Podcasts

Woman Around Town’s Editor Charlene Giannetti and writers for the website talk with the women and men making news in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the world. Thanks to Ian Herman for his wonderful piano introduction.

The New American Dreamer

The New American Dreamer: Dress & Rehearsal

08/08/2016

We have arrived. You got the call, you flew through the phone interview (see our previous story) and now they want to meet you. It’s time for the interview.

I want to make sure we emphasize the importance of this interview by taking two entries to cover it dividing this opportunity into the “pre-interview” phase and “the interview.” Ultimately the interview will decide whether you get the job because people hire people and not resumes, so take a lot of time to prepare for this meeting.

In the pre-interview phase we could say there are two main areas to address, the mental and the physical.

The physical aspects include not only your general appearance and outfit, but also your body language and eye contact. Research tells us that as much as 85 percent of communication is nonverbal. So make a task list and start with these tips:

  1. Plan out exactly what you will wear two days before (if possible) and when in doubt, go with something conservative unless you know otherwise.
  2. On colors—know the rules before you break them. Blue and navy are good choices, grays are also usually a good choice, and with a white shirt or blouse it always looks professional. Wear strong colors like black and red as accents to show your personality.
  3. For women wear closed toe shoes and plain hosiery. And for men, make sure your shoes are freshly shined.

This may sound ridiculous but if you can get a friend to help, ask them to interview you. Notice your body language and eye contact. Practice a few times until you can sit straight and look them in the eye in a natural, confident way.

The other part of your preparation is mental. This means preparing your mind to handle anything you might be asked about. Start by knowing answers to the basic questions always asked during an interview such as:

“Tell me a little bit about you.”

”Why do you want to work here?”

“Why did you leave your last job?”

“Do you have any questions for us?” (Street tip: Have one but keep it positive, extremely simple and related to a work aspect of the job – not a benefit.)

If you really want this job you must do research. On them and on you. Here is a checklist for further mental preparation:

  1. Know your resume by heart.
  2. Know all of your strengths and your ONE or TWO weaknesses.
  3. Know your life story.
  4. Know how to summarize your life story.
  5. Know how to summarize your life story using only the highlights.
  6. Know the history of the company you’re interviewing.
  7. Know what the company has interests in and what kind of image and marketing it does if any.
  8. Know what the company website and all of its social media tools look like.
  9. Know the job description.
  10. Know the person or people interviewing you.
  11. Prepare a basic thank you letter, note or email simply to have it ready to fill in with details and send the moment you get home.

I could make this list so much longer but I think it’s important for everyone to start here and then work out with a goal of gaining as much knowledge and practice at interviewing as possible.

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

The New American Dreamer: Tell A Phone To Hire You

08/01/2016

As many as one in six job interviews now begins on the phone. Companies looking to save time and money choose to pre-screen applicants on the telephone rather than with a face-to-face meeting.

For some, this development is good news. Imagine sitting at home in sweatpants and flip-flops, drinking coffee from a favorite mug, and still interviewing for that dream job. Other applicants who do much better in an actual meeting may regard this trend as a lost opportunity.

No matter your point of view, the phone interview may be a necessary step in your job search. See it as your chance to shine so that even before the conversation is over, you will be assured of winning that in-person interview.

My advice? Prepare for that phone interview as you would were it an actual interview – because it is! The goal here is two-fold: to impress the interviewer with who you are, and to get that face-to-face interview. (We’ll discuss this next time).

Do your homework. Learn about the company, the people, and the position you are applying for. What strengths will you bring to the job and to the company? In the days of search engines like Google and Bing, employers think it insulting not to know the basics.

You won’t have to worry about what to wear or bring to the interview, but there are important ways to prepare:

  • If you can, always use a landline. If you don’t have access to one, then charge your cell phone or plug it in. Yes, it’s a bad thing if your phone drops the call.
  • If you are on a cell phone, find a quiet area to sit and make sure the connection is excellent. One more time – yes, it’s a bad thing if your phone drops the call.
  • Get some water ready. You don’t realize how dry you may get when you are talking for a length of time and your adrenaline is pumping.
  • Get your resume out, your cover letter, notes, and any correspondences along with blank pieces of paper and two pens. Yes, two pens, you know one always runs out.
  • Tell anyone in the house or location not to walk in or disturb you. Pets should be out of barking distance.

