I Missed a call today! is it going to be ok?
Dec 24, 2006

Don't worry dear if you have missed a call and you think it must be a potential employer. It happened with me too. Most of the times they will leave a message but not all companies go ahead and take strain to leave a graceful message for you. I don't know why but I think they don't have much time for all this and are very active in pursuing candidates who respond immediately maybe because they want to hire immediately. But there are things you can do to do research more about the number you missed

Here are the things you can do before you get back to them because you might not be interested in them after you get to know that they are some company on your "Not Interested" List like when I was actively pursuing job-search I was initially not interested in working with consulting companies although nothing wrong with them but just my preference:

  • Google the phone number you missed. Most probably if it is a land line number registered by the company to a phone company, it should show up. If not then keep reading.
  • Yahoo the phone number. Sometimes Google might not be able to show the owner of phone number but yahoo might.
  • If both of them fail to show any information than it means it is somebodies cellphone number since cell numbers are not registered and are held with private companies like cingular, t-mobile etc. In this case you have no option but to call them up if you are really desperate about the job.
Here is one more hint, most of the consulting firms don't give up and I have seen a trend with their calling. They keep calling you until you respond, also some call at a specific time interval only everyday like 9-10 am for example.

Posted byJon at 8:50 PM 1 comments  

No reply from them after the phone interview, my gosh what should I do...
Dec 21, 2006

There are fair chances that if your are interviewed by a big-size or small-size company, they haven't responded yet. Most of the big sized companies are so very busy interviewing candidates for the same job that you are pursuing and forget your candidacy status. They are so lazy to track everybody and just track very promising candidates. So it is possible that someone has been hired in that position and has already started working! oh my gosh?? Don't worry, just think they don't deserve you or maybe it was not your destiny, something better is waiting in your way for you. I know it is very depressing but when companies don't respond to prospective employees it only means that they are not interested in pursuing you. Even if you call them up, they would be surprised to even hear your name as if they are hearing it for the first time. "Ma'am I am Mr. XYZ and was interviewed a couple of weeks ago. I haven't heard anything yet..." and you hear them "oh, OK really? oh my gosh I think we just got you slipped through, we are sorry. We would surely have a word for you before end of the day". And you sit with a relaxed mind that you will hear something by this evening. And you keep wondering and keep wondering your whole life, why? because they will never bother to contact you. Isn't that embarrassing?

So, after 3-4 weeks if you don't get any reply from the employer, don't sit there without doing nothing and hoping that someday they will contact you. NO! it will never happen because you contacted them to remind them, thats enough, if they were ever interested in pursuing you further, this reminder call was more than enough for them to take an action. So keep applying for other decent employers out there without the least bit of depression.

Posted byJon at 11:22 AM 0 comments  

Submitting resume made easy!

One of the questions that I asked my career counselors was that "which are the sites where i can post my resume for FREE and have it exposed to potential employer in no time?". I was naive at that time and some of the advertisements that we see on TV were not very prominent. So finding a good site which was reliable and had good exposure was a tough job. What I mean by reliable is that some of the job site(s) sell your information since it is coming from a genuine job seeker and make money out of it. Although, it is never guaranteed with a website that you subscribe to, it is always a concern among individuals.

Some of the resources for posting your resume are as follows:

These are some of the major sites I used while my job search life. There are some other sites also which can post resume and also have additional options like emailing to thousands of employers by one Click! But normally they are expensive and success is not guaranteed. I used it and all I got reply backs was from consulting and staffing firms. I was hoping I would get hooked up with a decent employer in no time but it didn't happen even after paying $55.00 for that service. So whether to go for it or not, I would say its a mere subjective issue and also it depends on the time. If you are still searching for a job after 6+ months with no hits, then its time to STOP applying for jobs and contact some staffing agencies or consulting firms. It is also known that since it is costing companies to have their own Human Resource department installed in their company, some of the small to mid-size companies tend to outsource the recruiting to these staffing and consulting firms. This happens because it saves time and money in recruiting employees for positions. Also, one of the reason in my intuition is that since some of the companies need employees for short duration like 4-5 months, they don't want go through the hassle every time they have to hire such short duration candidates. Also, most of the staffing and consulting firm have great presence in this market and can get you the job with mere 2-3 weeks if you show enough competency.

