“Great hiring isn’t an instant process, and many companies would benefit from developing more-structured internship programs, in which success and proof of a good fit are measured over time,” says Mary Ellen Slayter in her recent article entitled Bring Strategic Rigor to Your Internship Program.

In the current economy, companies can afford to take more time with, and put more effort into, the hiring process. In fact, smart companies should be doing exactly that. When the labor market is slow, more talent is available and companies should tighten up hiring procedures, improve job descriptions, and focus on hiring quality people instead of hiring a resume. Internships are a great way to take a look at job candidates and determine – in real time – if they have the skills and attitude to flourish in the company.

Over the last several posts, I have tried to make it clear that finding a good job is about much more than polishing up your resume and checking out a few websites. Candidates have to work diligently at improving their value to employers. They have to find ways to increase the ways in which they can contribute to the success of an organization. In a nutshell, you simply cannot rest on your laurels; you have to be improving, growing, and constantly learning.

Need more proof? Read this excerpt from Slayter’s article:

Scare B-list candidates away upfront. General, fluffy job listings create more work for your HR team in the long run than a sharply focused one would. First, too many random candidates respond. Second, HR must then sift through a mountain of lackluster or insincere applicants. Third, these are short-term applicants that need any job they can get, as opposed to A-list candidates interested in a long-term career path with you. There’s a much better way: Sit down with key managers to carefully draft the most challenging, rigorous, mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive job description write-ups as possible –– with zero fluff. Include a roster of advanced role requirements and high cover letter expectations that invite only the keenest and most accomplished to apply. In short, scare the heck out of flaky applicants. Shotgun-blast resume slingers and well-dressed slackers won’t bother applying.

At first glance, this might be pretty intimidating. As you look at your situation and your resume, you might worry that you have little chance to secure that “perfect job.” My suggestion is to change your perspective: to move out of the realm of “resume slinger” or “well-dressed slacker,” you have to make every single job interview a learning experience. Failure to get an offer is not FAILURE – it’s an opportunity to learn where you need to improve. If you don’t get the job, you need to get as much information as you can that will help you in the next opportunity.

Always thank your interviewer and ask if you might ask a couple of questions regarding your interview. Most HR professionals will give you the opportunity, so make the best of it:

“I want to learn from this experience, so…”

“If you were in my shoes, what one thing would you work on to improve my ability to get hired?”

“What is the weakest part of my resume?”

“As an HR professional, what advice would you give me regarding my interview with you?”

At the same time, if you are serious about working for a particular company, you should consider an internship. They may or may not pay, but you could gain valuable experience inside an organization and potentially work yourself into a nice opportunity. If you don’t get an offer, and you’re fairly certain you were a final candidate, don’t be afraid to ask your interviewer if an internship is an option.

Is it just me, or do most people have little sense of what is going on in the world beyond American Idol or Survivor or The Real Housewives of (Fill in Your Favorite)? The average “man (or woman) on the street” doesn’t seem to know much of anything beyond sports and reality television.

Yes, I know, that is a sweeping generalization and completely unfair. Actually, most people are well-educated (read this), well-read, and quite knowledgeable about current affairs.

Not.

The “average” adult in the United States reads at a 9th grade level, and, as referenced in this MSNBC article, adult math skills have gone into hiding:

According to the Department of Education’s National Assessment of Adult Literacy, U.S. adults are terrible at solving real-world math problems, like calculating tips or comparing prices in grocery stores. Some dismal results:

Only 42 percent were able to pick out two items on a menu, add them, and calculate a tip.

Only 1 in 5 could reliably calculate mortgage interest.

1 in 5 could not calculate weekly salary when told an hourly pay rate.

Only 13 percent were deemed “proficient.” Worse yet, only 1 in 10 women, 1 in 25 Hispanics and 1 in 50 African Americans made the grade.

More good news: according to the President’s National Mathematics Advisory Panel, “half of 17 year olds couldn’t do enough math to work in an auto plant.”

Hey, I’m not some kind of intellectual snob, nor do I value a person more or less because they don’t know who the Vice President is or can’t find Montpelier, VT on a map (for those of you keeping score at home, that would be the capital of Vermont). No, the problem is that employers are typically looking for employees who can think, solve problems, and develop ideas. If job seekers don’t do anything to develop those skills, they risk being permanently relegated to second-tier status as a job candidate.