Now comes the hard part. Stay focused and listen. Listening is as important to an interviewer as speaking. If the person on the other end of the phone feels you are interrupting or not paying attention, you are less likely to make it to the next round.

Speak confidently and be yourself. It does help to be conversational even when talking about your accomplishments. Rehearse beforehand and go through a list of possible questions. Be positive. You may find that you actually enjoy speaking to the person on the other end of the line.

Before you hang up, make sure you have the interviewer’s contact information so that you can send a “thank you” as a followup. (See my previous story).

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

The New American Dreamer—Call Waiting

07/25/2016

All set for that job interview? Of course you are. Before that happens, you may have to manage correspondence, specifically emails, from potential employers. There will probably be some surprises along the way, so let’s get to work.

Why am I spending so much time talking about how to respond to an email? Because I want you to pause before you hit that “send” button. There’s a fine line between being smart about something and over-thinking it. Often your own instincts can separate you from the crowd.

Here’s what to know: There are two things happening in the hiring process these days that are relatively new or at least new to new job seekers. The first is the various ways a response may come from a potential employer. The second is the express lane version of HR, the proliferation of phone “pre-interviews.” But first things first—let’s talk about the ways to respond to a potential employer.

Assuming you’ve sent your cover email and resume to all of the great opportunities out there on the WAT Ultimate Job Board Resource List, you may see a day or even a few weeks go by before hearing from anyone. If they are interested, you will receive a response eventually and I applaud those with the persistence to call and inquire if they have not heard. On the other hand I would not suggest sending more than one follow up email. In some industries and at certain executive levels, the response to your job inquiry will prompt a phone call, while in other businesses, you will be contacted by email.

A word about email responses from employers would have to touch on the various scams out there. It’s part of the process unfortunately, and really no way to avoid being a target. There are times when your resume will trigger a computer-generated response that you should definitely not respond to. Here are the signs that something about a potential employer’s response is fishy:

If you see an unusually long response—sometimes as much as three or more paragraphs—that makes no reference to anything from your resume, it’s spam so don’t answer it.

If it tells you that there is a “main office in the UK or Europe” and this will be their attempt to “establish a location in the U.S.,” then beware this, always.

If it asks you to give them your name, address and social security number and…yes that’s right I said your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. Click spam immediately and delete it from your computer. This type of spam won’t hurt your computer but never respond to it. As I said before, never give out your social security number in an online job application.

The legitimate email you should receive will ask you to clarify something from your resume or schedule a time for a phone interview. You’ve already impressed them so keep it simple, and try something like this:

Dear Ms. Cunningham,

Thank you for taking the time to review my resume.

I will be available to take your call today/tomorrow at any time between 1-5pm. You may reach me at 212-555-1234.

Thank you,

You

Hopefully, during that phone call, you will be asked to come in and meet someone from HR, but just as likely these days you may have to do a mini-interview over the phone first. Next week we will sharpen our phone interview skills just in case.

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

The New American Dreamer:
Jason Veduccio Tackles the Job Search

07/21/2016

Whether you are seeking a new job or contemplating a job change, Jason Veduccio’s The New American Dreamer, How to Land That Ideal Job in a Nightmare Economy (WAT-AGE Publishing), can be your game changer. Veduccio’s book lays out the steps you need to take that are easy to follow and can keep you on track to reach your goal in a timely manner.

As he puts it, “Wherever you are in your career you need to be in a constant state of growing.” One of the most important points he makes is that all of us need to find our “compass.” And by that he means you need to focus on where you are in your career, where you are going in your career, and what makes you happy in your career.

He poses a series of questions to help the job seeker think about what he or she is looking for in a new role. The book also outlines some standard techniques and practices to use when searching for a job.

