Been years since I’ve been involved in interviews, so maybe I’m old-fashioned, but …
anybody who can say ‘business to business sales space’ with a straight face would cause me to put in my notes “bullshit artist” and “buzzword broadcaster”.
Can you also “think outside the box” and synergize strengths" to produce an “integrated whole”?
That stuff seems to go over good in the Academic environment that you just graduated from, but out in the real world their expectations are a little different.
I used to hate advice like this but I took it myself a couple years ago. I had not had a job in 12 years and had multiple degrees I never used. Looked for the best job I could get right now and got it.
I gave the same advice to my best friend. He has a BA in Communications but he’s had his for a few years and is in his mid-30s. He has 3 part time jobs, including one he has held for almost a decade and averages 3-6 hours per week. He keeps landing 1 interview here and there, getting completely fixated on getting that specific job, putting the rest of his life on hold and then gets bummed when he doesn’t get it. He has used his University job search help people and even interviewed for jobs at his school. I think he really should get 1 full-time job that he knows he can get and then keep looking. I understand that even some jobs that anyone should be able to get will still reject you and that can suck, but there are full-time jobs that pretty much require just showing up and then continuing to show up and not be negligent. A lot of them offer decent health benefits, too. Staying in a part-time job (unless it’s your second job) for years doesn’t make sense to me.
I assume you do the obvious stuff, like showing up on time and being presentable. And turning your phone off before you go into the interview. Aside from that, it is a bit tough to diagnose the problem over the net.
Do you have questions to ask them? Fawning is bad, interest is good. Nick the Headhunter says you should be sure to explicitly say that you want the job. Do you say that the job and the company sound interesting?
Do you give them some evidence that you can do the job? Do you research the companies you interview with, so you can speak intelligently about their problems and how you can help to solve them?
Do you go in with high energy? Do you act confident, or do you apologize for your resume?
All this is stuff a trusted third party could evaluate.
Some pretty good advice so far. All I can add is that, when I was interviewing, I was less interested in the applicant’s actual ability and more interested in their personality. Is the applicant a good fit with the team? Does he/she seem like a person who can take constructive criticism and benefit from it? Will the applicant show up for work consistently and on time? Has the applicant actually made an effort in applying and interviewing with me? I found that I could teach a willing person absolutely everything that he/she needed to do the job, but poor attitudes, lack of interest or work ethic, or just plain laziness were things I simply couldn’t overcome.
My biggest “problem children” were the ones who took the job at an agreed-upon salary, then decided that they were being paid only 80% of what they should be, so they were going to do only 80% of the work. If I detected ANY signs that an applicant might pull this, the application immediately went into the rejection pile.
I know a place that’s hiring for communications associate. PM me if interested.
Considering the number of interviews you’ve had, you’ve probably already done this, but just in case: as someone else said, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date. Clean up all your social media. Google yourself to be sure that nothing unprofessional pops up. I have seen comments to public Facebook posts show up in Google searches, for example.
If you’re applying for social media/communications jobs, bonus points for having “quality” content online. To piggyback on advice given upthread, if you are volunteering to gain experience, maybe you can write some blog posts that you can either add to your portfolio or which will appear online.
Different employers have different hiring practices. My general sense is that most employers will interview around 2-4 candidates at any given point in the hiring process. Government employers seem to interview more. When I’ve been a hiring manager, I’ve interviewed 3-4 people. Therefore, I assume that if I’m an average candidate, I’d get moved forward in the hiring process about 1/3 of the time. So, if I get a screening interview, I’d hope for a 1/3 chance of getting an interview with the hiring manager. If I was talking with the hiring manager, I’d hope for a 1/3 chance at the job.
Your way of counting interviews doesn’t tell me much. If you are getting moved forward after at least 1/4 of the interviews, it could be bad luck that you’ve never been the final candidate. Or, if you rarely move forward, it’s probably you.
I interviewed with about a dozen companies after undergrad and about a dozen more after my graduate degree. I also spent my time in school getting the best experience I could. The economy is better today, which should make finding a job easier but you are less experienced than I was, which probably makes your task tougher.
If I were you, I’d try to to build experience while I kept my part time job. Internships or volunteer work would help. If those aren’t options, I’d try to find consulting gigs in your industry. Your first client is you. Print up some business cards, buy a couple decent suits, agree to work on spec (that is, you agree to not be paid until your client accepts your work). Build up a portfolio. Make contacts in the industry and build references. If you’re scrappy and good enough, this will either lead to real job opportunities or a small business making a living on your own. If not, I have no more supportive advice for you.
As for interviewing skills, I agree you should get practice interviews and ask for the job (in a natural way) during the interview. I also suggest mirroring your interviewer. If she sits close to the table, sit close. If she leans back, lean back a little. If she takes notes, you take notes at appropriate times. It should look natural, not forced. Repeat back the key terms from her questions in your response. If done well, this makes people feel like you are listening to them, that you are like them and that you will be a good fit for the organization.