The idea in job search is to give yourself the very best opportunity to land a good job. Every single advantage, no matter how small, helps. One certain way to elevate yourself above many competitive job seekers is to demonstrate your ability to think and solve problems. Sadly, many job seekers don’t read well, can’t write business correspondence, and can’t do basic math calculations.

The solution? Extend your interests. Read a newspaper regularly. Pick up Math for Dummies. Complete a Sudoku puzzle once in a while (a little practice at solving problems).

Sound silly?

So does this: “We have filled that position.”

As if looking for employment didn’t pose enough of a challenge, here is an entirely new problem for those seeking employment – the effective use of social media. No, no, no…not how to use it for networking or job search, but how not to use it. It seems many job candidates torpedo their chances with some employers because of the inappropriate things they post on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.

Is that fair to job candidates? Apparently so, according to this article:

Four years ago, Stacy Snyder, then a 25-year-old teacher in training at Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster, Pa., posted a photo on her MySpace page that showed her at a party wearing a pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup, with the caption “Drunken Pirate.” After discovering the page, her supervisor at the high school told her the photo was “unprofessional,” and the dean of Millersville University School of Education, where Snyder was enrolled, said she was promoting drinking in virtual view of her under-age students. As a result, days before Snyder’s scheduled graduation, the university denied her a teaching degree. Snyder sued, arguing that the university had violated her First Amendment rights by penalizing her for her (perfectly legal) after-hours behavior. But in 2008, a federal district judge rejected the claim, saying that because Snyder was a public employee whose photo didn’t relate to matters of public concern, her “Drunken Pirate” post was not protected speech.

Since Facebook and other sites are public domain sites, it looks like they are fair game for assessing your common sense and discretion. So, next time you get in one of those “drunken pirate” moods, you might want to hold off on posting the pics. I’m just sayin’…

This article further points out that 75 percent of recruiters and HR professionals scrutinize online sites for information about job candidates, and 70 percent of those individuals have actually rejected a candidate based on information obtained from these sites. As companies seek to acquire the best talent they can find, they have been given the golden opportunity to not only assess that talent, but to assess the character of that talent as well.

Formerly, employers were limited to a credit check, a background check, and all those stellar references you put on your resume. Now, however, you have willingly opened up your entire world for them to examine – which, by the way, can be a good thing just as much as a potential risk. After all, your Facebook page could just as easily reveal a solid citizen as much as it could reveal a scalawag.

With recruiters and HR professionals on the prowl, consider this “Word to the Wise:” You might want to check out your Facebook page and analyze it from an employer’s point-of-view. Does your online persona reveal someone that might be considered a huge hiring risk?

Question: Whatever happened to basic communication skills?

Seriously, it seems that employees who can actually write a legible sentence or communicate an entire thought in basic English have become an endangered species. I mean, speaking of “minority,” where is the legislation to make this a protected class of citizens?

Hey, I’m just sayin’…

Ya feel me?

No, I’m not advocating some sort of political position here, I am simply making an observation. Even a casual review of corporate email correspondence is enough to make an English teacher beg for mercy. This very common problem creates two significant problems for companies and their employees. First, there is a natural tendency (particularly with older Americans) to equate literacy with competence. If someone doesn’t know how to write or speak well, that individual is likely to be perceived as incompetent at some level (usually in proportion to how egregious the mistakes are). You can throw rocks at me if you want to, but it is what it is. Look at the way former VP Dan Quayle was crucified for spelling potato with an extra “e” at the end of the word. Potatoe? Really?

Or maybe a few “Bush-isms” will help you understand the tendency of people to equate communication skills with competency [English gaffes originating with former president George W. Bush]:

“They misunderestimated me.” [No doubt.]

“Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?” [True statement. This question is rarely asked.]

The challenge of poorly written business correspondence is that the company is often perceived in a negative light as a result of those mistakes. For instance, if a salesperson sends a letter or email message to a potential client regarding a large, complex sale – and that correspondence is poorly written – the prospect may decide to look elsewhere based on perception alone.

