Not getting the results you want in your job search? 

Don’t give up! Learn what you can do to take your search to the next level. The Smarter Job Search Workshops are interactive, information-packed one-hour workshops designed to make you more successful in a number of ways:

• Brand Yourself! Create winning resumes and cover letters with all the right buzzwords!
• Job search efficiently and effectively using metasites (Indeed) and social media (LinkedIn, Meet-Up, more)
• Network live and online to get more interviews (don’t be an anonymous job seeker!)
• Interview persuasively to become the candidate of choice!
• Negotiate the best possible offer!

TOPICS (see our Meetup page at the link above for specific times and locations)

• The Above & Beyond Job Search by CAREER-Magic
• Smarter Interviews & Salary Negotiations by CAREER-Magic

• Cover Letter Magic by CAREER-Magic
• Generating Job Leads for Fun & Profit by CAREER-Magic

• Using the Phone Effectively in Your Job Search by CAREER-Magic
• Job Search Skills For Introverts by CAREER-Magic

• Branding & Buzzwords: Using Powerful Language in Your Job Search by CAREER-Magic
• Social Media 101: Using LinkedIn, Meet-up, and other platforms in Your Job Search by CAREER-Magic

CAREER-Magic Job Search Workshops are facilitated by Denver Job Search Expert Tracy Laswell Valdez, leveraging 16+ years of job search support for 3000+ clients. For more info, please call 303-424-1700 or email tracy@career-magic.com. Please RSVP online by clicking here!

WHEN & WHERE: See calendar of events at http://www.meetup.com/The-Smarter-Job-Search-Workshop/

Cost: $10 per session by cash or check. Please RSVP online by clicking here!

Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Interviewing – a quick review list by Tracy Laswell Valdez, CAREER-Magic.com. Want to learn more? Call us for a coaching session: 303-424-1700

1.    Getting an interview is an accomplishment all by itself. Celebrate it and begin building the relationship!
2.    Interviewing effectively takes practice and preparation – walk in with an agenda.
3.    It’s more important to be liked than to be right.
4.    There are two types of questions in interviewing:
Competence: Can she do this job better than anyone else?
Problem Child: Is he or she going to make my life difficult?
5.    You are an active participant in the interview, so don’t just sit there and answer questions.
6.    Come prepared with 5-10 insightful questions about the job and the company (not about the compensation).
7.    Come prepared with 5 keys (your brand) that you want to be sure that the employer knows about you.
8.    Dress well, not too formally, not too informally (varies based on company).
9.    Close the deal – ask for the job.
10.  You don’t have the job yet so you have nothing to lose – so lighten up, have fun, make a connection.

by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., and Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

If you’ve been searching unsuccessfully for a new job for some time now — or if you’re about to start a job-search — you’ll want to review the 10 job-hunting concepts we discuss in this article. We refer to these job-search concepts as reality checks because we so frequently hear from job-seekers who have been struggling to find a new job but are approaching one or more aspects of their search unrealistically. If you’re having difficulty finding a new job, you too may need a reality check.

You need a reality check if…
You’re only spending a small portion of your time on job-hunting activities.
Many experts believe job-hunting should in itself be a full-time job. If you’re in school or employed while seeking a better job, your time may be somewhat limited. But you should put as much time as you can into it. Try to contact people in your network every day with the goal of setting up interviews with your contacts or people they’ve referred you to.

If you have other time commitments (such as a current job), carve out time, such as very early in the morning or during the evening, to work on job-hunting tasks (such as polishing your resume) that don’t need to be done during business hours. Try to schedule interviews for lunch hours, early mornings, or late afternoons so you take little or no time away from your job.

If you’re unemployed, treat job-hunting as though it is a job. Invest time in your search just as you would a typical workweek.

You need a reality check if…
You are conducting a “scattershot” approach to your job-search.
Some job-seekers think the best way to find a new job is to apply for as many jobs with as many employers as possible. Some job-seekers even apply to multiple positions within the same company and jobs they are not totally qualified for. The faulty thinking behind this strategy is that the more jobs you apply for, the more likely at least one of these efforts will result in a job interview. Beyond the flawed logic here, the other problem with this strategy is giving yourself a false sense that you are actively seeking a new job.

