Blog: Liz Massey

Your career is what you make of it—and it never hurts to have a role model or two!

The Arizona State University Alumni Association will be presenting awards to alumni, faculty, staff and friends of ASU at its annual Founders’ Day celebration on Feb. 24, and all of the honorees have had robust careers from which we all can learn much. The event, which will take place at the Biltmore Resort and Spa, 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix, will commence at 6 p.m. with a reception; dinner and the awards ceremony will follow at 7 p.m.

The award winners range from a young researcher-entrepreneur who is seeking to find long-term energy storage solutions, to an education professor who is reinventing the way teachers are trained, to an ASU alum who is the Minister of Economy for the United Arab Emirates. The ASU Foundation will be presenting its first-ever Philanthropist of the Year Award at the event; the award will honor university supporters who have used their resources to undergird crucial ASU programs.

You can learn more about the history of the Founders’ Day event, as well as details about this year’s dinner and awards ceremony, by visiting http://asu.edu/foundersday/index.html.

Looking for a job-hunting advantage? Memorize this statement: employers want to hire and do business with people they know, like and trust.

If you’re a graduate of Arizona State University, the best place to find companies filled with people who know you is on the ASU Alumni Association’s Sun Devil-centric job portal, which is powered by Jobing.com. Many postings are posted exclusively to the portal, and many of the potential employers are looking specifically for applicants trained in ASU degree programs.

Here are the week’s top jobs:

Quality Assurance Specialist

Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Therapist

Business Analyst

Application Specialist/IT

Visitors to the portal can post their resume to the site, and employers can post jobs online at the site, as well, tapping into ASU’s talent pool for very reasonable prices.

You never know what you’ll find until you visit http://asu.jobing.com!

One of the great myths about career networking is that it’s all about you: your needs, your career, how your network can help you. However, most people who are on the receiving end of that sort of approach won’t see what you’re doing as networking so much as they will see it as self-centeredness.

Job seekers who use networking to tap into the so-called “hidden job market,” or who leverage organizational contacts to make the most of applications to advertised openings, are able to do this because they understand one simple concept—reciprocity.

Debra Feldman, a nationally recognized executive job search consultant, explains the importance of reciprocity this way:

“Networking is about relationships and developing connections and a sense of trust … If you are the individual seeking assistance, look for ways to give something back. It can be a simple thank you email or voice message, a holiday greeting, an invitation to an event so you can get together again, a link that they might find interesting, an introduction to someone that you think they should know, etc. In other words, don't treat your networking contacts as "one off" /one-sided exchanges but incorporate them into your existing relationships.”

Bob Rosner and Sherrie Campbell, co-authors of the weekly internationally syndicated workplace911 column, offer these 3 tips for becoming a networking “giver”:

·      “Offer before you ask. If you think you might have the occasion to need someone's help, offer them your help first… (Do) favors for people before you need help in return.

·      “Become a source of information. Remember people's interests, both personal and professional, then send them articles on these subjects. This is a great way to reach out and stay in touch with your contacts.

·      “Look out for opportunities. If you see opportunities that might be a good fit for someone in your career network, let them know.”

If you are currently employed, you may be interested in practicing reciprocity via something Sue Connelly of KIT List calls a “pay it forward wave.” The idea is simple—each day, each person participating in the wave does one thing to help a friend or relative or networking connection find a job. Here are some suggestions for being a part of the wave, as quoted on the Linked Intelligence blog:

·      Forward a job lead

·      Write a LinkedIn recommendation

·      Review a friend’s resume and give objective feedback

·      Set a time to meet for coffee or a drink (heck, we all need one these days!).

·      Make some calls on a friend’s behalf

·      Pass on a link to a good job site or a great article on job search

·      Make an introduction to a friend in a company he/she is interested in

·      Reach out to a colleague who has been laid off from your company to see how he/she is doing and offer to make connections for him/her

·      Become a “Job Buddy” – commit to meet on a regular basis to set goals and provide gentle accountability

·      Offer to do some role playing for a job interview

·      Tell (and write down!) four strengths/qualities you see in your friend

·      Review or help write a strong cover letter

These are all super suggestions for reciprocity. And in a time of high unemployment, actions on behalf of those in our network could easily pay off for us down the road, in terms of our beneficiary’s good will when they are in better circumstances.

Arizona State University resources to share with Sun Devil friends:

Maroon and Gold Professionals and Women in Business—these two networking groups meet regularly and can introduce attendees to dozens of ASU alums

Sun Devil Career Network — a job board focused on ASU graduates and powered by Jobing.com.

Workshops sponsored by ASU Career Services — Many of these events are open to ASU alums.

Looking for a job-hunting advantage? One tip for better success is to apply to companies where people know you. If you’re a graduate of Arizona State University, the best place to do that is on the ASU Alumni Association’s Sun Devil-centric job portal. Many postings are posted exclusively to the portal, which is powered by Jobing.com, and many of the potential employers are looking specifically for applicants trained in ASU degree programs.

Here are the week’s top jobs:

City Manager

Financial Analyst

Senior Web Application Developer

Crisis Specialist

Visitors to the portal can post their resume to the site, and employers can post jobs online at the site, as well, tapping into ASU’s talent pool for very reasonable prices.

