Job Out of College

Advice for Accepting Rejection

Every person faces rejection at some point in life, but what separates the successful from the mediocre is how that person reacts. Most people have ambition and passion to accomplish great things in their lives, however, few choose to pursue them because they fear feeling the emotions of failure and rejection.

Have you ever...

• Chose to apply only to safe schools instead of shooting for the moon with an Ivy League?
• Sat back and watched as other guys/ girls walked up to the beautiful/ handsome person across the room?
• Didn't apply for that dream job because you thought you were under qualified?

Well here are a few steps to consider next time an opportunity crosses your path:

1. Understand your fears. Why are you afraid of applying for that dream job? Why are you afraid of taking a risk? Are you afraid of failure or rejection? Are you afraid of commitment? Are you afraid of trying something new?
2. Analyze your emotions. Take a third person view in understanding why you get angry or frustrated in certain situations.
3. Challenge your fears. The only way to grow as an individual is to do things that scare you. What's the worse that could happen?
4. Practice. Do one thing every day that scares you. If you are uncomfortable in social situations, spur up a conversation with a stranger. Who knows who you might meet?

Facing rejection is very difficult. It makes a person feel unwanted, unsuccessful and unappreciated. But remember that understanding your fears and emotions will help you grow as an individual. Next time you face failure or rejection, try to understand the other side's perspective. Once you learn why you were rejected, learn from your mistakes.

What stories do you have to share?

Find a Career, Find your Identity

Over the weekend I had the chance to talk to a few scout counselors for Plast, a Ukrainian scouting organization whose mission is to develop honest and hardworking individuals who possess personal responsibility, self-discipline and leadership skills. The counselors were worried that attendance in their weekly meetings was very low. They pondered ways to motivate their thirteen to seventeen year-old scouts to attend their weekly meetings.

At first, they felt that the best way to increase attendance was to use various advertising and marketing strategies to out-compete other activities such as soccer practice or parties with friends. However, they finally realized that the best way to motivate each scout is to help him/her understand how the activities at the weekly meetings help develop character traits of the individuals they want to become.

If you are having difficulty finding a job or profession, you could benefit from a similar paradigm shift in your approach. Many of my articles talk about the practical side of making good career decisions, but this article focuses on connecting your personal life goals to your career choice. If you purchase my system, you can read much more about your personal ambitions and aligning it with your career choices. But here is a small taste of what you should consider:

1. Who do you admire and why? Think about individuals you respect and admire. What similar character traits do they have? Are they impeccably dressed? Are they good speakers? Are they interesting? Do they tell good stories? Are they honest? Hardworking? Are they effective motivators?
2. What do you want to accomplish? What is your mission in life? Do you want to raise a happy family? Be the CEO of a large company? Do you want to be rich? Do you want to travel? Do you want to impact the world? Do you want to improve the environment?
3. What character traits do you need to accomplish your life goals? Should you mimic the individuals you admire (question 1)? Should you be honest? Do you need to be a good leader, motivator, speaker?
4. If you had unlimited funds, what would you do with it and why? Would you travel? Would you buy a yacht and sail around the world? Would you donate 90% of it to charity?
5. And finally, what kind of career will get you there?

Although each one of these questions is difficult the answer, the fifth one should be the easiest of all. Once you understand who you want to be and why, it will be much easier for you to find a career that will help you develop your individuality.

If you want to read more about finding your individuality and a career that supports it, read more about my system.

Happy Hunting

Employers are Googling You

Did you know that thirty-five percent of hiring managers use Google to perform background checks and that nearly one-third of web research leads to lead to job rejections?

The Bad
That is why it's a great idea to make sure that you are in control of the content about you on the Web. Sites like MySpace and Facebook are perfect ways for hiring managers to find out who you are in real life. A picture tells a thousand words. So if you have a MySpace or Facebook account, make sure you restrict access to every picture. Make sure you periodically review your tagged photos. And don't post any comments or blogs that you wouldn't want a hiring manager to read.

The Good
Don't get discouraged, though. You can use Google as a great way to market yourself to hiring employers as well. You can talk about your accomplishments and goals in an E-portfolio. Talk about your interests and have links to your clubs and organizations. But paint a good picture of yourself.

Resources

• Stand Out with an E-portfolio
• Watch Out: People Are Googling You!

College Internship: Why it's a great idea

It's the beginning of spring. Spring break has past and there are only a few more months of school before freedom of the summer. You and your friends are all talking about plans for the upcoming months. Maybe you will be renting a beach house or traveling for a few weeks around Europe then bumming around the house getting a nice tan.

And why not? You have definitely deserved it after all the hard work you have done this year!