The reality is that the best job-search efforts are ones that are focused on specific jobs with specific employers. Employers want candidates with specialized qualifications and accomplishments. And the glut of resumes from unqualified and marginally qualified candidates is a major factor in the growing ineffectiveness of Internet job hunting.

So use your time more wisely conducting research on jobs and employers and target a select group with a detailed job-search strategy rather wasting your time and energy on a scattershot approach.

You need a reality check if…
You rely on advertised job openings for job leads.
While job ads (in newspapers or online job boards) are useful research tools, you as the job-seeker should not count on these job openings as your sole — or even a major — job-search method. Very few job-seekers ever get a job through this method; however, job ads do serve a useful purpose in researching the qualifications employers seek. You can then develop a tailored resume and cover letter full of keywords, even using some of the employer’s own buzzwords.

A better way to conduct this type of research — and a better way of discovering employers who might have job openings — is to go directly to each company’s Website and search its career or human-resources section. Some employers have an amazing amount of information published on their sites, including job openings, job application procedures, career paths/tracks, corporate culture, and much more.

If you’re struggling with a better way to find job openings, read, 10 Ways to Develop Job Leads.

You need a reality check if…
You’re really not all that comfortable “using” people through networking.
If you’re squeamish about networking because it feels like using people, you’ve got the wrong idea about networking. But you’re not alone in this feeling. Many individuals are uncomfortable with the notion of networking because of the creepy — and untrue — idea that networking means using people. Successful networking doesn’t mean milking your contacts for all they’re worth; it means a give and take. Networking is at its most effective when both the networker and the contact reciprocally benefit from the relationship. Even if your contact does not benefit immediately from knowing you, he or she should gain something from the relationship eventually.

Networking doesn’t mean asking everyone you run into if they know where the job openings are. It means establishing relationships so that you can enlist support and comfortably ask for ideas, advice, and referrals to those with hiring power. Networking is the process through which you get connected and build relationships with people who can help advance your career.

Don’t you have to know a lot of people already to be able to network effectively? Absolutely not. All you have to do is want to know more people than you do now, people who can assist you in your quest for your ideal job. And you should also be willing to do as much as you can to encourage others to want to get to know you and help you. It takes only one person to start your network because that person can refer you to others, and your network will expand exponentially. Your goal should be forming relationships that are so powerful that you contacts feel invested in your success – and you in theirs. When one of your contacts has some promising career information to impart, the first person he or she will want to tell is a friend — you, if you’ve successfully built the relationship.

For more about networking see our Critical Career Networking Resources for Job-Seekers.

You need a reality check if…
You only have one “one-size-fits-all” version of your resume.
In a recent study by CareerBuilder.com, 71 percent of hiring managers said they preferred a resume customized for the open position. And in an age when we can all easily manipulate our own computer files, there’s little excuse not to tailor your resume — at least somewhat — to each job you apply for. Maybe you simply adjust your Objective statement. Maybe you tweak your Professional Profile or Qualifications Summary to suit each job. Perhaps you emphasize different skills and accomplishments for each job you apply to.

For some job-seekers, the idea of tweaking your resume for each job you apply for is unrealistic. But even if you are unwilling to change your resume to increase its chances of prompting an interview, you will likely need more than one version of your resume to accommodate the preferred delivery methods of multiple employers.

More than 80 percent of employers are now placing resumes directly into searchable databases and an equal percentage of employers prefer to receive resumes by e-mail. To meet the delivery requirements of most employers, it’s an absolute must these days to have:

• A formatted, “print” resume in document form that you can send as an attachment to an e-mail message to the employer.
• A text-based (ASCII text) e-resume stripped of most formatting and pasted directly into the same e-mail message sent to the employer (can also be pasted into application/resume submission forms on online job boards). Read more in our article Top 10 Things You Need to Know about E-Resumes.

Beyond those two types, you might need a Portable Document Format (PDF) resume, a Rich Text Format (RTF) resume, and a Web-based (HTML) resume. Read more about these delivery methods in our article, Your E-resume’s File Format Aligns with its Delivery Method.

And, if you you’re a career-changer, or have minimal experience, highly diverse experience, or gaps in your work history, you may want to consider multiple organizational formats for arranging your information on your resume. Such variations include the traditional chronological resume, the functional resume, and the hybrid or chrono-functional resume. Read more in our article What Resume Format is Best for You?

