some people collect them, refurbish them, pimp them up, and dream about them. That's cool. Everybody's got their thing. I've always considered cars to be a machine that gets me from here to yon.

I'm not quite sure why I never took to cars. My dad loved and still loves cars. He can watch a throwback movie from the 50's and name the year, make, and model of cars that are in the background. It's quite an impressive talent actually! But for some reason I never caught on.

I think it's mostly because I'm jaded by the whole auto industry. Their ways of doing business just totally mystify me.

Here are some points to chew on about why the auto industry bugs me:

• Dealers: Granted, some dealers have caught on of late, but how many times do you see a car dealer commercial where the rich, slickly dressed dealership owner is yelling at you about how cheap his cars are or how fast you have to act before this price break ends? It's totally tasteless and out of control! Since when do people want to be interrupted with this garbage? Sadly, it seems to work or else they wouldn't continue to do it. But not for me.
  
• Dealers, Mechanics at the: It's a universal fact that the mechanics at the dealers charge you your firstborn baby to fix a rusted tailpipe. Independent mechanics aren't usually much better. I utterly respect mechanics' knowledge of fixing cars, but don't markup the cost of a part by 200%, and don't tell me I need something when I don't. Why would I want to come back to you if you're screwing me? On the bright side, the internet has made a dent in the price of parts. To wit, I just bought a new mirror at PartsTrain.com for a total of $43, and a guy at work popped it on for me at no charge. That's the way to do it.
• Jobs: Used to be that jobs in the auto industry were good, honest work for hard working people. Obviously things change over time, but I can't quite get excited about buying a car when I hear that 10,000 jobs need to be cut here, or 30,000 there, etc. There's got to be a better way to go about this.
  
• Marketing: Twenty years ago, environmentalists were called crazy for worrying about carbon dioxide emissions, fossil fuel shortages, and so forth. Now all of the sudden, all of these car dealers are "going green" and claiming to save the environment. Look, I'm all for hybrid cars. These should have been mainstreamed decades ago. But don't all of a sudden act like you're on my side, and also, don't tell me that "the environment thanks you", as Honda says. The environment thanks me when I walk to the store, or ride a bike to work (which, unfortunately, I am guilty of not doing enough of either). It doesn't "thank me" for continuing to pump out CO2, just in lesser amounts. Let's be real here.
• Numbers: Can anybody tell me what all those numbers are all about at the end of a commercial, on a contract to buy a car, on a car rental contract, or in the owner's manual? Whatever happened to making things simple? Not in autoland. It's just one big numbermash!
  

Well that's a small taste of why I dislike the auto industry. Maybe by the time I'm ready to buy my next car in a few years, they'll have figured it all out. If not, maybe it's time for a Schwinn. Keep on truckin'!