Chapter :18 - Building Careers and Writing Résumés & Interview- Lecture (Final)

 Securing Employment in Today’s Job Market

To keep up with the demand for good employees—and the flood of résumés coming in from all
over the Internet—many companies now use some form of automation to find the best candidates
and shepherd them through the selection process.
 The Employment Search
Understanding how employers approach the hiring process is just one many insights and skills
you’ll need to conduct a successful job search. After you’ve armed yourself with knowledge of
today’s workplace and your potential role in it, it’s time to launch an efficient, productive
process to find that ideal position.
Even armed with knowledge about today’s workplace and what you can do to adapt to it, you
still need to learn about the process of seeking employment. As the slide above shows, the
process of searching for employment has six steps:
1. Building toward a career.
2. Preparing a résumé.
3. Understanding the interview process.
4. Preparing for an interview.
5. Taking an interview.
6. Following up and accepting an offer.

Employers’ Approach to Recruiting Process

When searching for the job you want, you can save considerable time and effort by
understanding how employers approach the recruiting process.
Generally, employers prefer to look for candidates within their organizations. When hiring
outside the company, they rely heavily on referrals from people they know and trust.
Employers also recruit candidates through employment agencies, state employment services,
temporary staffing services, and the employment bureaus operated by some trade associations.
Many employers accept unsolicited résumés. In addition, employers send representatives to
college campuses to interview students for job openings.
Employers also post jobs through classified and display ads in newspapers, trade magazines,
campus publications. Some use nontraditional recruiting media, such as radio and television.
What Employers Seek
The most successful résumés convey seven qualities that employers seek: they demonstrate that
you (1) think in terms of results, (2) know how to get things done, (3) are well rounded, (4) show
signs of career progress and professional development, (5) have personal standards of excellence,
(6) are flexible and willing to try new things, and (7) communicate effectively. Organizing your
résumé is a question of portraying these seven attributes in the strongest possible light.
“Red Flags” for Employers
While you’re pondering your strengths, you also need to consider any perceived weaknesses you
may have. Do you have something in your history that might trigger an employer’s red
flag? Here are some common problems and quick suggestions for overcoming them.
• Frequent job changes. Group all contract and temporary jobs under one heading if
they’re similar.
• Gaps in work history. Mention relevant experience and education gained during time
gaps, such as volunteer or community work. If gaps are due to personal problems such as
drug, alcohol abuse, or mental illness, offer honest but general explanations about your
absences.
• Inexperience. Do volunteer work. List relevant course work and internships. Offer hiring
incentives such as “willing to work nights and weekends.”
• Over qualification. Tone down your résumé, focusing exclusively on pertinent
experience and skills.
• Long-term employment with one company. Itemize each position held at the firm to
show “interior mobility” and increased responsibilities.
• Job termination for cause. Be honest with interviewers. Show that you’re hard-working
employee. Counter their concerns with recommendations and examples of completed
projects.
• Criminal record. Consider sending out a “broadcast letter” about your skills and
experience, rather than a résumé and cover letter. Prepare answers to questions that
interviewers will Make your résumé chronological, functional, or a combination of the
two. The "right" choice depends on your background and your goals.

Organizing Your Résumé

In a chronological résumé, the "Work Experience" section dominates and is placed in the most
prominent slot. This approach is the most common way to organize a résumé. It has three
advantages: (1) employers are familiar with it, (2) it highlights growth and career progression,
and (3) it highlights continuity and stability. The chronological approach is especially
appropriate if you have a strong employment history and are aiming for a job that builds on your
current career path.
A functional résumé emphasizes skills and accomplishments, identifying employers and
academic experience in subordinate sections. This pattern stresses individual areas of
competence, so it's useful for people who are just entering the job market, want to redirect their
careers, or have little continuous career-related experience. The functional approach also has
three advantages: (1) without having to read through job descriptions, employers can see what
you can do for them, (2) you can emphasize earlier job experience, and (3) you can de-emphasize
any lack of career progress or lengthy unemployment.
A combination résumé includes the best of the chronological and functional approaches.
Nevertheless, it is not commonly used for two reasons: it tends to be longer, and it can be
repetitious if you have to list your accomplishments and skills in both the functional section and
the chronological job descriptions.

Composing Your Résumé

The first thing an employer needs to know is who you are and where you can be reached: your
name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.
Some experts argue that your objective is obvious from your qualifications. Others say that
employers will categorize you anyway, so you should make sure they attach the right label.
Instead of stating an objective, you could summarize your qualifications and highlight your
strongest points.
If you're still in school, education is probably your strongest selling point. Present your
educational background in depth, choosing facts that support your "theme." The education
section also includes off-campus training sponsored by business or government. Education is
usually given less emphasis in a résumé after you've worked in your chosen field for a year or
more.
The work experience section focuses on your overall theme. Tailor your description to highlight
the relationship between your previous responsibilities and your target field. When describing
your work experience, list your jobs in chronological order, with the current or last one first.
Describe any volunteer activities that demonstrate your abilities. List projects that require
leadership, organization, teamwork, and cooperation.
Experts advise you to leave personal interests off your résumé—unless including them enhances
the employer’s understanding of why you would be the best candidate for the job.