You never know what you’ll find until you visit http://asu.jobing.com!

The ASU Alumni Association is hosting a gathering of its Women in Business networking group tomorrow, Jan. 28.

There will be a new location and a new twist to this month's meeting. Participants will pay $12 at the door and receive a margarita and a manicure! The festivities will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the Salty Senorita, 3636 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale.  

Enjoy conversation and fun while making important connections. RSVP today!

RSVP for the Women in Business mixer

Every Monday, we bring you a fresh set of opportunities directly from the ASU Alumni Association’s Sun Devil-centric job portal. Many postings are posted exclusively to the portal, which is powered by Jobing.com.

Here are the week’s top jobs:

Registered Nurse-ICU

Clinical Program Manager

Communications and Design Specialist

Desktop Engineer (IT)

Visitors to the portal can post their resume to the site, and employers can post jobs online at the site, as well, tapping into ASU’s talent pool for very reasonable prices.

You never know what you’ll find until you visit http://asu.jobing.com!

Over the next few months, I’ll be doing a few posts on why career networking works and why you might want to add networking mixers to your job-hunting regimen, if you haven’t already. I’ll also look at the best ways to network for your specific personality and work goals.

One of the major reasons networking works is counter-intuitive: many people are able to find work because they network with people they know slightly—their acquaintances—and they benefit from the fact that they and their acquaintance do not share a large number of mutual friends.

So how does one go about the getting-to-know-you process at a career-oriented event and move from being a stranger to being an acquaintance? Financial blogger Trent Hamm, writing on his site, The Simple Dollar, has some good advice:

“Build lots of weak connections and then strengthen the ones that are valuable to you … Many people immediately assume that to do this you must be the person at the meeting who shakes everyone’s hand and says nothing. I think that’s the worst way to do this. Instead, the best way to build weak connections with lots of people is to go where there are a lot of interesting people and provide as much value as you can. …

“Go to such meetings and get involved … pay attention, and ask questions that are interesting and potentially useful to others in the room. During the downtimes, (enter) into conversations with the presenters and with others who are expressing interest in your particular areas. Swap ideas with them – then swap contact information with them. Schedule dinners with several people at once – group meals are always a great way to improve relationships.

“Even more important, whenever you hear of a need that you can easily fill, fill it. If someone’s looking for a job, send them any job leads you have. If someone needs some information, give it if you have it (and can do so without getting yourself into trouble).”

Kevin Donlin, co-author of “Guerilla Resumes,” offers a couple of very good tips for taking advantage of your weak ties in this recent post on WorkBloom.com:

1.     Throw out affinity hooks. When you correspond or speak with an acquaintance, make it clear what you have in common. Donlin suggests mentioning schools you attended, companies you’ve worked at, fraternities, sororities, other non-religious and non-political groups, and charities or non-profits you’ve volunteered at.

2.     Mail out letters to weak ties. Yes, snail mail, which indicates you put more effort into it and may garner more reciprocity than a quickly dashed off e-mail. In your letter, it’s important to be clear about what you’ve done (recent employment), what you want to do next (goals), and what you’d like the reader to do (actions).

Donlin suggests that this networking letter be sent to well-connected school friends, former co-workers or managers, former clients or vendors, attorneys, real estate agents, bankers, old neighbors, and the like.

If you need a networking event to put these theories into practice, the ASU Alumni Association is hosting a Women in Business mixer next week on Thursday, Jan. 28 at the Salty Senorita in Scottsdale. The theme will be “Margaritas & Manicures.” Participants will pay $12 at the door and receive a manicure and a drink!

RSVP for the Jan. 28 Women in Business event today 

The 80/20 rule, articulated more than a century ago by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, states that 80 percent of your results will come from 20 percent of your efforts. The big secret, in job-hunting as well as the rest of life, is to find out what comprises the “magic” 20 percent and focus on doing more of those actions.

If you are a graduate of Arizona State University, part of your 20 percent should surely consist of visiting our Sun Devil-centric job portal. Many postings are posted exclusively to the portal, which is powered by Jobing.com.

Here are the week’s top jobs:

FT Hospice RN/Case Manager

Director of Human Resources 

Franchise Sales Developer

Web Developer

Visitors to the portal can post their resume to the site, and employers can post jobs online at the site, as well, tapping into ASU’s talent pool for very reasonable prices.

You never know what you’ll find until you visit http://asu.jobing.com!

It’s January and lots of people, perhaps even you, are trying new things as part of keeping their resolutions. If your resolution is to find a job, and you haven’t been to the ASU Alumni Association’s networking mixers, you owe it to yourself to give our gatherings a try.

The Maroon and Gold Professionals will meet at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 20, at Dave’s Electric Brewpub, 502 S. College Ave., Tempe. It will be the first career mixer of the new year, and the group’s first meeting at Dave’s, which is just south of the primary light rail stop for the ASU Tempe campus.

Come visit us; these meetings usually attract 50 or more participants, all of whom share a Sun Devil connection.

If you’re a member of the Alumni Association, this month’s meeting is even more of a sweet deal; you’ll get in FREE (member price is usually $10)! The event costs $20 for non-members.

RSVP for the Maroon and Gold Professionals mixer 

Want to save on entry fees for our mixers? Join the Alumni Association today!