After getting in touch with a former co-worker of my sister, I was introduced to the Biotech company he currently works for, who happened to have an entry level marketing and communications position open. I applied through the company’s website, but my contact in the company also delivered my resume to the HR recruiter in order to help get noticed faster.

When I got the interview, I knew I would need to spend a lot of time preparing since I wasn’t very knowledgeable about the industry. I spent time sorting through the company website to get a better idea of what the company does. I also looked into several of their competitors to see what the industry trends were, and the competition they are facing. The HR recruiter who scheduled my interview sent me an itinerary two days before I was to go to their office. I learned that my interview would be a couple hours and consist of meetings with four employees. Knowing who I was meeting with prior to the interview allowed me to prepare myself even more by researching the background of these employees.

At the interview, I met with the hiring manager and her boss, as well as two people from the human resources department. My interviews with the marketing and communications staff went well as they were mostly resume based. Having prepared for this, I felt as though it went smoothly. I learned more about the day to day responsibilities of the job and some more details of the department I would be working in.

When I met with the HR staff I discovered the position was a contract position. In my job search I have seen many contract or temporary positions, however, I haven’t necessarily been applying to them. They explained to me that the job was a 6 month contract position with the potential of it leading to a full time position. I expressed that I was still interested, because it could become full-time. However, I would have to work very hard to prove that this position was worth transitioning into full-time.  The downside is that as a contracted employee, you are paid hourly and do not receive any benefits. While this was a bit discouraging, it’s just another obstacle of job hunting in this economy and temp-to-perm positions are definitely something to consider. 

Last week, I had the opportunity to conduct two informational interviews at a premiere health insurance company in New England.  I was able to get my foot in the door thanks to one of Lauren’s personal family contacts.

My first interview was with their director of sales.  As I started finding out more about her background, I discovered she has held previous positions in hospital administration.  This was a plus, because now I could ask her questions not only about health insurance companies, but also about financial roles in hospitals.  This interview was primarily to find out as much information about the company as possible, as well as their hiring tendencies, qualifications and skill sets needed.  Finding out about a hospital’s financial breakdown, and their relationship with health insurance companies, was an additional bonus.

My second interview was with a director in one of the finance/accounting departments who had many years of experience in this and other industries.  He was director of the general accounting department, and I used this opportunity to ask in depth questions about financial aspects of health care, especially within this particular company.  Since this company wasn’t hiring at the moment, I asked him several questions about internships, as well as temporary work, just to potentially get a foot in the door.  He gave me some great advice for continuing to develop my skills in finance and accounting through work experience and additional schooling.  Before leaving, though not part of my original plan, I requested he critique my resume.  Having an experienced professional go through and give me any recommendations would be beneficial.  Additionally, I asked him for potential “buzz words” and phrases, as well as skills, that should be highlighted.

I ended up learning a great deal of information about this company, including the financial structure, the relationship it has with other health providers, their financial departments, and their sales and operations departments.  I ended up making two new contacts in the industry whom both now have my resume.  In the event that a future position opens up, I may have a slight advantage over other applicants now that I have networked within the company.  I will continue to chat with them over time and let them know how my career is going.

I was able to land another interview at a market research firm due to contacts I knew who were connected to the company. My former boss and mentor had ties with the company and knew many employees.  The position I am up for is an entry level marketing manager and the job description matches what I am looking for in my first job.  I was really excited to go check out the company, but I was really nervous too.  I felt a lot of pressure because I really wanted the job and I didn’t want to let down my mentor who had recommended me. I was informed that there had been a few hundred applicants for the position, which was even more nervewracking! I am aware that it is a very competitive job market right now, but when you actually find out how many people you are competing against just to land an interview, its shocking. (That’s why networking is so important right now!)

I decided to spend a lot of time preparing so that I would be able to walk into the interview comfortable & confident. I got in touch with my contacts from the company, employees and former employees, to ask some questions and advice. Their website is loaded with extensive amounts of information and I spent a good amount of time getting to know as much about the company as I could. Looking into competitors websites and market news was on my preparation list as well so I knew how the industry was developing. While doing all of this, I developed lists of key points I wanted to remember, and a list of questions I would be able to ask during my interview. I worked with the Experience team to prepare for a resume-based interview. We went through everything listed on my resume and I practiced responses that properly expressed my experience and how it related to the position and company culture.

When I went to the interview, I arrived early and happened to run into the human resources contact who had set everything up for me.  She ended up walking me around and introducing me to my interviewers.  I then began my hour and a half long interview, which was broken into 3 thirty minute meetings. I met with an employee in the same role I was applying for, an employee who held the next step up who acts as a manager, and one of the VP’s of the group I was applying for within the company. I was comfortable during the interviews as I felt prepared and the people I met with were very enthusiatic about the company. I learned much more about the position and a lot about what the company had to offer. Throughout the interview I was impressed by the people I met with. I felt as though I made a good impression and was hoping it would be good enough to land me a job.

I had another informational interview last week.   Before the interview, I went online and read up on how to prepare for an informational interview.  Because it was being conducted over the phone, I looked into the best way to deal with telephone interviews.  The person I interviewed with is an uncle of a close friend.  He works for the federal government in the healthcare sector as a high level executive.  He was able to give me ample advice and guidance regarding my career in healthcare.  He told me to give him a call in a couple weeks and let him know how the search is going.

Here is a great source that could help you prepare for your  informational interview questions.

I asked questions that were aimed at probing information regarding the industry, educational requirements, level of enjoyment and job functions.