The New American Dreamer CoverJason does a good job of organizing and outlining key topics. For example, the section in the book on spotting job leads is particularly useful. And because they are useful, I’ve outlined them below from his book:

  • Network, network, and then network some more (Important statistic here: according to Jason, 80% of jobs are never posted.)
  • Join trade groups and other affiliated groups
  • Talk to college and alumni groups
  • Attend Job Fairs
  • Meet with Recruiters

Jason also emphasizes a point often overlooked: the importance of cover letters in the job search. Cover letters are a great way to synthesize one’s resume, outline one’s goals and thank the prospective employer for their consideration of the job seeker’s candidacy.

In a challenging economic environment — where the unemployment rate doesn’t fully capture the level of job seekers coupled with the massive underemployment in our economy — The New American Dreamer does a good job of summarizing the tried and true practices that can be helpful to anyone seeking his or her next “dream” role. Good Luck!

The New American Dreamer: How to Land That Ideal Job in a Nightmare Economy
Jason Veduccio

Go to the website for WAT-AGE Publishing for more information on publishing your book.

The New American Dreamer: Finding That Opportunity

06/27/2016

There is no one best way to find a job opportunity. A lead can come from anywhere, which is why they say if you’re looking for a job, you never really stop working. There are ways to be a bit like Sherlock Holmes in your search and hopefully here we can outline some of those for you. Keep in mind that none of the following may ultimately help you find your next job because it often comes from someplace least expected, but these actions sure will increase your chances.

First, start with a mindset. If you think of finding a job as pure drudgery then it already sets you off course. Is it drudgery? Of course it is. But try to imagine the things that job will bring you and make it about that if you need to. You need a positive reason to be relentless. It’s awfully hard to be relentless if you kinda-sorta-not-really-somewhat want that position at the publishing company. Start to see “jobs” as opportunities and not always so rigidly defined as some set of duties and obligations. Opportunities are literally everywhere and one reason I prefer that you see this is because in tremendously hard times – as we are all witnessing over the last few years – one could argue that there is just as much opportunity if not always as many jobs.

Let’s look at some of the basic ways in which you can increase your chances of finding leads:

Networking – This is the single most powerful tool in your search for anything, so get really good at it! For those that think it’s too difficult, think again. Start with those closest to you, your friends and family. Remember – if you don’t ask you won’t know and you will be left out. Ask for help and then REMIND people. Always be polite and always write thank you notes. Write letters to people you admire and ask their advice, it’s always a great way to open a dialogue. Try and be around people as much as possible, but be sincere in your efforts or it will not be as effective.

Trade Groups/Affiliations – Each industry has its own groups and trade organizations so if you’re thinking of going into a certain area of business you must find these groups. What better way to do so but to attend some meetings? It’s always better to find people with like-minded interests rather than join a group just because the people are important. (However, let’s be smart here, if you have the chance to be around influential people at an event or a party then, by all means, do so). I think the key to networking is finding that perfect balance between being aggressive and not being desperate. Once at an event, start networking!

College/School Alumni – Depending on where you went to school and how long ago you graduated, this resource can be valuable. Talking with fellow alumni often leads to insider information when it comes to job openings and a referral from fellow alumni can be powerful.

Job Fairs – Companies often send employee recruiters to Job Fairs and though these can leave you feeling a bit like a lost sheep, there is great value in attending the better ones. Stick to ones you know that specialize in your areas of interest.

Headhunters – For those seeking some of the higher-level executive jobs, utilizing the services of a professional recruiter or headhunter is the best way to go. They have the inside track on what employers are looking for and often can act as a sort of matchmaker. If you find yourself needing a headhunter, then you probably have peers who know someone, so ask around. And remember to never pay an application fee if someone asks you to do so. Maybe there is a legitimate reason for one, somewhere out there, but in almost all occasions it’s a scam.

