Three things to research before your next job interview

It is Three for Thursday, and here are three things for you to research before your next job interview (and I'm not talking about the company website - though yes, def. check that out too). ;) 

1. LinkedIn profiles of company employees.

Researching LinkedIn can help answer a few of the questions that you probably already have for the job that you are interviewing for, such as:

• What paths have the other employees taken to get to this job?
• How long do people usually remain in a position with the company?
• Is this a company that workers seem to stay with?
• What day-to-day responsibilities do the employees at the company have (this can usually be found in responsibilities section of a LinkedIn profile)?

You can also connect with someone who works at that company in order to ask them questions relating to the organization. Pick someone who won’t be directly involved in your interview process at first, and ask simple advice about their experiences thus far, what they like most about their job, and what is most challenging. 

2. The company's social media pages  – including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

Most career advisors will tell you to go to the company’s web site (a good idea), but don’t forget to go to the social media pages of the company too.

Social media pages are updated more frequently than a general company page; you can keep up with some of the latest ideas, projects, or announcements that the company has produced.

You can also see the simple mission statement of the company and what it is emphasizing to the public.

Those bits of information are things that you can then thread into your answers at your interview, as well as help you to think about how your past experience relates to some of the initiatives they seem to be featuring to the public. 

Remember, an interview is about showing your value and how that value can be offered to what the company is producing. A great place to see what they are currently prioritizing, at least externally, is social media. 

3. Salary ranges on Glassdoor.

Pay is important. It isn’t the most important aspect of a job, but you should always make sure that the advertised (or if not advertised) pay of a job is in range of what is expected with that position.

If the pay is lower than the average, consider these questions:

• Does experience come into play with the pay you are being offered? Your experience might be the reason that it seems like you are making a little bit less.
• Is this a larger company that hires lots of entry-level positions? If so, expect the pay to be a little bit lower.
• Does the company offer any benefits or perks that equate to salary?

If the pay seems much higher than the average on Glassdoor, make sure that the company is reputable. If something seems too good to be true, make sure it is true. Sadly, we live in a world that requires us to beware of scams. But if it reputable, your location can play into the salary difference as well.

One of the things that I’ve learned about human resources is that an easy way to think about interviews is:

The company is the shopper; you are selling your personal brand.

And if you think about it that way, it makes sense to do some consumer research, just like any brand does before hitting a market. Because the more you know about a customer, the easier it is to see how your brand can fit their needs.

Good luck with any interviews you have coming up! And remember, whether it is full-time, part-time, or an internship, the payoff of the research is always worth the investment. 

A must-do for before the end of your semester

Most of you are wrapping up your spring semesters in the next few weeks; and like the end to any spring semester, your focus turns to your finals, finishing that last paper, and of course, the what-to-dos of the summer break ahead of you:

• Should I take summer classes?
• Is my manager going to give me more hours over the summer?
• Is setting my alarm clock for two in the afternoon too early for the summer?

And while those questions are all important (I will talk more about them in the next few weeks) and have answers that will depend on the individual (aside from the alarm clock – wake up early even over the summers), you still have a few weeks left to accomplish something important before your spring classes end.

That something is to build continuity with your peer and professorial relationships that will take you into the next school year.

Building relationships takes time and continuous effort, and it's those who make the effort when things are the busiest who will see the greatest results. 

Here are a few ideas you can implement during these final weeks to maintain these vital relationships and even help you succeed on your exams:

For Peers

• Invite classmates to a study group to review for final exams. 
• If you have a final paper due in the class, offer to switch papers with someone and do a peer edit of each other’s work. 
• Hang out with someone from class before the semester ends; the chances of you staying friends over the summer will go way up if you do so. 
• Simply ask someone about his/her summer plans and use that as a conversation starter.

For Professors

• I can’t say this enough – use their office hours.
• If the class has been a pleasant experience, write the professor a genuine thank you email.
•  If the professor teaches a subject that interests you, make an appointment to ask them if they know any opportunities for internships in that field.
• Ask any professor you admire for transfer advice.

