Ask a Career Coach: Help! I’m Not Getting Interviews, But I’m Doing Everything Right

Ask a Career Coach: Help! I’m Not Getting Interviews, But I’m Doing Everything Right was originally published on The Muse, a great place to research companies and careers. Click here to search for great jobs and companies near you.

Dear Kyle,

I’m stuck in what I would say is a “rut.” I’ve been employed at my current position for a little over eight years and am sort of stuck. There’s no chance of advancement. I’m bored and know that I have many transferable skills (in pharmaceutical sales); however, because I don’t have direct experience in the area I want to take my career, I can’t even get an interview.

I’ve been sending out my resume for over a year now. I had it professionally assessed by someone experienced in this line of work, so I know it’s professional and highlights my transferable skills. I feel incredibly confident that if I could just obtain an interview, I’d be well on my way to getting the job. Any suggestions or insights on how else I can promote myself to stand out? I’m at a loss!!

Signed,

Stuck-in-a-Rut

Dear Stuck-in-a-Rut,

You just struck a chord with 90% of people who have tried to apply for jobs online. It’s tricky; you can’t ignore the standard application process, but what do you do when the portals become black holes? Assuming you’ve already been tweaking your resume and customizing your cover letter every time you apply for an opening, following up, and still getting no response, it’s time to take other action.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and I’m here to help you navigate it all so that you get interviews (and, subsequently, offers).

Build Your Personal Brand

Once you’ve decided to delve into a new line of work, one of the most important (and fun) things you can do is establish your personal brand. This is effective for two reasons. First, when a recruiter believes you’re a good candidate based on your resume, they will almost always Google your name or try to find you on LinkedIn before contacting you. You want the information that they find to further sell you as a great candidate.

Second, a strong and comprehensive online profile could get you found before you even know about an opening. Being directly contacted by a recruiter is entirely possible (and if you want to learn more about getting poached, check out what recruiter Jaclyn Westlake has to say).

If you’re in the early stages of building your brand, here’s what you need to know:

Make sure you have a completed LinkedIn profile that aligns with your resume. A high-quality headshot and full, detailed summary that demonstrates your passion for your new industry are essential components. The summary’s also a great place to sell your transferable skills.
Create a personal website. No need to take an HTML/CSS class when SquareSpace exists to make your life easier. Think of this as an online business card: Having one is essential, regardless of how many (or few) bells and whistle it contains.
Manage your social media. Tweeting about your profession or posting pictures of industry networking events can help paint a more complete picture of you and your aspirations. On the flip side, your social profiles are another thing a recruiter’s going to see if and when he searches your name online, so make sure they don’t contain anything you wouldn’t be proud to share.

I should note that you want your brand to reflect both passion and skill in the industry you’re seeking. If you can’t honestly do that right now, then you’ll need to take a class, find a side gig, or volunteer so that you do have that experience. Then make sure that’s highlighted on your personal site or on your LinkedIn profile.

…Within reason of course, let’s not go completely nuts

Check Out 10,000+ Openings Now

Work Your Network

Ask a career coach the best way to find a new job and they’ll respond the same way: network. If you know someone who can be your internal champion, the digital application will be far from the only thing you have to snag the hiring manager’s attention. There are no shortcuts or secrets to building a network overnight, but there are definitely some best practices you can implement starting now:

Set a goal to connect with five relevant people per week. LinkedIn’s probably your best bet for this, but you can also find people on Twitter or through personal websites containing a “contact me” page. Some industries even have their own resources for connecting with others in your field (For example, Angellist is one for the startup community).
Work on getting to know your new connections. Make a plan to set up one informational interview every week. Sitting down (in real life) with someone who is doing the job you want and learning everything you can about it will give you talking points for reaching out to other industry folks—and it may put you at the forefront of their mind in the event that there’s an opening at their company. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice on getting your foot in the door.
Take advantage of hiring events, meetups, professional mixers, or any other industry event happening in your area and meet people who can give you more insight into a specific job, and maybe even recommend you for a role when the time comes.