Online Sites & Postings – The newest and most expansive method of finding a new position is to hit the online job boards and online postings. It is its own enormous universe so take a breather and we will deal with this next time. For now be on the lookout for your next lead. (And in preparation, read my story on LinkedIn).

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

The New American Dreamer: Ready for Your Closeup?

06/13/2016

Staying with our LinkedIn leg of our journey (read our previous story) let’s get to uploading a photo of yourself. As much as we don’t like it this photo is a key piece to your profile. If a picture is worth a thousand words than a really good picture of you may be worth a thousand bucks or more. OK maybe that is an oversimplification, but we all know that today’s world is visually driven and that the Internet has only raised the stakes, so let’s take a moment to look closer at choosing a photo.

When looking to make your way in the business world you can help yourself by finding an image of you that shows everyone looking at it that you are professional, presentable and most of all, that you understand how to choose a professional photo. Once the photo has met those criteria and only after that should you get “creative” with your online photo.

What I mean by this is that your best bet is to simply take a great color photo of your face, looking happy, and just start there. Smiling is always a plus. This photo can be, or might be, one that you see next to your bio on a company website. These types of photos almost always work best for a LinkedIn profile unless your last job was at Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Of course there are exceptions. If you’re in a creative position such as Graphic Designer, you might do something tasteful but keep it simple. Sometimes simply going all B&W on us is enough to stand out in a distinct and interesting way. But if you’re searching for a position on Wall Street or looking for a business partner for your bakery, my advice is to first keep it simple and think about some things to avoid:

Shots of you sitting on a park bench eating lunch. Seriously keep it to your face, no body shots and no funky backdrops.

Looking hysterical, it’s better to just smile or appear neutral.

Shots of your pets, a sock puppet or an avatar. (You’d be surprised.)

Changing it every month. This shows indecision and insecurity. Keep a photo up for long periods of time so people can learn who you are.

Special effects. Save the sepia tones for your Facebook page.

Now please hear me: You do not have to hire a professional to get this photo done! If you have a professional photograph that you like that’s great but this is not necessary.Have a friend do it. If you hate it, you can change it just don’t keep changing it. Most photos taken by a friend should be easily uploaded to LinkedIn but there are technological specifications.

Your LinkedIn picture can be as large as 4MB in size and can be in the following file formats: GIF, JPG, and PNG. It must also be within the maximum limit of 4000 x 4000 pixels. To upload a photo to LinkedIn simply go to your profile page and click on the space where your photo would be that says “Edit Photo”.

If you’ve been reading along and perhaps have your own business and want to start to see how LinkedIn can better help you then click on the solutions page and see ways in which LinkedIn is working directly with small businesses.

But for many of us there’s a one more important leg on our LinkedIn journey that needs discussing next week, that of actually “linking” up with others and getting recommendations. We’re getting there.

So for now just smile and say cheese.

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

The New American Dreamer—Link Up with LinkedIn

06/06/2016

I know what you’re thinking, you searched high and low and you found next to nothing about yourself online and you’re afraid that this is all too much to overcome. You couldn’t be more wrong.

Here’s what we need to do: paint a picture of yourself that you would want people to see. Never picked up a brush before? Don’t own an easel? Follow me to get a hold of your inner Rembrandt.

Please go to linkedin.com so we can begin. Now there are various philosophies on creating an online presentation for yourself and many ways to do it, we are just going to go ahead with linkedin as one of the ways I think people should strongly consider. Up to now linkedin has touted itself a social network for business professionals, and for some employers it has begun to be used in various other ways including as an important part of the hiring process.

Remember that third email address you set up just for a place to receive various email offers and complete necessary sign-ins in our story about setting up your emails? Well now is the time to pull that one out and sign up for linkedin just to look around. Search for positions you might want some day and see how people present themselves. Once you think you’re ready, you can delete the account by going to LinkedIn’s close your account section and join with your primary email address.

Before you get too excited with your new profile remind yourself that creating a good profile as opposed to creating ‘just a profile’, takes a few days in some cases. In fact next week we will deal with the choosing of your photo and other items. For now let’s stick to the nuts and bolts of it.