You need a reality check if…
Your resume is not a marketing document loaded with keywords and accomplishments.
Too many job-seekers confuse resumes with job applications. They think a resume should be a dry recitation of every aspect of their job history, including duties and responsibilities of each job. In fact, resumes should be marketing documents that entice employers to invite you for an interview. That means that resumes should focus on the highlights of what will sell you to an employer — information that tells the employer what you can contribute to the organization. In today’s world of job-hunting, accomplishments and keywords are two of the critical elements your resume needs to prompt employers to interview you.

Job-hunting today increasingly revolves around the mysterious world of keywords. Employers’ increasing dependence on keywords to find the job candidates they want to interview has come about in recent years because of technology. Inundated by resumes from job-seekers, employers have increasingly relied on digitizing job-seeker resumes, placing those resumes in keyword-searchable databases, and using software to search those databases for specific keywords that relate to job vacancies. Most Fortune 1000 companies, in fact, and many smaller companies now use these technologies. In addition, many employers search the databases of third-party job-posting and resume-posting boards on the Internet.

The bottom line is that if you apply for a job with a company that searches databases for keywords, and your resume doesn’t have the keywords the company seeks for the person who fills that job, you are pretty much out of luck. Read more about the importance of keywords in our article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness and how you can identify the best keywords in Resources for Identifying Keywords and Researching Keywords in Employment Ads.

Accomplishments are the points that really help sell you to an employer — much more so than everyday job duties. In fact, there’s a direct relationship between keywords and accomplishments in that keywords can be tied to accomplishments rather than job duties, so a good way to make the leap from keyword to a nice, contextual bullet point is to take each keyword you’ve identified as critical to the job and list an accomplishment that tells how you’ve used the skill represented by that keyword. For more about maximizing your accomplishments in an e-resume, see our article, For Job-Hunting Success: Track and Leverage Your Accomplishments.

Professional resume writers specialize in transforming mundane resumes into sparkling, enticing marketing pieces; consider hiring one of these experts if you can’t get your resume to sing. Our sister site, Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, offers such a service.

You need a reality check if…
You’ve posted your resume on a few job boards and are waiting for employers to contact you.
The key to any successful job search is mixing up your job-search techniques so you do not rely on any one method, whether it is posting resumes on the Internet, answering ads, networking, making targeted contacts, or cold-calling. Statistics vary on the percentage of job-seekers who find jobs through the Internet, but most studies suggest figures in the single digits. The largest percentage of job-seekers succeed in landing jobs through networking. Therefore, job-hunting time should be invested in proportion to the methods that are likely to be most fruitful. You will likely find it more effective, for example, to spend four hours networking with colleagues at the meeting of a professional organization in your field than to use those same four hours posting your resume on Internet job boards.

But beyond mixing up job-search methods in general, the wise job-seeker also mixes things up within individual methods. Take posting resumes on job boards, for instance. An increasing number of employers are using their own Websites to seek job candidates rather than through the major boards, such as Monster.com. So it makes sense to check out company Web sites, using, for example, The Quintessential Directory of Company Career Centers or DirectEmployers, a site that enables job-seekers to apply directly to company Web sites instead of third-party sites. Job-seekers may also find success in posting resumes on smaller, niche job boards that are industry-specific or geography-specific. Sites that cover classified ads for multiple newspapers may also be useful.

Finally, virtually every job-search method requires follow-up. Experts are now suggesting that submitting frequent — even daily — updates of your resume to the major job boards will keep your resume near the top of the virtual stack. If you’ve taken a step beyond merely posting your resume on job boards and are submitting your resume and cover letter in response to Internet job postings, follow-up, though difficult, is also advisable. See more about follow-up below.

You need a reality check if…
You don’t follow up with each employer after sending your resume and cover letter.
Some job-seekers think their task is complete once they send their cover letter and resume to an employer, but the reality is that their work has just begun. Job-seekers should state in the cover letter that they will follow-up with the employer (ideally the hiring manager) at some specified time, usually a week to ten days. That’s the easy part; the hard part for most job-seekers is actually following-up.

Some job-seekers see this type of follow-up as too aggressive; it is not. Following-up with a prospective employer to check on the status of your application conveys interest and enthusiasm on your part — as long as the follow-up is conducted professionally.

