Long before the building or the workers, the visionary of the corporation had an idea for something that began summoning Energy.  So years later may you are hired as part of that team and, without realizing it, you are now the beneficiary of that continuing flowing Energy.

When you step into one of those employment positions, Life Force is summoned through you because of the vision of the founder – unless you’re bucking the current.  Most get into that fast moving stream and paddle against the current – and then complain about it being a hard ride – where they could get into their canoe and easily paddle with the fast moving current. 

You can soar and thrive in any environment as long as you are not seeing things that you are using as your reason to paddle against the current.  And so it doesn’t really matter what others are deciding. 

The question is: “As I am choosing to stand here, it’s a way for dollars to f low through me in exchange for the effort I am offering.  Am I predominatley letting the energy flow through me or not?  Am I letting it in?”

What does this mean to you?

With the current economic difficulties, many jobseekers have been looking for an edge in the job market. The average job posting on one of the large career sites receives between 400 and 600 resumes. How do you stand out in such a large crowd? While you may think it is impossible, the answer might just be that guy that sat next to you in Biology class back in your college days.

A highly undervalued tool in many jobseekers’ job search strategy is the power of networking. While many people think that they are using networking to the best of their abilities, many have not considered the power of alumni networking. Few connections are as strong as those one shares with their alma mater, so why not use those connections to land your next job?

Studies have shown that employees from the same alma mater often work well together. Employers are also more inclined to hire candidates from their alma mater because they know exactly what kind of educational background they are coming from.

Alumni networking can also help during the interview process. When an alumni employer interviews and alumni jobseeker, they already have something in common and it helps to relieve some of the tension.

Jobseekers can also use alumni networking in many other ways. They can join their local alumni association groups, and meet many new contacts there. These contacts will be connected in a variety of different businesses and industries, and some of them may even be able to recommend you for positions.

Statistically, 75% of jobs are never advertised and are filled through employee recommendations and referrals. Alumni networking can help you to become aware of many of the unadvertised positions and it may even land you your next job. There are also websites dedicated to helping alumni connect in the job market. AlumniAgent.com is a good example of one of these sites, and it is very effective at helping to give jobseekers an edge in the job market.

University alumni associations are also great resources. They have complete lists of alumni in your area, and they can help you to become aware of alumni events in your area. Some alumni associations have job boards where you can find jobs with employers from your alma mater.

Having a connection with a potential employer can create a distinct advantage, and could mean the difference between landing a great job and returning to your job search. Alumni networking is an extremely valuable tool, and can provide access to many jobs you would have never heard about. If you are looking for an edge in the job market, alumni networking could be just the thing to help you find your next career.

Scott Sholtes is a Social Media Specialist for AlumniAgent.com, a career based website. He has been a professional blogger for the past three years and has expert knowledge in the job search field.

AP recentlyreported that Justin Basset was asked for his FaceBook log in info during an interview so that the company could examine his page because his profile was set to private.  Basset withdrew his application.  (Job seekers getting asked for Facebook passwords)

This egregious request – and expectation that it will be met – isn’t a stand-alone act.  It just happens to be blatant enough that there’s action moving against it.  But the principle is  condoned within the parameters of other invasive acts, some of which we willingly participate in.  So allow me to digress a bit and follow along outside of the job search world for a minute.

• Want gas or electricity? A phone? Cable service?  Hand over your ss#. 
• Get savings and gifts!  Just swipe this little tag you carry on your keychain…. (how many of those do you have?)
• Prevent terrorism!   Millions support the Patriot Act, which allows the FBI to freely search emails,  phone records, and financial records without a court order. 
• Been “frisked” or searched when you went through the metal detector prior to flying?
• How much of the world knows who you are, what you’re doing, who and what you like and don’t like, where you live and went to school, when your birthday is…..because you’re all over social media?

This is not an exhaustive list by any means.

Hiring companies have always conducted references.  Government related entities have always done their checking a little more arduously, and in some cases, rightly so.  But then private companies started with the background checks and fingerprinting.  Then drug tests – even if you weren’t operating machinery.  In the last few years credit checks were added to the mix.

As a career coach, I teach job seekers how to  take back control of their career by not doing everything they’re told, showing them why they don’t have to follow rules such as submitting their resume online and teaching them more productive and effective ways.   I’ve long maintained the reason the companies take all the power is because job seekers give it to them.

But this Facebook thing is different.  There’s not a way around it.  You either give it up or go home.  Obviously not everyone is going to be able to go home, like Basset was.    So what do you do if that’s you?  You still go home.

Don’t be cowed into submission or rationalize it by telling yourself you’ve nothing to hide.  A company who will ask you to hand over that information has no respect for boundaries and that will show up elsewhere after they’ve employed you.  Signing yourself in so they can nose around isn’t any more acceptable. 

