Here is some helpful–as well as hopeful–information about getting ahead and getting along in today’s job market:
Hope for executives: Executive recruiters had a “disappointing” 2001, according to a survey of 385 headhunters conducted by ExecuNet.com. But now things reportedly are beginning to look up, and the top industries expected to drive the increased demand for executives are: biotechnology/pharmaceuticals; health care; financial services/banking; high tech and manufacturing.
Hopefully, one of those fields is yours.
Help for health care: St. Louis University reports that since Sept. 11, its school of nursing has had “a steady increase” in inquiries about its undergraduate nursing degree program.
In fact, applications to its program for the fall class are up more than 30 percent. This is in contrast to declining enrollment nationwide in the past six years at nursing schools–though St. Louis’ enrollment has held steady.
Hope for unemotional job applicants: You know all that advice about being upbeat and enthusiastic during the job interview? Well, for those of you who find having a smile plastered on your face for at least one hour is no fun, here’s another point of view:
“There’s a misguided notion that appearing to be eager to please is a valued commodity,” observes Roger D. Brown, vice president of human resources for Metalforming Technologies, Inc., in Chicago. “Actually, it is–when considering which cocker spaniel to choose!”
My translation: Being adorable usually works for puppies but not always for job seekers.
Help with office etiquette: One thing you should try to avoid is walking into your manager’s office to discuss something important–only to learn very quickly that your presence isn’t welcome or that you’ve interrupted something important or private.
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But much of the responsibility for making sure that you don’t embarrass yourself in that manner is up to the boss. And Richard Raspen, associate professor of management in the business division of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has some advice for managers when they don’t want to be interrupted.
“Signals work well,” said Raspen, who teaches undergraduate courses in management, organizational behavior and ethics.
“An open door means, come on in, let’s talk. A closed door means I’m busy. If your office doesn’t have a door, perhaps an object such as a sign or a stuffed animal or a plant in a particular location might say the same thing.”
And what the inanimate object is saying is I want to be alone. Respect it.
Help and hope for the “overqualified”: A job seeker “usually was told she was overqualified . . . and she finally figured out that the word meant she expected too high a title and salary,” write Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon in “Making Your Contacts Count” (Amacom, $14.95).
“She revised her resume to de-emphasize her previous title and play up her abilities.
In her next interview, when the question of salary came up, she said, `I’m sure we will be able to figure something out, because I am the right person to tackle this job.'”
And, according to the authors, this “overqualified” person did indeed get the job.
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Carol Kleiman’s columns also appear in Tuesday’s Business and Wednesday’s Working sections. Watch her Career Coach segments on CLTV. Send e-mail to [email protected].