Koko'sTree

Have you done your home work?

2009-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

When you apply for a job, do you research the company first? Do you wait until you get an interview? Or do you even both to check out the company at all before going in for an interview?

I'll handle the worse scenario first: Never even doing research on a company before going for an interview.

It still amazes me at the number of people who show up for interviews and have next to no idea about who the company is or what they do! There are a couple of scenarios where this happens:

You are still rather new to the whole job hunting game and this was something you were never asked for before and therefore is a BIG learning experience.

You couldn’t be bothered to take the ten-minutes on-line to perform a couple of quick searches.

You figure you can just wing it.

Whatever your reason may have been for not researching the company before an interview, by not being able to give a solid answer to the simple question of “What do you know about our business?” screams two things to the interviewer right away:

1) You couldn’t be bothered to do anything extra and are a lazy person.

2) You have no interest in their business and even if you got the job you really don’t want to be there.

These are definitely, two traits that NO interviewer is looking for in any potential employees!

Most likely, this is not the impression you were trying to give, but not being able to give an intelligent answer to a potential employer about their company is a sure way to make sure you don't get a call back.

I recently performed several job interviews and 2 of the 4 applicants couldn’t offer me any more information about my company other than what the average person off the street would know. I can tell you as I sat there and waited for those two applicants to produce something extra they became very uncomfortable and self-conscious.

Needless to say, those interviews were cut short. For those of you who can’t or won’t do any research before going an interview, do yourself and the interviewer a favour, don’t even both submitting your resume.

For the rest of you, save yourself the embarrassment and an interview cut short. Do your homework before going to ANY job interview!

Come back soon as we’ll talk about the next situation of not researching a potential employer until getting the interview.

Until then good luck and keep learning!

If you would like to learn more about finding your dream job after graduation visit CLICK HERE!

You're gradutating soon...Are you ready to take on the world?

2009-03-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

If you are graduating this spring you are close to completing one of the largest investments of your life to date. You have large sums of cash on books, classes, transportation, living expenses, and everything else that requires money for you to have gone to school.

But I would say more importantly, you have invested years of your life into the quest of graduating with a post secondary education in the hopes that it will allow you to have a better life. The good news is that you have taken and completed your first major step towards a fulfilling and successful life...the not so good news is that the hard part hasn’t even started yet. There are many more steps that you need to discover, understand and complete as you take your first big leap out into the world. Unless you are one of the very privileged, and even if you are, one of your first tasks will be to find a job that will allow you to begin to live the life you want.

However, if your university career was anything like mine, you learned a lot more about how to create Power Point Presentations, how to amortize the value of a business asset, how long it takes to copy a finance paper before heading out on a Thursday night and that tequila shooters are never ever your friend!

Unfortunately, one course that seems to have left out was how to find, interview for and land the job you always wanted. For all the expensive books, high-end computer labs and posh professors, they leave that little chore to you to figure out how to do. It may be disappointing for some to find out that the real learning is just about to begin.

Fortunately, you have one major advantage over many other graduating students. You have found this web-site and can now access all the information, experience and knowledge it has to offer.

So, chances are if you were like me when I graduated, you have lots of enthusiasm, energy and a positive attitude about finding your first real job. You just need a little directing and guidance on how to channel it into effective and efficient activities and behaviours which will help you to succeed.

Keep checking back as I add real life stories and experiences that will help you to succeed without having to go through the same ups and downs that I already have.

Until then good luck and keep learning!

To learn more about finding your dream job CLICK HERE!

Do you know what to do before you start job hunting? Find out here!

2008-12-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Do you have a job lined up for after graduation? If not, you are going probably going to be looking for one soon. If you already do, at some point you are going to be looking for a better job that gives you more things like benefits, flexible hours, more vacation time and a great work environment. When it comes to finding that dream job, you might want to start looking at job listings right away. However, I wouldn’t advise you do that, at least not to start. There are several things that you will need to do first if you want to be successful at finding your dream job!

Firstly, you need to develop a plan! For example, do you know what type of job you would like to have or in what field you would like to work? If you are unemployed and/or need a job to support yourself or your family, the kind of work you want may not seem as important as it would if you were looking simply looking for a better job than what you have right now. Even if you are desperate you still need to take the time to decide upon what type of work you want. When making the decision, it is important to be realistic. For example, if you’re only a high school graduate, work as a lawyer or professor isn`t really in the cards, at least not without first going back to school.

For more information about finding your dream job click here!

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BLOG?

2008-12-09T17:03:00.001-08:00

During my early 20's information and guidance on how to move SUCCESSFULLY into the work force was severely lacking. Most of the advice I received was vague and lacked authenticity i.e. backing from real world experience.

This blog is for persons who are looking to enter the work force either in the next couple of years or next couple of days. The information provided here will be targeted towards people who are in school (Colleges/Trade Schools/Universities/ etc.) and may be in their first semester of classes or days away from graduating.

I believe there were three reasons why the information I sought, how to SUCCESSFULLY move into the work force, was not easy to find:

1) IGNORANCE - I did not know where to look for the information I wanted and needed and when I did find it 2) I did not know the right questions to ask;
2) PRIDE - The people I spoke to had no idea about how to succeed themselves but did not want to admit it;
4) FEAR - People were worried that if they passed on what they knew, that they would be surpassed by those they passed their experience on to;

Personally, having been in this situation during my years of post secondary education, I would like to help you avoid some of these pitfalls that I encountered on my way to successfully entering the workforce.

What I hope to offer is experience, information and guidance that will benefit others who face these same challenges. This will shorten your learning curve and give you the knowledge and tools to succeed at an accelerated rate.

This information is based on real life and work knowledge and experience acquired by myself and other individuals with diverse work, educational and life backgrounds.

Stay tuned as I know this blog will provide you with a great basis for SUCCESSFULLY joining us in the real work place and hopefully surpass us in your goals!

For more information about finding work after graduation CLICK HERE!