Networking Events: The Early Bird Has a Good Chance of Catching the Worm

The October 30th Wall Street Journal article “As Layoffs Rise, Jobless Throng Career Fairs” by Dana Mattioli had a concluding paragraph that caught my eye:

Nicholas Schulz, a 23-year-old from Woodbridge, N.J., looking at jobs in the marketing field, has developed his own trick for making the most of his time. He arrives early to reach recruiters before they get burnt out. “If you get there later on, you can see it in their faces that you’re the thousandth person they’ve spoken to,” he says.

This advice is particularly important for all “networking” activities. If you get to an event early and you recognize a speaker or panelist, that’s a very good time to go up to the person and politely introduce yourself. No, you shouldn’t pitch yourself then. You should focus on spending a few quality moments just talking to the person. Before you turn away, you could ask for the person’s card.

Then after the speech or panel when everyone else is storming the barricades trying to get to the speaker or panelists, you can smile to yourself and go home. You can be secure in the knowledge that you can send a follow-up email expressing gratitude for the public presentation and adding a comment about the pleasure of speaking to the person before the formal presentation began.

You can add in that email an appropriate request that follows from the brief chat you had before the presentation. This might be something such as: I enjoyed talking with you about companies offering internships for marketing personnel. Would you have any recommendations of companies that might be interested now in marketing interns?

Obviously, if the person thinks his/her company would be interested, he/she will say so. Yet you’ve given the person an out – permission to say he/she doesn’t know of any companies at this time. Because you haven’t backed the person into a corner by expressing asking about his/her company, the lines of communication are still open for a future email from you.

While I can’t promise you that the early bird always catches the worm, I can promise that you often have a better chance of catching the worm if you arrive early – and use that time to your advantage.

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Basic Work Etiquette:What Do Millennials Know?

The October 21st Wall Street Journal had an excerpt from Ron Alsop’s book “The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace.” (Alsop defines the millennial generation as born between 1980 and 2001.)

I’m not a huge fan of grouping an entire generation into one catch-all description, and the excerpt in the Journal didn’t do much to change my mind on this score. Yet this one part of the excerpt did catch my attention:

It may seem obvious that employees should show up on time, limit lunchtime to an hour and turn off cellphones during meetings. But those basics aren’t necessarily apparent to many millennials.

Why do I find this hard to believe? Because most millennials did have to show up on time for school or college classes or a babysitting job or a shift at Starbucks. And in high school there was a specified length of time for lunch and at Starbucks there was a specified break time. And believe it or not, high schools and places where teens get part-time employment do have rules about cellphones.

This is why I am always leery of anecdotal evidence. You can find anecdotes to prove whatever point you’re trying to make.

But in case I’m wrong, and you are a millennial who truly doesn’t know to show up for work on time, take only an hour for lunchtime and turn off your cellphones at work (and especially during meetings), please learn these work etiquette rules right now. And then go out and prove to the world that millennials do know these things.

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Business Schools Are Stepping Up to the Plate for Wall Street Alum

The September 23rd Wall Street Journal article “Business Schools Gird for Wall Street Woes” by Alina Dizik described various actions being taken by business schools to help alum hit by the Wall Street crisis as well as current students planning a career on Wall Street.

If you have been affected by the Wall Street crisis, check with the careers services office at your alma mater to see if special services have been added to help people in your situation.

In addition, according to the article:

Career office staff members are also trying to steer undergrads to alternative careers. Patricia Rose, director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania, deals with undergraduate business school students along with students in other majors. Typically, Wharton sends about 50% of its undergraduates into investment banking. Ms. Rose says she’s recommending Wharton students look into technology or public service jobs, which are more plentiful than coveted finance jobs.

In accordance with the FLIPPING BURGERS philosophy of following your passion – and being willing to find a new passion if the first passion doesn’t work out, I think the accompanying article in the September 23rd Journal is more helpful: “Weighing a New Industry for a New Job Outlook” by Chandlee Bryan.

The article recommends thoroughly researching a possible new field. Here’s some good advice on research:

The recent turmoil at financial firms underscores the need to go beyond research on compensation and industry trends. Educate yourself on how a company or industry runs and pending legislation that may affect the employment outlook in a field. Review analyst reports, scour RSS feeds, and set up Google News Alerts by keyword once you’ve narrowed a field of interest.