Posted byJon at 10:55 AM 2 comments  

what should I have next to me while phone interview?
Dec 20, 2006

It is really important that you have everything that you will probably need while the phone interview because you don't want to get nervous if don't find stuff that is required to do the problem at hand. Additionally, it also leads into wasting your and employer's time. Remember employers are on a tight schedule especially the HR managers since they will be interview bunch of candidates like you. Moreover, it sends out a negative impression seeming to be not organized and nobody likes dis-organized people thats a well known fact.

So, I would recomend to have atleast this materials before receiving the phone call:

  • Pen
  • Paper
  • or Notepad
  • Your Current resume
  • Any certificates you have gained (in case they ask)
  • Project Reports
  • Any presentation that you have mentioned in your resume
  • calculator, if possible

My recent interviewing person asked me to write down a math problem statement and I was went nervous finding a pen and paper. So I highly recommend Pen and Paper, at the least!

Posted byJon at 10:11 PM 0 comments  

Should I do dress in phone interview?




Ok, so now you have gone through the pain staking process of making resume, applying for jobs online and finally been contacted by the employer for an phone-interview. Well, Congratulations very much. But don't get too excited because excitement whilst the phone interview is been known to ruin the whole process. Just focus yourself on the process, everybody has to go through it remember.

Don't think that since the employer is not going to see you, you will be fine since you don't have to shave, dress or makeup yourself. You know the one of the factors that can build your confidence and one the most important one is how you dress while the interview. The research shows that since you dress yourself in the business casuals for the interview and make yourself appropriately, it adds to your confidence drastically.

So, my advice to you is to seriously think as if it were an on-site interview and dress appropriately. You will only see that you are feeling more confident in doing so. Best of luck!

Posted byJon at 9:08 PM 0 comments  

What will I get paid?
Dec 14, 2006

Are you worried about what will be my first starting salary? I would say don't because the job-market just keeps on bouncing up and down. There is no real measure of what a starter like you be paid., although you might have considered the prospective of the job market with your major in head. When I was interviewed, I was always anxious as to what will be the salary I will be getting. Before looking at anything else in the job description, my eyes would be searching for that 5-digit figure which said "compensation" or "salary".

My recommendation to you is that don't set a number for your salary expectation but you are free in setting the range. Figure out what is the minimum salary you desire to work for any company before accepting any offers $28,000, for example. And of course, I wouldn't set the max number when thinking of maximum salary. But, STOP! remember top paying salaries like anything more than $65,000 come with a warning sticker "Don't buy me" for entry level candidates. Its just for the simple reason that when company is willing to pay you that high figure, they ofcourse think you would be able to handle those big responsibilities which even you haven't seen. So when offered those higher range salaries, beware that they come with darn genuine responsibility and that you will be a lead in your area where everyone will look at you for small things. So stop for yourself and see how these responsibility you will be able to perform successfully. If not let the company officials know that you are very well willing to contribute whatever you can and also that you are self-starter and open to learn being a quick-learner. They will understand that you are an entry-level candidate and willing to learn, they will surely admire this.

Posted byJon at 11:19 AM 0 comments  

Feared about the lack of job experience?
Dec 13, 2006

Now you are out of college and chances are that you don't have the required job experience to take on to the job market. Don't worry nobody has it. How can you expect a freshly college graduate to have 2-3 years of job experience? Are you kidding? Ahh, give me a break! Now every newspaper ad you read asks about 2-3 years of work experience and now that has a reason of its own. Seriously speaking, this is a stratagem that most companies play these days to just retain those who have real hard working appetite. Most companies are looking for the "can-do" attitude and you should say this in the interview and tell them that you are a hard worker and would do your best to accomplish the task offered. If companies sticked to this so called requirements, half the fresh college graduates would never get the interview call!

Although, you might not have the job-relevant experience, you might still have what it takes to get the job done. So go ahead and put some work experience on your resume even if you have worked at a fast-food restaurant. Write about how you multi-tasked yourself to achieve blah blah task. Talk about your leadership skills if you were at any managing position or as a team lead etc. Also write about the projects you took at college and write that you can work in teams etc. Just brainstorm yourself and you can come up with a list of so much qualities that your employer will like and invite you for the initial interview.
Include everything you can on your resume that will qualify you to get your “foot in the door” of the interview room.

Many a times after the initial interview, the companies might send you a well written rejection letter saying that " We liked your skills very much but we are interested in pursuing more experienced candidates right now". Don't get dishearten and leave the rat race. Follow up and let them know that are something the company would miss if they didn't hire you!

Posted byJon at 12:18 PM 0 comments  

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)