Job searching tips

Secret to Networking Well – Follow 1 Simple Rule

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Business networking is essential to your job success as well as during any of your job search.

  • For job seekers, we all know that the best job openings are those that we can find through our network before it hits the open market.  So the stronger your network the more likely you will come across hidden gems in job opportunities.
  • If you already have a job, then networking can help you find a good mentor, land the next customer, find a good vendor, establish a beneficial partnership, etc..

So whether you have a job or not, you should be constantly expanding and building your network so you can tap into it to support your career success.   While most of you probably know networking is important, few actually know how to network well.   In my blog, you can read about the 5 business networking tips anyone can follow to give you some specific tips.  In this article, I want to share 1 simple rule that can help you network well no matter what your situation is. ...  read more

How to Network without Using Small Talk – 5 Tips

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Most people agree that networking is critical to business and career success.  You can find unadvertised job openings and business partners through your network.  Knowing networking is important is one thing, knowing how to do it is another.   This may be in part due to stereotypes about networking.  A recent conversation I had with a colleague highlights this stereotype. ...  read more

Finding a Job After College – 4 Tips

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Question: I’m a 23-year-old somewhat recent graduate (2009) from U.C. Berkeley, majored in Cognitive Science. I have spent the last two years working in various jobs, but I wouldn’t say I have started a career yet. The longest I have had a job was for eight months, immediately after I graduated. This position was a food service position at a fairly famous Oakland restaurant called ‘Bakesale Betty’. Since leaving ‘BSB’, I have backpacked through Central and South America for three months, worked in a high tech manufacturing facility for two months, obtained an EMT certification, and worked as an EMT for two months.

I explain my lack of career focus partially in not knowing entirely what I want to do, and partially in a reluctance to committing, or even thinking too hard about a career. In essence, I felt personally underdeveloped, and that a full-time career would stifle opportunities for that expansion. Over the last couple years, I have seen and experienced many things I had been curious about, and have matured. I feel a strong urge, now, to focus and leverage my abilities toward building something meaningful and lasting, and developing a career. I want to contribute to something important and be acknowledged for it, as an adult. ...  read more

What are Case Interviews and How to Ace Them

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case interviews

Consulting companies like McKinsey and BCG invented the case interview method.  Now pretty much all consulting firms as well as many hiring managers outside of consulting use the case interview to help them identify the best candidate for a business job opening.

So what is an case interview?  Simply, it’s when the interviewer gives you a scenario (like a business situation or an interpersonal situation) and ask you questions about how would you go about addressing it.  This method works well in interviews because the scenario and their related questions (aka the case) often has nothing to do with the interviewee’s past work experience.  It is designed to be a complete surprise so that the interviewer can test your true capabilities as a business candidate ...  read more

Interview Rejection – 5 Tips on How to Deal

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Rejection concept.

Interview rejection is always going to be difficult to hear.  Regardless whether you are a recent graduate or you have been working for years, it’s never nice when you get that phone call/email/letter telling you that you were just not right for the role and thus letting you know the interview did not go well. ...  read more

Top 4 Resume Posting Sites

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post-resume-online

The modern job search (for employee or employer) often begins and ends with posting resumes online. There are a number of options out there, of course, and each one has certain benefits and features that can help you target certain types of jobs or play to your networking strengths. For example, there are some sites that act more like a social network, and that can be extremely beneficial if you can build a relationship with someone at the company. On the other hand, some of these sites will blast your resume out to any employer that could potentially match your skills and experience. ...  read more