These ideas aren’t rocket-science (well, I guess they could technically be if you're taking a physics class), but the point is that simple steps can make a big difference in the networks that you build at your college.

Relationships create opportunities.

That simple friendship you form with someone who is an “in-class friend” can end up being one that can last a summer, a semester, a year, or even into your transfer experience.

And that professor who you ask a question to can be the one who gives you advice that changes your life – simple questions that I asked professors led me to my cc’s honors program, PTK, the JKC scholarship, and winning a surprise $3,000 top graduate award at my transfer university. 

Ask anyone about a success in their lives, and consider your own successes - almost every single one can be traced back to a single person, a single conversation.

The opportunities to build connections are always out there – don’t let them pass you by. Build them first, and then we can get back to that summer alarm clock conundrum ;) 

To read more about Isa's personal story & how you can build relationships to: make positive friends, be more successful in academics and work, find the right people to connect with, and access the hidden job market,grab a FREE e-copy of the first chapter of Community College Success: How to Finish with Friends, Scholarships, Internships, and the Career of Your Dreams! Claim your free copy on the Facebook page!

Negating the negative - the need for positive peers

This is a criticism of magnets.

Because magnets teach us a horrible, horrible lesson:

Something positive needs to pair with something negative.

Baloney, magnets. Baloney.

Here is the reality – you won’t always have control of the people you are around, but you will always have control of the people you surround yourself with.

And you don’t need to follow the rules of magnets. You don't need the negative.

Instead, you need to surround yourself with the positive – peers who will support and uplift you, and who are heading in a direction you respect and admire.

One of the key reasons I share in my book about why students at community colleges need to get involved in their on-campus clubs, organizations, and honors societies is that those peer-support networks offer the opportunity to build a community of positive friends with similar goals and similar levels of engagement.

The deal with growing up and moving towards your goals is understanding that:

1. You have to do the climbing yourself.
2. The people in your life will influence how high you think you can go, and ultimately, how high you will go. 

Your future depends on your ability to make sure that your peers and inner-circle have your best interests in mind, and lift you up 99% more than they pull you down. 

Never stop surrounding yourself with positive people -- those who challenge you intellectually, but support you emotionally, and those who want you to succeed because it inspires their success. Their success should also inspire you.

And remember that sometimes you will have to move on from those in your life who aren't positive - those who don't offer you the kind of support, stimulation, and growth that results from every positive relationship.

Because peers are powerful. And community college is not the 13th grade. It is college. And it is an amazing opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and surround yourself with people who lift you up and move you forward. 

And that might require you to defy the laws of magnets (save them for the fridge), linking positives with positives, watching both of you bolt upwards towards excellence you could have never achieved alone.

What we can all learn from adult students

It is Study Tipping Tuesday and since most of you are in the process of revving up for your final exams, I figured today would be a good opportunity to help you discover some motivation sitting right next to you in your classes. Because sometimes studying is as simple as being motivated to work hard.

And nothing says hard work like the adult students in your classes.

I’ll use the term “adult student” loosely (as most of you I consider adults), but for the sake of this post, I'm talking about the students who are returning to college after a few years (e.g. not coming straight out of high school).

Fifteen percent of community college students are 40 years old or older. The average age of community college students fluctuates between 28 and 29 years old.

Going back to school in a later stage of life requires a lot out of hard work, sacrifice, and diligence. I am constantly inspired by these people, and I think you will be too.

I have met returning students who are single-mothers, parents, full-time employees, laid-off workers, those contemplating career changes, those ready to try college again after struggling the first time, and military veterans who have served in combat.

I have seen friends attend a club meeting between classes and then have to run home to pick up their children from school.

I have met students who work from daybreak to noon at their jobs before heading to school, then going back home to a family at night. 

And the thing is – you have seen them too. Every day at your college. And those stories aren’t exceptions or special cases – they are everyday stories.