Good luck.
Well, I was just rejected for another position from a company that I have pursuing for the past few months. I was told during the interview to keep applying if I didn’t get that specific position, and I will continue to do so, but…damn. This means I’ve probably had close to twenty rejections so far. This last one was for my dream job too, so it stings extra painfully. Ahh well.
Sorry to hear that.
How did you get to the interview?
Well, positions for this company pop up somewhat regularly (it’s a big company), and I am constantly monitoring Google and the organization’s career website for openings. Out of the several applications that I had already submitted, this was the first time I got a call back. I will keep doing this I guess, but man is this whole situation getting tired and depressing.
[ol]
[li]Forget about “dream jobs”; every job is going to have its better and worse aspects, but none will live up to your greatest expectations. Take a job that will give you experience and connections to get to a better job.[/li][li]Pursue multiple opportunities at once. It gives you a better chance of getting a job, and leverage in considering and negotiating offers. It may not seem like you have much to negotiate with right now but even just saying, “I’m interviewing with X, Y, and Z,” makes you look like a more appealing candidate.[/li][li]As much as I hate networking, knowing someone on the inside who is aware of an opening before it is posted and/or can give you an inside reference is key. And don’t just network for the sake of getting a job; look for mentors, friends, and possible future business contacts, and most importantly, have something to offer them in exchange for advice or references, even if it is just a friendly ear to bitch into or someone to bounce ideas off of. People who can help you value their time, and you need to give them something of value to get it in return. [/li][li]It’s easy to get discouraged, but don’t give up. Make it an ingrained habit to send out resumes, look for positions, and network with people every week, even for jobs in your field you know you aren’t qualified for; that resume that gets rejected for a senior communications specialist may get a second look for an internship or entry-level position that you can use to step into something better. If you aren’t working now, look for a volunteer position you can use to expand your portfolio and resume to demonstrate practical experience.[/li][/ol]
One more thing on the topic of “dream jobs”; I interviewed at what I thought would be my dream job in terms of both work and location a few years ago; the interview bombed (there was a large difference between the stated job description and what I had discussed on the phone interview, and what was being asked in person) but I also observed that their overarching goals (space tourism) didn’t make a lot of sense and I would have been progressively more unhappy working there with the disorganization of management I’ve since observed and work toward goals I didn’t think were worthwhile. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t get the position and didn’t move to that location, and even if my current job is far from perfect there are enough positives that I’m not actively looking, especially in an industry that I’m overall pretty jaded about.
That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t aspire to better than just good enough, but realize that a job is going to give you a livelihood and experience but only very rarely personal satisfaction, and it usually isn’t worth what you get in terms of the effort you put into it. Look for a job that gives you the time and money to pursue the other things that you are passionate about, and if you are lucky you might end up happening into a job where the two are one and the same.
Stranger
If you are doing your job search by being on the internet and filling out job applications you find online, either at the company’s website or at job boards or via social media you are doing it all wrong. Especially if this has been your go-to method for the past 7, 9 months.
My advice (which is worth what you’re paying for it) is to find a government job. The majority of them just require a bachelor’s degree in any field. Most government jobs also typically provide health benefits.
I’ve been in a government job for 9 years now that I landed with my B.S. degree after two interviews (I didn’t get the job the first time I interviewed). It’s not flashy or particularly exciting, but the benefits are excellent and I’ll be able to retire at 50.
Also, I had to move to another state to land this job. Keep that in mind.
My mother recently had bad news. She’s the President of a local association centered upon the preservation of a group of religious buildings and monuments: their Communications Manager (who got the job by the method of asking his grandmother “what’s your page?” “our what?”) has recently graduated from college with a Degree in CS and gotten a full-time job with a company, so of course the volunteer stuff was going to the back burner.
Around here graduates who don’t have a job lined up after uni commonly apply for jobs in remote places that are considered undesirable locations to live. Remote villages, the arctic etc. They work there for a while, normally six months to two years to get some experience and references from work relevant to their degree. Also avoids big holes in the CV.
Basically, its avoiding strong competition when you start out.
Have you done any of the things suggested in this thread, especially practice interviewing?
Do you have a job now? Not being employed for a long time looks bad, especially in a low unemployment economy.
That’s true, but he seems to have had lots of interviews, so this isn’t the biggest problem.
I regularly practice my interviewing days in advance of any interview.
Yes, I presently have a job, but it’s for the same company that I’ve been with since I was 19. I also had a slew of jobs and academic awards from my time in college, so my resume is not short on experiences; the damn thing is four pages long.
I don’t know anymore. I just don’t know.
What should s/he be doing? (That’s what I’ve done most of my life)
Have you done a mock interview with a friend or mentor, hopefully someone who is experienced in interviewing people? They could get a better feel for how you come across.