My Trip

Tomorrow I will be traveling to London for the educational experience of a lifetime–international study. I am thrilled beyond measure to have this opportunity; however, I do not enjoy flying. In fact, one could say that I am terrified to fly. Terrified. I am the person sitting next to you who has the bag open just in case. I am the person who will make small talk just to get my mind off of the vibrations of the plane and the possible meanings of the occasional dips in altitude. Okay, so we all know that flying is statistically safer than driving. I get that, but I just can’t get beyond the unexplained noises and the fact that I am 6 miles up in the air without a safety net. Why, one would ask, would someone put himself or herself through such irrational terror for so many hours? I am determined to succeed in life, through my education and my personal life. I do not want to allow my fear, however irrational, to keep me from my educational goals and experiences in life. If that means I hold on to my seat white-knuckled for 11 hours, then that is exactly what I will do. I refuse to be dominated by my fear. I refuse to look back over my life and see nothing but anxiety-filled deserts of empty dreams. I want to experience the busy streets of London, Big Ben, the Tower of London, everything. So for one day, I will pretend that I am relaxing at home in my lounger, in a conference at work, or perhaps getting a root canal…hold on London, here I come!

Verbal Dapper

Nothing much is going on here.
This has gone out and that has gone out and no responses.
A follow-through here led to a, “Oh. You must have contacted the wrong secretary.” “Do you have any other secretaries?” “No actually we don’t, but thanks for calling!”
A follow-through there led to a, “Mmm, yeah. We’re looking for uhh objective reporting—nothing uhh too wild, really, yeaaaaahhhh.” “Well, I’m very interested in learning the trade. I can tell you that I’d really dedicate myself to learning as much as I can.” “Mmmm. Yeahhhh. We’re actually uhh looking uhh for someone with uhh objective reporting skills.”
The funny thing is that I list this Internship, or whatever it is, and how to view it, on my ever-so-important resume. So that it may shine like the diamond that it is.
“By God!!! Look at this young man’s resume! It… it glitters! It… it glistens! It shines! Oh good heavens!”
“Oh Davis, my eyes hurt! I think they’re burning! Just look at that resume, would you?! I’ve never seen a human being with such skill. He must be one of those ambidextrous typers!”
“Such… deft! Such dapper!”
“Yes! Verbal dapper indeed!”
“Mmmmm yes!”
“Yeahhhh uhh… we actually uhh… have a philosophy that uhh we uhh… want to uhh… bore… uhh…our uhh readers to death.”
PS: Ms. LaRose, I checked out The 2005 Writer’s Market at the library yesterday. That thing is a beast. But a very useful beast, once you figure out how to use it. I plan on getting a copy of my own soon. Thank you for the advice.

Video Job Descriptions

We’ve been working on this for months so I’m pretty excited to announce that we’re starting to roll out a brand new feature for CollegeRecruiter.com: video job descriptions. Job seekers who want a sneak peak at what it is like to work in a particular job have always been able to job shadow, but it can be difficult to find employers who are willing to allow outsiders to follow an employee around for a day or even part of a day. Now, in just a few minutes, job seekers can get a taste (well, actually see and hear) what it is like to work in a particular field.
We’ll soon have hundreds of these videos available to visitors to CollegeRecruiter.com and any other site. That’s right, we’re putting these in the public domain so college career service offices and any other web site will be able to run these videos on their sites at no charge. The first video is about Advertising and Promotions Managers:

25 Best Corporate Employment Sites

It is often said that you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. That is especially true with respect to trying to recruit high quality candidates. These candidates almost always visit the employment web sites of the organization for which they are interested in working. CollegeRecruiter.com recently published a white paper on the best practices for corporate employment web sites, but even more recently Gerry Crispen of CareerXroads released their 2006 list of the 25 best corporate employment sites. Listed alphabetically, they are:

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Research & Development Resume

