Feb. 3 Career counseling: Today I finally went to my career counselor at my college. I made an appointment last week. It was free counseling because I attended the school. She was an Asian woman. We did a mock job interview for an office assistant position. It was good because she asked me 3 job interview questions, and then afterwards we discussed if it was a good answer or not.
It was supposed to be an hr long mock interview, but I stayed 10min later to discuss job search techniques. However, there was no one else in the waiting room so I didn't cut into anyone's appointment.
CC: You are kind of sharp and abrupt in your answers. You need to slow down when you're speaking.
Me: Yeah, one interviewer said that to me that I talk fast.
CC: You seem tense.
Me: The thing is I want to be professional.
CC: There's a difference between being professional and being stiff.
CC: You need to give conversational answers. You list things, and it sounds mechanical. In an interview, the employer wants to know:
1. Can you do the job? (Technical skills. If they called you to do the interview, they think you can.)
2. Will you like it?
3. Will you fit in?
It's about personality, and how you come off as a person. You build rapport.
Know what the company is about, what they do. Does it fit with your interests? Why is it a good fit?
Behavioral questions:
CC: Behavioral questions are about how do you deal with a negative situation? Here's the acronym STARS.
Situation
Task
Action
Results
Skills
Describe the situation, what is the task, and what is your action? What were the results? What skills did you use?
Feb. 4 Job interview: Today I went to a job interview. It was okay because I got there on time. She did say I seem a little "intimidated" by the position. I got some more info and was told I will be trained to be able to be working by myself. I calmed down.
She did ask if this position sounds like something I'm interested in. Yes, I am. She did question if it's hard for me to get there. It's a bit of an effort, but I don't have a problem getting there.
Remember a job tip I had written about? Don't mention if the place is easy or hard to get to because it doesn't have anything to do with how you work at the job.
Rejects: It's been a few weeks since I did an interview at that computer store. They didn't call me back. He did ask: "Does it sound like something you're interested in?" And I said: "Not really." I wasn't putting obstacles in front of myself. I was being honest. Give the job to somebody else who would like it.
I got a call from Call Centre #6 and I told her my schedule. She said I sounded pretty busy. I said I will call back when I get my schedule. I looked the company up and they're paying a little bit more than I am making. You can work like 2 shifts a week.
It was okay that I didn't get hired at the computer store, or got an interview at Call Centre #6. That's because then my restaurant started increasing my hours so now I'm working full-time. I don't have to get a second part-time regular job. I can focus on the office job search.
Friends: Today I called my friend Sonia. We talked about my job search and she said that I should apply at the hospital's food service. I did before. I've been procrastinating and haven't been looking at the hospital websites. I've been looking at my other job sites though.
As soon as we hung up, I went and wrote down to apply at the hospital. Then I decided to get on the computer right now and look for the hospital websites. I applied to 6 positions.
We did chat a bit how she isn't on Facebook. She doesn't like it. I told her she's in the minority.
Feb. 5 Benefits: I was going through my work papers, to clean it out. I then thought about how full-time people get benefits. I started working full-time, so today I asked my boss about it. He'll look into it.
Feb. 6 Job articles:
Job fair: Today I read an Alberta Job Centre newsletter called "Why you should attend a job fair." A lot of people think it's overcrowded and competitive. You should still dress well and bring your resumes. I've been to one at the U of A Butterdome which were mostly for gas and oil companies. Some booths were for Target and regular jobs.
I've been to an arts job fair also at the U of A. It was smaller and more jobs were fit for me. Some job fairs have to be pre-registered. I have been to one at Canada Place a couple of years ago. That's how I got an interview at Abercrombie and Fitch. This is a good article:
http://www.albertajobcentre.ca/content/index.cfm?objectid=3A464CDB-2219-80B4-536232C131632EB2&utm_source=Albertajobcentre.ca&utm_campaign=34754251cf-AB_Career_Feb_01_20122_1_2012&utm_medium=email
Entry-level: That article lead me to "Selling Air: Marketing Your Entry-Level Career". Here's a good line: "An entry-level candidate who is eager, open to training, and flexible is desirable by employers."
http://www.albertajobcentre.ca/re/career-advice/career-advice-articles/career-planning/selling-air-marketing-your-entry-level-career
Questions: This is a good article: "7 Questions That Could Land You the Job." Question 3 asks: "Can you describe a typical day for this position?" It's usually my question: "What are the duties?"
Question 6: "What are the working hours and the salary range and benefits?" I ask the question: "What are the shifts like?" Then towards the end either I, or they bring it up about the pay.
Question 7: "What can I do for you as follow-up?" At the of the interview I ask: "When will you be making a hiring decision?"
"What employers are looking for are people who really want to work in the organization and are enthusiastic about affecting the outcome of the interview."
http://www.albertajobcentre.ca/content/index.cfm?objectid=161CEE2E-2219-80B4-53040922F4B80451&utm_source=Albertajobcentre.ca&utm_campaign=737245ecfa-AB_Career_Jan_25_20121_25_2012&utm_medium=email
Ineffective: "7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People on the Job." It talked about some things I know like how ineffective people don't show up. They don't put things away, so they waste time looking for things.
Good part: "Mark Twain is credited with saying, 'If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.' Productivity experts agree that getting the 'worst' task out of the way first is one of the best ways to be effective."
I also like: "Ineffective people can get so hung up on doing things perfectly the first time that they can suffer what’s called 'analysis paralysis'." That means you are so focused on getting things perfect, you don't actually complete the task.
"Creativity, innovation and many valuable professional skills involve risk of miscalculation and mistakes, which is better than stagnation."
http://www.albertajobcentre.ca/content/index.cfm?objectid=F1D27D8F-2219-80B4-53B8D24340625DA4&utm_source=Albertajobcentre.ca&utm_campaign=01eae3f25c-AB_Career_Jan_18_20121_18_2012&utm_medium=email
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