Don't Be THAT Guy at a Business Meal

I don’t know about you, but one thing that really scared me was the thought of having a business lunch or dinner with an employer.  I was always that person who would spill things, drop crumbs on the table and dig right into my dish.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

I will say one thing; working at Career Services this year has taught me a lot about dining etiquette and helped me understand why it is so important to everyone.  We have things like the Dining for Success event which is a way to practice and learn proper ways to eat tricky foods, presentations and so much more. 

Here is a video that quickly summarizes do’s and don’ts of dining:

Knowing dining etiquette is important.  According to “The Top Ten Etiquette Tips For The Business Dinner or Interview” by Hank Coleman, “Many of today’s business meetings, sales meetings, and job interviews take place over the dinner table. Sometimes these meetings are at a restaurant, and other times they are in a corporate dining hall. But, when the big deal or job is on the line that is not the time to realize you do not know which fork to eat your salad with.”

 

Here are some quick important tips you should remember:

·         Don’t start eating until you host or hostess has done so

·         Do not cut large sizes of food and try to shove it in your mouth, cut small bite size pieces instead

·         Place your napkin on your lap before you begin eating

·         Start on the outside and work your way in when using your silverware

 

You have all the resources you need for great dining etiquette. So make sure you drop by Career Services so you aren’t that guy at your business dinner.

Photo Credit: Jim Naughten/Getty Images

Ashley Salim

Career Educator

How To Develop Your Networking Skills Towards Being Productive Rather Than Pointless

Learning how to network and relate to potential employers is essential when it comes to landing a job. Now, more than ever, knowing how to communicate is revered highly by employers seeking candidates for open positions.

A Sagepresence article about networking productively  argues that in order to convince employers to hire you, you should make your conversation more about them than you. Networking is not about selling your achievements and characteristics, but more so about building a relationship with the person you are talking to.

When networking, a primary goal should be to let the person know that you are there to help them in some way. If you take the opportunity to network with an employer and are feeling a little unprepared, it is natural to talk about yourself to him or her. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially since networking involves having a genuine interest in learning about each other. Furthermore, people typically feel linked to us if we talk about ourselves.

You can also build your potential by communicating something meaningful to the employer that can show them how you can benefit them and their company. According to Sagepresence, there are three significant components to prepare for networking with an employer.

1. You will introduce yourself with basic information such as name and of course, an elevator pitch that has been pre-prepared.
2. You should tell the employer about something you are currently lacking that the employer can help you with. For example, mentioning that you are seeking a more challenging position or would like to be employed with a company that encourages autonomy.
3. Tell the employer about your “happy ending."
4. The last stage simply serves the purpose of summing up all three steps and giving the employer another idea of what you are seeking. 

An example of the third step is “I’m keeping busy, but I’m underemployed right now. My best skills simply aren’t being challenged as much as I want them to be”. All in all, at the end, the employer should have an idea of how he or she can help you and vice versa.

Shayla Frinks
Career Educator

Should Money Be The Deciding Factor in Choosing your Career?

Upon entering college, I had one objective in mind; to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in business so that I could get a job that would pay me well. In retrospect, wanting a good paying job was not a bad objective at all. However, I soon realized that there was more to performing an effective job search than just one’s projected income.

 According to research by MSNBC, less than half of all Americans are satisfied with their current jobs. Americans’ dissatisfaction in their jobs have extended to various types of people across the country, regardless of factors such as age and income. However, the inclination is strongest among workers who are less than 25 years old. Could it be because most young workers are after a similar objective? Could it be because of the money? There may be many reasons for such a high dissatisfaction rate. However, one thing that is very important is choosing a career that will not only benefit you financially, but mentally and emotionally as well.

Discover your passions and the various other elements that make you happy, and strive to acquire a career for that reason, first. It is true, money makes the world go around, but happiness is key to a man’s long term success. 

Keisha Francis

Career Educator

What Computers Can (and Can't) Do

How will changes in technology affect jobs in the future? Continued from previous post

Researchers at MIT published an excellent paper analyzing job skills and the possibility that they could be augmented or replaced by computing technology. They divide tasks into two main categories, analytic and manual. Within those categories, tasks can be considered routine or non-routine.  This is shown below:

The researchers analyzed data from 1960-1998 and found that the key determinant of whether a skill could be replaced by technology was not white collar vs. blue collar; the key is whether or not a task is routine. This has played out in the legal world; technology has largely replaced legal research by professionals such as lawyers and paralegals due to cheaper costs. This somewhat defies the conventional wisdom that more education necessarily leads to better job security and white collar workers have more secure jobs than blue collar workers.

Applying these findings to potential careers and jobs is somewhat speculative but worthwhile. The safest jobs are non-routine manual tasks. This category includes jobs like janitor and bus driver, but also includes surgeons. Another key determinant of whether a job can be “replaced” by computers is the “trust” or “people” factor. For example, most people trust an ATM to dispense cash as well as a bank teller, but what a robot surgeon? There’s also tastes and preferences; online learning could replace classroom learning, but most people respond more positively in a classroom with a teacher.