The second problem is that the vast majority of issues within a company are created by ineffective communication, and poor writing skills only make this problem worse. Performance reviews. Email correspondence. Policy memos. You don’t have to look far to see the problem….as in, “What is THAT supposed to mean??”

So what does all of this have to do with the average job hunter? It means that you may potentially have a competitive advantage right at your fingertips – or, you might be starting off your job search with two strikes against you. How would someone rate your skills at creating effective business correspondence? Do you write acceptably well? Do you know how to write a memo? A letter? An email message?

There is plenty of help available online. If you need it, don’t delay.

It seems us Americans ain’t talkin’ too good, don’t write worth a lick and are worser with e-mails. Our grammar, punctuation and spelling are/is abysmal. And corporate America is saying, STOP.

When Texas communications company Valor discovered its workers, including managers, weren’t communicating, it enrolled them in remedial business writing class.

Jeff Herrington thinks computers are partly to blame for dumbing down English.

“People who are used to using BlackBerries [and] instant messaging are transferring that way of writing into all forms of writing,” he says.

A recent survey found Fortune 500 companies spending more than $3 billion a year retraining employees in basic English.

Even writers have trouble writing.

Sacramento Bee columnist Don Morrison sees the enemy every time he looks in the mirror. Morrison is a client of Roger Peterson, who was among the first to notice Americans butchering their language.

“How about this expression, ‘for all intents and purposes.’ What does that mean?” asks Peterson. “[Or] ‘at this point in time.’ What does that mean? How is it better than saying ‘now?’ ‘That was an awfully nice dinner you just served me.’ Well, was it a nice dinner or was it an awful dinner? Make up your mind. We simply, now, must salvage American English.”

“Unbelievable” is one of today’s “in” words. But is it overused or used incorrectly? Unbelievable means I didn’t believe a word I just said. Anxious — “the president is anxious to meet the prime minister” — means he doesn’t want to meet him at all. And irregardless — look it up in the dictionary. You won’t find it because it’s not a word. Unbelievable.

[From a column by Roger O'Neil. NBC News Correspondent.]

Hey, want to see how marketable you are? Here’s an exercise for you: create a PowerPoint presentation that is designed to market…YOU! Yes, that’s right – create a marketing presentation for yourself. No, I’m not suggesting that you use it in a job interview, but consider this exercise as a way to think carefully about what you bring to the table for an employer.

A couple of words of caution before we discuss some ideas for your presentation: First, if you don’t know how to use PowerPoint, here is a good time to figure it out. Get a PowerPoint for Morons book, or some such thing, and start learning. However, do your homework on the Internet and learn some basics about good presentations (check out this blog post, for example). Second, many job positions require some aptitude with PowerPoint, so this may actually be good practice because most people don’t have a clue about how to create an effective slide presentation (haven’t you seen some really awful presentations in the workplace?). Do some research and learn how to avoid disastrous presentations (here is another great blog post to read). Google “bad PowerPoint presentations” and you will get a bazillion hits; go ahead and read one or two.

OK, let’s get started.

1). Write down your personal workplace strengths. Get out of “interview” mode and be real for a second. What skills and talents do you have? Are you dependable? A good listener? Are you Rain Man on Microsoft Word or Excel? Can you write coherent business correspondence? (If so, there are about 40 of you left in the universe.)

Think it through…why should an employer hire you? What makes you special? Now, put together a half dozen slides – one for each strength. Find a graphic for each slide. Prioritize the slides and build a case for yourself.

2). Next, write down your personal weaknesses. Same process as before – get real and be specific. Are you horrible with details? Do your follow-up skills leave something to be desired? Do you have the people skills of a pit bull?

The more you know about yourself, the smaller your blind spot in an interview. Interviews are not about clever answers to tricky questions; they are about positioning yourself effectively to minimize your weaknesses and maximize your strengths. If you can be honest with yourself and identify a key weakness that is keeping you out of the best jobs, you can create a plan to improve that weakness or manage it effectively. Do that now – create two or three slides that identify your weaknesses, one per slide. Find a graphic that fits. Then, create a solution for each weakness and use a slide to communicate it.

3) Finally, answer these questions: What do you want to do most? What is your vision for your career? What is it that you do in the workplace that gives you great energy and satisfaction? Now, create two to four slides that communicate your passion.