I completely agree that you need a break from your stressful lives. However, one of the best ways you can set yourself up for a great career while you are still in college is working an internship or co-op in the summer. Because internships are generally about 8 weeks long, this still gives you plenty of opportunity to relax and have a good summer vacation.

Here are a few reasons why it's a good idea:

1. Experience - talk to some of your friends who have recently graduated and currently seeking employment. Most of the time, the reason they can't find a job because employers want to see experience. So you have a Bachelors or Masters degree, but you have not been able to put it to practice yet. Get some experience - whether it's a paid or non-paid internship, you will still be able to put it down on your resume.
2. Networking - in working an internship or co-op, you are able to align yourself to people in your field. It gives you the perfect opportunity to be able to talk to people, establish relationships and learn as much as you can. Who knows, when you graduate, they might even have a job opening for you. That's how I got my first job out of college!
3. Speak the Language - college may teach you the "technical" skills and knowledge you need to know in your career, but they don't teach you much of the "practical" skills that are required. If you are able to understand the lingo, you will sound much more qualified during your interviews when you graduate.
4. Money - depending obviously on the internship, you can make a lot more money as an intern at a corporation than painting houses or working at a bar. As a freshmen college intern, I made an equivalent to $38,000/yr. Not a bad deal for someone with no degree and no experience.
   
5. Decisions about a career track - you have thousands of dollars in student loans, your parents are scrounging for  cash to pay for your tuition, and your not even sure if you like what you are studying! In working an internship in your career, you will be able to tell first hand whether or not you like the career you are aiming to reach.

So there are 5 really good reasons why you should work an internship or co-op this summer. What are some of your success stories?

Mini-Course Day 4: Follow Up

Two years ago, I went searching for a dog at the local pound. Little did I know that in adopting that black lab puppy, I would be adopting one of the best salesmen I have ever encountered. From the moment our pairs of eyes met, I knew he was the dog for me. Even though there were 5 or 6 other black labs who looked just like him in that glass-wall room, there was something different about Knight. He seemed like a loyal, friendly, and trustworthy companion.  I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but in any event, he had me sold.

One of the most important principles in sales and marketing is persistence and follow-up. I recently went looking for a photographer online for my upcoming wedding. I searched for a photographer in Detroit, and came up with about 100 different photographers. I narrowed it down to 15 by going through some websites. I then sent out an email to all 15 to fill out a questionnaire I had prepared – 8 replied via email, 4 of which followed up with phone calls as well. Right off the bat, from 15 photographers I was down to only 4 for the simple reason that those were the four who put the effort into winning my business. After a week or so, I continued to get phone calls from one photographer to make sure I didn’t need any other information. He built a personal relationship with me, a feeling of trust, and credibility through that follow up. The same goes for the job search.

Trust

When you follow up with someone, you get to know the person and therefore develop a feeling of trust. Although trust is subjective, there are things you can do to develop trust in your potential clients (recruiters). When you go to a store, and you have that commissioned salesman who is nagging you about the sale – you just feel annoyed because you know that the salesperson is just looking to make a buck. What you are looking for, are signs of an honest person you can trust.

For example, my dog has these big, expressive eyes. When I’m eating at the dinner table, he will walk up, sit down next to me, put his head down on my lap and just look up at me with his big brown eyes. Although I know that he is looking for some table scraps, he doesn’t make it obvious that he is begging. He just sits there, and makes his presence known. When I do give him some food, he is very appreciative. The visual cues he gives me develop a sense of trust. To learn more about these visual cues, read up in my system.

Credibility

When you follow up with someone, via telephone, a letter, or even an email, you create a sense of credibility with your customer (recruiter) - it allows the recruiter to put a face to your name. When you follow up, you reveal to the recruiter things that you probably would not think about. Even if you never speak to them during your follow up in person and you just leave a voice message, think about everything you accomplish: you show them that you are not afraid to pick up the phone and call someone you don’t know; that shows confidence and maturity and maybe even leadership; it shows that you are determined to get the job, and you are willing to put a lot of effort into getting it even with the knowledge that you might not get it in the end; it also shows that you really want this job, and you feel like this job is worth the effort.

And if you do happen to catch the person, talk about some personal things so they remember you. The photographer who got my business talked to me about his son and family, other people he photographed, his career, places he’s lived, and this was all in a single 5-7 minute initial conversation with him. I’m not even sure if he even mentioned photography in the first phone conversation. And yet, he still developed a sense of credibility and dependability in speaking to me.

Relationship

Make sure that you develop a relationship with your customer before you try to make the “sale” – this is business 101. You need to work towards developing a relationship to learn something or to network with people in the business.