This is excellent advice, and it should be coupled with using your network of friends and family to get the inside story. A few years ago I was hired at a web design firm just as it moved to swanky new quarters in downtown LA. Because I was in charge of the content of two major projects, I soon realized that there wasn’t enough work to keep everyone busy. Sure enough, in about two months several people, including myself, were let go.

Even if we had had the same level of internet news access then that we have now, this news wouldn’t have been public. It was only because I had my “boots on the ground” – to use a military expression – that I could see what was happening.

Whether you’re in high school, college or grad school now, talk to people in different careers to learn all you can about the vulnerabilities as well as the opportunities in that field. Keep the information you learned in an organized fashion in order to make reasonable comparisons. And make sure you date the info so you know how “fresh” it is when you later make comparisons.

And remember that you can make your own opportunities if you identify a need that isn’t being fulfilled at a company or in an industry. The responsibility is on you to learn as much as you can and then use that knowledge for your own advantage.

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Beware of Facebook: The Wall Street Journal Agrees With Me

I know some of my regular readers of this blog are groaning because I’m about to talk about Facebook AGAIN. Go ahead and groan now – then read on, because there’s a dangerous sand trap that had never occurred to me.

The September 18th Wall Street Journal article “College Applicants, Beware: Your Facebook Page Is Showing” by John Hechinger reporteded:

A new survey of 500 top colleges found that 10% of admissions officers acknowledged looking at social-networking sites to evaluate applicants. Of those colleges making use of the online information, 38% said that what they say “negatively affected” their views of the applicant. Only a quarter of the schools checking the sites said their views were improved, according to the survey by education company Kaplan, a unit of Washington Post Co.” (Boldface mine.)

What I found particularly upsetting in the Journal article is that college admission officers sometimes receive anonymous tips to check out someone’s Facebook page. Apparently these tips may be from rival applicants.

After reading about this particular sand trap, I visualized a scenario where two top students from the same high school are applying to the same prestigious college. One student calls in a tip about the other student’s inappropriate Facebook page in order to get that student eliminated from consideration.

All I can say is that you can’t stop some people from being underhanded, so the only way you can assure that there’s no dirt for someone to find on you is to make sure there’s no dirt PERIOD.

If you have any questions as to what is appropriate on your Facebook page, check out past posts of mine under the category Facebook. And if you’d like a free copy of the “7 Mistakes to Avoid to Protect Your Image on Facebook,” go to www.millermosaic.com.

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M.B.A. Students Choose to Follow Their Own Career Paths

The August 19^th Wall Street Journal article by Samar Srivastava titled “M.B.A.s Skip On-Campus Recruiting” made my heart sing. The article focused on M.B.A. students who took the road less traveled by looking for their own post-M.B.A. jobs instead of going with the jobs-on-offer through campus career services.

Having an M.B.A. myself from Wharton, I know exactly what those on-campus interviews can be like -- the major companies offer the major jobs. And if one of those consulting or Wall Street jobs is not your cup of tea, you have very slim pickings of on-campus job interviews.

One advantage in choosing your own path and working on finding your own job is that you are often a potential work pool of one person when you get interviews on your own. Thus, if you do your research and connect with the right companies, you can have an excellent opportunity of getting the job that you want.

The Journal article says that Michelle Antonio, director of Wharton’s M.B.A. career-services office, talks about the students who opt for their own job searches working at an internship to gain experience. As readers of this blog know, one of my main emphases is on getting internships to try out careers.

One M.B.A. student interviewed for the article said she took an internship to “show her commitment” to the new career path she wanted to follow. This is precisely the opportunity that can be available if you have an open mind towards finding the path that suits you best rather than following the traditional path of someone who just earned an M.B.A.

The moral of this story? If you don’t want to follow the traditional path, be willing to use networking and other techniques discussed here and elsewhere to find your own path.

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U.S. Olympians Must Also Train on Correct Behavior While in China

The August 6^th front-page Wall Street Journal article titled “U.S. Olympic Training Features A New Requirement: Etiquette 101” by Christopher Rhoads made me smile.

Why this hadn’t been obvious from years ago is a mystery. We Americans are not well-versed in other cultures nor are we particularly well-versed in manners in general. (That’s why I often blog about such seemingly minor things such as getting rid of your gum BEFORE you walk into an interview meeting.)

Apparently in the past the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) has only given 15 minutes to guidance on behavior. This new course – given in five cities throughout the U.S. – is mandatory, usually lasts two days, and includes role-playing and group games.

One piece of the instruction included this: “Also discussed was how to hold the American flag during a victory lap. (Answer: not upside down.)”