The point here is that, until you know what you want to do, you won’t look for the ideal job for you – and you won’t remove every possible barrier in order to get that position.

When you are all finished, show it to two or three people who care about you and are willing to offer some constructive feedback – about the presentation itself, your thoughts about your personal strengths and weaknesses, and how you are positioning  yourself in the workplace.

Take notes, make changes. Get serious about your personal marketing.

I knew a guy that was always complaining about his (current) wife. “Women,” he would say. “Can’t live with ‘em. Can’t shoot ‘em.” A bit harsh. Can’t imagine why his marriage(s) resembled a train wreck. I understand he is currently out looking for his next future ex-wife.

The funny thing is that you probably never would’ve known that he had marriage issues. Nice guy. Fun to hang out with. Behind the scenes, however, there were things going on – I don’t know what kind of things, but they were enough to keep his personal life in shambles.

The truth is you are much the same way. No, not from the negative standpoint; in fact, just the opposite. What I’m really concerned here about are the GREAT things about you that employers can’t divine from your resume. For example, how will your resume communicate that you are a positive person rather than a negative one? Or enthusiastic rather than pessimistic? Mature rather than a drama queen (or king)? How can we tell if you are a peacemaker or a polarizer? A “git-er-done” kinda guy or a “find-something-else-to-do-while-others-carry-the-load” kinda guy? See my point?

The answer is the employer has no idea. Which means your resume has serious limitations. Everybody knows that a resume is designed to put your best foot forward, but there are still many things that cannot be communicated by a sterile piece of paper. That is exactly why proactive job candidates make it a point to get in front of prospective employers. They take the initiative to make face-to-face contact with prospective employers, because sitting back, waiting on the phone to ring, is a very bad plan when there are too many applicants for too few jobs. If you are sitting at home, plugging career websites and answering newspaper ads, then you are already down in the count (hey, it’s baseball season).

Make no mistake, getting a job is exactly like making sales calls. You have to overcome call reluctance. You have to overcome the fear of rejection. You have to be willing to get back up 801 times if you get knocked down 800 times. So, if you hate salespeople, you probably need to get over it – at least for the time being. How would you like to earn your living that way?!?

I hear you screaming. “SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?” Here is a great start: Make a list of the top forty or fifty local companies you would like to work for. Do your homework – websites, Google, LinkIn, the whole nine yards. Get contact names, look for connections, learn everything you can – including who your potential boss would be. Then make a personal call – resume and personalized cover letter in hand. If you don’t know who your boss might be, identify the H.R. Manager and call on him/her instead.

Did I say do your homework? That bears repeating. It’s a big deal because you need to know about the company’s culture, philosophy, mission, vision, and so forth. You want to be able to have an intelligent conversation after you introduce yourself. Here is your opening: “I wanted to introduce myself and find out more about [the company] because I think it would be an excellent place to go to work.”

No matter what the outcome, you will have communicated some key traits: initiative, courage, and resourcefulness. Trust me, if you are any good at all, you won’t make it through your list before you get hired.

My brother is an executive at a large corporation. He called me a few days ago to share his recent experiences in helping others get their careers back on track. He has volunteered to speak at a local university on a couple of different occasions to provide insight to displaced workers on getting hired. His primary message is that getting hired is about positioning; at its very core, job search is about personal marketing.

Big news, right? Like you didn’t already understand that little pearl of wisdom? Sure you did, but here is the deal: on both occasions, he said the appearance of many in the audience was nothing short of embarrassing. People in sweats, unshaven, or in other ways completely inappropriate. Doesn’t that get covered somewhere during the first day of Job Search 101?

Hey, this isn’t about limiting your personal expression. If you want to look like Mr. T, your favorite biker, or a cast member from Cats, knock yourself out. But when you are in job search mode – no matter where you are going – every point of contact is a potential network opportunity. Doesn’t it make sense to be prepared? Shouldn’t you appear professional? Shouldn’t you have an ‘elevator speech’ prepared to describe your capabilities? Shouldn’t you have a resume on hand at all times? Let me recheck – you are trying to get hired, right?