A well-developed personal brand and an active, thriving network could be just the thing to get you past the application process and to the interview stage. Unlike job applications, these tools will continue to improve your job search for years to come. So get started! When you focus on the right pieces of the job search you won’t just see more interviews, you might even start to enjoy them.

Milestone 3: Gain Experiences

Securing a high quality internship or professional experience that helps you develop the skills necessary for your future is a key step to preparing for your post-graduation goals.

We recommend that you target a position within a professional setting under the supervision of a practicing professional. This may include internships, research experiences, practicum roles, in-depth service learning or part-time professional experiences. Most importantly, choose an experience where you will truly push yourself and grow your skills!

Why Are Internships & Professional Experiences Important?

DU students that have completed an internship or professional experience are more likely to have secured post-graduation plans within 6-months of graduation and make, on average, $5,000 more in their first job after graduation! Additionally, 50% of employers report that they expect students to have 2 or more relevant experiences by graduation. Quality internships make you more marketable to both employers and graduate programs!

Five tricks to preparing your Personal Statement, from the Admissions Committee

It’s early November, September LSAT scores have arrived, and if you plan to matriculate in the fall of 2017, you are probably deep in the work of law school applications. If you’re like many students, the part of the application you dread most, and may even be avoiding, is the personal statement. This blog offers some guidance to help you through that process.

Last week, admissions representatives from Berkeley Law, Northwestern Law, USC Gould School of Law, and Texas Law were on campus speaking with AU students about the admissions process, and turned to the topic of Personal Statements. If you weren’t able to join them, here is a taste of what they shared.

First, the basics. Follow the directions. This includes responding to the exact prompt posed, the page limits, the specific information requested, and any other guidance. Don’t cheat with tiny fonts – admissions committees are wise to that trick. They will use your personal statement to judge your writing skills, for sure. They will also use it to assess your judgment, decision-making, and ability to read and follow specific instructions.

Now that you have the formatting down, consider the statement itself – what you will share, how you will share it, and what it will tell admissions committees about you. Use this moment to be genuinely introspective and tell a story – your story, in your own words. Think of your life as a path. You don’t want to write about where you are now on the path, or where you plan to go next. Instead, consider your backstory. How did you get where you are now? Avoid starting your statement with a quote – the best stories are in your own words and voice, not someone else’s.

Give the admissions committee the opportunity to get to know you beyond your LSAT score. Don’t repeat your transcript or your resume in narrative format. Instead, share how you got here from there. Write in more depth about that experience from your resume and why it matters. Explain how it has become part of your story.

Treat your personal statement as if it is an admission interview. Answer the questions you wish they would ask. Share something new that the admissions committee can’t learn elsewhere in your application. This is your chance to make your case for admission and to communicate what law schools should know about you, but otherwise won’t.

Avoid answering questions asked elsewhere – for example, if there’s a supplemental question that asks Why Our Law School? don’t use two paragraphs of your personal statement to explain that. Use the optional questions as clues to what is best covered elsewhere. Each part of the application is a chance to enhance the committee’s sense of who you are, and how you will fit into their community of scholars. Use each and every piece you can to your best advantage. And when you have done that, hit Save, and walk away.

9 Office Etiquette Rules Every Person Should Know

You might be surprised at just how rude people can be, and how many people have no idea about etiquette, including office etiquette. It is so important to follow all of the rules of etiquette when you are sharing a workspace with others, and there are many rules to follow. Today we are going to talk about nine of the most important office etiquette rules everyone should know.