Here are some examples:

What kind of work/internship experience would employers look for in a job applicant?

What educational program is recommended as preparation?

Which skills are most important to acquire? (i.e. - which skills do employers look for?)

Is this a rapidly growing field? Is it possible to predict future needs for workers in this field?

I was happy with the end result.  He was able to provide with some great advice regarding educational requirements and how to get myself in front of employers.  I will definitely be calling him back in the near future and utilizing him as a resource for information and potential contacts in the healthcare industry.

While I have been a bit frustrated, I have found that persistence is the key to networking.  During this busy time as summer ends, holidays, and back to school I have found this to be especially true. My attempts to connect with marketing professionals have been successful. I have been able to determine contacts who share common career interests, work for companies I am interested in, etc.

The trouble I have faced though is actually being able to make the final step of setting up informational interviews, or getting a chance to meet with a colleague to discuss my job search, their career or company. I am currently trying to professionally keep in touch with these contacts to remind them of my interests to meet my goals. The idea is to be persistent without being annoying. I understand that everyone is very busy with their own personal and professional lives, but by following up I can spark their interest in assisting me. Someone I am connected to could hold the key to my future marketing career so following up and maintaining communication with the right people is essential.

Photo by alexindigo

Before joining the 60 Day program with Experience, I was on LinkedIn for about a year with about 90 contacts.  While I have been in the program however, I began to utilize some of the business and political contacts I had on there.  LinkedIN was able to provide me with an expanded network that I otherwise might not have been able to access.  I was uncertain as to how LinkedIn would actually help me job search because I just viewed the profile as an “online resume.” Once I started using it for networking and informational interviews, I was able to target contacts in selected industries and conduct interviews.

Here is a recent example of how I utilized LinkedIn for networking and informational interviews:

As requested by one of my informational interviewers, I just recently went through his LinkedIn profile that had hundreds of of health care and business contacts.  I went to through all the contacts, searched for contacts at companies I’m interested in, and then sent him the names.  He will be introducing me to his contacts (those that I selected) via email.  I hope to be able to really push the networking in the next couple of weeks as people are coming back from their summer vacations.  I’ll be trying to set up informational interviews with these people for guidance and advice during my job search.

Photo by Mario Sundar

I just landed another interview for an online marketing position, but now what????
Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Interview preparation involves independent research of the company, and knowing yourself and your resume. Getting some help by working with others is also a great way to prepare too. The Experience team conducted mock interviews with me to help identify strengths and weaknesses of my interviewing capabilities. I received great feedback that made me feel more comfortable and confident for future interviews.

One very important piece of advice I received was that I was very disconnected. I was answering questions at face value and not showing any emotion or trying to connect with the interviewer. While companies want professionalism, they’re also looking for personality and engaging candidates. I learned how to lighten up and relax, the more comfortable I was interviewing, the easier it became to be myself.

Knowing your own resume inside and out is important too. One of the problems I faced though was condensing all of that knowledge into a well-formed explanation. By practicing answering common interview questions (or explaining sections of my resume) with friends/family, with no background knowlegde of my experience, it helped me gauge how well I would communicate to the interviewers.

Working with other people helped me discover new ways to approach preparing for and taking on an interview. While the preparation can be nervewracking itself, the confidence and experience gained pay off in the end.

 My job search has developed into a sequence of learning experiences. There are high points and low points throughout the process, but I am definitely learning many lessons on the way. After going through multiple rounds of interviews for the online marketing position that I have blogged about, I learned that I had not been selected as the final candidate. While I was very disappointed to learn this news, I realized I needed to get some information from the company that could help me as I continue to look for a job.

I learned that the position I was applying for was listed as an entry level position, but the company received applications from candidates with years of career experience.  It is scary to hear that I am competing for the same jobs as experience professionals. With multiple internships under my belt, I feel as though I am well-equipped to demonstrate developed marketing skills. However, I did not necessarily think that when I graduated from school I would be competing against college grads 1-3 years out of graduate school, or out of a job.

Trying to learn from these situations, I have found myself grateful for having made it through multiple rounds of interviews now knowing that I was up against some steep competition. I have gained experience in researching companies, preparing for interviews, and interviewing with different levels of employees. When the right position comes along, I will be a strong, successful candidate due to my former attempts.

Photo by hrlndspnks

Today, I conducted an informational interview with a former classmate and alumni that now works in a health care information technology firm.  We spoke about the health care industry, available positions within her company and potential referrals and leads she may have for me.  She told me that when she graduated she landed this job by knowing someone already in the company.  My goal is to get several favorable introductions to other contacts per interview.

I think one of the most important aspects that I have been focusing on in my job search is networking.  Because most jobs are unpublished and passed along by referral, networking is a huge priority for me.  Last Friday after meeting with Experience, I met with a political contact of mine who happens to be in the health care industry so it worked out perfectly.  After our political discussion and lunch, we talked about ways I could utilize his network in the health care industry.  He recommended I look through his contacts on LinkedIn and let him know who I’d like to meet for informational interviews.  This is definitely something I will be doing in the coming weeks not only for job opportunities, but for information and insight on the career path I’m pursuing.

On a side note, I was traveling on the train the other day and was standing next to someone that looked familiar.  After a couple stops, I figured out how I knew this person.  I had seen him at a previous job interview where he was also seeking employment.  I ended up talking to him for the rest of my trip and we exchanged information.  Come to find out, he is now working at a major bank in downtown Boston.  Just by saying hi and approaching him, I have now made another connection in the finance and banking sector!