Here is what I know about companies that are hiring – they want employees that are dependable, show initiative, and pay attention to details. They want to hire maturity and good judgment. They don’t want to hire someone who talks about those things in an interview, they want to see evidence that you are that kind of individual. This is where personal marketing becomes important – not only do you need to improve the scope of your job skills at every opportunity (see my last post), but you need to think in terms of positioning yourself effectively.

Positioning, or personal marketing, begins with the “physical” you. What do you look like? What do you sound like? How do you present yourself? Are you professional in appearance? Are you approachable? Welcoming? The answers to these questions create perceptions of your dependability, maturity, and attention to detail. Whether we like it or not, people form opinions of others based on appearance and personal interaction. Which means you could have mad skills, but still lose a great opportunity because you didn’t market yourself well.

Think about it. A hiring manager will usually make a decision on giving you a second interview based on a piece of paper (your resume) and an impression of you formed during a 30-minute conversation. It’s your choice – pursue a career as a feline impersonator, or get serious about your professional image.

The Eastern art of Feng Shui comes alive when utilized to enhance your Western life. Use the concepts of yin and yang, cardinal directions, color, and an overall balance of energy to help you snag that job. Even before you get an office to decorate, it is useful to incorporate these ideas to give you an advantage in your next interview.

While in a interview, you are in the interviewer’s comfort zone. This is their workplace and they know what works for them within the space. Do not worry. You can manipulate what you have to work with in the room, just always be observant of the following:

Positioning Yourself

Interviews are nerve wracking for nearly everybody. Give yourself an advantage and a boost of confidence by watching the way you are positioned. First, find your Magic Number on the chart below, based on a combination of your birth year and gender. Those with the Magic Numbers 1, 3, 4, and 9 are best when facing the east, southeast,  south, or north; Magic Numbers 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are at their strong point sitting towards the west, southwest, northwest, or northeast. You will feel empowered by being aware of the cardinal direction when in the building (an easy way is to check by the sun’s location) and positioning yourself to face towards a beneficial direction.

From The Practical Enyclopedia of Feng Shui, Gill Hale

Additionally, sit up straight and resist the urge to lean on anything. You want to give the impression of a strong, confident candidate that’s perfect for the job. This will not be what they see if you’re slacking. Image is even more important for women than men, as most people are to socialized to pay more attention to such features in ladies.

Home life is also very connected to how you perform in other areas. Try to position the head of your bead towards beneficial directions. Always keep your house free of clutter. Maintain the peace of the house and the family so you’re not rushed or harried when you show up for your interview.

For more advice on preparing for your interview, the best advantage around is always the 360. Try out the 360 live one on one interview coaching. Good luck in your search for right position.

This article is second in a five-part series where we will evaluate free services on the Internet to aid you in your job search and general career advancement.

To use Twitter as a ‘micro-blogging’ site or a place to provide a general status update is a mistake. Twitter is quickly turning into a tool that is used to project a professional, yet personable, image. And, let’s face it, image counts for a lot when looking for the right job.

Twitter is available to the public and is searchable. If a potential employer is going to search for your Internet presence, your public updates are an important part of the impression they will have of you, even before giving you a chance to interview. Tweet wisely! While you may be tempted to tweet about the crazy night you have, save that for your Facebook status (for which you may want to change the privacy settings on now). Definitely do not mention your involvement in any activity that may be obscene, extreme, or illegal. This is a powerful network on the web and is not the place you want to spread word that you’re possibly irresponsible, immature, and have a disregard for common sense.

Do Tweet your opinion about industry news, relevant (non-marketing) links, and even about positive events in your personal life. Find influential people in your industry on Twitter and follow them. When appropriate, engage in conversation by providing thoughtful commentary, asking an excellent question, or even politely offering your assistance with a question they may have posed. But remember, these industry contacts are not your personal friends, and while it may be a personable move to congratulate them, or inquire about a group meetup, you do not want to get into their personal lives.

The goal is with Twitter is to project a positive, intelligent, and professional demeanor via daily Tweets (updates). Keep up with it regularly and follow folks in similar fields. To successfully utilize Twitter, go there with the intent to be true and a useful Twitterer and you’ll have the potential to do very well and land that perfect position to advance your career.

Other Articles in this Series:

• LinkedIn
• Meetup
• RSS
• Blogging