Whether you are competing in the Olympics or competing for an internship or job, your behavior in public reflects on your overall image. Make sure you’re a gold medal winner when it comes to achieving a positive image.

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Internships, Jobs and Careers: Another Facebook No-No – Sending a Friend Request to a Job Interviewer

The July 29^th Wall Street Journal article by Sarah E. Needleman entitled “Thx for the IView! I Wud (heart) to Work 4U!!;) Young Job Candidates Find Too-Casual Tone of Textspeak Turns Off Hiring Managers” surprised me.

I wasn’t surprised that young job candidates didn’t know better than to use texting abbreviations in their thank-you notes to interviewers. I’ve written before about the need to use proper English (spelling and grammar) for such communication.

But I admit I was surprised that young people on Facebook send friend requests to interviewers with personal pages on Facebook. This assumes a peer relationship that doesn’t exist. And this action can be fraught with peril if the job applicant has been indiscreet on his or her Facebook profile page.

Although Facebook is now being used more and more for business, there’s still a major difference between Facebook and LinkedIn. Facebook is a social media site first, a business site second. LinkedIn is a business site first, a social media site second.

Therefore I do believe it would be appropriate to send an add to network request to an interviewer on LinkedIn because presumably the interviewer is on the site for business purposes.

But to send a friend request to an interviewer who is on Facebook in her or his personal capacity and not on a company page is presumptuous. Regardless of what you may think, the interviewer does not want to share her or his likes in music and movies with you.

As in everything else on the internet, you have to use good judgment. Every time I want to send a message to someone through Facebook, I stop and consider whether this is something that could be put on the person’s wall or whether this is something that should only be seen by the recipient. These messages can’t be dashed off without any thought.

Just because you can send a message around the world in a flash does NOT mean that you should disengage your brain from your activities.

And, according to the Journal article, interviewers are worried about hiring someone who text messages a thank you using abbreviated language. What kind of business correspondence can this young person be trusted to do? After all, every communication that person sends if working at a company reflects back on the company.

Next time you’re tempted to dash off a thank you from your BlackBerry five minutes after you’ve left an interview, consider whether that is the best positioning of your image. While you don’t have to produce a hand-written thank-you note, a well-formulated email could go a long way towards demonstrating that you know professional communication standards.

Remember, as always, the job opportunity that you impact positively or negatively by your actions may be the one that you really want. Don’t jeopardize it by two-thumbing a sloppy, jargon-laced thank you.

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Internship: A Golden Opportunity If You Know How to Spin Gold Out of Straw

The playbill for the 2008 “Free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park” (Los Angeles) by the Independent Shakespeare Company (www.independentshakespeare.com) listed the company members for the production of HENRY IV (parts 1 and 2). I noted the last item on the company list – intern – and a male name. Yes, I said to myself, someone is getting a chance to follow his passion.

Now I don’t know whether this particular passion is acting or directing or stage management or theater company management. But I do know that someone is getting to see a theater production up close and personal. And whether this bird’s eye view encourages the intern to continue pursuing his passion – or turns him off forever to anything connected with the theater – the intern should be able to avoid regrets of never trying to follow his passion.

And while I also can’t know what the HENRY IVth intern is doing for the production, I read with interest Erin Chambers’ Wall Street Journal July 1^st article “Tips to Make the Most of Summer Internships.” In general I agreed with many of the tips, which are as true for paying jobs as they are for unpaid internships.

I disagreed with the information under the heading “Don’t get discouraged.” Here’s what Chambers wrote: “If it’s been a few weeks, and you’re still just making photocopies, don’t fret – or complain. Request a meeting with your supervisor to ask about new projects.”

In many industries an internship is exactly that – making photocopies. But what goes along with making photocopies is usually the ability to read anything you’re handed to photocopy:

• If you’re handed an office memo to photocopy, read it to learn how office memos are written. (Obviously you don’t repeat what you’re read.)

• If you’re handed movie scripts to photocopy (entertainment industry), ask if it is okay to make a copy for yourself to read. (Again, obviously you don’t show this to anyone else outside the office.)

A summer spent photocopying may seem dull. Yet if you’ve made the best use of your time – such as carefully paying attention to what goes on around you concerning office politics – you will have learned a great deal of valuable information for your future path. Plus you may get enough insight to know whether you want to consider pursuing a career path in this field.