Common Résumé Problems

Ask professional recruiters to list the most common mistakes they see on résumés, and you’ll
hear the same things over and over again. Keep your résumé out of the recycling bin by avoiding
these flaws:
Too long. The résumé is not concise, relevant, and to the point.
Too short or sketchy. The résumé does not give enough information for a proper evaluation of
the applicant.
Hard to read. The résumé lacks enough white space and devices such as indentions and
boldfacing to make the reader’s job easier.
Wordy. Descriptions are verbose, using numerous words describing simple concepts.
Too slick. The résumé appears to have been written by someone other than the applicant, which
raises the question of whether the qualifications have been exaggerated.
Amateurish. The résumé includes the wrong information or presents it awkwardly, which
indicates that the applicant has little understanding of the business world or of a particular
industry.
Poorly produced. The print is faint and difficult to read or the paper is cheap and inappropriate.
Misspelled and ungrammatical throughout. The document contains spelling and grammar
mistakes that indicate the candidate lacks both communication skills and attention to quality.
Boastful. The overconfident tone makes the reader wonder whether the applicant’s self-
evaluation is realistic.
Generic. Customize your résumé to fit specific industries, companies, and positions.
Gimmicky. The words, structure, decoration, or material used in the résumé depart so far from
the usual as to make the résumé ineffective.
Types of Application Letters
If you’re sending a solicited application letter (in response to an announced job opening) you’ll
know what qualifications the organization is seeking. You’ll also have more competition because
hundreds of other job seekers will have seen the listing and may be sending applications too. In
some respects, an unsolicited letter (sent to an organization that has not announced an opening)
stands a better chance of being read and receiving individualized attention.
Both solicited and unsolicited letters present your qualifications similarly. The main difference is
in the opening paragraph. In a solicited letter, you need no special attention-getter because you
have been invited to apply. In an unsolicited letter, start by capturing the reader's attention and
interest.
Like your résumé, your application letter is a form of advertising, so organize it as you would a
sales letter: Use the AIDA approach, focus on your audience, and emphasize reader benefits (as
discussed in Chapter 10). Make sure your style projects confidence. To sell a potential employer
on your merits, you must believe in them and sound as though you do.
Employment Interviews
An employment interview is a formal meeting during which both employer and applicant ask
questions and exchange information. These meetings have a dual purpose: (1) the organization's
main objective is to find the best person available for the job by determining whether the
applicant and the organization are a good match, and (2) the applicant's main objective is to find
the job best suited to his or her goals and capabilities.
Typical Interview Sequence
Most employers interview an applicant two or three times before deciding to make a job offer.
Applicants often face a sequence of interviews, each with a different purpose.
First is the preliminary screening stage, which is generally held on campus and which helps
employers screen out unqualified applicants. Interviews at the screening stage are fairly
structured, so applicants are often asked roughly the same questions. Your best approach to an
interview at the screening stage is to follow the interviewer's lead.
The next stage of interviews helps the organization narrow the field a little further. Typically, if
you're invited to visit a company, you will talk with several people: a member of the human
resources department, one or two potential colleagues, and your potential supervisor. Your best
approach during this selection stage of interviews is to show interest in the job, relate your skills
and experience to the organization's needs, listen attentively, ask insightful questions, and
display enthusiasm.
If the interviewers agree that you're a good candidate, you may receive a job offer, either on the
spot or a few days later by phone or mail. In other cases, you may be invited back for a final
evaluation by a higher-ranking executive who has the authority to make the hiring decision and
to decide on your compensation. An underlying objective of the final stage is often to sell you on
the advantages of joining the organization.

Types of Interviews
Organizations use various types of interviews to discover as much as possible about you and
other applicants. A structured interview is generally used in the screening stage. The employer
controls the interview by asking a series of prepared questions in a set order. By contrast, the
open-ended interview is less formal and unstructured. The interviewer poses broad, open-ended
questions and encourages you to talk freely.
Some organizations perform group interviews, meeting with several candidates simultaneously
to see how they interact. The most unnerving type of interview is the stress interview, during
which you might be asked pointed questions designed to irk or unsettle you, or your might be
subjected to long periods of silence, criticisms of your appearance, deliberate interruptions, and
abrupt or even hostile reactions by the interviewer.
Many companies have learned that no strong correlation exists between how well people answer
interview questions in a traditional interview and how well they perform on the job. In response,
these firms have adopted a variety of new interviewing strategies. In the situational interview,
various on-the-job scenarios are described, and candidates are asked how they would respond.
Similarly, a behavioral interview asks candidates to describe real situations in the past and
explain how they responded. The most realistic approach is the working interview, in which the
candidate is asked to perform the actual work that he or she would be doing on the job.

Organizations use various types of interviews to discover as much as possible about you and
other applicants. A structured interview is generally used in the screening stage. The employer
controls the interview by asking a series of prepared questions in a set order. By contrast, the
open-ended interview is less formal and unstructured. The interviewer poses broad, open-ended
questions and encourages you to talk freely.
Some organizations perform group interviews, meeting with several candidates simultaneously
to see how they interact. The most unnerving type of interview is the stress interview, during
which you might be asked pointed questions designed to irk or unsettle you, or your might be
subjected to long periods of silence, criticisms of your appearance, deliberate interruptions, and
abrupt or even hostile reactions by the interviewer.
Many companies have learned that no strong correlation exists between how well people answer
interview questions in a traditional interview and how well they perform on the job. In response,
these firms have adopted a variety of new interviewing strategies. In the situational interview,
various on-the-job scenarios are described, and candidates are asked how they would respond.
Similarly, a behavioral interview asks candidates to describe real situations in the past and
explain how they responded. The most realistic approach is the working interview, in which the
candidate is asked to perform the actual work that he or she would be doing on the job.