Job and Internship Consulting
While the job application process used to begin toward the end of a student’s college career, it now begins long before his or her senior year ends. Students are expected to have held internships, have an impressive LinkedIn page, and built up a set of skills before they don their caps and gowns. Monica has helped many students transition to their dream job by helping them in the following areas:
Personality Assessments and Career Matching
So many tools exist today that can help people match parts of their personalities and natural intelligences with careers that fit them well. Monica helps students assess their strengths and marketable skills. Similarly, many students are baffled as to how to turn their college major into a career. Monica offers consultations to help students identify potential job fields they might not have even thought of, and then helps them create a game plan to score the job.
Resume Building and Online Presence
Employers face stacks of resumes during the average hiring process and spend
an average of ten seconds skimming for certain qualities. Monica can help students
turn a forgettable resume into one that will leave employers impressed and
convinced of your student’s skills and abilities, even after a short glance. Even an
impressive candidate can come off as average if his or her resume doesn’t reflect
true potential.
Furthermore, students today have to be aware of much more than how they’re
perceived on paper. With the increased use of sites like LinkedIn, many employers
are turning to a candidate’s online presence during the hiring process. Monica has
helped many students create a mature and professional online presence, including
taking advantage of the many features of sites like LinkedIn. Students also tend to
overlook some of the other benefits of such sites, such as how to meaningfully network and make connections with professionals in their desired field. Monica shows her clients how to take advantage of the tools available.
Gaining Internships During College
Employers want to know what students did during college outside of their coursework and, increasingly, they expect that students have sought ways to gain skills in their field of interest and shadow current professionals. Many students, however, feel completely clueless about how to obtain internships that will further their career goals. Compounding this, deadlines are earlier and tighter, with summer internship applications and decisions often closed in January. Monica helps her clients identify viable internship options and helps them apply well ahead of time. Then, she strategizes how to maximize their experience in the job, taking advantage of their facetime with professionals and making the most of the experience.
The Job or Internship Interview
If you have landed a job interview, you are already ahead of the game. Now, let’s be sure you use the opportunity to its full advantage. Behavior-based interviewing is becoming more common. It is based on the premise that a candidate’s past performance is the best predictor of future performance. Rather than the typical interview questions on your background and experience, you will need to be prepared to provide detailed responses, including specific examples of your work experiences. In a behavioral interview, an employer has decided which skills are needed in the person they hire and will ask questions to find out if the candidate has those skills. Instead of asking how you would behave, they will ask how you did behave. The interviewer will want to know how you handled a situation, instead of what you might do in the future. This is where some coaching can be really helpful.
To that end we will:
-
Identify your skills and strengths and provide evidence of how you will add value to the company.
-
Frame your weaknesses in the most positive light
-
Create a persuasive response to the question “why do you want to work here?”
-
Provide reasonable explanations for gaps in your resume
-
Ensure that your “presence” (body language, clothes, gestures, voice, etc.) is convincing
We will also review the most often asked interview questions such as:
-
“Tell Me About Yourself” (no wrong answer here, but a missed opportunity if one is unprepared)
-
“What did you like/dislike about your previous job?” (a potential landmine here)
-
“What problems have you encountered at work?” (ditto)
-
“Why were you laid off/fired?” (this one can make or break you)
You wouldn’t go on stage without first rehearsing. Don’t walk into an interview without rehearsing. Set up a consultation today.