Other job-seekers find it too hard to actually obtain a phone number or email address of the hiring manager. This situation is a reality in today’s job market, but here’s where having a network of contacts can pay off, because if you have a network contact who works at the employer, he or she should be able to get the information you need to follow-up. You can also try our old technique of calling each prospective employer’s receptionist and asking to speak with the hiring manager.

In any job market, it’s the job-seeker who continues to show interest in the job opening who gets the edge over other job-seekers.

You need a reality check if…
You don’t prepare for job interviews by anticipating questions and researching the company.
One of the worst ways job-seekers can sabotage their job searches is by not preparing enough for the job interview. When you get invited to an interview it means that on paper you meet or exceed the employer’s expectations, but it’s at the interview where you can close the deal and beat out the other job-seekers who are also interviewing for the position.

The best way to prepare for job interviews is by anticipating the type of interview and interview questions and by researching the company thoroughly. There are several types of interview styles, from traditional interviews to behavioral interviews to panel interviews. Each type of interviewing format presents its own challenges and opportunities. Whenever possible, it best to uncover the type of interview you can expect — and then plan for it by preparing (but not memorizing) answers to those questions. And if you haven’t had an interview in a while, it might be best to conduct a mock interview with a career professional or trusted colleague.

By researching the employer and showcasing that information in an interview, you are demonstrating your interest and commitment to the company. One of the most common interview questions is “tell me what you know about our company.” One job-seeker we know actually creates a small binder for each employer, filled mostly with pages printed directly from the employer’s Web site; and in every interview where he has used this method, pulling the binder out to showcase his research, he has impressed the interviewers. Learn more in our Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Companies.

And to discover more about types of job interviews, interviewing strategies, and interview preparation, go to our Guide to Job Interviewing Resources.

You need a reality check if…
You don’t follow up regularly with employers you’ve interviewed with to keep your name at the top of the list.
No question about it — once you’ve had an interview with an employer, you must not only thank the employer for the time spent interviewing you, but continue to follow up, treading that fine line between showing your persistence and enthusiasm for the job and making a complete pest of yourself. Be sure to discern a timeframe for the employer’s hiring decision before even leaving the interview. Tailoring your follow-up schedule to that timeframe, plan on regular phone or e-mail contacts to keep your name in front of the employer.

Here are classic interview questions from one of my favorite books on interviewing: 

The Perfect Interview (2nd edition) by John D. Drake

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your strengths?
3. What are your major weaknesses or limitations?
4. What are your financial requirements?
5. Why are you leaving your present position?
6. What are your career goals for the next five years?
7. What kind of a position are you looking for?
8. What was your most significant accomplishment in your last position?
9. Doesn’t this job represent a step down from the level of work you’ve been doing?
10. How would you describe your management style?
11. Describe a time you failed.
12. How would you approach this job?

In an competitive job market where interviews are hard to land, not only do you need good answers to tough questions, you need a complete interview agenda which includes great questions, memorable stories that exemplify your qualifications, and a strong closing. Being well-prepared means you’ll have calm, convincing, successful, even fun interviews! Contact Tracy to set up an interview coaching session today.

by Dana Lynch
“To suit or not to suit?” That is the question. It used to be a given, before business casual and casual dress codes came to be, that an interview always meant donning a suit. It’s not so simple anymore. Especially in the tech field, dressing for work sometimes practically means “come as you are.” So how do you know what you’re supposed to wear for an interview at a company with a casual corporate culture?

First, it’s crucial to find out everything you can about your potential employer before ever stepping foot into the interviewer’s office. This includes learning about preferred dress for interviews. In today’s tight job market, many of you are networking your tails off and have contacts within the company. Ask them! Find out what they wore for their interview. Find out about the normal interviewing protocol. Getting information on interview attire is just as important as any of your other research on the company.

It’s very important to be specific about finding out the preferred dress for interviews not just what the dress code is at the company. It would seem to make sense that if the dress code is business casual or casual that the hiring managers wouldn’t expect to see all candidates in suits. This is not always the case! An acquaintance of mine works for a company with a business casual to casual dress code, meaning he wears twill and canvas pants with various casual shirts on most days. Many times jeans are completely acceptable.  We were discussing this issue one day, and he told me he’d never consider not wearing a suit for an interview at his company. He added that it’s a matter of respect. At this particular company, a job candidate interviews with many different people within the department – a very popular interview method today. Often the interviews are with potential peers in addition to management.  All of these people know they wore suits when they interviewed and would take offense to a candidate who didn’t bother to wear a suit. The candidate would be seen unprepared and less than serious about the job.

