Finding a job: What am I doing wrong?

Parent Cafe
21

<p>"I don’ mean to sound harsh but as you write more and describe yourself, I’m getting a picture of someone who is somewhat of a “loner” - shy, few friends at school, limited professor relationships, lots of solo time at the computer - which means your social skills are not going to be as up to par as others who have better connecting skills. I think that may come across during the interview. You need to work on this - anywhere. "</p>

<p>I agree with the above, and for years, I served as a college newspaper advisor and also did workshops around the country for students – including designers – teaching them how to get jobs and internships. .</p>

<p>The impression I’m getting of you is that you are quiet, passive, and that probably is turning off interviewers. I imagine you as someone who answers questions in interviews, but doesn’t ask thoughtful questions or make small talk, which could give interviewers the impression that you’re antisocial and not interested in the job. I also get the impression that you don’t take criticism well, may become very hurt when you feel criticized, and then come across as defensive and perhaps even be seen as sullen.</p>

<p>When it comes to the entry level types of jobs that you’re describing, there are lots of young people with the skills to get them, so what ends up being the deciding factor after an applicant’s portfolio shows they have the skills is the people skills. Coming across as a happy, friendly person who’s excited about the job and willing to grow (that means being willing and happy to get criticism and advice to improve) is what can make the difference between being hired and being passed over.</p>

<p>Red flags would go up in any interview in which an applicant said they didn’t know their profs well enough to have references, and didn’t have references from their past employer. Such a person would come across as passive at best, but most likely would come across as unfriendly.</p>

<p>It’s also important to realize that when you are interviewing for a job, everything that you do connected to the interview can either help or hurt your employment chances. </p>

<p>These things include how you call or write to get an interview (You must be doing OK with this or you wouldn’t get an interview); how you act while waiting (savvy and friendly people get to know the secretary/receptionist, who often can provide some useful inside info about the company. Savvy folks also read any company newsletters, brochures, etc. that are around .); how you act afterward (sending grammatical, typed thank-you notes that expand on what you have to offer the company, and emphasise your interest in working there) etc.</p>

<p>Despite what you’re saying your school’s career counselor said about your interviewing skills, I am thinking that you may not be making major mistakes in your interview, but at the same time, you may not be standing out enough in terms of assertiveness, enthusiasm, friendliness, asking thoughtful questions to get more than a polite, routine interview. What you may be viewing as enthusiasm about your interview may be simple politeness. </p>

<p>Designers have to work as part of teams, so their personalities are very important. </p>

<p>Since you appear to be shy, it may help you to get some tips, too, from the shyness.com page and to also see if your college counseling center offers support groups or counseling for shy students. Shyness is a common problem, so I would expect that the counseling center offers some kind of help for shy students.</p>

22

<p>Fredo, thanks for that, it’s worth at least discussing. So far this morning we’ve exchanged email saying “we really need to do this” and “great idea” but once again neither of us has moved one inch in the direction of actually doing anything. Instead, I’m playing around on CC and he’s out of the country. We are speaking later today though so I’ll see if he’d like to give the idea a try. </p>

<p>Blahdeblah, there’s some excellent advice in the last two posts. For what it’s worth, you’re NOT alone; no one really enjoys the process of job hunting, from either side of the desk. There is a lot of opportunity out there though and you will surely find something very soon.</p>

23

<p>You’re getting lots of interviews so obviously companies think your skill set is up to snuff. Others have suggested working on interview techniques and personal appearance (I’d remove the nose stud for the interview–maybe it will be the good luck charm that you need). Might I suggest that you examine your body language? See this Forbes article about body language and job interviews:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.forbes.com/careers/2006/02/15/employment-careers-interviews-cx_sr_0216bizbasics.html[/url]”>http://www.forbes.com/careers/2006/02/15/employment-careers-interviews-cx_sr_0216bizbasics.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The article postulates that of that most important first impression that people will get of you, 7% is from the words you speak, 38% is from your tone of voice, and 55% if from body language. It’s worth a look.</p>

24

<p>BlahDeBlah,</p>

<p>Try Monstertrak as they are specifically set up for college students whether you are looking for internships, part time or full time employement.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.monstertrak.monster.com/[/url]”>http://www.monstertrak.monster.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

25

<p>By now I have a nice ‘interview advice’ document to go along with my ‘common interivew questions’ - a while ago I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of questions and then type out brief notes on what my answer would be, so I could go over it before interviews and make sure I had something in mind to say and didn’t forget anything important. Too bad I haven’t actually gone for an interview since then.</p>

<p>I actually have a skirt suit that I wear to interviews…I chose that particular one because it looks kind of ‘young’ and like something a creative person might wear, as opposed to a really harsh plain black suit where I’d probably end up looking like a 12 year old who stole a lawyer’s drycleaning. All the guys in my major were actually told not to wear suits because they would look too “stuffy” but they didn’t tell the girls what they should be wearing. I can’t actually take the nose stud out or it will close up, but I guess it might be worthwhile looking around to see if there’s a clear stud or something that I can switch it with. My only concern with this is…won’t they see it anyway if I get hired everytime I go in to work? </p>

<p>I try not to slouch or stare at the floor or give weak handshakes (apparently I always have cold hands, though). I know I always give eye contact because after I’ve been there for five minutes I get preoccupied with the fact that I always have to maintain eye contact and I start to wonder if the person thinks that I’m just staring at them instead. I do know that I tend to wave my hands around a lot when I’m talking and I’m nervous but I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a detrimental thing or not.</p>

<p>As far as not being able to take criticism…about half of my classes so far have been in the format of, everyone brings in their work for the week and presents it to the class, and then the professor tells you everything that’s wrong with it, and then the rest of the class tells you everything that’s wrong with it. I got over being squeamish about that real quick. Going over my portfolio doesn’t really bother me, I actually sort of like doing it.</p>