And they are stories we can all learn from. Some of the many things adult students can teach us include:

• The pursuit of goal doesn’t have a time limit. Completion is what matters. Life will twist and turn ahead of your future. The reality is that anything we think is worth pursuing will require us to keep pursuing it, regardless of the timing in our lives. Today is always a good time to start, regardless of your age or circumstance.

• As busy as your life might feel, the student who works, has a family, and still finds time to get involved on their campus – well…they are busier. And that should light a fire inside of you.

• Social bravery is one of the most admirable characteristics to possess. I think it is tough to put yourself out there – in any situation. And when I see adult students step up and get involved in their college I am reminded of their social bravery. It will serve them well in life, and it will serve you well too. 

• Connecting with people from all walks of life is one of the most powerful things in life. Post-college life requires us to interact with people of all ages. And successful people are often those who are able to positively respect, interact with, and support people no matter what their age or background.

So when you're feeling stressed during exam time and don't know how you are going to manage it all, remember that there is often someone who is doing more. There is often someone you can learn from to help you get through the difficult times. And sometimes, you will be that someone for somebody else.

So appreciate this stage of life, no matter what your age, and continue to push forward to reach your educational goals, remembering that your hard work and dedication will pay off.

How to keep going after failure

We’ve all heard it a million times – that failure is a requirement for success. I remember my brother had this famous oft-heard quote on a basketball poster in his room:  

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan

And this all sounds great. It’s especially comforting when you feel overwhelmed by failure or you’re feeling inadequate.

However, when the moment of failure actually occurs, you want to take that quote and throw it out the window.

Because it’s hard to have perspective when you’re in the eye of the failure storm. It’s ugly and hurtful and can cause you to sink so far into yourself that you extinguish all sense of hope.

And no matter how many times you try to remind yourself that failure is part of success, your brain tries to trick you and tells you that your failures aren’t part of success, that they just make you a failure.

But of course – that isn’t true. It’s not true at all.

I was at the Phi Theta Kappa convention this past week (i.e. one of the most amazing conferences ever; hope to see you there next year in CA!) and we heard Amy Chua speak, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

This funny and intelligent Harvard-educated Yale law professor said a lot of things I’ll never forget; but the one that struck me the most was the story of when she wanted to change from being a lawyer to a professor, and applied for 100 teaching jobs.

She got 100 rejections.

And so she decided teaching wasn’t for her.

When she told her father, who had immigrated to America, he said: “only 100 rejections and you’re giving up?”

That is the immigrant mentality, she told us. And it’s a mentality many of us are losing.

We have to grab hold of it if we want to succeed. It is what made our country great, and we are in stark danger of becoming too entitled, too easily discouraged, and too unmotivated to care about moving ourselves and our country forward.

I am one of the guilty ones. Sometimes I have a failure and wallow in its mire and feel like I just can’t do anything. In my darkest moments of failure I've thought: why do I even bother; what's the point?  

Sure I’ll tell myself “failure is part of success – every great person I look up to has failed. Heck one of my favorites, Walt Disney, said it was important for every young person to have a good hard failure at least once.”

But does it really make me feel better in the moment?

Nope.

So what does?

Usually that’s when I need other people. Eventually the quotes and the ideas about failure really do help, but to get you out of that first horrible feeling of failure, good friends and family can often do the trick (e.g. like Amy's dad).

So here’s what to do when you find yourself feeling like you’ve failed at something:

1. Be sad for no more than 1 day

2. Write down all of the good qualities about yourself in a journal

3. Talk to a trusted friend or mentor about your failure and be honest about how it’s making you feel. But don’t just vent. Also ask for advice. And listen.

4. Own your part of the failure. Do not be quick to blame. Figure out what to do better next time.

5. Read an article or biography of a successful person you admire, and note their failures. More importantly – note what they did after failure that made all the difference.

6. Adopt the immigrant mentality and remind yourself that anything worth pursuing is hard, and failure inevitable.

7. Keep going.