Close Your Office Door – If you have an office with a door, and you need to take a personal call, make sure that you close the door. If you do not have a door, find a private space, a lounge area, etc., and keep the call as short as possible. Try to avoid taking or making the call around others who are trying to concentrate on their work.
Don’t Gossip in the Bathroom – The bathroom is where you go to relieve yourself, freshen up, etc. It is not the place to gossip, talk about what you did over the weekend, or hang out with your coworkers. Also, do your part to keep the bathroom clean. You may even want to use cleaning skills as skills to put on a resume.
Be Careful with Food – There are going to be many times when you will have to eat at your desk. Make sure that you bring foods that are not going to make a mess, or that have strong odors. You may love fish, but no one around you is going to love the smell. Also, clean up after yourself when you are eating at your desk.
Don’t be Greedy – If someone brings a home-baked treat into the office, don’t be greedy and take more than your share. Take one piece, and leave the rest for others to enjoy. Also, if you do happen to take the last piece of anything, wash the dish and give it back to the person who brought the treat in.
Don’t Insult Others’ Food Choices – Speaking of food, don’t make fun of what others are eating. Sure, if it smells really bad, you can politely mention this in the hope that they won’t bring it again. But, everyone has their own dietary preferences, and in some cases, certain foods, no matter how unappealing they are to you, are necessary for someone’s diet.
Don’t Wear Perfume – Just because your office isn’t designated as a scent-free workplace, it doesn’t mean that you should be dousing yourself in perfume or other scented products. Remember, what you think smells lovely may wreak havoc on the sinuses of others.
Don’t Steal Others’ Lunches – Here’s another food-related tip. Don’t be a lunch thief. How would you like it if you were waiting for several hours to enjoy a special treat you bought for your lunch, only to find that someone else has already eaten it? If someone else in the office is a lunch thief, you can keep your food safe by keeping it in your office or at your desk in a small cooler bag.
Don’t Block the Elevator Door – If you are at the front of the elevator and someone behind you needs to get out, don’t block the door. Instead, step out, let them exit, and then re-enter. If your boss wants to get on, hold the door for them and let them go inside first.
Don’t Use Social Media – It is never a good idea to use social media while you are at work. In fact, some employers have rules against using it all together, unless you are on a break. Also, don’t use social media as a platform to complain about your job, a co-worker, etc.

How to Write a Cover Letter for Internships Share Options July 10, 2017

Are you interested in taking on an internship while you are in college? If so, you can’t just walk in and expect to get the job. You need to apply like you would for any paying job, which means that not only do you need to submit a resume, you also need to submit an awesome cover letter. This is what is going to get you noticed, and maybe get your foot in the door.

What is a Cover Letter?

A lot of people really dislike writing cover letters, and they have no idea how to write a good cover letter. To begin with, many people don’t even really know what the purpose is, other than a general introduction. A cover letter lets potential employers (in this case, the person or company offering the internship) know that you really want the job. It is a professional document that shows why you would be the best candidate for the internship.

Your cover letter should be created for the type of internship you are trying to get into. For instance, if you are looking to intern in the business world, your cover letter should reflect this. Make sure that it includes any related experience you have, including academic and extracurricular. Sometimes, this is all an employer needs to decide that you are the right person for the internship, or at least entice them to read your resume to learn more about you and your qualifications.

There are three main things that employers expect to see on cover letters:

An introduction
Your interest in the company and the position/internship
Your qualifications

Sometimes, cover letters are so good that potential employers don’t even bother with the resume. The candidates get interviews based on their cover letters alone. Strive to make your cover letter this great.

Tips for Creating an Effective Cover Letter for an Internship

Use Business Letter Format – Always us the proper business letter format, especially if you are sending the cover letter via mail. Include a salutation, and your signature should be at the bottom.
Personalization – Your cover letter should be unique to the type of internship you are applying for. Make sure that it highlights any skills and talents you have that are related to this specific internship. Make the reader think that you are the only possible candidate for this internship. A good cover letter guide will help you do this just right.
Give Examples – If you have a certain skill that pertains to the internship, have studied in that area, have work experience in the area, etc., make sure that you highlight this on your cover letter. Give examples from past work, your studies, and extracurricular activities that are relevant.
Focus on Academic Experience – If your studies are related to the internship you are applying for (which is ideal so you have experience after graduation), make sure that your cover letter shows this. This shows that you have skills and knowledge in the area. If you have been particularly successful with projects, include this information to show that you have the skills they need.
Talk about Extracurricular Experiences – If you have done things outside of school that relate to the internship, mention them in your cover letter. For instance, if the internship involves working with kids, and you have worked as a camp counsellor or have similar experience, this is something you need to highlight so it stands out.
Mention a Follow-Up – Make sure that your cover letter informs the reader that you will be following up with them at a later date. You can say that you will be calling the office or sending an email, unless of course the internship listing says that you are not to call for a follow-up.