Who knows how long you will have your current job, or whether you will need to find a new one somewhere else. Even if you don’t get this job, you still have a relationship with someone in the business. Maybe this person will be able to teach you something about your future career, or even refer you to a friend he knows is looking for someone like you! If another job ever comes up with that person, you might be getting an unexpected phone call, especially if you keep following up with them.

I bought my diamond engagement ring for my fiancé from a husband and wife my parents knew through their business. Since then, they have sent me Christmas cards, followed up with phone calls, and have asked my fiancé and me to dinner at their house. They don’t have to do this, but they want to maintain the relationship. Also, since then, I have referred 3 friends who were also looking to buy engagement rings because we had a good relationship. Needless to say, I will also be buying my wedding bands from them, and any future jewelry I ever need.

It’s all about networking!

Just remember, that getting a job is not just a simple equation of knowing how to write a resume, answer questions, or send the right cover letters like most traditionalists will tell you. There is this whole “soft side” to getting a job that can really distinguish you from the next guy. Remember, anyone can follow instructions on how to write a resume… not everyone knows how to interact with your recruiters in the most influential ways.

So remember to create a feeling of trust, credibility, and maintain the relationship with everyone.

Mini-Course Day 3: How Borat can help you interview

Most of you by now have heard of Borat infamous, fictional Kazakh journalist, depicted by a talented and intelligent British comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen. He has embraced millions of viewers by interviewing people who believe he is a true Kazakh journalist. If you have ever watched a Borat clip or seen his movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan it is amazing to see how Sacha Cohen can act his part so well and lead the conversation in his favor without revealing his goal.

The talents of the infamous Borat are attributed to his intense success as a marketer of himself. The ability to market yourself is what the job hunt is all about. How do you make yourself visible? How do you make a recruiter remember you? How do you tell the recruiters what they want to hear and at the same time be honest with them?

Let’s analyze Borat’s approach to marketing…

Lesson #1 Borat can teach you – “Know Your Audience”

Borat comes into the interview with a set of questions on a clipboard. He thinks about his audience and thinks up creative and relevant questions which pertain to the individual.

Before your interview, write down the goals you want to reflect in the interview, and practice accomplishing those goals with someone prior to the meeting. You want to feel comfortable conversing with the individual and make sure that you know how you want to lead the conversation to best suit your needs. In my system, I have a set of example interview questions which are asked in most interviews. You will also be able to hear an example interview conducted by a professional recruiter.

Lesson #2 Borat can teach you – “Use Questions to Lead the Interview”

Now that you have your goals in mind, and you have the answers to your questions prepared, you want to make sure that those points are addressed in your interview. However, you can’t just rehearse your answers –there needs to be a flow to the interview. So you ask questions or direct the conversation towards your goal. 

This is a productive, structured approach in allowing you to answer questions that are relevant to your experiences, talents, and qualities. The interviewer doesn’t know you, so it will take a while for them to ask the right questions. Help them!

Want an example?

Let’s say the requirements of the job description state that applicants need 3 years working knowledge of Microsoft Excel. And you only have 1.5 years. You know that in the back of the recruiter’s mind, he knows that you do not meet the qualifications. So you should have an explanation which convinces the recruiter that you are still a good candidate despite the fact that you technically don’t fulfill the requirement. But don’t go right out and say it!

Lead the conversation to that issue to let the interviewer know that you are aware of it and have an illustrative example of your capability to do the job. So while talking about a project you performed in a certain internship, say “and this is how I utilized my spreadsheet skills and learned a great deal about the program.” At that point, they will most likely ask you more about your skills in working with spreadsheets to test your knowledge instead of just assuming you are unqualified and do not meet their criteria.

Lesson #3 Borat can teach you – “Leave an Impression!”

Although Borat leaves an impression on the person he is interviewing, it is probably an impression that is less than desired. But from the first time you see a Borat clip, I’m sure you will remember who he is!

You should strive to do the same and leave a positive impression at your interview. There are possibly hundreds of candidates interviewing for the same job, so if you have something unique about yourself to share, verbalize it.

Take the robot example. A friend came into an interview with one of his engineering projects – a small robotics project he worked on in school. The interviewer interviewed 23 candidates who were just as qualified, if not more, than this friend. We’re convinced, that it was the robot that made him stand out from the competition which helped him land the job.

Lesson #4 Borat can teach you – “Show Confidence & Friendliness – Be Honest”

When Borat interviews people, although he makes some horrible and risqué comments, many people do not react in a negative way. One possible reason, is because they like him! Although this seems quite ironic, Borat acts like a genuine individual who wants to ask questions for his show. Although his comments maybe insulting, his confidence makes his subjects believe that he is a likeable human being with a mission.