Acquiescing is the same as condoning.  Letting a company blur your boundaries is no different than being in a relationship where your partner has no respect for your boundaries.  They’re both invasive and abusive.

Nothing is black and white, especially to a private company who wants to rationalize their screening process for hiring, because unacceptable behavior is tough to define.  What is one company’s harmless behavior can be another company’s cause for dismissal.  It’s the principle we’re talking about here, and the principle is controlling others.  It’s coercion.

For the record, note the article says the Dept of Justice regards it as a federal crime to enter a social networking site in violation of the TOS (although they’re not prosecuting for it), and that both MD and IL have proposed legislation making this illegal.

Have enough respect for yourself to leave, just as Bassett did.  Because if too many people don’t, then bit by bit, it becomes acceptable, simply because there are too many complying.

For instance, you run into an interviewer who uses a behavioral style and throws a little “stress technique” in there.  He wants to make you sweat. You feel as if you’re under a bright light – he’s grilling you, and you might as well have been fingerprinted. There’s no need to get all worked up (besides, he wants you to).  If that’s his interview style, what do you think it will be like reporting to him?

 The answer to that should calm you down. You won’t care what he thinks, because you probably won’t want to return. Good money? Eventually you’ll hate your boss, then you’ll hate your job, then your life will be hell, because the salary won’t be worth it.  Short drive? Eventually you’ll hate your boss, then you’ll hate your job then your life will be hell, because the drive will still be too long – you won’t want to go where you’re driving. Great advancement promised? After how long? How many people have quit because their boss was a jerk?

If you want to work for a control freak or someone who needs to appear tough and all-knowing, you’ve found the place. If he’s rapid firing questions at you, hoping to trip you up, let him feel important.  Finish the interview and cross the company off your list.

If your first interview is with human resources, sometimes they’re crisply detailed, lofty, and attempt to intimidate you.   Don’t let it throw you. If you know yourself, what you’re looking for, and have done your research on the company, you’re less likely to get flustered.

Others are adept at giving you enough rope to hang yourself, but don’t be lulled into a warm, cozy camaraderie. Watch their visual cues – which can be subtle. Follow your instinct, but follow their lead. They’re screeners, but in that sense, they’re also decision makers.

There are different interview styles, just as there are different types of people. The hiring authority’s interviewing style is usually reflective of his personality.  Stay aware of what’s happening at the moment, what you’re saying, what you’re learning, and how you’re feeling about what’s taking place.

The more you’ve done your homework in accordance with what I’ve suggested, the more relaxed you’ll feel.  The more relaxed you feel, the more confident and in control of your answers you’ll be, and the less likely you’ll be to get flustered by trying to conform to a specific style.

Put effort into making sure you know what your skills are, what gets you excited about going to work, and under what type of management style you flourish.  Know your accomplishments and how they relate to what the company is looking for. Be aware of what motivates you and what turns you off.  Spend time learning about the company with whom you’ll be interviewing instead of trying to prepare for an interview style you can’t possibly anticipate. 

Finding your perfect job is about you being real about who you are, not trying to respond in a favorable manner to some style in hopes that this will endear you to them and give you a better shot at the job.

Because when you’re real about who you are and know what you’re looking for, it doesn’t matter what style you encounter. You’ll be comfortable with any style you meet. And when they want you to come back for another interview, you can decide if you want to….or not.

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 That’s all well and good, but there’s an obvious question that begs to be asked: how do you know which style you’ll encounter? When you phone to schedule the interview, do you ask, “Oh, by the way Mr. Interviewer, what interview style do you use? I’d like to study that one and ignore all the others.”?

Do you study all of the styles? Memorize every question that applies to each style and all the recommended answers to prepare for each one? And when the interview begins, you say to yourself, “Aha! It’s The Abstract Theoretical Look Sideways Style!” and then you know exactly what to say and do. 

Unless of course you missed a style or happen to confuse them, which throws you off and causes you to bomb the interview.

Worrying about interviewing styles is ridiculous. Not only is it too much information to memorize, but it’s also a waste of time. An interview is nerve-wracking as it is without worrying about which style you’re going to encounter.

The interview is about the company and how your presence will benefit them.  The preparation (with the exception of your company research) is about knowing who you are and what you’re looking for.  It’s not about the company or anticipating the hiring authority’s interviewing style.

Interview preparation is an absolute, non-negotiable, unequivocal must, but preparing by learning different styles is not. That’s why your interview preparation needs to be focused on learning about yourself, listing questions to ask, and forming your answers to fundamental interview questions.