Unpack Your Resume to Prep for Interviews: A Storytelling Technique

Throughout your job search, you’ll be telling stories about your past experience to help hiring managers understand how you’ll likely perform in the job if they hire you. In this post, I’m going to share a trick that can help you start to prepare for interviews well ahead of when you’ll reach that point in your job search, so that when you meet with an interviewer telling your story will be a breeze.

On your resume, you can use a bullet point formula for sharing detail and telling stories with your past experiences. The one we like goes like this:

Skill verb + what you did + why you did it or the result/outcome of your action (quantifying throughout)

This formula helps to move your bullet point statements from something like:

Answered phones.

To something more like:

Communicated with about two dozen clients per day about appointment scheduling and problem solved issues in a professional manner to ensure a positive customer experience.

See the difference? There’s a lot more detail shared, and it can help hiring managers get a true sense of your skills and experience.

In interview preparation, we have a similar formula, STAR:

Situation/Task: Set up the context of the story you plan to tell.
Action: Describe the action that you personally took.
Result: Wrap it up by explaining the result or outcome, quantifying when possible (percent change, lessons learned, time saved, etc.)

STAR can be used for a variety of interview questions because it’s such a flexible formula. Additionally, it’s very similar to the bullet point formula! There are three parts to the story, and the only difference is the order of these parts and the length of the story. Check it out:

Resume		Interview
1. Skill verb	→	2. Action
2. What you did	→	1. Situation/task
3. Why you did it/outcome	→	3. Result

Now, since the skill verb is usually just one word, it’s important to give a specific example of that action if you don’t already have it built in to your situation/task or result. This gives us our final strategy:

Resume		Interview
1. Skill verb	→	2. Action + Detailed Example
2. What you did	→	1. Situation/task
3. Why you did it/outcome	→	3. Result

This similarity between the two formulas makes it easy to use your resume’s bullet points while preparing for interviews. Here’s a way that the bullet point statement above can work well as an interview answer:

Q: Tell me about a time when you used good judgment in solving a problem.

A: One of my daily tasks as a receptionist was to answer phones [Situation/Task] and help clients to schedule appointments and address inquiries. Part of this involved solving problems in a professional manner [Situation/Task]. I quickly learned how to communicate [Action] to callers that I understood their questions and concerns. One time in particular [Detailed Example], a client called to verify an appointment the next day that hadn’t actually gotten onto the calendar. Our next opening was over two weeks out. So, I assured the customer that I understood their situation, needed to check with my supervisor, and would call them back within two hours to let them know if we could get that appointment onto the calendar after all. While we weren’t able to schedule the customer the next day, we were able to get them in only a week later, and I communicated our apologies clearly during the callback. This provided a positive customer service experience [Result] and retained that client.

There you have it! If this is a helpful method for you, download this worksheet to start writing out some STAR story prompts based on your resume. It’ll come in handy to have these notes already started when you have an interview coming up!

Did this strategy work for you when preparing for an interview? Let us know at careers@du.edu—we love to hear success stories and feedback!

Work Hard to Build Trust With Your Clients

As a business owner, do you consider yourself a salesperson? If you don’t already, then you should. Anyone who is in business is in sales. And sales often boils down to relationships. You know the old adage that “People buy people” right? Building and maintaining relationships is a key skill for business owners.

Here are some guidelines to help form the trust bonds that underlie relationships.

