Job and Career |

When it comes to selling yourself on paper, you will find that newspaper editors are tough customers. After all, they put information on paper every day. There are no bonus points for correct spelling, punctuation or grammar. Those are givens. A single error can consign your résumé to the circular file. Edit your work, proofread the final copy and then double-check everything. Twice. Have someone else go over it. Make sure the editor is NOT the first person to see the finished product.

Understand the purpose of a résumé. It is not intended to get you a job. It is meant to tell the prospective employer enough about you so that they’ll look at your work samples or call you in for an interview. Use the interview, tests, tryouts and other activities to land the job. In a business where word economy is valued, one-page résumés are twice as effective as two-page résumés. Even editors with 20 years and several papers behind them limit their résumés to one page. You’re certainly free to go over that, but it’s not very smart — especially when your experience, in comparison to the editor’s — is modest.

What Comes After Name, Address and Phone Number?
Stating your career objective can help, but only if it matches the opening. An incompatible career objective can eliminate you from consideration. It’s also OK to omit this. Put education or experience next, depending on which is more relevant to the job you’re trying to get. If all of your work has been outside of journalism, but you have a degree in it, lead with the degree and details about your coursework. If you’re completing a non-journalism degree and have two internships at newspaper, list the internships first. Chronological order is less important than relevance.

Go Beyond Simple Job Titles
Describe your jobs. Don’t say you were a reporter. Say you were a reporter who covered a school district, two police departments and the local court and that you wrote a Sunday column. Mention the more complicated, difficult or humorous accomplishments you had in those jobs. These accomplishments distinguish your résumé from others, tell the newspaper something about your interests and abilities and could open the door to an interview.

Use a Clean and Simple Design
Be bold if you can, but not flashy. I have seen cartoon résumés, résumés with little basketballs on them and résumés made to look like front pages. Gimmicks can suggest a lack of experience or sophistication and do not give you any advantage over other applicants. As more and more companies scan résumés for databases, you may want to consider how to make a résumé that scans cleanly.

What About Non-Journalism Jobs?
If you have a short employment history, you certainly may include jobs that are not journalism-related. These help demonstrate that you have worked for others, know how to toil for a living, show up on time and generally be responsible. Stress areas that are most similar to news papering: writing, working with the public, juggling tasks.

What else should I include?
Second languages (but they better be more than the obligatory school minimum), awards, scholarships, extracurricular activities that demonstrate leadership and personal achievements — if they demonstrate relevant qualities such as resourcefulness, tenacity or responsibility. In one case, I was impressed that, while carrying a full load of classes, a student also was a full-time, caregiver for an elderly neighbor.

What About References?
Before you list anyone as a reference, make sure it’s OK with them. Ask whether they can give you a good word. (Once, I called a reference, and the person said, “He listed me? That was a mistake.” The candidate’s chances stopped there.) If your résumé is getting crowded for one page, you can use a second sheet just for references. I don’t think there’s any need to say, “References available upon request.” I assume so.

Omit Personal Information.
It is not relevant whether you are married or single, old or young, a smoker-or a non-smoker. Don’t include those facts. It can mark you as lacking the sophistication to know what’s relevant and what isn’t. My curiosity is piqued when someone’s résumé carries a list of places visited or lived in. Hobbies can intrigue me, too, but they turn others down cold. Generally, the more relevant it is to the job, the safer you are using it. Being accomplished at a musical instrument, for example, implies precision, discipline and practice. Saying that you have a passion for coffees or that you bake bread may turn some people off.

If you want to negotiate the best deal for yourself going into a job, do as I say, not as I do.

When the Free Press asked me whether I wanted a job, I immediately yelled, “Yes!”

Not very cool, I know.

And I quickly slammed any door I had for negotiating. Fortunately, I was treated pretty well anyway. Now, I tell people (even people I make offers to) not to accept instantly.

A little about the dynamics of hiring: Between the time when a company offers you a job and you accept, you have leverage.

Inside the company, a bunch of people have met and decided that you are the person, out of a handful of candidates, whom they want to hire. The person who makes the call is expected to get your acceptance. They do not want to reconvene, go to the next candidate or re-ignite their search.

Often, the company has room to improve its offer.

When you get an offer from a place where you’d like to work, be effusive with your thanks. (I love it when people get excited about a job offer. It’s one of the big thrills of our job and gets people started off on the right foot.)

Be excited, but don’t commit on the spot. Tell the employer you’d like some time to think it over. That’s only reasonable. But what’s a reasonable amount of time? That’s debatable. Overnight at the bare minimum. A couple of days is reasonable. More than a week might make it seem as though you’re playing one offer against others, or aren’t very interested.

When they make the offer, get the particulars. How much will they pay? When do they want you to start? What are the specifics of the job? What about vacation pay and insurance? (These are questions you may have wondered about, but declined to get specific about during the interview process.) How about moving expenses? Training opportunities? When will you be up for a salary review?

