My Gen Y Life

Last week I saw perhaps the most brilliant interviewing technique and wondered "why didn’t I think of that myself?" I was asked to be one of the interviewers for an opening on my team and was blown away by how well this one candidate did across the board despite being the underdog on paper.

Don’t stress out. "How do you deal with stress?" is one of the top ten interview questions (in some form or another). It’s because no one wants to work with someone who is going to freak out easily. This particular candidate could have easily been stressed out from being at the wrong building and then the wrong conference room (on accident because of last-minute changes on our part) making him 20 minutes late to the interview, but instead he just smiled and said with a chuckle how great of a start it was for the day.

Do show your passion. Despite my frustration with the beginning chaos I couldn’t help but like the guy. His passion and enthusiasm were infectious. I found myself trying to think of how his ideas could work for our team and picturing him sitting in the empty cube across from me. Providing examples of your innovation and strategic thinking do wonders for your interview.

Don’t be perfect. Nobody’s perfect right? If you have the perfect answers and ask the perfect questions and appear to always be successful the interviewers are not going to believe you, even if they smile and nod. Instead, be honest about a time when you were unsuccessful and how you dealt with it. Show your tenacity by examples of how you challenged a manager or project team on something that you knew wasn’t right, even if your idea didn’t win out in the end. Be willing to work in an imperfect workplace and be adaptable to change.

Do brag about how much you’ll be missed. Demonstrate how valuable you are to your company in a casual way. This candidate was the only one who told us how disappointed his teammates said they would be if he left – and how they all agreed to take the others with them if one ever left. I came in to the interview wanting him to prove to me what he could do for our company and left feeling the exact opposite.

Don’t send a thank-you note right away. Don’t skip this vital step, but do wait at least 2-3 days. E-mailing the people who interviewed you the very next day may seem a little too eager. Being seen as overbearing and borderline desperate is that last thing you want. Showing them that you’re in no hurry can be your best negotiating tool (even if you are itching at your heels to leave).

The candidate’s technique to make me feel like we were recruiting HIM instead of him looking for a job with us was exactly how it should be. The hiring process is a two-way evaluation and I think we early careerists sometimes forget that.

Most companies don't use the word "secretary" anymore - companies have become more creative with terms like "administrative assistant", "client service representative", and my favorite, "project coordinator". I don't care what they call it, it means you're going to be answering calls, setting up meetings, doing paperwork, filing, and copying. If that's you're calling in life - great, we can't live without you. If the sound of doing that the rest of your professional life makes you cring, read on.

You know in college when they chanted the alumni phrase: "Once a [insert mascot here], always a [insert mascot here]." Now insert "secretary" into that blank. I received sound advice from a former employee who told me not to take a secretary job for the company just to get in. Big mistake, she said, because from that time forward everyone thought of her as the go-to person for completing the daily administrative duties regardless of what her job description said. She was even turned down for other jobs because of her perceived limited abilities.

Thankfully to her, I passed over the secretary jobs and waited for the right opportunity to come up. It took me interviewing for 4 positions before I was offered a job as a web specialist. It wasn't my ideal job (who's first job is?), but it was something related to my skills that would teach me a lot and open up more opportunities.

Unfortunately, I still had to fight the label as the secretary of the group. I don't know if it was because I was young, blonde, or sat in a cube outside a conference room, but people would ask me where the manager was, ask me to setup meetings, and assumed that I knew how to fix the copy machine. After feeling a little peeved at first, I would tactfully respond with the name of the actual secretary for the manager and send them on their way.

Luckily, over time, people took the hint, I focused on my real job, and did work above and beyond. Proving that I could handle project management, write well, and think outside the box were key in distinguishing me from any previous perceptions people had about me. My manager was also my champion, and would include me on projects that would give me greater exposure in the company. Now I feel that I have created a good persona for myself and it shows with the promotions and projects that I've been given.

Your first year or two in the company in crucial for developing your persona, and if you do it well you will be rewarded. Do yourself a favor and don't make secretarial duties the main focus of your job - let the real secretary do what he/she does best.

The Employee Evolution post "Unpaid Internships are a Waste" says:

"Everyone knows you do next to nothing at most unpaid internships. College students should all do themselves a favor and refuse to accept these unpaid resume builders. Know that in the grand scheme of things, selling yourself and building a strong work ethic will take you much further than a stupid internship on a resume." -Ryan Healy

Some might call me an “internship whore” but during college I completed six internships: four unpaid (two of which I received college credit) and two paid internships. The very last one paid well and also got me a job in the company. Some companies foster their internship programs and some don’t, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get something out of it. I really disliked my first internship because it wasn’t what I expected to do and I didn’t take advantage enough of the opportunity while I was there. Actually most of these internships helped me to realize that they weren't the companies and/or fields of work that I wanted to get into, which is valuable in itself. My last one I loved, and not just because it was paid.

Here are five ways to make your internship worth it:

• In the interview, ask detailed questions about what types of tasks you may be doing. Don’t just go for the internship because it would look good on your resume. For example, if you detest telemarketing then make sure that “calling prospects” is not part of the internship or you’ll regret it.
• Write an internship journal. This might sound trivial but it really makes a difference. I still look back on mine to remember my impressions of people or things that I encounter today. Besides, you’ll probably have at least 15 minutes a day to do nothing and your supervisor will be impressed that you’re writing a journal.
• Read industry news and career books. Your supervisor will probably be more than happy to hand over some newspapers, industry journals, books, and better yet Web sites that they reference on a regular basis. This will give you the advantage in understanding what’s going on at work.
• Network, network, network. You want to be the Chief Marketing Officer or the Vice President of [insert department here]? Ask your supervisor to set up a casual information interview with them. If they decline, try the next in line. You would be surprised at how willing people are to talk to interns about what makes them successful.
• Learn everything you can about the company. If you chose to intern there, you likely want to work there. Surf the intranet to learn more about the company and the various departments. Ask people questions. Attend annual meetings, department meetings, and other events.

To sum it up – be proactive. Whether internships are paid or not, it’s really the intern’s responsibility to make the most of it, not the company’s. Too many of my peers have come into internships thinking that the company will cater to them and guide them, but that’s rarely true. Tell your supervisor what your interests are and he or she will likely try to steer your tasks in that directions or at least hook you up with someone who does them. Don’t be the intern that takes advantage of “doing nothing” either – unless you’re a good brown-noser to the big boss, you likely won’t get called back for a job.