26

<p>c" know I always give eye contact because after I’ve been there for five minutes I get preoccupied with the fact that I always have to maintain eye contact and I start to wonder if the person thinks that I’m just staring at them instead. "</p>

<p>Are you aware that you’re not supposed to give constant eye contact? Looking away now and then is appropriate. Staring into someone’s eyes the whole interview would be creepy.</p>

<p>Once you’re hired, you can wear the nose stud. If you’re good, they won’t let you go because of that (I’m assuming there’s no dress code against it).</p>

<p>A creative and youthful looking outfit sounds appropriate for the kind of work that you do.</p>

<p>The questions and typed answers seems overkill because I fear that you’ll sound rehearsed, like you’re hiding your true personality. I don’t think you should need to rehearse those answers since presumably the questions are about you and your work. The types of things to review before the interview are things about the company. Look at its website, Google it, get info from your profs. The more you know about the company, the better you’ll probably do in an interview.</p>

27

<p>Re youthful looking outfit–just make sure the skirt isn’t took short or the top reveals too much skin. (but then it wouldn’t be a youthful looking outfit?, right?)</p>

<p>Sounds like you’re ready to try another interview. Good luck!</p>

28

<p>Oh, I don’t constantly stare at people, I just make a mental note to make a point of looking at the person instead of following my instincts to look at anything but the person. My answers to the questions aren’t really written out memorized answers…like under ‘what are your hobbies?’ I have a bulleted list of what my hobbies are, not a paragraph that I memorize and repeat. It’s just so they don’t ask me something that I have a perfectly good answer for, and then my mind goes blank. I do look up info about the companies beforehand, when I can…a surprising number of web companies have “new version coming soon!” websites with nothing else on them.</p>

29

<p>Blahdeblah. </p>

<p>I am one of those odd people who actually like interviewing for jobs. This is because I seem to be weirdly good at it. By that I mean that I have gotten job offers that I really wasn’t qualified for, as a result of interviews. So maybe I can help. I have never analyzed this before, however, I believe a great job interview is like a great sales call. You want the person on the other side of the table to feel most of all that THEY ARE GREAT. Then you show your greatness by understanding their greatness and offering in-line suggestions around the issues and outcomes they present to you.</p>

<p>Sort of acting like a problem-solving consultant right there in the interview. And requires asking lots and lots of questions and mustering up a real real interest from inside yourself about the sometimes dumb stuff your interviewer will say. Imagine the interviewer is the best-looking man or woman you ever saw, and you are dying for him/her to like you. So you hang on their every word. And then you apply every bit of your intelligence and talent to shine a light both on their brilliance and the solutions to their problem…</p>

<p>May sound repellent, but it’s actually really fun, because it’s such an in the moment process, and you focus so strongly on what is being said, and yet you keep your goal always in mind. Does this make any sense at all?</p>

30

<p>NO MORE EMAIL for initial amd followup contact…obviouslly that does not work</p>

<p>You should hand deliver your resume, etc,</p>

<p>And did I read it correctly, you dislike using the phone, but were interviewing for a telecomuting job? Huh?</p>

<p>Learn to use the phone…its harder to ignore a person on the phone, but an email…easy</p>

<p>Here is a “trick” to do during interviews…but it needs to be subtle…mirror what your interviewer is doing, how they sit, leaning in or not, legs crossed, etc…don’t do it all the time, but it has a way of creating ease</p>

<p>Also, when you talk about yourself, how do you do it…</p>

<p>Something young people, and not at all sure if this is the case, is use bad grammer, the word “like”, slang, have their voice go UP at the end of a sentence so that everything sounds like a question and can sound unconfident, saying UHM alot, speak too quickly, not have enough questions</p>

<p>What do you carry into the office, what is your resume in, do you have a nice portfolio, shoes, watch, hair…shirt under suit</p>

<p>Just some thoughts</p>

<p>And again, the phone is your friend</p>

31

<p>Blahdeblah~</p>

<p>As a marketing professional who has hired and worked with numerous web designers over the last 10 years, I can tell you that you are in an extremely competitive and difficult field. Everyone thinks they can do web design, and sorting through and finding good ones takes a lot of time. Which is why I, and most people I know, select designers through word of mouth and references.
The one and only tome I advertised for a web designer on monster.com, I received over 1000 applications within 2 days, and they kept coming for months.</p>

<p>So you need to find a way to distinguish yourself and build a good online portfolio. References are crucial, because noone wants to get stuck with a half-implemented site. And clients need to know that you are someone who listens to their needs, not just designs whatever is fun. And the only way they can determine that is to ask people who you’ve worked for. </p>

<p>As far as interviewing - always ask on the way out the door how you did on the interview. “I really enjoyed meeting with you and I am very interested in this job. How do I measure up against your other applicants?” Most people will give you an honest answer or if they are vague, you know you probably struck out. You have nothing to lose by asking this.</p>

<p>If we brought someone in for an interview, it was usually a sign of serious consideration for the position. Email “Thank you’s” are critical. We would never offer a job to anyone who didn’t thank us via email for the interview. It was a great way to evaluate their writing and interpersonal skills.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

32

<p>I didn’t have the time to read all of this, but I just wanted to mention the following:</p>

<p>It sounds as if things go well in most of the interviews and then they don’t hire you. I would question whether :</p>

<ol>
<li><p>your references are working out.</p></li>
<li><p>your background check is passing. (any prior arrests? or anything of that nature that you are dealing with?)</p></li>
<li><p>are your drug tests (if you have had any) passing? </p></li>
<li><p>do you have a “myspace” or other website with questionable information on it? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Just some things to think about.</p>