You prepare by focusing on yourself because you are seeking your perfect job. You want to have the power to decide if you want to return for another interview instead of giving that power away. You want to be in control of your future.

An interview is a sales process. The product is, essentially, you. And you need to be real about who you are, and be prepared enough to interview well.  Do that properly and the style you encounter is irrelevant.

Interviewing is 85% prep and 15% common sense. Sometimes it does involve a bit of mirroring, but again, some of that is common sense.   Do it without losing your individuality. For instance, if the interviewer is chatty, longer answers are okay. If the interviewer is crisp and serious, keep your answers focused and on the topic.

For instance, one interviewer might leave you thinking “What’s up with this guy?” He seems rather at a loss as to what to ask you. His questions are open ended and don’t seem to have any firm direction or point. Just use common sense. You’ve done your interview prep work – jump in and sell yourself. That doesn’t mean talk non-stop, but you don’t have to sit there and be uncomfortably silent for long periods of time either.

Ease the awkwardness. Help him out. Lots of holes? Gracefully and professionally answer some of the questions you were prepared to answer, even though he hasn’t asked them. He may not know how to interview very well.

No one – except maybe a human resources person – should have a lot of experience interviewing. If they do – they either can’t keep a job….or they can’t keep employees, so he may be an incompetent interviewer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be an incompetent boss.  On the other hand, other styles can be a definite warning sign.

Part 2 next week:  A few examples, as well as why styles are irrelevant and what’s much more important to prepare for.

For far too many jop search candidates, honestly is one extreme or the other.  Either the job seeker throws everything out there too early and unnecessarily or hides it because he’s defensive about whatever it is he doesn’t want to be honest about.  Either way, it only causes trouble.  Finding your perfect job does not mean giving all your power to the interviewing company. 

This isn’t a process where you everything you say and do screams “Hire me, hire me, hire me!”  When you confess to your interviewer, or conversely, hide as much as you can, that’s what you’re thinking and that’s the message you’re conveying.    Consequently, the interview never goes as smoothly as it otherwise might.

 If there’s something in your employment history that’s caused you problems in the past, there’s no reason to blurt it out.  You’ll get no recognition or appreciation for that.  In fact, the only thing you’ll get in return is…..dropped from consideration.  Instead, examine the circumstances under which those problems took place and ask questions to make sure those conditions aren’t present in the job for which you’re interviewing. If they are, gracefully decline to continue the process.

Being fired, returning to the corporate world after self employment, and being unemployed for several months are just three instances that put candidates unnecessarily on the defensive.   Flip it.  Find the positive.  What did you learn from being fired?  What are your positive characteristics aside from what happened to cause the termination?  And by the way, are you absolutely sure the termination was your fault?    If it wasn’t, don’t say that outright!  The phrasing of your presentation can convey the same meaning.

Recently a client asked me to critique his resume and cover letter.  They’d just been done by a professional resume-writing firm, and he wasn’t comfortable with the result.  He lives in one state and is planning on moving to another.  They advised him to omit the locations of his previous jobs saying “the job is about you, not the location.”

They also advised him to get both a P.O. box and a phone number in his targeted city, then to enlist forwarding services.  My question was, what happens when a prospective employer wants him to come in for an interview tomorrow…..because they think he lives only a few miles away?  There’s a very easy way not to have the distance work against you so that you can search within an honest framework, but that’s another column.

Then, as if those two instances of duplicity weren’t enough, they tucked his self-employment time under a previous job. 

Why walk into an interview crossing your fingers that they don’t find something out?  How relaxed can you possibly be under those circumstances?  And if they hire you and then discover the truth, you’re tainted, and everything else you do or say from that point on is suspect. 

There’s one hard and fast rule that overrides any instance where you haven’t had to – or felt a reason to – provide what could be considered extraneous information.  When you are asked a direct question, one usually designed to clarify, answer it directly, honestly and with a smile.  Don’t lose your composure or get defensive.  Handle it gracefully.  Most situations aren’t the big deal so many candidates perceive them to be.

Keep the power within yourself.  To find your perfect job, you need to know what you’re looking for.  Your questions are designed to elicit that information, while your answers are designed to sell yourself, even as you’re processing what you’re learning.  Remember, you have the power to make a choice too.

And under the heading of “Would you do business with this staffing agency?” comes the below email, forwarded five minutes later by my sister, a principal at an architectural firm that does high-profile projects such as stadiums and university buildings:

Just checking in before the weekend to say hello and to see how (name of company) may be able to help you with your short or long term staffing needs.  Would love to come in for a quick chat, see how you are and bring you through some excellent salary information for 2012.

Have a wonfderful wekend and please think of me first when a stafiing needs arises.