SUMMARY
Highly accomplished R&D Director with extensive
Fortune 500 technical and business development
experience. Skilled in identifying winning and
losing projects in early phases of development.
KEYWORDS
XYZ director, manager, technical director,
research, technology, engineering, technical
service, business development, manufacturing,
product development, process development,
market analysis, business analysis, strategic
planning, sales, marketing, negotiating,
chemicals, petrochemicals, PhD, chemistry, BA.
PROFILE
Extensive R&D/engineering management background
includes broad technical knowledge/judgment,
ability to drive bottom-line performance in
developing products/processes and
manufacturing.
Strong business development expertise includes
business acumen that brings focus to strategic
areas, market/business analysis, strategic
planning, sales and negotiating.
Created $150 million+ in new revenue while
saving more than $100 million; promoted nine
times and received numerous awards/patents
during career with XYZ Corp. (1979-2000).
Exceptional leadership skills. Experienced
building world-class teams of 120+
professionals, establishing vision, setting
goals, communicating, motivating, empowering
and developing people.
Manager said: “As a leader, he is the best.
He has a vision of the future and a clear
strategy to get there. He inspires his people
to achieve that vision. He uses all of his
skills in managing the business and gets
results.”
EXPERIENCE
Senior Technical Advisor, XYZ Corp., Any City, Any State 2003-present
Provide technical sales and sales force support
for $70-million specialty chemicals business.
Created $3 million in new annual revenue by
turning around failing friction modifier
project.
Increased revenues $7 million annually by
developing new opportunity in fuel additives.
Developed strong relationships with top
technical people at key clients.
President, XYZ Laser Marking,
Any City, Any State 2001-2002
Completed working sabbatical while creating
Internet business based on unique products.
Produced proof of concept by generating $50,000
in first full year with effective marketing
efforts.
Research Director – XYZ Assets, XYZ
Technology Company, Any City, Any State 1998-2000
Hand-picked to direct, engineering and
technical service for $3-billion petrochemicals
business, including technical support of 75
plants worldwide.
Brought focus to department and created high-
performance manufacturing support teams.
Saved $39 million in annual manufacturing costs
by introducing several new petrochemical
processes, process models and advanced control
systems.
Technology Director, XYZ Chemical Company,
Any CIty, Any State 1993-1997
Directed R&D, technical service and product
stewardship for $600-million specialty
chemicals business.
Grew income from $34 million to $100 million
and directed development of 50+ new products.
Led multi-functional business team responsible
for $200-million poly alpha-olefin business.
Grew sales 15% annually by driving industry
acceptance of PAO derived from mixed olefins
and despite strong competition from new market
entrants and major raw material supply
disruptions.
Manager, Strategic Planning & Financial
Analysis, XYZ Chemical Company, Any City, ANy State 1992
Led strategic and financial planning group.
Analyzed markets/economics associated with new
businesses.
Saved $40-million investment by analyzing
market, showing that previous analyses were
flawed and convincing Executive Committee to
stop construction of plant to make new chemical
intermediates.
Led development of flagship product line after
recognizing potential for abandoned technology
and convincing leadership team to produce new
family of synthetic base stocks.
Promoted to Technology Director as result of
ability to identify potential winning and
losing projects.
Manager-Business Development, XYZ Research &
Engineering, Any CIty, Any State 1986-1991
Appointed to newly created position to develop
Mobil’s licensing business. Created business
model for licensing technology. Developed
business and marketing plans.
Grew licensing and catalyst sales income from
$40 million to $110 million annually.
Identified 10+ major opportunities, negotiated
licensing deals and initiated joint ventures to
complement internal skills and technology.
Manufacturing Manager, XYZ Solar Energy
Corporation, Any CIty, Any State 1983-1985
Established solar cell manufacturing line and
consolidated gains made in research.
As Manager, XYZ Growth Operations, turned
around group that was cornerstone of business.
Developed teamwork/established goals to
challenge operators of photovoltaic production
facility (1984).
Increased productivity two-fold in one year.
Eliminated costly purification and raw
materials inspection, shifting responsibility
to suppliers.
As Head of XYZ Planning, developed
business/marketing plans and presented them to
Executive Committee. Convinced leadership team
to change strategic direction (1983).
Group Leader, XYZ Synthesis, XYZ
Research Lab, Any CIty, Any State 1979-1982
Led catalyst research program to develop
innovative new catalysts and manufacturing
processes.
Catapulted company to lead position in critical
new area by negotiating research agreement with
University of Illinois. Won $75-million patent
infringement suit in part based on this work.
Awarded 13 US and foreign patents.
Promoted from Research Chemist position within
first year (1980).
EDUCATION
PhD, Chemistry, University of XYZ,
Any CIty, ANy STate 1979
Discovered often-cited family of metal cluster
compounds in dynamic equilibrium that provided
unique model of hydrocarbon transformations on
metal surfaces. Authored six publications.
BA, Chemistry, cum laude, The College of
XYZ, Any City, ANy State 1975
Received departmental honors
Prize, XYZ Award, American Institute of
Chemists Award and XYZ Xi International
Scientific and Engineering Honor Society.

uh… CONGRATULATIONS!!

