Dear Employment Specialist:
I applied for an Office Manager position in a medical clinic two weeks ago, and just got an email, with a date scheduled for a phone interview. I have never done an interview like that and am nervous because I have an accent and am worried that the employer won’t want to interview me in person if they hear me before they get to meet me.
What can I do to prepare for a telephone interview?
Signed: Worried About My Accent
What exercise is to the body, employment is to the mind and morals. – Henry David Thoreau
For anyone immigrating to a new country, finding employment as soon as you arrive is a top priority. It was no different for Dale who was preparing to leave his home in the Philippines and his well-established career in Accounting. When he started researching the job market in Canada, he came across JVS Toronto’s CanPrep pre-arrival employment program and signed up. With determination and focus, Dale worked his way through the following steps of the CanPrep program:
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While I am not usually a big fan of self-help books, a little book written by don Miguel Ruiz titled The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (1997, Amber-Allen Publishing), caught my attention when a thoughtful client shared with me that she is finding these four simple but clear ideas useful for focusing on what matters in her life and in her job search.
The book, despite sounding a bit ‘new agey’ and referencing ancient wisdoms, does carry a thoughtful message about four principles that all people would do well to live by. In fact, the principles are so fundamental that modern psychologists, especially cognitive-behavioral therapists, have developed entire theories of practice based on similar concepts.
To sum it up, don Miguel encourages us to reflect on ourselves and identify those irrational thoughts which interfere with our ability to move forward with confidence. He asks us to become more mindful about our assumptions and our thinking, and make a deliberate commitment to specific ways of understanding and engaging with the world.
As well as being an excellent life guide, it seems to me that these four approaches have the potential to be especially useful for job seekers. The book encourages people to reconsider their old ways of behaving and thinking about their world, and to commit to a more deliberate approach. The author identifies four agreements that people can make with themselves that can meaningfully enhance the integrity with which they conduct themselves:
If cover letters are about first impressions, then thank you letters can be described as last impressions. A well worded note to an employer to thank them for the opportunity to interview and reaffirm your interest in the job can be an effective way of reminding the employer of your candidacy just at that moment when they are preparing to make a decision.
Dear Employment Specialist,
After being laid off from my Inside Sales job, and struggling to find another suitable job in my field, I went to JVS Toronto to get help. With the help of my JVS Employment Counsellor, I have now finished preparing my resume, and have begun to work on my LinkedIn profile. My Counsellor recommended that I simply cut and paste my resume into the LinkedIn profile, but when I looked through other profiles of people in my field, I noticed that many people have profiles that are very different from what they might have on a resume.
I noticed that their LinkedIn profiles were often longer, and some seemed more casual and personal than a resume should. I’m confused now: should my resume just be an online version of my resume?
Thanks,
Signed: Need Help with my Profile (NWP)
Dear NWP,
That’s a question that I often hear from my clients. Your Employment Counsellor is correct: when preparing your LinkedIn profile, it helps to have a well written, spell checked and proof read resume from which to cut and paste. But, as I see it, that’s only your first step — once you have inserted the jobs, education and summary from your resume to your LinkedIn profile, you have an opportunity to add so much more valuable information about yourself. The goal of this is to make you stand out to employers as not just suited for the job, but as an interesting, impressive and likable person.
Think of your resume as your brochure, or self-marketing document: it’s brief (no more than two pages long), and written in concise, simple, and formal language (without first person pronouns). Your resume goes back no further than 10 years. It also is supposed to be adapted to each job to which you apply.
Your LinkedIn profile, however, is quite different. It is a living, dynamic record of you and your career. LinkedIn provides you with a chance to tell your story using a range of media (text, slideshows, photos, documents, websites and video). It is supposed to be more a personal description of you — it includes your photo, an opportunity to share your personal interests or passions, and to share your activities.
As a job seeker who is sending out resumes to potential employers, make sure that your LinkedIn profile reveals something new about you. You want them to be impressed by who you are and your personality, in addition to your expertise and professional background.
Start off with cutting and pasting your summary/profile, jobs, and education into your LinkedIn profile. Next, consider whether you want to add other jobs that you might have left off your resume. Check out the LinkedIn profiles of other professionals in your field to help you figure out the best tone and style for your profile, and set out to inspire and impress your next employer.
Best wishes for your job search!
JVS Toronto is accredited under Imagine Canada’s national Standards Program dedicated to operational excellence.