Kris writes:
I am a high school senior ready to graduate and I only have the grades to go to a 2-year community college, and I don’t really know what I could major in that would require me only 2 years! Please help me with some ideas. Thanks a lot!
First of all, let me say that community colleges are great places — I taught at one for a few years while getting my Ph.D. — and you should not feel desperate. Students who attend community colleges usually follow one of two routes — they either go into a career that only requires an associate’s degree or certification — or — they use their associate’s degree as a stepping-stone to transfer to a four-year college or university to complete a bachelor’s degree.
You can find a wealth of information about community colleges at the American Association of Community Colleges site.
So, please try and make the best of your situation. Poor grades in high school do not have to stop you from achieving your dreams. Going to community college and developing good study habits and getting good grades can be a springboard to take you to great heights — whatever those heights might be!
Anonymous writes:
I don’t think its smart to have my resume for all to review, how I can I post my resume and keep it confidential?
There certainly is validity to wanting to be discreet about job-hunting when you are currently employed — you wouldn’t want your current employer to do a search for a position and get your resume from one of these job sites.
The good news is that many job boards now offer you a confidentiality option — thus your resume is still out there getting viewed, but you control who actually knows it is your resume. There are a few other job sites that even allow you to block your resume from going to certain companies, thus allowing no chance that your current employer will see your resume. You can search through a list of The Top 10 Job Web Sites.
And one final warning. Please remember that job-hunting on the Net should only comprise a small portion of your overall job-hunt — a little larger for people in technical and computer fields. You’ll do much better taking advantage of networking and other more traditional job-search techniques, but I also understand the value of the Web in a passive job search — putting your resume online and seeing what kind of responses you get, even when you are fairly happy with your current position.
Joan writes:
I could not find anything specific to interviewing do’s and don’ts on your site. Can you help?
The Career Doctor responds:
Interviewing is perhaps the most critical point in job-hunting, where the job-seeker has to use persuasive communications skills to show that s/he is the perfect candidate for the position. And we have quite a lot of information and resources on interviewing. But, because you asked, here are just a few of the most critical do’s and don’ts of interviewing:
- Do your research and know the type of job interview you will be encountering. And do prepare and practice for the interview, but don’t memorize or over-rehearse your answers.
- Do dress the part for the job, the company, the industry. And do err on the side of conservatism.
- Do plan to arrive about 10 minutes early. Late arrival for a job interview is never excusable. If you are running late, do phone the company.
- Do greet the receptionist or assistant with courtesy and respect. This is where you make your first impression.
- Do bring extra resumes to the interview. (Even better, if you have a career portfolio, do bring that with you to the interview.)
- Don’t rely on your application or resume to do the selling for you. No matter how qualified you are for the position, you will need to sell yourself to the interviewer.
- Do greet the interviewer(s) by title (Ms., Mr., Dr.) and last name if you are sure of the pronunciation. (If you’re not sure, do ask the receptionist about the pronunciation before going into the interview.
- Doshake hands firmly. Don’t have a limp or clammy handshake!
- Do have a high confidence and energy level, but don’t be overly aggressive.
- Don’t act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
- Don’t say anything negative about former colleagues, supervisors, or employers.
Read more Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts — and find lots more tools and resources about job interviewing in this section of Quintessential Careers: Guide to Job Interviewing Resources.
And don’t forget that we DO have a Job Interviewing Tutorial for Job-Seekers.
Christie writes:
I’m looking to change my career. Do you know of any links where a person may find help with writing a cover letter?
Every once in a while when I get an email like yours, I wonder if you’re pulling my leg, but because cover letters are my first love — and for the sake of other visitors — let me answer your question.
My site, Quintessential Careers, has a plethora of resources on cover letters. My partner and I wrote the book on cover letters — literally — in Dynamic Cover Letters (third edition).
For everything you ever wanted to know about cover letters — from writing them to seeing sample letters — including original articles and a detailed tutorial on cover letters, please visit Quintessential Careers: Cover Letter Resources.
Leah writes:
I am a student in high school and I have no clue what I want to do when I get older, if you know of any sites or anything please inform me of them. Thanks a lot; this has really been bothering me lately and I really don’t know what else to do….
Leah, the good news is that you have many years to figure out exactly what you want to do with your life — and even then, most experts predict that people will change their careers five times over their lifetimes… so, take a deep breath and relax.
