Last September, I attended one of the premier résumé writing conferences in the country.  The National Résumé Writer’s Association (NRWA) has an annual conference where practitioners share their knowledge and expertise in their commitment to excellence in the field.  The majority of the attendees were professional résumé writers in private practice, with a few from the public and non-profit educational sector.  Becoming an NRWA certified professional résumé writer is no easy task and there are fewer than 75 in the United States.  Résumé writing can be a very lucrative business; a writer can earn between $250 and $1,500 for a single résumé, depending on the background and experience of the writer and the individual’s career level (recent graduate/entry-level to executive).

In the course of the three day conference, I asked the question of several attendees…. “Do any of you do résumé coaching?” and they would turn to me and respond repeatedly…”Is there a market for résumé coaching?” implying there was not or at least they had not tried to find out.  Upon reflection of the industry standards, I found myself leaving the conference both impressed by the caliber of the professionals I met but with a deeper commitment to the values and philosophy of what I/we at the Center for Advising and Career Services (CACS) call résumé coaching.

A résumé and cover letter, along with a LinkedIn account, are the primary tools for a student to use to step into their new career identity and envision themselves in their respective professional careers.  Résumé coaching is working collaboratively with a student for the student to learn to articulate and write their own accomplishment-based statements; not just the “what I did” of previous experience but “why was it important” and “how I performed the skills” an employer is looking for in a candidate.  It is digging deeper to tell a more compelling story and honestly and accurately describing their unique constellation of knowledge, talents, skills and abilities, thereby putting themselves in the best possible light using the language of their industry to the targeted employer.  I view this coaching model as a way for a student to build their self-efficacy.  Self-efficacy refers to the “expectations or beliefs concerning one’s ability to perform successfully a given behavior” (Betz, 1994, p. 35).   I see students initially approaching the challenge of marketing themselves with tentativeness and in the process I witness them building their self-efficacy.  This is what personally drives me as a career counselor and advisor.  I am more interested in teaching the skills than feeling a sense of pride for my own personal résumé writing ability.  Maybe someday I will reconsider and start my own résumé writing business but for now I plan to remain a résumé coach.

For ideas on building one’s self-efficacy related to job and career success, I suggest watching this Ted Talk by Amy Cuddy:  http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are

 ~ Edy Rhodes
Career & Academic Advisor
hrhodes@miis.edu

I recently delivered a Career Management Class to 45 2^nd-year students in our MA Translation, MA Translation & Interpretation and MA Conference Interpretation programs.  These are two-year programs, so by this time next year, the participants would be practitioners in the language industry.  As I delivered my course content, I split part of my attention to observing the students’ body language with the eye of a hiring manager who has interviewed and hired hundreds of employees internationally.  I asked myself how I, as a hiring manager, would feel about each one of them.  It was a fascinating experience “reading” them.  Each and every person’s confidence level and their receptivity of my course came through quite clearly from their body language.

I came across this TED Talk by Amy Cuddy regarding the power of body language that night and of course I dived into the video.  Here are my take-aways:

1. I knew how our body language affects others’ perception of us, but I was not as conscious about how our body language affects our own minds.  Our body language even affects the levels of testosterone (power) and cortisol (stress).
2. The concept of high testosterone/high cortisol vs. high testosterone/low cortisol among leaders resonated with me.  How a leader regulates her own stress level affects her effectiveness.
3. Fake it till you make it.  Absolutely true!  Performing with intentionality is key.

Here is the link.  Enjoy!

~Winnie Heh
Career & Academic Advisor
wheh@miis.edu

In the almost 30 years that I have advised MIIS students and alumni one key piece of advice stands out which is to think like an employer. As your application for an internship or job must match an employer’s needs to be seriously considered for a position, you will have to know what the employer wants to get hired. So many MIIS students look at the job search as a process of finding employers who match their skillset. That thinking can be a critical mistake as most employers have spent hours narrowing down what they are looking for in candidates and if your documents do not reflect their needs, your applications will quickly go into the “no” pile. So, how do you customize yourself to employer needs?

First of all, look carefully at the internship or job description. Usually, there is a qualifications section that enumerates the specific skills, knowledges and abilities (SKAs) that an employer team has spent hours editing to get the talent list right. You must show in your cover letter, resume and interviews that you have the required set of SKAs and that you have a significant portion of the “preferred” SKAs. The logical task in front of you is to analyze the description and prioritize the SKAs by what seems to be the priority order of the employer. In many cases, those SKAs mentioned first are the most important. Next, analyze your background to connect your experience and training to the top 10-15 SKAs. Lastly, customize your cover letter and resume to reflect that your background is front and center related to the top employer SKAs. Your cover letter is the teaser of top 3-5 skills described which leads to the desire to read more details in your resume.

As you enumerate your SKAs to the employer in both documents, use the same words the employer uses to describe your skillset. The more words of theirs you use, the more familiar sounding you are to employers. This process allows you to think like the employers, sound like the employers and create that required match employers are looking for in their applicants. When they see a match, your application goes into their “yes” pile.

