Job seekers need to learn how to impress

Silicon Valley’s job market may be stabilizing, but tens of thousands of workers are still competing for the few jobs being created. So you might think employers would have their pick of desirable candidates. According to one hiring manager, though, not all candidates realize how important it is to make a good impression in an interview.

By Margaret Steen

Mercury News

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/8215884.htm

“It’s been a little bit amusing. It’s kind of been sad, in some cases,” said Phil O’Shaughnessy, director of corporate communications at Creative Labs in Milpitas. Since November, when he began looking for a public relations manager, he has posted ads online and asked people he knows for recommendations. He’s interviewed at least a dozen candidates.

“Nobody I’ve met with has brought in a portfolio of writing samples or PR results,” he said.

And some have actually made a negative impression.

One candidate “told me he was disgruntled with his previous employer, and he’d had some back trouble, and he was going to sue them,” O’Shaughnessy said.

Another told him she didn’t want to work on all the company’s products.

“She said, `I think I’m far enough along in my career where I should be able to pick and choose,’ ” O’Shaughnessy said. “I was really taken aback.”

He’s still looking for the right person and is taking his time hiring.

“I’m doing this to do it right,” he said. “I’m not going to settle.”

Using a mentor

Whether you’ve sought out a mentor or have been assigned one as part of a formal program, it’s up to you to get the most out of the relationship, says an executive who has had mentors for the past six or seven years.

Bill McDuffie, assistant vice president at Chubb Insurance Group in Whitehouse Station, N.J., offers tips for those new to working with mentors.

• Figure out what you want the mentor to do for you. Are you looking for someone to open doors for you within your own company? Someone in your line of work to bounce ideas off of? Someone who can expand your understanding of your industry?

This will help you choose the right mentor and make sure you both have the same understanding of the relationship.

• Take the initiative. It’s up to you to keep up contact with your mentor, especially when you’re not involved in a formal program.

• Be honest. If you’re trying to figure out what went wrong with a project or why you didn’t get a promotion, make sure your mentor has all the facts.

• Be open to criticism. You also have to make clear to your mentor that you’re interested in honest feedback.

Low-wage workers

Workers in low-paying jobs, from child care workers to mail room clerks, have long been a fixture of the U.S. economy. But according to a study based on thousands of interviews with these workers and their managers, it has become increasingly difficult for workers to move from these jobs into positions that pay more.

“We found that the percentage of workers who were stuck in low-wage jobs over their career had more than doubled between the end of the ’60s and the mid-’90s,” said Annette Bernhardt, senior policy analyst at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. She is co-editor of the book “Low-Wage America: How Employers are Reshaping Opportunity in the Workplace.”

One reason is employers’ increased reliance on subcontractors and temporary workers. For example, Bernhardt said, customer service representatives used to work in in-house call centers, allowing them to move to higher-paying jobs once they were familiar with the business. Today, many companies have their call centers in a central location, away from the main office and its higher-paying jobs.

“They’re breaking apart the career ladder that in the past allowed people to slowly move their way up,” Bernhardt said.

She said this is a public policy issue because some of the workers in low-wage jobs end up getting government help or subsidized health care.

“These low-wage jobs don’t come without a cost,” she said.
Contact Margaret Steen at [email protected] or (408) 278-3499.