Great Occupations

In a Business.com article, career experts, Dan Klamm & Alana Edmunds, provide “5 Rules for Professional Social Networking Success.” Their number one rule is that you should... Read the rest of this entry »

When I was in college, I was petrified about doing public speaking. My speech class was far more challenging to endure then my French class… to this day I still can’t parle français even though I have a lot of French ancestry and should be able to! Speech class meant sweaty palms, knees knocking - the whole bit.

Fast forward more years than I care to admit, and today I actually enjoy speaking to audiences, and I absolutely love leading workshops. I attribute this to 3 things: 1) gaining more self esteem as I’ve grown older; 2) having such a driving passion to help people that I’ve become willing to step out in front of a bunch of people and “bare” my soul on a stage because it works; and 3) practicing networking, which helped me get over my shyness.

Back in the mid 1990′s when I was forced to get out there into the marketplace and do networking, I had no clue how to do it. I actually had to read books on the subject to learn how. I still have my then favorites, Terri Mandell’s Power Schmoozing & Susan RoAnne’s Secrets to Savvy Networking, on my bookshelf.

Today’s hot book on the topic of networking is Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi & Tahl Raz. Check out the video below by Ferrazzi on “How Can I Be More Outgoing?” Excellent advice!

Happy Networking!

Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. She and her partner, Jay Markunas, help people make successful career transitions through workshops, webclasses and 2×1 individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show. Find out more about their programs & services at www.greatoccupations.com. NOTE: For a limited time during Graduation Season, Angela & Jay are offering the perfect new grad gift: The Job Search Boot Camp for College Grads, a live, interactive & intensive program. For more details, click here.

we teach you the techniques to ACE the interview and negotiate for 10%-30% more in compensation. The GET HIRED module is the backbone of getting a job. If you don't do well in the interview, you won't get the job. The hiring manager will make a "hire/no-hire" decision within the first 10 seconds of meeting you. Will you operate at a deficit, or will you form a "hire" opinion in those first few seconds? Read the rest of this entry »

Your words, phrases & body language reflect your attitude. Unless you are an award-winning actor or a con-artist extraordinaire, it’s very difficult to disguise your underlying attitude in your verbal and non-verbal communication. If you lack confidence, then you may not realize it but you’re saying subtle, tell-tale things like, “I’m hoping you’ll see how effective I can be at such and such” or “If given a chance, I’ll show you what I can do.” Instead of, “I’m confident you’ll see how effective I am at such and such” or “I look forward to showing you what I can do.”

A candidate I interviewed once sent an email to the hiring manager in which he wrote (and I quote) “I had a great meeting with Angela Loeb this morning and I am confident she will give you positive feedback. If this is true, I want to see if we can meet again to discuss a few questions that I have.” Okay, so do you see it? He let slip how he is NOT confident in the second sentence when he said, “If this is true…”

Okay, so you find yourself in an interview with someone you barely know. You think they hold all the power because they have a job to offer. Let me assure you that they don’t hold ALL the power because you are in control of how YOU think and feel about yourself, about the company, about the potential job. When you feel desperate or uncomfortable about your qualifications, you project low confidence. When you do this – whether you and the interviewer realize it or not – you have just placed the interviewer into a position of power over you. A meaningful interview should not be about who has the power during the conversation. A meaningful interview should be a quality exchange of information that helps you and the employer determine if it’s a good idea to enter into a business relationship with each other.

Choose to be different from the rest of the candidates the interviewer meets. What that takes is reworking your thoughts so the words that come out of your mouth assure the hiring manager you’re the one they’ve got to have on the team.

Here’s something to consider as you work on shifting your mindset: Just as you are being interviewed by the prospective employer so they can determine if they should hire you, you are also interviewing the prospective employer to make sure this is who you want to work for. Happy Hunting!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. Along with partner, Jay Markunas, she helps people gain clarity and develop successful strategies for career transition. Through their company, Great Occupations, they help job seekers and career shifters by offering seminars, webinars, tele-coaching events and individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show (the topic for Saturday, 2/6 is “Job Search Attitudes”) & check out their upcoming event The Job Search Boot Camp Webcast Series. Find out more about their services at www.greatoccupations.com.

"I hate looking for a job! I hate the resume, interviewing, and all the stuff that goes with it." Read the rest of this entry »