A second example supports the importance of not making assumptions about interview attire.  A friend told me her husband had a job interview, and that he wasn’t completely sure what to wear. He felt comfortable in khaki pants and an oxford cloth shirt given what he knew about the culture and dress code of the company. I relayed the following tip, a tip I strongly urge any of you follow when you’re not 100% positive about the expected interview dress code. Contact Human Resources or even your interviewer in the absence of an HR department. Ask what the preferred dress for a job candidate is. You can’t go wrong with this advice. My friend’s husband found out the company prefers their job candidates in suits. (And he got the job!)

None of this is to say that you won’t get the job if you’re not wearing a suit and everyone else is. However, wearing that suit and having a great image gives you an edge when decisions are being made. Studies show that people start forming impressions of you within seconds of them first seeing you. Sometimes the decision to hire someone is made within the first 30 seconds of meeting them! In other words, your image speaks well before you ever get the chance to open your mouth. It even continues to speak while you’re speaking.  You may be thinking, “But I’m so qualified, and I’m so prepared, and I want this job. They can’t judge me be my looks alone!” Truly it’s not judging on your looks alone. It’s human nature to take in all of the visual cues that we see. Taking in non-verbal communication is simply a natural, psychological function that stems from a primitive part of the brain. When an interviewer first sees you, he or she can’t control what’s going on in the subconscious.

When two candidates with fairly equal qualifications are up for the same job, the one with the better appearance will usually win. In addition to all of the other non-verbal cues, a suit helps to communicate strong traits, such as authority, efficiency, and dependability. Taking the extra effort to put on a suit shows you will take the extra effort to do a great job for the company.

That said, it’s better to be overdressed that underdressed. Lately, I’ve been hearing the advice that you don’t want to be better dressed than your interviewer. Honestly, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. Certainly, you don’t want to be dressed audaciously, but unless your interviewer is a complete novice and is unskilled at interviewing, he or she should not take offense to you being well-dressed. Furthermore, being dressed in an attractive, appropriate manner is a sign of respect!

Please don’t get the idea that you can ride on your appearance alone. That suit and your great shoes and accessories alone will not get you the job! You’re a package. You need to make a tremendous effort with your preparation in both your interview appearance and your research on the company along with your dazzling qualifications.

Remember, your image is a tool that can help you achieve success. Do your homework, find out what interview attire is preferred, and when in doubt…don the suit!

Dana Lynch is the owner of Elements of Image, an image consulting firm specializing in teaching professional women how they can use the power of image to gain an edge in the workplace and achieve their goals. Elements of Image works with individuals and corporate groups. For more information, contact Dana at 303-463-4839 or visit http://www.elementsofimage.com.

Strategic Interview Attire

“How to dress for interview success” is a frequently requested topic in the workshops and support groups I conduct. Here are a few strategic suggestions on looking your professional best, no matter your shape, size, gender, or age:

How to dress at an interview:

If the job is a major step up for you: Dress the part. If that means borrowing a great watch and/or investing in a fabulous new suit and shoe leather, then do it. Don’t forget to check out factory outlet and thrift shops for real deals. Be prepared to mix and match so you’ll have enough outfits for multiple interviews.

If the job represents a step down: If you don’t want to be the VP of Sales any more, don’t strut into the interview wearing a designer suit and power tie. Tone it down and dress more casually -in a sports coat and dress shirt without a tie, or a shirt and tie sans jacket, or a high-quality knit polo with crisply pressed khakis.

If you feel you are perceived as too young: Wear a serious suit, quality accessories, and add a sharp-looking pair of glasses (non-prescription models are available for whippersnappers with 20/20 vision). Oh, and consider losing the spiky hairdo and goatee.

If you worry you’ll be viewed as too old: Ask a few pros about the best way to update your hairstyle (in my humble opinion, shorter is always better for men who are gray or balding). Neither men nor women absolutely have to sport that gray if they don’t want to – there are plenty of roads back to your original hair color – just use your best judgment. Make sure your eyeglasses don’t date back to the 70s or 80s (think how spiffy you’ll look with a smart pair of glasses in the new high-tech materials). You might also want to consider dressing a notch or two more casually.