-Put in the time and energy to deeply understand the real needs of your customers. You do this by actively listening and carefully paying attention. Customers want to know that their concerns are considered valid by the people they do business with. Give a customer your full attention.

-If you are a business that has other businesses for customers, show you care by learning about your customer’s business model, industry, stressors, customer base, and anything else that is relevant. You can do this by reading trade journals, attending industry events, spending time with industry members, and paying attention to relevant media. Make it your business to be up on their business.

-Never pretend to be knowledgeable about something you’re not, or pretend to care about something you don’t. Sincerity is a necessary foundation for trust. Faking it will come around to bite you, every time. It goes without saying that genuine relationships require honesty.

-Always provide excellent service. It goes without saying that customer service should be a cornerstone of your customer relations. But how many businesses consistently provide it? Yours should be one that stands out for that very reason. Resolve to create a business that is passionate and dedicated to your customers. Create an environment they won’t want to leave for any reason.

-Offer a sincere and wholehearted apology if the situation warrants one. We all make mistakes. Take full responsibility for yours.

-Continually pay attention to your good customers. Don’t take them for granted as you work on acquiring new ones. Treat them as special and important to you, because they are.

Marcia Bagnall is Director of the Chemeketa Small Business Development Center and instructor of Small Business Management Program. The Small-Business Adviser column is produced by the center and appears each Sunday. Questions can be submitted to SBDC@chemeketa.edu. Visit the SBDC at 626 High Street NE in downtown Salem or call (503) 399-5088.

Not just your diploma in hand, but your first post-grad job, too

Half the battle of the job search is simply in having clarity around what you want to do and how you want to plug-in, then finding the companies doing those things. As a multi-pronged approach to the job search, it will be most effective to spend time clarifying your post-graduation goals, even if that means your goals for the short run, while also leveraging the platforms that aggregate job postings, such as Built in Colorado, LinkedIn, Indeed, among others. If you’re looking to be employed by the first week of June, then consider these next steps and points of self-inquiry for the job search:

What do you want to do? Where do you want to have impact? (i.e.—be a champion for the underdog, conserve the environment, influence policy, build self-esteem of youth, streamline systems or operations).
How do you want to plug into that issue? (i.e.—blogging, education/training, fundraising, developing a community support group, lobbying, researching, etc).
1. 1. If it’s blogging, for example: Who are the bloggers that are successful? What are they doing to be successful? Can you find them on LinkedIn or Pioneer Connect, and request an opportunity to talk to them to get their insight?
Who are the employers and organizations addressing the very issues you care about?
1. Research LinkedIn, Guidestar and other similar resources to identify those companies.
2. Develop a Target list of at least 25 employers you’re most interested in, track them in a spreadsheet.
3. Identify 1-2 contacts within those organizations and send an email to one individual in each of your Top 5 Companies requesting an informational interview.
Update your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile (meet with a Career Advisor for input)
Leverage the job search resources on Pioneer Careers or via the Field/Industry resources to search for Job Postings and/or to find employers. (How to use Pioneer Careers).
Consider working with a staffing agency to connect you to employment opportunities
Attend the Upcoming Government and Nonprofit Career Fair on Wednesday, April 20th

And, in the meantime, check out Career Services upcoming events, such as the next LinkedIn workshop to help you build your network to relevant opportunities, or learn how to develop a stronger resume.

Answering the Dreaded Salary Question

It has probably happened to you, right? You are in an interview, well prepared and confident in your answers. Then suddenly the interviewer asks, “So, what are your salary expectations?” Blindsided, you don’t know what to say or how to even approach your answer. Should you have seen this coming? The answer is probably yes, but even then, what is an appropriate answer to that question?

The good news is, you likely will not be thrown out of the interview for suggesting a number outside their salary range. In fact, the question is designed really just to give the employer an idea of how close they are to what you need. To be clear, this is not the point in the process to be negotiating your salary. Negotiation should really start once you have received an offer. This is just to make sure that you and the employer are in the same ballpark.