What you should really do is examine your strengths — that is, what you’re good at in school. And then examine what you enjoy doing. Then spend some time thinking about types of jobs that might incorporate these skills and strengths. You might also consider taking a few of these career assessments, which are another tool in helping you discover what you’re good at and what you like to do.
Are you planning to go to college? Most studies show that people with a college education make a much higher income than those with just a high-school diploma, so you should be looking in this direction. If you know you are going to college, then you need to look at colleges that offer majors or minors in the subjects that most interest you. For example, if you have an interest in journalism as a career, there are some fantastic journalism schools around the country.
There are lots of college sites, but I recommend you start at mine. If you go to College Planning Resources for Teens, you find original articles about choosing a college, strategies for visiting colleges, and choosing a college major — as well as links to the best college-related sites for teens.
Remember, no choice you make today is irreversible — you have plenty of time to discover what you really want to accomplish in your life.
Julie writes:
My friend and I are 15 and interested in starting a pet-sitting business. We would like to know how old we have to be to do this job, and how we should get started.
The Career Doctor responds:
Many teens — your age and older — are starting their own businesses rather than work for minimum wage in some part-time job. And the skills you develop in starting and running your own business will have long-lasting impacts.
You and your friend need to contemplate a number of considerations, but the most important one is whether one or more adults are willing to support and assist you in your plans. I am not saying the adult should run your business — just that you have an adult’s approval and support when needed (like when dealing with an angry customer).
So, what are the keys to starting your own business?
Here are a few rules you need to follow to ensure some level of success:
- You must be able to promote the business to potential customers and clients — thus, you need to be able to talk with people and be able to try to sell them something.
- You must be able to make a profit with your business. Sounds kind of obvious, right? But it is sometimes harder than you might imagine.
- You must know one of the most important rules of marketing (and one I force my students to chant) — you have to satisfy the customer! You must do a good job in your business or you are going to lose customers.
- You must avoid serious errors — in actions of judgment — in running your business. If you do something wrong, regardless of whose fault, it can cause anger, disappointment, bad publicity, and at the ultimate — a lawsuit.
- You must be prepared to work long hours at establishing the business — and then even more hours running the business. They call it work for a reason — you need to be truly dedicated and determined to establish your own business.
Get more ideas for other teen business, as well as more details about how to do so in my article, Job Ideas for Teens 15 and Younger: Beyond Babysitting and Lemonade Stands.
Glenis writes:
I read your blog regularly, but recently it has become of more interest to me because my son is job-hunting. He has been a financial-aid counselor at two universities, having moved to take the position at the last one because it was a career advancement. Unfortunately his position was eliminated due to budget cuts.
After being unemployed for a 6 months, he decided to take whatever
employment he could get just to help pay the bills, which happened to be
at minimal pay. He has not included this employment history on his resume
because he feels it would not look good. He has interviewed with 2-3
universities but so far no offer of employment.
Do you think the lack of employment information for the last year is affecting his chances of being hired?
The Career Doctor responds:
I hope by the time you are reading this column that your son has a new job in his career field, but if not, let me make a few observations.
I think there is a possibility of three things happening here that your son needs to address.
First, the stigma of being fired. We can call it something prettier — his job was eliminated — but the bottom line is that he was forced to leave his place of employment. He needs to focus on this issue and make sure he is totally over the trauma of the experience — especially since he was let go through no fault of his own. He obviously has valuable skills since he was able to move forward in his career.
Second, he needs to deal with his resume — and the reality he is living. A lot of displaced job-seekers in this current economy have been forced to take survival jobs so that they don t end up homeless and bankrupt. Most prospective employers would rather see an applicant that has been doing something productive — even if outside his or her field — than a large gap on the resume. Of course, if he has been doing any kind of consulting or volunteer work in his field, he should put that on his resume.
Third, perfect interviewing skills. If he has gotten a few interviews, then at least some of the colleges are not bothered by the gap on his resume enough to not interview him, so if he is not having success in the interview, then he is either not interviewing well or not following-up his interviews. He may want to conduct a mock interview with a career professional to judge the quality of his interviewing skills.
I suggest he read, Getting Fired: An Opportunity for Change and Growth, published on Quintessential Careers.
He may also want to read this article on Quintessential Careers: The Pros and Cons of Taking a Survival Job. What Should You Do?
