Using Communication to Get a Job

Here I discuss my advice on resumes and job interview tips

Hey everybody, it's
me, Dr. Brooks.

And I'm going to give you your
last bit of lecture content.

Believe me, this semester
is ending not the way

that any of us wanted to.

But we're going to make
the best of a bad situation

and try to give it to you here.

The last thing that I want
to talk to you about today

is about how we use
the skills that we've

been developing in COM
123 to better enable

you to succeed in your career.

We'll talk about how
you go after the job

you're looking for, how you
get the job with the interviews

that you have, and
two to three lessons

you can learn about
professionalism based

on what you've done here in
communication and COMM 123.

So let's get started.

We know that now,
more than ever before,

it's going to be really
important for you to digitally

market yourself, what
is your online presence,

and how do people perceive
you on first glance.

To do that you want to
think of a few things.

First, let's talk
about your resume.

Your resume is going to
be the starting place.

It's the beginning of
a conversation that's

going to lead off
with every recruiter

that you're talking to.

My experience with this is
based off of my experience

when I worked as a
recruiter for Caterpillar.

I was sent around the country
to talk to college students,

critique their resumes,
and develop relationships

with college campuses that
would encourage them to send

their students to our program.

And from that, I learned a lot.

One of the things that we were
told most often to look for

were results.

No matter what business
you're working with.

No matter what
entity you're trying

to go after, whether an
internship or full-time job.

You want to think about what
are the results that you

did at the experiences
that you've had.

It might be simple to
think about, OK, I was

a part-time worker at a Target.

Well, you could
talk about how you

were responsible for checking
out customers or guests,

in that speak.

But it's more powerful
to talk about what

was the impact of that action.

A leader once told me, I hired
you to solve problems, not

create them.

So with every task
that you have,

think about what is the impact.

What were the
results of that job?

A second example might be
a student once asked me

to critique her resume, and she
was a public relations student.

And in it she shared
information about how

she created this promotional
flyer for a reunion event.

And she said, I
curated three flyers.

Now what that didn't
tell me was what

are the results of that action.

In most cases, you're
trying to create a flyer

to get people to show up.

Well, what was the
percentage of attendance?

How many people looked at
that piece of information?

If you're doing the
social media content,

tell me what the followers were
before you started and after.

How was that communication
used to either drive sales

or achieve the results
of that organization?

For most companies in a
capitalistic enterprise,

they're looking to
either grow their sales

or to be more efficient
with the resources

that they already have.

In the nonprofit
sector, the goals

might be to increase
engagement or awareness

of that particular issue.

There are ways to measure it.

And no matter what
you're doing, make

sure that you're measuring
the impact of your efforts.

If you're a business student,
you could do the same thing.

If you're an
engineering student,

maybe you worked on
a project and you

designed a particular
fabrication for manufacturing.

Allow me some grace here.

If you're doing
that, then you want

to think about what are
the results of that action.

Make your resume results based.

The second tip that you
can do for your resume

is to think about
making it keyword

searchable and compatible
with the job call.

Due to the equal
opportunity employment laws,

most places are going to make
sure that no matter where

you encounter the recruiter, you
have an equal chance of being

hired by them.

But that means
that they're going

to take your resume
and your cover letter,

and they're going to digitally
insert it into their files.

Or more than likely, they're
not going to accept resumes

at the career fair.

They're going to make
you apply online.

Then, the hiring manager is
going to do a search, saying,

I'm looking for candidates
that fit these criteria.

And let me tell you, the
criteria they're going to use

are the keywords
for the job call.

Which means that if the
words in your cover letter

and in your resume
don't match up

with the keywords of
the job, you're not even

going to make that first cut.

So make sure your
resume applies and is

adapted to the keywords
of whatever job

you're looking for.

The way to do this is to adapt
your cover letter for every job

that you apply.

Finally when it
comes to your resume,

leave off your high
school accomplishments.

You might think, well
yeah, I was the prom king.

I want people to
know I was popular,

which was a thing
someone said to me once.

You might think that's a
good way to sell yourself.

But it doesn't really speak to
the value of who you are now.

Even if you're a
freshman or a sophomore,

think about what you've
learned and grown

in the time you've done it.

What are the organizations
that you're involved in?

What are the activities?

What are your favorite classes?

Try to play with those as well.

Further, don't put anything
on your resume that

isn't applicable
to you specifically

and makes you stand out.

A lot of people
want to put, oh, I

have good Microsoft Word skills
or I'm proficient with Excel.

Are you?

If you say you're
proficient with Excel,

you better be able
to do pivot tables

and do really advanced
data analytics.

Everybody is good at
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.

Don't put yourself as
a skill set on there

if you're looking for
a mid-management job

because you're really not
helping yourself stand out.

So to review, you
need to make sure

that your resume
is results-based,

that you put information
in there that's

compatible with the job
it's being applied for.