Here is what I suggest: first determine what you NEED. By that I mean, what salary would you need to maintain your current lifestyle. Go through all of your expenses (car payments, rent/mortgage, student loans, groceries, gas, etc.) and determine what level of salary would cover your expenses, and on top of all that, factor in the occasional concert tickets, going out to dinner, ski passes or lift tickets, etc. so that you’re able to at least maintain your current lifestyle.

Once you have an idea of what that salary number looks like, now it is time to determine what you WANT. There are many ways to conduct research on salaries. You can use sites like salary.com or Glassdoor, but I recommend going straight to O*Net Online. This information on this site is developed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment & Training Administration, to ensure greater accuracy. As an example, if I am searching for salary information for a Public Relations Assistant position I am interviewing for, I simply type the title of the position into the quick search bar (not every job title will be the same or even listed, so you have to find the most related occupations) and scroll down to the Wage Information section. Here you will be able to compare local and national wage averages for that particular job title!

Now that you have the number you NEED and the number you WANT, whether they’re close or not, your target salary should be somewhere between the two. Rather than presenting just one number to a potential employer, try giving them a range to show that you’re flexible, as suggested here by Allison Doyle of The Balance. You might even phrase it like this:

Based on my research I believe that somewhere between $47,000 a year (NEED) and 55,000 a year (WANT) seems realistic. I am very interested in this job and am certainly open to further discussion. Am I close to the range that you have?

Now that the employer has an idea of what you are aiming for, it will be much easier for the hiring team to consider what an offer would need to look like. Remember, this is not a one-size-fits-all strategy for determining salary requirements. Follow your gut. If the number you determine based on your expenses seems low for the type of work you will be doing, maybe you will want to start higher. Always try to keep in mind your value and worth- don’t sell yourself short!

This is not an easy question to answer, so don’t hesitate to seek help in preparing your response. You can make an appointment in Pioneer Careers Online with your Career Advisor to get tailored assistance.

Help! What do I put in my resume?

“Can I see your resume?” “Bring a copy of your resume!” “You need a resume!” “Update your resume!”

How many different messengers in your life have shared one of these “helpful” comments as you prepare for an internship or job search, or finish a grad school application? Don’t let the questions cause you anxiety, instead stop by one of the upcoming workshops on campus on April 18th (whether you’re a current student or an alumni) to have your resume reviewed by a local employer.

“What a great experience for your resume!” “Don’t put that on your resume.” “Your resume is too…!”

Distill the advice that comes your way from family, friends, and colleagues and hear recommendations directly from Human Resource professionals from companies that frequently recruit at DU.

Prepare:

Begin a resume or update an existing resume

Bring:

A paper copy of your resume OR a digital copy of your resume on a laptop or other device that you can look at and review with another person

Expect:

You will sit down with an employer who has volunteered their time to help you with your resume. They will give you 10-15 minutes to point out strengths in your resume, suggest updates, and answer your questions!

Get ready to mingle at the Careers with A Cause event or apply for your next position!

Category Archives: Bad Habits

By Chemeketa SBDC

A wealth of current research tells us that the most critical factor in controlling undesirable turnover and increasing retention of talented people are the skills of managers. People join companies but they leave managers. Satisfied employees are critical to the success of your business. If they’re not happy on the job, customers are not happy being with them.

So what do you do when you have an employee who is just not happy? Every business can have “the glass is half empty” person on the lookout for something to go wrong. You can recognize them — they spend the majority of the day in a negative slump and critical of everything from projects to people.

The “it will never work” attitude also can devastate your company morale. You may start to notice that other employees — once happy, motivated people — are starting to gossip and criticize. When it comes down to it, negativity is like the flu: It’s contagious. It’s also expensive. Negativity costs companies millions in terms of productivity and profitability.

So how do you deal with an employee whose negativity is starting to rub off on other people? Our first instinct may be that the person’s behavior is just about their “bad attitude” and ignore it. Not a great idea. This can actually fuel the fire by setting a culture of negativity. In fact, if we do nothing about the negativity — we are condoning the behavior and subsequently, endorsing it. You do need to take some action.

