Still undecided about your career path? You may be encountering a challenge facing many new college grads: selling your candidacy in interviews when you're not yet sold on the field yourself.
Jessica Todd, a 2005 graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., says she confronted this dilemma at the end of her senior year. She applied to 280 jobs and was invited to interview for five.
Ms. Todd says she approached each meeting with enthusiasm. But the interview that yielded her an offer was the one in which she was the most up-front.
"I was honest, I was confident, saying: This is who I am," says Ms. Todd, now a junior fashion publicist for Fineberg Publicity, a public-relations firm in New York City. She began interviewing for an entry-level position, but ended the day with an offer for a higher-level better-paying position, which she accepted.
When your interests have taken you to a juncture of career paths, you may be unsure which route will take you down the yellow brick road. Here are four tips that may help you persuade interviewers that you're the right person for the job, even if you're not quite convinced of it.
1. Show confidence in your skills.
While you may be uncertain of the position or industry you wish to pursue, you can be enthusiastic about your strengths and areas to which you can contribute, says Crystal McArthur, director of the career center at Rutgers. To promote yourself, highlight your skills and describe your accomplishments concisely, she says.
The ideal entry-level candidate has excelled in the area he or she studied, secured internships or other experience, and participated in extracurricular activities, says Paul Buonaiuto, vice president for recruiting at CA Inc., a provider of management software based in Islandia, N.Y. Understand your strengths and interests relative to your accomplishments, and be ready to talk about these with the hiring manager, he says.
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2. Honesty is the best policy.
Michael Stringert, a 2001 graduate of the University of Southern California, says he acted enthusiastic about positions he interviewed for -- even if he wasn't -- and received a few offers. He figured he would at least have the option of deciding whether he'd accept the offers. However, Mr. Stringert says, he hated his first job a financial analyst but stuck it out for two and a half years in hopes of a promotion to a position he liked. "If I could do it all over again, I would first be honest with myself about what was important and what really turned me on," he says. He's now a business analyst for Live Nation, an entertainment-promotion firm in Beverly Hills, Calif.
"It's not good to bring the wrong person into the wrong role," says Glenn Myers, chief operating officer for the MDE Group, a wealth-management firm in Parsippany, N.J. The company wastes time and money, and you may end up with a job you hate and a resume full of short-term stints.
3. Identify a company you find appealing.
Conduct research into an array of companies, searching for their values, management and goals, says Mr. Myers. When you find one that appeals, identify a department that interests you, and apply for a position available in it. You may not prefer that job over others, but you can take pride in working for a company you respect. In addition, you will set yourself up for a lateral move once you find a desirable career path -- if you let your boss know that's your desire. "Recognize that each job you have is a learning experience," Mr. Myers says. "Opportunities to grow laterally can be taken."
4. Frustrated and confused? Take a step back.
If you find you aren't ready to go on job interviews, a technique called "informational interviewing" might help you plot the beginnings of your career path, says John Rice, founder and chief executive officer of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a young professional and student resource program based in New York City. This technique involves talking to professionals who work in fields that interest you, so you can learn about what they do, how they do it and how they got their jobs. Your college or university alumni association is a good place to find people willing to take a few minutes to speak to young people just starting out, says Mr. Rice. "Be proactive about tapping into the knowledge that is out there," he says.
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