If you’re overweight: Make sure your garments are high-quality and well-fitted. Stand straight and tall. Seek expert assistance with a reputable retailer specializing in larger sizes. Go for color contrasts that result in slimming vertical lines, such as a darker shirt with a lighter-colored jacket or vice-versa. Add a splash of your favorite color to bring attention to your face via a silk necktie or scarf.

If you’re an underweight man: Consult with a smart tailor as to how to combine layers of clothing, well-starched shirts, shoulder pads, generous cuts, and more substantial fabrics to bulk up a bit.

If you’re a curvaceous woman: Don’t flaunt it or you’ll risk being hired (or not) based on appearance. Avoid body-conscious knits, tight or short skirts, and anything even remotely resembling a peek at your cleavage. If you’re ample-busted, be sure to wear a jacket. Make sure your clothes fit well and are attractive, but not seductive.

Stop making strong scents: Your well-scrubbed self should generate a pleasing, subtle scent that won’t burn the eyes of the interviewer. Skip the perfume and cologne altogether, please! Don’t smoke on the way to the interview, ever! Brush, gargle, and use breath spray, please!

Be a charming chameleon: Use the target company’s color as your accent color if possible.

If in doubt of what to wear for a given interview, ASK your interviewer ahead of time. Companies these days vary dramatically in conservatism of dress. In some of today’s entrepreneurial environments, the top folks may be sporting shorts and flip flops when they interview you – asking ahead of time ensures you don’t show up looking like a dork in a three-piece suit. Questions about how people dress for a normal day on the job versus a big client presentation day should be a part of your pre-interview intelligence gathering. Oh, and once you have the job, emulate the dress of those who currently hold your next position.

Last but not least - I’m astonished at the number of clients who obsess about appearances but otherwise fail to prepare for the interview. Do your homework on the company so that you’ll have a targeted interview agenda to go with that sharp get-up.

Congratulations on your interview!

You’ve just completed an interview for a position that interests you, or perhaps you met with a networking contact who offered some insight into your job search. Now that the interview is over, it’s time to swing into action with some memorable followup activities. Depending on the nature of your interview, followup can take several forms. What you do can greatly influence whether you succeed in generating a second interview or benefit from your networking meeting. Review the checklist below for specific activities that may apply to you.

Thank you note.

A thank you note should be sent immediately following an interview to each person with whom you met. A thank you note may be handwritten if it is brief (the “breadandbutter” thank yous our mothers taught us when we were children). However, a more effective followup is a wordprocessed letter that reinforces the points you made during the interview and reiterates your qualifications for the position. Thank you notes should always be personalized. If you are writing to more than one person at a company following a group or successive interview, do not send the same note to each; vary your missives so that the person reading it knows you recall and related to the specific information they provided.

Preparation of additional information/documentation.

During the interview, did you offer to put together a rough outline of a marketing idea you discussed? Were you asked to forward your college transcripts? Did you volunteer to send a great article you’d read about manufacturing in rural areas? Be prompt, precise, and proactive in providing additional material that may help support your candidacy. You may cover these materials with a brief handwritten note or your business card with a word or two jotted on the back.

Followup phone calls.

It is perfectly appropriate to follow up with the interviewer after a period of time to determine the status of the position and your candidacy. One of your final questions at the end of your interview might be, “When may I expect to hear from you? May I check back with you in two weeks?” Enter the date in your calendar and follow up as promised.

Continued networking.

A successful networking interview should result in additional contact names. Follow through on all leads, and give occasional status updates to the person who originally referred you.

In all your followup activities, be sure to spell the person’s name correctly and use his or her correct title. If you failed to get a business card during the interview, call the person’s office to check on the name. It’s a simple matter to say, “I’m sending a letter to Mr. Yastrzemski. Would you verify the spelling of his name for me?” You do not need to identify yourself in these calls, but if you enjoyed a friendly chat with a secretary or receptionist, it would be a good idea to call that person directly, identify yourself, and ask for his or her help. This is another way to keep your name and candidacy in the forefront.

Prompt, polite followup is an indicator of good business etiquette and will help to set you apart from candidates who do not follow up. Be sure you do all you can and all you’ve promised to cement yourself and your candidacy with potential employers. And if you need help with letter writing or have business etiquette questions, drop us an e-mail! We’ll be happy to help you shine even after the interview.