In addition to replacing jobs, technology can also complement workers to the point of increasing total employment in an industry. Beyond obvious fields such as IT professionals, this includes more conventional jobs such as doctors, managers, and even entertainers.

Ask yourself, can computers (or robots, which are computers) replace the job I’m aiming for? Will technology make it easier or harder for me to find an opening in that position. Even if the answer is yes or maybe, it probably shouldn’t affect your career decision. Still, understanding what may happen in the future of an industry can only help you understand it better.

Landon J. Latham

Career Educator

How Can Pinterest Interest Your Future Employers?

Are you an addict of Pinterest? Are you looking for a job? If so, have you ever thought of using Pinterest to enhance your job search efforts?

In a recent article, “Using Pinterest as a Job-Search and Branding Tool,” it states that Pinterest is a great way to market yourself to future employers, especially if you are an art, graphic design, marketing, or other heavily visual major.

Tips on how to market yourself by using Pinterest:

• Create a resume board where you pin pictures related to your schooling and experiences. (Pin pictures of organizations you have interned for and student organizations and activities you have been involved in.)
• Create a portfolio board where you pin examples of the work you have created.
• Pin a copy of your resume.
• Create boards that are related to your interest to give more insight about you.
• Place your Pinterest URL on your job-search materials, including resumes, cover letters, e-mail signatures, profiles on LinkedIn, and more. *Make sure you use your actual name as your Pinterest page name so people can easily find you through a search.
• Make sure you provide a description of each picture you pin so the employers know what they are looking at.
• Keep your Pinterest clean and professional!

Now that you know how to interest employers by using Pinterest… Get to pinning!

Sharol Miller

Career Educator

Stay Positive With Your Job Search

If you follow the career services' social media, you may have read this article already.  It’s called “Tips for Staying Positive In a Job Search” found on http://blog.resumebear.com. As I read this article, I was able to relate.  I am a senior graduating in just a couple weeks, so I know more than anyone just how tough and emotionally draining the job search can be. I’ve gone through many ups and downs, but staying positive is the key.

Some of my favorite tips from the article are as follows:

Stay away from whiners and complainers

You are probably already on edge and emotional.  If you are surrounded by people that constantly whine and complain, they are only going to bring you down further.  Find people who push you and energize you!

Do Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins.  Endorphins make you happy.  Take a quick walk, go to the RAC, dance or whatever else it may be.  This will help from keeping you down and will motivate you on your job hunt.

Change your attitude by looking at the positives
Ask yourself: What went well today? What are the three best things I did in that interview? These questions will help you keep the right attitude.  Things are always going to go wrong with every situation, but it’s how you look at the situation that really matters. Attitude is everything!


Celebrate Small Successes
“Focusing on the small wins gives you the energy and confidence to tackle the bigger challenges that you know still lie ahead.”


Let Yourself Have a Bad Day
Job hunting is an emotional thing.  Everyone has ups and downs, so let yourself be emotional. 


For me, a lot of this has been easier said than done, but everything on this list has helped a ton.  Try it yourself and let us know how it works for you!


Ashley Salim
Career Educator


Photo Credit: Ms. Career Girl

Technology and the Economy (and Jobs)

The world today is one of ever-changing technology. Things like iPads, electric cars, and advanced computing technology have significantly changed the world in only the last few years. How will technology affect the economy and jobs of the future?


The correct answer is that it’s impossible to know, but we can look at what we know to get an idea. One thing we know is that technological innovations are happening faster and faster. From the 1940’s to the 1980’s, computers went from objects so large they required an entire room to be housed to desktop computers such as the early Macintosh. By the 1990’s and 2000’s, the invention of operating systems and wide-spread use of the internet transformed computers. By the 2010’s, people were using iPads and accessing the internet from almost anywhere, wirelessly.


I highlight computers because they have changed the work world more than any other technology in the past few decades. Database software has reduced or eliminated the need for storage of physical files. Word processing and communications software has reduced the need for administrative assistants. Industry-specific technology such as bar code processing has made companies like Wal Mart wildly successful, leaving others behind. 


Asking what will happen in the future is inexact, but interesting to think about. When thinking about careers and what you want to pursue, considering what might happen to that field, how technology might affect its future, can help you foresee opportunities and threats. For example, what if someone decided to open a small business selling beepers in 1997? It probably wouldn’t have worked out.


This is the first in a series of blog posts relating to technological changes and how they affect jobs.  If you’re interested in this topic, I recommend this article by Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman. It was written in 1996 from the prospective of someone living in 2096 reporting on changes in the last century (1996-2096). In the 16 years since it was written, many of the points hold true to what has actually happened.


Landon J. Latham
Career Educator