Rachel thinks that she’s not getting interviews at consulting firms because her resume and cover-letter are not good enough.
To some extent, that is true. But from the consulting firm standpoint, Rachel’s cover-letter and resume must not only shine, she must have a solid track record to impress them enough.
The least Rachel must do is to prove her value and worth.
Job-hunting is a full-time job! And so, even after a positive job interview, don’t just sit around and wait for a reply. 99% of job-hunters will do that simply because they didn’t know better. If you really want the job, it is vital to continue to be proactive in following-up with the potential employer and showing your interest and value in the company and the job.
I have been blogging at http://blog.careerarchitects.com but am now moving the blog over here!
Call it a “rebranding” exercise. : )
几天前，公司里的一个实习生帮忙运送玩具，我给了他¥200预备给车费。货物运送搞定后，他走了过来，手上¥100交了给我，说：”刚才车费¥165。司机没有散钱找换，所以我给了¥5，另一个同事给了¥60。”
我收起了那¥100。转身问他：＂所以现在我必须给回你¥60，也必须给回¥5给另外那位同事， 对吗？＂
＂嗯。＂
我接着又问：＂你是大学生吗？”
＂是啊。＂
＂你刚刚的表现，似足小学生。虽然问题很简单，你却把问题交回给老板，让他去解决，这个做法不应该是一个大学生所做的。你有一个很好的表现机会，可是呈现出的，是一个做事不经思考的小伙子。＂
他，站在那儿，愣了一会儿。。。
哎，希望他有领悟。。。
This is graduation season and one batch of final year students from universities all over the world has just completed their tour on the education conveyor belt and getting into the “real-world.”
A proportion of this batch would have already landed their first job way before completing their final examination. But a significant remaining proportion will only start looking after their examinations.
This group of fresh graduates will take some time to land their first job. And graduates in this latter group will also be prone to taking the first offer that comes along because of …
Desperation.
One student I know was offered a job recently in an advertising firm.
The job required Monday to Saturday work, at least 10 hours of work and paid significantly below market rate although the pay fulfills minimum hourly wage.
The student was quick to take it the job (In fact, he starts today) because he has been job-hunting for one month without any success.
I joked that he didn’t do “job-hunting” for a month. Instead, he had been “job-waiting” for a month.
You see, for “job-hunting” to be effective, you really do need to go out to hunt the job.
Look at it this way: If you were hunting for a wild boar, would you stay at home or go out into the part of the forest known to have the most wild boars?
My point is that if you really want that particular kind of job, then it is your job as a job-hunter to market yourself to the potential employers. And I don’t mean sending your resume and job-application letter.
Marketing yourself in the job market involves one thing and one thing only:
Making it clear why you are valuable to employers.
Therein lies the problem.
Most fresh graduates have no idea how they can be different and valuable to employers. They have been produced as a standard product in the education factory.
But that doesn’t mean you cannot begin to figure where and what areas you wish to specialize it. You can even specialize in being a generalist!
Whatever it is, it is vitally important to articulate your specialty to employers and in particular, what kind of problems you can solve effectively and the corresponding benefits you can bring as a member of the team.
Don’t go begging for a job and take any one that comes along. Knowing your value and strengths in an area you wish to focus in, continue to build on them throughout your career and find opportunities to profile and highlight them.
This way, you are branding yourself and this will be your first step towards an automatic career progression.