A) First, get your name up there and capitalize the first letter in each part of your name, not all caps and not all lower case. Next – and this is tres importante, is that it asks for you to enter your “professional headline” which will be positioned directly under your name and be a huge part of who people see you as, and how you come up in searches. Think about it from all angles. Use it to communicate value – as an example, an executive hiring manager might be better explained here as a ‘Human Resources Manager’, or something that translates across industries.

B) Lists of past employment can actually be a little longer in scope than on your one or two page resume. What I suggest is copying the information directly from your resume onto the site and then if you think it shows more of you to list experiences further back then do so but do not feel the need to elaborate on anything over 12-15 years in the past. A simple job title and years worked are fine. When you finish it should look like your resume with those few extra jobs listed from way back when.

C) Fill in the specialties section but be cautious. Don’t list ‘juggling knives’ unless you want that to be part of an interview – because it will be if you list it. DO list languages, software knowledge and certifications.

Now before you make a friend or go linking up there’s something to consider: are you joining this site to connect with people you already know and strengthen those relationships are you trying to do that and meet new people? The battle lines have been drawn for these two camps and people choose whole social networks based on these two philosophies, which some of us (who, me?) find fairly entertaining. As you see some have even chosen to become “LIONS” (LinkedIn Open Networker) while others vehemently oppose but have yet to come up with a clever acronym for “TIGERS.” I will direct you best I can next week with some advice but in the end you should come up with your own reasons for joining, and also know that you can always change your mind.

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

The New American Dreamer—Going For It

05/23/2016

Imagine if you will, your resume is finished, looking as if it were written on parchment paper in gold leaf, and I tell you to take it, roll it up, put it into an old wine bottle and toss it into the sea. Maybe some of you would expect that from me, but more to the point, resumes alone are about as likely to be found by that one special person as that wine bottle bobbing around the surf.

Self-marketing tip: In poor marketing, actions are put into place without any thought about goals and strategy. In average marketing, generic actions are put into place as a one-size-fits all solution. In good marketing, no actions take place before you have a goal and a strategy. So before we get that resume “finished” you need to know what jobs you want (your goal) and how best to get them (your strategy). (See my previous article on what goes into a resume).

Let’s suppose you want to become a financial analyst. You have a resume ready and maybe it’s tremendously impressive but even within industries, hiring trends tend to change with the wind and what was in demand last year might already be SO last year. So do your research and be current.

To have your resume become known to the search engines that employers use and more importantly to make sure that when it is found it hits all the right “keys” and gets you an interview you will need to insert certain key words, which are simply words that the industry has deemed important and that allow your resume to be seen as “sufficiently qualified”. To find keywords go to www.indeed.com again and take a look at your competition. See words that are used over and over and how they are used.

Many keywords come in one of a few categories:

Job titles

Names of industry-specific tools or knowledge

Special industry descriptors or value items

Names of software or hardware that one needs training to utilize

Special certifications that are a pre-requisite

To show you an easy example if I were to make a bartending resume some keywords I might use would be: “wine knowledge,” “customer service,” and “T.I.P.S. Certification.”

The next thing to pay close attention to is the conversion of your past experience descriptions into strong verb terms and then if possible, quantifying it. Once again I say this with the caveat that it never implies anything untrue. By this I simply mean taking a term like “Helped customer sales for four months” and changing it to a phrase like: “Drove sales and customer service issues to an 8% increase in first quarter.” Make the verb important, at least as important as you were to the process. One thing I notice is that people tend to under-sell themselves and often have no idea that they are doing so. If you were part of a team that helped increase sales, then say it. If you can put a number on it, then do so, just make sure that you can also discuss it in an interview and that you haven’t misled anyone.

OK, great. Take a deep breath; this stuff is hard. Give yourself some credit. If you want to have a little fun with it, then visit www.rezscore.com a site that uses metrics measuring such things as keywords and gives you an assessment of the quality of your resume. Just promise me you won’t take it too seriously?

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

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