From the Branch Manager, no less and no, my sister has not done business with them before.  I only replaced the company name with the phrase in parenthesis. This person obviously doesn’t double check her emails – how attentive to detail can she be when sending a temp to a client?

I’ve written so many columns on grammar you’d think I was an English teacher.  I’m not perfect – I proof (sometimes), but from time to time I miss something.  So do professional editors, by the way. Only on my columns to my newspaper editors to I proof 3 or 4 times.  

But when a problem shows up repeatedly and/or in multiple forms, that’s not from overlooking something, it’s from (pick any of the following) carelessness, stupidity, arrogance, lack of intelligence, laziness, blatant disregard, not caring.

You are judged by your presentation.  In absence of information to the contrary, the information is interpreted negatively.   And no one, no one is going to give you the benefit of the doubt when your resume, or a similar form of business communication, is a mess.

You don’t believe me?  How many professional brochures do you see with &s distributed liberally throughout the copy, over capitalization, typos, grammar mistakes, etc?  Very, very, very, very few. 

And if you happen to find one, what’s your reaction?  “Look!  How funny!  They missed something!”  Now what if you picked up a brochure for a car, or refrigerator, or an HD TV and the brochure had multiple mistakes on every page?  Would you buy?  Or walk away?

I rest my case.

Everyone of us has had a teacher that inspired us because that person was dedicated to their subject and devoted to passing on knowledge to students.  Then there are the teachers who make a great argument for why tenure should be revoked.  In college, I received an A for my most difficult class out of  all 4 years. 

I didn’t intend to publicize this, but last week I was in the hospital for surgery and stayed over night.  The care of the RNs, and everyone else I encountered blew me away so significantly, I wrote a letter to the SVP Patient Care Services, copied the Director of Marketing, liked their Facebook page, and posted a blurb on it.

Danbury Hospital, in Danbury, CT, is a 400-bed teaching hospital.  Don’t tell me that automatically makes it a good facility – I was a recruiter for mid- and upper-level management in hospitals for 5 years.  My second job out of college was the admin in the Business Office/Finance department of a 150-bed private hospital in Dallas, TX, that was right across from Baylor Hospital (huge hospital – huge).  It might not count quite as much, but I was both a candy striper and an adult volunteer, and have been a patient more than once. 

I have never seen such a group of people who loved and excelled at what they do.  And this reflects back on Danbury Hospital, their philosophy, and their attention to their employees.   I know.  I asked the RNs and had it confirmed.  They all loved working there.  I knew that too.  I could see it.  How many times did you think you were joining a great company and then….pffffft, big let down?  There’s a huge fundamental problem with how job seekers go about their search – (see part 2 next week for that)

While I was in the OR holding room, everyone connected with my case introduced themselves; checked my name, DOB, and procedure to their chart and my wristband; smiled; passed on info; and asked me a bit about me.  And still the place was jamming.  7 am in the morning and it was vibrating with positive energy, smiles, laughter, and activity.

I woke up in the recovery room – same thing.  Ally – she looks like Courtney Cox – never missed a beat in checking on my pain level.  Smile, a few questions, reassurance…and off to another patient.

From the time I arrived to the time I left, I never once was concerned that I’d have to call someone when my IV needed to be replaced or remind someone to handle all those other lovely things that come with being in the hospital.  Each departing RN gave me the name of her replacement.  The replacement always stuck her head in and introduced herself, since I was a new patient to her.

I was right by the nurses station, so (between naps) I liked to watch the activity.  Very impressive.  Easy camaraderie.  Efficiency.  Efficiency of movement.   Relaxed energy.  No heavy sighs, no exasperated looks when the call button went off, no quiet disparaging comments about some annoying patient.

Even when a doctor called up to the floor, the RN who answered the phone relayed the call to another RN across the station.  “No,” she said calmly and with a smile on her face.  “He calls up here all the time expecting us to drop everything.  I’ve got patients to take care of.  He needs to come up here and see his patients himself.”

These were people who say, “I love my job,” and know how to be happy at work.  Sure, sure, you say.  You have to love nursing or why be a nurse?  That’s why I shared my hospital experience because I’m telling you, that ain’t true no way, no how.  Passion, pride, gratefullness for their career and their employer – it was all there.  This, in turn, made me glad to be there, and allowed me to fully relax because I trusted them 100%. 

So what about you?  Do you feel like that?  Have you ever felt like that and then lost that lovin’  feeling?  If you’ve been unemployed a long time, passed over for job offers, getting desperate, you may not find it next job either.   There is such a thing as your perfect job, your dream job.  If you want to find it, come talk to me.

Part 2:  that huge fundamental problem job seekers have that equates to shooting yourself in the foot

Next one is February 14!