One thing to remember is that a description is written with the ideal candidate in mind. Does the ideal candidate exist out here? The answer is that employers rarely find the perfect candidate for their openings. They usually find a small collection of applicants have most or many of the SKAs they seek. Through sifting through cover letters, resumes and conducting countless interviews, they eventually choose the one candidate who has the most SKAs listed with the best personality fit for the organization. They also hire the best fit who is usually not the perfect fit.

Hopefully, the above advice will get you started thinking like an employer which will spill over to writing and interviewing like an “employer empowered” applicant. Good luck!

 – Jeff Wood
Career & Academic Adviser
jwood@miis.edu

We all know that interviewing can be scary, especially if it’s not something you’ve had a lot of practice with. By the time you get to an interview, you know that you’re one of the organization’s top candidates for the position. Now the interviewer is listening to and observing you closely to determine whether you’re the best fit for that position. The pressure is on! What if you don’t come across as your best self (and the perfect fit for that role!) due to nerves?

The best way to combat interview nerves is to come in prepared. Check out our section on interviewing in this site for more on researching and preparing for interviews. But what if that’s not enough? The answer: do a mock interview!

Mock interviews are a great way to practice your answers in a safe and confidential setting. You can do as many as you like until you feel confident with your skills. Mock interviews can be done prior to a specific scheduled interview, or well in advance to build your general interviewing skills.

All of the CACS advisers are experienced at running mock interviews for students and alumni. If you’ve worked with your degree program’s adviser a good deal and already have established rapport, it may be a good idea to do your mock interview with another member of the CACS team to more closely simulate a real-life interview. Follow these steps:

• Sign up in Zócalo to meet with anyone on the team;
• Send the adviser an email letting them know when your meeting will take place;
• Provide the adviser with a copy of your resume and the job or internship posting, if applicable, to allow the adviser to construct questions in advance. If you’re preparing for a specific interview and know something about the structure and/or questions, please share this with the adviser, as well;
• If you’re not practicing for a particular interview, let the adviser know as much as possible about your interests and the types of organizations you may be applying to in the future.

We look forward to working with you to ensure that your next interview is a smashing success!

When the topic of negotiations is introduced, job seekers tend to immediately focus on salary. The topic of negotiations is a much larger topic, encompassing the entire compensation package (bonuses, insurance, flexible work schedule, early evaluations, etc.), subsequent promotions, pitching and selling your ideas in the workplace, and managing your ongoing success with coworkers on a team. Negotiation is a crucial skill to develop in order to successfully manage career transitions and ongoing relationships with employers.

One of the best recent resources on the topic of negotiations is the national best seller, “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. In her book she presents research regarding gender differences in negotiations. In G. Richard Shell’s “The Art of WOO”, through real world examples, he illustrates the different negotiation styles: competing, collaborating, compromising, accommodating, or avoiding. Much of Sandberg’s advice aligns with broader negotiation theory, which finds that a cooperative or collaborative approach is the best path towards understanding the other party and discovering new ways to fulfill mutual interests. Simply stated, approach negotiations with a “win-win” attitude. Talk with your adviser about specific strategies for your situation.

The Leanin.org website (not just for women) has numerous videos relevant to negotiations in the job search. Follow this link to hear Margaret A. Neale, Professor of Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, talking about a simple framework for approaching negotiations.

It is crucial to prepare and conduct thorough research to understand the employer’s perspective, their mission and values, what problems they are solving, and to know your market value in the specific geographic area where you will be working. For example, a translator or interpreter position in Washington DC will likely garner a higher salary than a similar position in Omaha, Nebraska.  Strategies will need to be adjusted in the compensation negotiation process depending on the organization where you want to work.

To learn more, plan to attend the CACS’s
Compensation Negotiation Workshop-April 2^nd 12:30-1:30 in B104
Attention will be given to the gender differences in compensation negotiations
Case studies will be presented for discussion

 – by Edy Rhodes

Example of Salary Calculators:

O*Net Online
Glass Door
Salary.com

Additional Negotiation Resources:

“Negotiation Strategies for Women: Strategies for Success.” Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation, 2013.

“Training Women to be Leaders: Negotiating Skills for Success.” Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation, 2012.

“The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap.” AAUW, 2015.

The team in the Center for Advising and Career Services is excited to announce the launch of our new site on the Middlebury blog platform. The site will replace all of our career development tip sheets with dynamic, ever-updated pages, and will feature a weekly blog post on career-related topics by each of our staff members.

Posts will be published through the This Week @ MIIS newsletter, as well as through Twitter (follow MIISCACS) and Facebook (“like” the Center for Advising & Career Services – MIIS page).

We love feedback! Tell us what you think in the Comments below so that we can ensure that we’re delivering the best resource possible to our community.

This site has been developed by the staff of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey’s Center for Advising and Career Services to provide students and alumni with the tools and insights required to successfully develop your career. We welcome you to explore the site and hope that you find it to be useful!