Often at the heart of a “negaholic” attitude are fear and uncertainty. Change is the biggest single cause of workplace negativity. Even if that new billing system is for the better, people will automatically ask themselves: What am I losing? For employees, change automatically equals the loss of something comfortable — and they will resist it.

Here are some simple steps for quelling the office critic, paraphrased from some great work by Chris Penttila, a freelance journalist.

1. Understand change from the employee’s perspective. Employees can put up with change as long as they can talk openly about it. Remember most negative people don’t know that they’re negative because no one ever tells them.

2. Find the fear, then focus on solutions. Teach negative employees to focus on offering solutions, not just criticism. Turning the griper into a solution provider gives them a genuine avenue to contribute.

3. Do some coaching. Work with the negative person on improving their attitude. Chances are, these people are complaining because they think they have good ideas that haven’t been heard.

Ultimately, employers can work too long and hard with some negative people when it’s better just to cut your losses, recognizing a bad fit. If there’s no improvement after three to six months, maybe it’s time to let them go (legally, documented, etc., of course).

After you let a negative person go, talk with employees about the future of their workplace. It can be the perfect opportunity to take the pulse of your company culture.

Report: Lack of Cybersecurity Skills Are Leaving Companies Vulnerable

Photo: Flickr

Information technology managers in today’s workplace are finding it difficult to protect their networks as a lack of cybersecurity expertise is leaving companies open to attack.

A report by Intel Security, “Hacking the Skills Shortage,” interviewed 775 IT decision makers involved in cybersecurity at their organization or business. The study points out that 82 percent of the participants reported a lack of cybersecurity skills at their workplace. One in three said the shortage makes them prime hacking targets, and one in four said it has led to reputational damage and the loss of proprietary data via cyberattack.

A Lack of Cybersecurity Skills in the Workplace

The report is based on research from tech market research firm Vanson Bourne. Respondents represented the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Israel.

Other findings:

More than three out of four (76 percent) respondents believe their government is not investing enough in cybersecurity talent.
High-value skills are in critically short supply, and the most scarce being intrusion detection, secure software development, and attack mitigation. These skills are in greater demand than soft skills in communication and collaboration.
A majority of respondents (53 percent) said that the cybersecurity skills shortage is worse than talent deficits in other IT professions.
Respondents ranked hands-on experience and professional certifications as better ways to acquire cybersecurity skills than a degree.
Countries can change this shortfall in critical cybersecurity skills by increasing government expenditure on education, promoting gaming and technology exercises, and pushing for more cybersecurity programs in higher education

3 Ways to Improve Your Career and Professional Life

Early January is time for New Year’s resolutions that typically focus on health and happiness. These promises we make to ourselves usually revolve around eating better, working out at the gym, and making an effort to be kind to others. Rarely is one of our resolutions to ask for a raise, look for a new job, or find joy in our professional life. But maybe it should be.

This week, the New York Times published a piece, “The Best Time to Retune Your Career? It’s Probably Right Now,” with advice on improving your professional life.

On Asking for a Raise

How should you approach the talk with your boss?

“You’ve got to go into these discussions with a clear sense that this is something you have earned, not a gift from your boss,” said Kenneth N. Siegel, an industrial psychologist and the president of the Impact Group, a leadership consulting firm. “Focus on what you’ve earned, not what you deserve.”

On Finding a New Job

Finding job satisfaction may require more than a higher salary: It might mean packing up and taking your work elsewhere. Quitting can be the first step toward reinvention. The Times reviewed three books that encourage unhappy employees to walk out the door and start again. The process may be a struggle, but these books point to success stories.