The Money.
The key question, of course, usually is how much you’ll earn. When will they review your salary? Typically, that happens after a year. Can they make it six months? This could mean a more immediate raise, not just in the first year, but subsequent years’ raises will come faster, too. This is especially good to negotiate for if you and the company agree that the wage rate isn’t as high as would seem appropriate for someone with your skills, and you’re both willing to bank on your ability to prove yourself.

Experience Level.
A key question is to ask what experience level they’re crediting to you. Especially in the first five years of a career, salary and paid vacation may be structured around how much experience you have. How are they counting the three internships you had? Some will count them, some won’t and some are negotiable. You want to get that number up as high as you can.

Vacation.
How much vacation will you get, and when will you get it? Some places don’t allow you to take vacation until the calendar year after the year in which it was earned. That means, that if you start in February, you won’t get vacation until the next year. You could be looking at a year or more without a break. Ask whether you can take some in the current year.

Vacations tend to be earned on a pro-rated basis for the first year — so many days off for so many days worked — and in lumps of two, three or four weeks in the second year and beyond. The number of weeks depends on your experience. If vacation time is important to you, find out whether you can get to that three- or four-week level a year earlier.

Moving Expenses.
How will the company handle your move? Will they pay “all reasonable costs”? Does that include your piano? Your pets? Your car? Will they set you up with house or apartment hunting help? Will they pay for the visit out to look? If it looks like their moving policy won’t cover the expenses from your move, can they give you a lump sum (some call it a signing bonus) to make up the difference?

Training Opportunities.
Few people negotiate development opportunities, but this is an option, too. Ask what and how you’ll be learning skills for your new job, especially if it’s something new for you. What form will on-the-job training take? Will you have a mentor? Periodic progress reports?

Even the start date is negotiable. They may want you right away, but you haven’t had a week off in years. Maybe you want to blow that week into your transition time so you can relax, get ready and celebrate your new job.

Get It In Writing.
Now that you know what might be negotiable, decide what you really need. Reasonable people don’t negotiate everything. Go for your top-priority items. The way you handle negotiations will affect the way you begin your job. You want to be smart and ready to work with your new employers, not pushy and demanding.

Finally, ask them to put in an offer letter. This is a polite way to ask for it all in writing. This should not be taken as a sign of mistrust, but as a sign that you’re thorough, above board and business like. It’s a reasonable request. Don’t then be surprised if they ask you to sign off on your acceptance, too.

Job interviewing can be an unnerving experience, but if you know how to handle some of the stickiest situations encountered in interviewing, you can be that much more confident. Here are 10 of the stickiest.

1. The Bad Interviewer. Not every professional who conducts job interviews with candidates knows how to conduct an interview effectively. In fact some are downright lousy at it. A bad interviewer might be unfocused, disinterested, unprepared. He or she might dominate the interview by doing all the talking or might ask inappropriate and illegal questions.

The unfocused, unprepared interviewer probably hasn’t read your resume and maybe can’t even find a copy. This hapless soul doesn’t even know what to ask you. Be sure to offer this disorganized interviewer a copy of your resume while asking, “May I take you through some highlights of my career?”

While the bigmouth interviewer is holding forth, make as many mental notes as you can (or jot them down if you’ve brought a small notepad). Don’t show your exasperation; instead be an attentive listener and hang on the interviewer’s every word. Try to get a word in edgewise by leaning forward and opening your mouth slightly, advises Anne Kadet on Smartmoney.com. If that doesn’t work, even a nonstop talker will likely eventually ask if you have any questions. At that point, you can ask questions or describe your fit with the company and the position based on the mental notes you’ve been making.

For inappropriate and illegal questions, see No. 6 below and try your hardest to keep the interview focused on your qualifications for the job.

1. The “Tell Me about Yourself” Question. Of course, this question is not a question at all but a request for a command performance. It’s the most commonly asked interview question, yet it frequently still rattles interviewees. The trick is to make your response a succinct summary of information that is specifically targeted to the job you’re interviewing for. (Sell yourself!) For example:

“My background to date has been centered around preparing myself to become the very best financial consultant I can become. Let me tell you specifically how I’ve prepared myself. I am an undergraduate student in finance and accounting at ___________ University. My past experience has been in retail and higher education. Both aspects have prepared me well for this career.”

The interviewer is not looking for your autobiography and probably is not interested in your personal life unless aspects of it are relevant to the job you’re interviewing for.

1. The “Weakness” Question. The conventional wisdom about responding to “What are your weaknesses?” used to be that the candidate should spin a weakness into a strength. For example: “I’m a perfectionist and don’t believe anyone can do the job as well as I can, so I sometimes have a hard time delegating.” That type of response has, however, worn out its welcome with interviewers. Other approaches include offering a weakness that is inconsequential to the job (such as being a poor speller and relying on spellcheck) or denying that you have any weaknesses that would stand in the way of your performing the job effectively. The former approach may work but be seen as shallow, while the latter sometimes lacks credibility. After all, everyone has a weakness.