Clare writes:
I’ve always kind of had an entrepreneurial spirit and am really tired of working for someone else with so little say on what goes on. Rather than starting my own business, I have kind of been thinking about buying a franchise. What’s your thought on staying where I am, starting my own business, or buying into a franchise?
The Career Doctor responds:
There is most definitely an entrepreneurial trend emerging with younger job-seekers and with disgruntled older workers who feel their companies have let them down in one or more ways. The allure of being your own boss and running your own company is powerful.
And owning a franchise is often a much less risky move into entrepreneurship than starting a business from scratch. However, while the success rate for franchise-owned businesses is significantly higher than for independent businesses, no individual franchise is guaranteed to succeed.
According to the International Franchise Association, the estimated number of franchised locations in the U.S. is at least 909,253 in 75 industries, employing almost 10 million workers. More than 2,500 companies offer franchising opportunities from fast food to security services.
In deciding whether franchising is right for you, the key is conducting research. If you like the idea of owning your own business and don’t mind having some decisions dictated from the corporate headquarters, the franchising might be a good choice for you.
Once you’ve made that decision, you’ ll need to examine how much you can afford to invest; initial franchise fees can range from $1,000 to more than $200,000 — and that’ s just the fee and does not include all the other start-up costs you’ ll face.
You’ll also want to think long and hard about the type of business that interests you most, that best fits your lifestyle. (For example, if you re a fitness buff, then perhaps a fitness franchise would make sense.)
Finally, there are a number of pros and cons to franchising — too numerous to mention here, but worth your time to research.
Read more about the potential of owning a franchise in this article published on Quintessential Careers:
Franchising Pros and Cons: Is Franchising Right for You?
Annette writes:
I went on an interview today and at the end of the interview the
hiring manager tells me that I would be too bored in this position.
He totally caught me off guard, and I honestly could not respond to
his comment. However, I do want to emphasize to him in a thank-you letter that I would be an asset to his group and organization
and that I am perfectly qualified for this position.
He seemed to be really impressed with my experience and skills during the whole interview. I don’t know where I went wrong. He gave an impression that his group was not “organized” and he seemed frustrated that there isn’t some sort of policy in place for most of their work. As I have emphasized all the processes I’ve implemented for 3 divisions and so on; I would think that he would be highly interested.
Can you give me some advice as to how I can mention in my letter what he said and how I disagree with him, etc. Can you help me?
The Career Doctor responds:
First, don’t panic too much. We all have been stumped in job interviews by questions or comments that seem to come from out of nowhere. And you are absolutely correct that the perfect place to address the issue is in the interview thank-you letter.
Being too bored sounds very similar to being over-qualified and it might have been his hint to you that the position is below you, but it also may be that you did not do as well a job as you had hoped on selling him on what you could do for his group.
So, besides the usual information in a thank-you note, you should include a paragraph that specifically deals with the issue — in your case the comment about being bored.
After our interview, I’m convinced that I have all the ingredients you’re looking for in your group manager. I know you expressed some concern in our meeting that I would be too bored in this position. I want to stress, however, that I am the perfect candidate for this position — with the right mix of skills and experience to make an immediate and lasting impact on the group and the organization.
Check out all the sample letters we have in this section of Quintessential Careers: Sample Job Interview and Career Thank-You Letters.
Anonymous writes:
Just got out of a job interview. If you interview with multiple people at the same time, is it okay to individually send the same letter to all members of the panel? Thanks for your help.
The Career Doctor responds:
No, no, no! Just put yourself in their shoes. People in an office share everything, and any points you gain from sending a thank-you note — since many job-seekers still have not mastered this task — will be lost when folks see you could not spend the time to personalize each letter.
Now, I am not saying that each letter has to be completely original. I think there can be plenty of overlap — the paragraph about fit with the organization can be the same in each letter — but for any thank-you letter to be most effective, you need to show you made a connection with the interviewer.
So, with a thank-you to a panel of interviewers, you need to take note of something each one said and use that information to personalize the thank-you letters.
And send those thank-you letters right away. I am dealing with a friend who was raised in South America and just does not seem to get the urgency of sending thank-you notes promptly — nor the nuance that the thank-you letter is another marketing opportunity another chance to sell yourself. The rule of thumb is to send the thank-you letter within 24 hours of the interview.
Read more in this article published on Quintessential Careers: FAQs About Thank You Letters.
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