Last year just around this time, I left my job at UMass Amherst for a new position at Smith College. I decided to take the year off from trying to blog or build my career counseling business and concentrate on my new job. It has been a great year, and now that I am settled in my job, I am ready to get back to blogging to help everyone find a career that they love!
There were a few things that helped me stand out in the search process for my position. They are all easy things that anyone can do - and they really help in landing any position.
1. Follow-up without being a stalker! I emailed the hiring manager when it had been 2 weeks past the closing date (and 3 weeks after I applied) just to see where they were in the search. I MAILED thank you notes after the interview and emailed links to some of the work that I had done.
2. Prove your resume! I brought to the interview samples of the work that I have done. In a basic small binder / presentation book that I purchased from Staples, I put in copies of webpages that had information about events I have done, copies of PowerPoint presentations that I developed, copies of thank you notes from successful job seekers that I worked with and a before and after version of a resume that I updated. I emailed them links to what I thought were great examples of what some other colleges are doing. And when I gave an answer on the interview such as "I am a great presenter", I backed it up with an example from my professional life.
3. Technology is key! One of the reasons I was offered the position was the fact that I was not fearful of technology. I was willing to work with Social Media and webinars. I am far from an expert on it, but I am willing to jump in and do the work.
4. Know what they want in a candidate! I did my research, read the job description in detail, checked out their board of directors and practically memorized all the info on their website. I made sure that I targeted my answers to what they were looking for according to my research.
So if you are out there searching for a job now, be sure to make yourself stand out as a candidate!