An approach that seems to work well is to talk about an area that was once a weakness but that you have worked to improve. Here’s how you could frame the perfectionist example above in terms of professional growth: “I tend to be a perfectionist who has had trouble delegating tasks to others, but I’ve come to see that teamwork and capitalizing on everyone’s strengths is a much more effective way to get the job done than trying to do it all myself.”

1. The “Why should I hire you?” Question. The unspoken part of this question is: “Why should I hire you [above all the other candidates]?” This is your chance to shine, to really make a sales pitch for yourself. Use your Unique Selling Proposition to describe what sets you apart from other candidates. The employer will make a significant investment in hiring and training you, so tell the interviewer that this investment will be justified. For example, you could say: “I sincerely believe that I’m the best person for the job. Like other candidates, I have the ability to do this job. But beyond that ability, I offer an additional quality that makes me the very best person for the job — my drive for excellence. Not just giving lip service to excellence, but putting every part of myself into achieving it. Throughout my career, I have consistently strived to become the very best I can become. The success I’ve attained in my management positions is the result of possessing the qualities you’re looking for in an employee.”

1. “Off-the-wall” Questions, also known as “Wild Card” or “No-Right-Answer” Questions. Occasionally you’ll be asked an interview question that’s just downright weird and certainly doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the job — for example, a question like this: “If you were an ice-cream cone, what flavor would you be?” Interviewers often ask these oddball questions to see how quickly you can think on your feet and whether you can avoid becoming flustered. Others, unfortunately, ask them because they enjoy seeing interviewees squirm. Still others are amused by the range of creative — and not-so-creative — responses they receive.

Don’t let an off-the-wall question rattle you. Take a moment to gather your thoughts and respond the best way you can. There is rarely a wrong answer to this type of question, but quick-thinking candidates can turn the response into an opportunity to impress the employer. A response given by one of my former students has always stuck in my head as being a standout answer. The question was: “If you were a superhero, what would be your super powers, and why?” His response: “I think I would prefer to be a superhero like Batman, who doesn’t have superpowers per se, but who relies on his intelligence and use of the right tools to get the job done.”

1. Illegal Questions: It’s illegal to ask about age, marital status, children, childcare arrangements, and the like, but employers still do — or come up with subtle ways to ask, such as by inquiring about when you graduated from high school/college. It’s best to address the concern behind the question rather than the question itself by saying something like: “There is nothing about my personal status that would get in the way of my doing a great job for your company.” While it may also be tempting to point out the illegality of the question, doing so likely won’t endear you to the interviewer.

1. Salary Questions: As a screening device, interviewers often ask early in the interview what salary you are looking for. If you ask for more than the employer is willing to pay (or occasionally, on the flip side, undervalue yourself), the interviewer can eliminate you before spending a lot of time with you. That’s why the best tactic for salary questions is to delay responding to them as long as possible — ideally until after the employer makes an offer. Try to deflect salary questions with a response like this: “I applied for this position because I am very interested in the job and your company, and I know I can make an immediate impact once on the job, but I’d like to table salary discussions until we are both sure I’m right for the job.”
2. Questions about Being Terminated from a Previous Job. It’s always uncomfortable to be asked your reasons for leaving a job from which you were terminated. Don’t lie about it, but don’t dwell on it either. You could explain that you and the company were not a good fit, hence your performance suffered. Or that you and your supervisor had differing viewpoints. Emphasize what you learned from the experience that will prevent you from repeating it and ensure that you will perform well in the future.

1. Questions about Reasons for Leaving a Current Job. This question is similar to the previous question, even if you haven’t been fired. Responses about fit with the company and differing views from your supervisor can also work here, but remember never to trash a current employer. Always speak positively about past and present employers even if your experience has not been positive with them. Another good response in this situation is to say that you determined you had grown as much as you could in that job and you are ready for new challenges.

1. Questions about the Future. Interviewees are often asked, “Where do you see yourself in five (or 10) years?” Strike a delicate balance when responding to this kind of question, with just the right mix of honesty, ambition, and your desire to be working at this company long-term.

Avoid responses such as starting your own business, running for Congress, which suggest that you don’t plan to stay with the company.

It’s not totally inappropriate to mention the personal (marriage, family), but focus mainly on professional goals. Mention your career and company goals first, and tack on any mention of marriage and family at the end.

Your response could be: “I’m here to let you know that I am the best person for the job. If in the future you feel I would be a candidate for a higher level position, I know I wouldn’t be passed up.”

OR: “I hope to stay at the company and expect that in five years, I’ll make a significant advance in the organization.”

OR: “I would like to become the very best ______________ your company has.”

And then there’s my personal favorite, which a student told me a friend had used. Asked by the interviewer, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” The response: “Celebrating the five-year anniversary of your asking me this question!” While the response probably made the interviewer laugh, it’s probably not the best answer.

Final thoughts.
Job-seekers need to think of each interview question as an opportunity to showcase an accomplishment or strength. Every response should build momentum toward convincing the interviewer that you deserve to advance to the next level, whether that level is another round of interviews or a job offer.