Good interns take lemons if that’s what they’re handed and make lemonade for their own learning experience. And those same good interns often get great letters of recommendation because they were team players and didn’t expect entitlements. (A relative of mine works with interns at a large company and told me he’s constantly surprised by the sense of entitlement the interns have.)

If there were an intern bill of rights, it would state:

• You are not promised to get to do fascinating and challenging tasks at the workplace.

• You are promised to learn a great deal if you keep your eyes and ears open.

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Public-Service Agencies Offer Unique Opportunities for College Graduates

Volunteering as a way to check out possible career paths is something I often discuss. Yet, after reading The Wall Street Journal’s July 3rd Careers article “Altruism Meets a Weak Job Market” by Anne Marie Chaker, I wanted to talk about a different kind of “volunteering” as a way to do good and, at the same time, increase one’s transportable skills.

First, what do I mean by transportable skills? If you have learned how to help get consensus in a sub-Sahara African village between members of different tribes, you probably can help get consensus between two different factions of a corporate argument.

The Journal article cites rising college graduate interest in such public-service agencies as:

· Teach for America (www.teachforamerica.org)

· Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov)

· WorldTeach (www.worldteach.org)

· AmeriCorps (www.americorps.org)

While young people volunteer (apply) for positions with these agencies, this isn’t, strictly speaking, volunteering because there is some form of payment, depending on the agency. And there are often other benefits, such as education awards, access to alum of these programs, and career advice. (These positions are for a definite period of time – usually between one to two years.)

Yet, for the most part, young people who sign up for these public-service stints “volunteer” to teach in low-income public schools or in African villages without plumbing or in impoverished rural areas in the U.S.

If you want to share your expertise with people less fortunate than yourself, consider applying for a position through a public-service agency. Who knows? This new path may lead you to a future you otherwise never would have considered.

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Videoconference Meetings – Remember to Also Dress from the Waist Down

I got a chuckle out of the June 10^th Wall Street Journal article titled “Next on the Agenda: Kisses From Honey Bunny” by Dana Mattioli with the subtitle “Virtual Meetings Raise Risk of Embarrassing Faux Pas; A Suit on Top, Jeans Below.”

The article describes a meeting conducted via videoconferencing where a man “was dressed in business attire while he was sitting down, but once he stood up at the end of the conference, the camera revealed that he was wearing jeans.” The article goes on to say that the person on the other end of the camera thus questioned the man’s judgment.

Okay, I know you’re saying: Hey, the guy didn’t plan to stand up. Cut him some slack.

Of course he didn’t plan to stand up. But we all do things on automatic pilot. He was a man videoconferencing with a woman. He may have been taught to stand when a woman leaves the room. So perhaps he automatically stood at the end of the meeting.

The moral of the story: When meeting through a videoconference, dress as if the meeting were actually in the other person’s office. This will save you from any embarrassing “exposures” if you forget that you’re on candid camera.

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Getting Feedback at a New Job Often Requires a Balancing Act

Cathy Goodwin of www.copy-cat-copywriting.com read her copy of the May 20th Wall Street Journal earlier in the day than I got to my copy. And then in an email to her ezine subscribers about three tips for blog topics, she mentioned Sarah E. Needleman’s WSJ article “It Pays to Plan Ahead When Taking a New Job.”

Needleman writes: “In the first month, ask for your boss’s opinion of how you’re doing on a weekly basis. Then scale back to once every two to three weeks.”

Cathy Goodwin commented: “Gimme a break. Can you imagine a new employee hounding the boss with that infamous ‘How am I doing’ question?”

The gist of what Needleman and Goodwin each said has relevance for young people at their first internship or job. It requires walking a fine line between making sure you’re doing what is expected of you and not bothering your boss so much that he/she wishes to have never hired you.

Different situations call for different tactics. One tactic is to listen carefully to what someone says to you. Frequently it’s the subtext – what he or she doesn’t say – that is the real comment on how you’re doing.

Another tactic is to check with a colleague for feedback. In fact, if you asked a different colleague for help with each different part of your job, you might have found a way to establish connections for yourself with your co-workers without burdening any one person with excessive feedback questions.

Another tactic is to ask at the time you are offered a position: What kind of feedback will I get on how I’m doing? Will I only get formal feedback after three months? Or will you let me know whenever you have a concern about what I’m doing?

If the person to whom you’re asking these questions is an effective manager, he/she should pick up on your subtext – and understand you are giving permission, if warranted, to correct your actions before they can get you fired.

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