And finally, that you leave
off high school accomplishments

or things that aren't accurate.

When you're thinking
about your career,

it's time to think about how
you handle the job market.

How do you go about
looking and interviewing

with either career fairs or
with the interview itself?

When it comes to your job
search, my advice to you

is this.

Treat it like a class.

Bracket out a few
hours every week.

And you're going to
sit down and you're

going to treat your
job search in that way.

Research the companies.

My one big piece of advice to
everyone in the job market,

now or in the future, is this.

If you want to be a
part of an industry,

you better make sure you are
a student of that industry.

Know the key players.

Know what's happening.

Read the trade magazines.

The other day, I went
on a recruiting trip

with the University of Alabama.

I was interacting with a student
who said they were interested

in broadcast journalism, that
they want to be a sideline

sports reporter.

I mentioned the opportunity
I had this last fall

to go behind the
scenes at college game

day and get to meet Reese Davis.

And the student did not
know who Reese Davis was.

Yeah.

If you want to be a
part of an industry,

you need to know
everything about it.

Follow those key players
and be able to be

knowledgeable about
that subject matter.

When it comes to
the interview, you

want to think about two things.

You want to think about
your opening pitch

and how you answer questions.

First, you want to
have an opening pitch.

The first thing they're
going to ask you is, hey,

tell me about yourself.

And if you don't have a way
of explaining who you are

and what you do in a way that's
valuable to somebody else,

it's not going to
work out for you.

Check out the
previous video that I

posted that explains all the
parameters of the elevator

pitch.

Now when it comes
to asking questions,

remember that
formula I taught you

of, situation, task,
action, result.

You want to think
through, on your resume,

of the different
experiences that you've had.

And try to put them in ways that
are meaningful or manageable

to that.

So for example, they
might ask you something

like, tell me about a time when
you failed to meet a deadline.

And you could speak
to maybe a class

experience that
you've had, where

you failed to meet a
project at a particular time

and how you learned from that.

The way this is built
is the best predictor

of future behavior is
your past behavior.

And they're trying
to determine what

your past behavior has been.

So make sure that you
have that capacity

to explain that
in the situation.

Where were you?

What were you asked to do?

What did you do?

And then what were the
results of that action?

Now as you begin your
interview, there's

one question that you
should ask at the start.

And it's this.

What are the
qualities that you're

looking for in the ideal
candidate for this position?

Now that might feel weird
because you're thinking, well,

are they really going
to tell me that?

Most the time, they will.

And then what you do is
you pivot your answers

to best reflect the qualities
that they're looking for.

Then it really
becomes clear that you

are the ideal candidate
that they're looking at.

When you end your
interview, you want

to make sure that
you have questions

at the end about that company,
about what their interests are.

You also want to
say this, is there

any reason you can
think of why I would not

be an ideal candidate
for this job?

And they'll tell you, well,
we were hoping to get somebody

with more experience.

We were hoping to find somebody
who was a little bit more

advanced in their career.

And after they say
that objection,

that is when you
have the opportunity

to counteract that
with your own argument

as to why you would be the
best fit for that category.

Make sure that you have
an answer prepared.

Finally when it comes
to your resume, when

it comes to how you
professionally communicate,

you want to think about
your communication modes

and materials.

I would make sure that I
had a professional email.

The last couple of weeks,
e-mailing everybody online.

You'd be surprised
about the email

addresses I get responses from.

Make sure it has something
associated with your name.

Next, make sure that when
somebody Google's you,

it's got a positive
image that comes up.

Look at what your Facebook
profile says, your activities

on LinkedIn, et cetera.

It's really important
that you think about that.

Second, make sure that you
have an outgoing voicemail that

says your first and
last name, especially

if you're on the job market.

Record a voicemail
that says, hi, you've

reached the voicemail
of Dr. Adam Brooks.

This way, if I'm a hiring
manager and I'll call you,

I know that I've reached
the right person.

I may have dialed
the wrong number.

It's really important.

And if you are on the
hiring search right now,

make sure you answer numbers
that you don't recognize.

They might be somebody
looking for a job.

Finally, you want to learn how
to construct an actual email,

have a signature
that says your name.

Introduce the person,
saying, Dear Dr. Brooks.

Then, have the message
that you're looking for

and then finally sign off.

You'd be surprised at
the number of emails

I get from students that
don't do any of those things.

Make sure you do
that because it looks

like you have the amount
of respect that you have.

Lastly, when it comes to
communication professionally,

I can't tell you
how important it

is that you send
handwritten thank you

notes after every interview.

I recently hired someone in
our department for a job.

And we interviewed
three different people.

Only one person sent a thank you
note, thanking me for my time.

You'd be surprised at how
few people will not do that.

So to review, you want to
make sure your resume is

results-based.

You want to make sure
that you are properly

prepared for that interview.

And then think about how
you communicate both before

and after.

These are going to
be the ways that you

can make your communication
as effective as you can.