My very good, and very smart, friend, graduated from Harvard a year ago. She then moved to Manhatten and has been working for an investment banking firm. She enjoys finance, but cannot stand her job! Everyday I listen to her trials and tribulations of not being challenged, not getting along with her coworkers, not enjoying her group, not being interested in where she was placed against her wishes. I think to myself, see–this is exactly why I don’t have a “real job” yet. Sure, she makes good money, and looks really good on paper, but she has a miserable existence! In the meantime, she had been interviewing with other firms with the hope of landing a spot in a place more suited to her needs and desires. I am very supportive and know she will be brillant whereever she goes. She finally found her dream job (for now) and completed the interview process. She thought she totally bombed, but ended up with a fabulous offer which she excepted several days later. We will soon be on our way to the West Coast for a new and hopefully, but most likely, better job (I’m am going with her the first week to help her get acclimated).
She decided to wait until she received her bonus to tell her firm she would be leaving and that they could all… you know what. But the funniest thing happened. The other day, I get an elated phone call from my friend telling me she was just fired! “Oh,” I say. She goes on to tell me that they called her in for a chit chat only to tell her they noticed things weren’t exactly working out and that she has two options–make a substantial effort to improve (she had pretty much stopped caring- being that her new job was already landed), or accept a package for leaving. Of course, she takes the latter–six figure bonus, two months worth of paychecks, and assistance finding a new job. “CONGRATULATIONS!” And Bon voyage! Off to the West Coast with a very nice parting gift. SUCKERS!
The real world is so full of $hit.

Interview Butterflies

Right now I’m out of town and I got an email from my mom last night telling me that a magazine company called to set up an interview. As I was lying in bed thinking about it, I started getting the gitters. I was playing through my mind how the interview would go. What would I wear? And what kind of questions would they ask me. Once a friend told me that the interviewer asked him what super power he would have if he could choose. I tried to think about it and came up with a super power brain, but that sounded pretty lame. So now I”m just hoping that they don’t ask any questions like that; I’m not super quick with witty responses. I think I’m going to have to read up on how to survive interviews. Eeek.

Priorities

For me there were two types of priorities related to employment: the priorities to getting a job and the priorities to keeping a job. Sounds simple, right?
I’m sure most of you know the ins and outs of the unemployment priorities; when you have to put the job search before your family, and, in a fit of desperation, have to put your family before a job search just to keep from going insane.
Priorities: when you have to decide which companies are most likely to be a good fit for you, when you have to decide (hopefully) which company interviews to accept and prepare for.
Priorities: when you have to decide whether an extra half fifteen minutes of sleep might be beneficial if it keeps you from doing a nose-dive at the computer/during the interview/on the phone.
But in reality all these priorities are getting you ready for are those you will face during your employment.

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We think you’re nice

Most people that I interview are nice people. Some of them are incredibly nice. More than likely, you are a nice person and I am an optimist: I think most people are pretty nice people. Granted that I’ve had an interview with a jerk or two and while it can be fun to make those guys sweat, it is pretty useless otherwise. But here is the problem with “being nice”:
Nice doesn’t get you the job.
How mean! Being nice isn’t a job skill though. It isn’t portable equity nor is it remarkable. Being nice in an interview is like wearing nice clothes and not smelling bad. It is expected of you and it is really a matter of respect and being polite (which isn’t the same as being nice by the way).
While I wish I could hire every nice person I interviewed, I can’t. And while I don’t particularly like the part of the job where I tell nice people that they aren’t going to be employed with us, it is necessary so I deal with it. Even if I say no, I probably still think you’re nice. So when a candidate (or hiring manager or the co-worker that referred him or her) uses this as a reason why I should hire them, I laugh a little to myself. While being nice is…well, nice…it isn’t a job skill and nobody will hire you for it.

The Biggest Concerns of Hiring Managers

It seems as though many hiring managers have concerns regarding certain employees who they put reputations on the line for. These employees have the potential to succeed, but do not want to follow the company rules, and want to do things their way. They come in from day one wanting to make a splash, but instead are unproductive in the workplace. One problem for hiring managers is that these type of workers make everyone else uncomfortable, which can lead to a loss of good employees. Some of you who have jobs may be looking for another one for this exact reason. Another problem this causes for employers is the negative effect on relationships not just inside the company, but outside of it as well, such as with vendors. Due to the actions of one troublsome employee, the entire company may suffer a great loss. Sellers may not want to associate with a business whose employees make it difficult to do their job.
Has anyone ever heard the phrase “fit the personalilty of our company”? Well, more hiring managers are putting more emphasis on the attitude of potential employees and not just their skills. I think this is important to do because who wants to deal with someone’s nasty attitude even if he or she is a very productive worker. So, remember, when an employer takes a chance on you, don’t make him or her regret it. After all you represent the employer and the company you work for, as we do now for Mr. Steven Rothberg and CollegeRecruiter.com.