WORLD'S LEADING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Q & A with Andrew Hewitt, Best Selling Author and International Speaker

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What do you recommend is a great way to get your foot in the door of a major company where your resume and application for an internship or job could easily get lost in the shuffle, being one among hundreds or thousands?

It's all about who you know. Studies state that over 80% of jobs are never advertised to the public. Guess what types of jobs these are? You got it - the dream jobs, the cool jobs, the jobs everyone wants and the jobs companies fill at ease, without having to advertise them. So, the best thing you can do to land a great job is expanding who you know - your network. At some point in your college career someone has probably told you "it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know that gets you ahead." Guess what? They are right. A good question to ask yourself is this: How much time am I expanding WHAT I know versus the time I am expanding WHO I know?"

One of the best ways to expand who you know is to join a professional association. There is a professional association for EVERYTHING. You can search online or get the Encyclopedia of Associations at your library. Look for an association related to your career interests, sign up and start attending their events and reading their publications. You will supersize your network of people who have the power to say 'you're hired'. 

If you take the contemporary approach to job hunting and submit your resume for an advertised job you can still add a touch of uniqueness to get your resume to the top of the pile. Here's an extreme example. One student I worked with, Brock, found a marketing position available at Playboy magazine. Knowing the competition was stiff, he decided to do something unique. Using the wonders of Photoshop Brock formatted his resume to look like a playboy magazine, with a picture of him draping the front cover. He was smart enough to wear clothes. The marketing position Brock was applying for required creativity and sales skills and Brock's unique resume showed in full color he had both of these skills. Within a week Brock was flown for a second round of interviews at Playboy headquarters in Los Angeles. At 23 years of age Brock was the youngest individual in the final round. The next youngest was 34! Brock's age eliminated him in the final interview; however, he beat out hundreds of other applicants with much more experience simply because he demonstrated he had the skills they were looking for. 

Employers enjoy reading resumes as much as you enjoy creating them. The quickest way to get your resume to the top of the pile is to clearly demonstrate that you meet the job requirements. If the job entails creativity, show you have this skill like Brock did or simply focus your resume on how you meet the requirements they are looking for. For example, if they are looking for someone with exceptional time management skills, make 'time management experience' a heading on your resume and explain how you have developed this skill.

Special Report - Five Ways to Create a Resume that Sells.pdf (205 KB)

It seems there's a cycle in which experience is necessary to land a job and you need a job to gain experience. How do you land that first big job without much experience?

Here's a technique a recent grad, Janice Mills, used to land her dream job as a coordinator for the 2010 Olympic Games.  You might have heard of this technique before... it's called volunteering. Of course this strategy isn't new to you. The question is are you using it? Janice is from a small town with a few thousand people. Working for the Olympics is a big city dream that was beyond the belief of most of her friends and family. Nonetheless, Janice committed to making her dream happen. 

To surround herself with people who had the ability to hire her, Janice volunteered for every event she could that the Olympics were involved in. Her passion gleamed through and within one year she was offered a high profile job as a coordinator for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Janice is now living in Vancouver and living her dream job. She meets with dignitaries, Presidents and Princes and is responsible for coordinating their schedule, their meals and their entertainment when they arrive for the big event in 2010. Janice made her dream job a reality by volunteering. She was willing to work to learn, not just work to earn. The lesson is this: when you want to land a highly demanded job and don't have much experience, prove your passion and prove your skills by being willing to work for free.

What advice would you give to a recent graduate that dreams of working in XYZ Industry a big city like NY, LA, or Chicago, but has no job or place to live lined-up, and few contacts?

If you want to land a swanky job in a city you don't live in, then Interviewing for Information is your best approach. You might not know people in the city you want to work in, however, your friends, family and professors will. Send them an email stating the specific industry you want to work in and your city of interest. Ask specifically if they can put you in touch with anyone in that city who works in your industry of choice. 

A recent graduate, Mariko Takeuchi, used this technique and set up five Informational Interviews with contacts in her city of choice–Toronto, Canada. She then flew to Toronto to conduct the Informational Interviews over a one week time period. Mariko knew that these initial Informational Interviews might not lead to her dream job, however predicted the people she interviewed would be willing to introduce her to more great contacts within the city. Mariko's prediction was right! Mariko extended her trip a week longer as she turned her handful of Informational Interviews into FIFTY Informational Interviews and was connected to CEO's of major organizations and interviewed several people working her exact dream job. By the time she left Toronto Mariko had several job offers and accepted the exact job opportunity she was hoping for - Junior Brand Manager at Unilever.

The trick to Mariko's success is that she asked two smart questions at the end of each Informational Interview. Here they are:
1. What would you recommend I do to get my feet wet in this industry?
2. I'm only in town for a week and would love to interview more people like you who can expand my perspective on this industry. Would you be so kind to put me in touch with someone else I can interview?

Think big and go for it!

Special Report - Informational Interviews.pdf (410 KB)

Contact Info:

Andrew Hewitt
Best Selling Author, International Speaker
1-888-362-8735
andrew@focusedstudent.com
http://www.andrewhewitt.org/