On Finding Happiness at Work

If you aren’t happy at work, don’t assume things will naturally get better. Instead, according to Stanford professors, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, take the initiative to explore changes. Their process, described by Steven Kurutz in an article in September, is experiential — they urge trying new things and add that failure is part of the exploration. If the first step feels like a good fit, the authors say, take it a bit further

An Internship in South Africa Gives Business Student a Global Perspective

(Photo: UVM’s Grossman School of Business Dean Sanjay Sharma with student Will Nedds)

UVM senior Will Nedds completed a two-month summer internship with Reciprocity, a South Africa consultancy that aims to optimize the contribution of the private sector to social and economic development.

Nedds, a student at UVM’s Grossman School of Business, is majoring in business administration and economics, with a concentration in finance and entrepreneurship, and minoring in computer science. Nedds was one of 21 UVM students who participated in international summer internships facilitated through UVM Continuing and Distance Education’s global team. Nedds found the Reciprocity internship through Connect 1-2-3, one of the four internship organizations working with UVM CDE.

We talked to Nedds about his global learning experience and his enthusiasm for social enterprises.

Reciprocity is located in Cape Town, South Africa. Could you describe the work you were doing during your internship?

One of my roles at Reciprocity was taking graduate students visiting from other schools — including the University of Toronto and London Business School – to meet entrepreneurs working in townships around Cape Town. These are micro-entrepreneurs, making dollars a day, in places like Gugulethu and Khayelitsha.

The Reciprocity team and the students worked together to make recommendations to the entrepreneurs. For example, we met with a man who had a mattress company and learned about how he runs his business. The man sells mattresses out of a shipping container and runs an electronic repair shop on the side. In this case, we recommended that the man increase the size of his shipping container and buy a second one. We also advised him to stop his side business to provide better focus.

Can you describe the economic climate in Cape Town and the townships?

While I was living in Cape Town, it was typical to hear insults and dismissals lobbed at township residents, such as “They are thieves, they are lazy, and they do nothing but live in squalor and spend government checks on flat-screen TVs to install in their corrugated metal shacks and power with stolen electricity.”

One of the townships near Cape Town.

While I certainly was not in the country long enough to confirm or deny these assertions, my firsthand experience with township residents flew directly against these accusations.

The township residents I met worked incredibly hard, in spite of their meager lifestyle. Those who were employed worked as secretaries and pharmacists and custodial staff in the city. Those who owned their own businesses operated restaurants, fruit and vegetable stands, or spaza shops, which are informal convenience stores. The area was alive with people working to make a living for themselves with whatever skills they had.

Reciprocity focuses on the “Base of the Pyramid.” This term — developed by C.K. Prahalad and UVM Professor Stuart Hart — encompasses the more than four billion people — approximately 60 percent of all humanity — who earn $8/day or less. Why is the Base of the Pyramid movement so important to you?

I’m interested in income equality and how poverty affects the overarching economy. The Base of the Pyramid embraces a business approach that focuses on products, services, and enterprises that serve this population in a way that is culturally sensitive, environmentally sustainable, and economically profitable. Probably the largest of the projects that Reciprocity took on during my tenure was a research study on social enterprises in Zambia, South Africa, and Malawi.

A social enterprise is a term for a company that has a social mission, but does so through a sustainable, for-profit model. For example, let’s say there’s a solar company that sells lights to rural communities for close to cost as a way of increasing access to safe and clean artificial light. A business like this has a mission to improve the lives of others, but at the same time recognizes that good work takes resources to make it a sustainable reality. This is one of the guiding principles of UVM Enactus, where I currently serve as president.

The group is a community of student leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. What I love about our organization is that it harnesses that entrepreneurial spirit for the sake of building sustainable initiatives to help others. At the moment, one of our projects is helping the Vermont Hindu Temple find ways to share Hindu culture with the Vermont community, while at the same time building viable revenue streams to cover its costs.

What do you enjoy most about economics?

I love economics because it’s the science of choice. Every decision you make, from the moment your eyes open in the morning to the moment they close at night, is fueled by reasoning, weighing options, and identifying the choices that will benefit you the most

Five tricks to preparing your Personal Statement, from the Admissions Committee

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Day: February 24, 2020

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