Be the same way. Although you need to be very polite and professional, you want to show confidence in your answers and questions. Smile and give positive verbal and non-verbal acknowledgement. When you watch Borat communicate, he looks into the eyes of the person he is interviewing and is constantly nodding his head. He never interrupts the person when they are talking, and he always listens to what the interviewees are saying. Make sure that you are honest – a recruiter’s job is to be able to cut to the truth!

And finally, though this may seem obvious, make sure you actually ask for the job and show the interviewer you are interested. Show enthusiasm and ask for any next steps, follow up items, or whether they require any additional information from you. Ask the interviewer for their impression on how the interview went, however, if they say they can not discuss that with you, respect their interest.

To review… Write down the goals for your interview, and practice them with another person. Use questions to lead the conversation towards your goals. Make sure you are remembered in a positive way. And always show confidence in yourself and be “likeable” by giving strong and positive verbal and non-verbal acknowledgments. Be honest and make sure to “ask for the job”!

Mini-Course Day 1: The Google-Optimized Resume

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing two job recruiters on the east coast. I asked them a number of questions about how they use resumes in searching for the right applicants on the other side. I also attended some college seminars and diligently read through various career websites to see what they are teaching about the importance of a resume. The disparity between the two points of view might surprise you.

Because of the internet, and the ability to have access to countless resumes, it’s no longer a matter of going through resumes and trying to find the right one. It’s all about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. Every recruiting agency and corporate recruiter uses software searching tools that enable them to search for special keywords for a particular job posting.

Take a minute and think about how many times a day you use Google or Yahoo to find information. If you are in the web business, it’s necessary for you to have some understanding of how various search engines work. You learn the importance of: keywords - the words people are searching; references - the number of people that are linking back to your site based on quality of source; and the quality of your content.

Keywords in your Resume:

A recruiter’s job is to match the right candidates to the right job position. Recruiters use software tools to search through thousands of resumes in their system or on websites such as Monster, CareerBuilder, or HotJobs. The primary goal of your resume when applying for job on the internet is including the right keywords to ensure that your resume is the top ranked when a recruiter performs their search.

This does not mean you should lie about the experience you have, because a recruiter’s second job is to be able to see through you and make sure you are honest! But if you want a particular job, make sure you back it up with clear and meaningful examples of successful experiences you have which pass the “so what?” test. I will cover ways of answering the “so what?” test in my system in more detail, and this is really one of the most important concepts you can learn in finding a job.

Some examples of keywords are technical words that apply to your job: In web development: PHP, MySql, ColdFusion, .Net, etc. In Project Management: SDLC, PMP, DSDM, Waterfall Methodology, etc. Keep in mind that these keywords change over time, so it is very important to stay current with your “career jargon” and keeping your resume up to date.

Job References:

The more high-quality references you have, the better.  The people who will be able to shed positive light on the kind of worker you are, are those you should use as a reference. So quick quiz:

If you are applying for a web developer position, whom should you put as a reference?

1) a highly-regarded college professor with a reputation in the business

2) the director of application development at a place where you were an intern

3) a friend for whom you built a sophisticated and complex website

4) a parents’ friend who is the CEO of a company who watched you grow up

Though all seem like correct answers, there is one that is better than the others! Sure, your college professor can tell them of how you compare to other students and your quality of work. And the CEO has an impressive title, but won’t a recruiter find it suspicious and deem the reference as biased? And your friend can tell them that you did a great job on the website, but does that person have anyone to compare you to? The correct answer is the director.

 

The director has the information the recruiter is looking for:

1) your abilities

2) your business acumen

3) and the kind of worker you are

 

Quality of Content

When I asked the president of a recruiting agency about the significance of a person’s resume, he responded that “a resume is just a simple marketing tool… it is intended to hook the recruiter’s attention enough to contact you for more details”. So make sure that the content in your resume is meaningful content, in that is reflects your best qualities, skills, interest, and most importantly, your potential. If you don’t have experience, don’t try to make it up. In some college courses, they tell you not to exceed one page for your resume. The reason why is because if you go more than a page, the information may be useless and the recruiter will be screaming “information overload” and overlook the important parts of your resume.

 

When you write your sentences about experience, give detailed information that the recruiter can use to understand what you did. For example, instead of saying:

“Created a mine-seeking robot for senior project”, elaborate and put some more skills and qualifications into your sentence. For example:

“Acted as the team leader in a team of 4 people and successfully programmed software and engineered a 3 foot in diameter, heat-seeking robot then presented to 60 person class in a 45 minute presentation and achieved a senior-project vision award for creativity.”

This sentence tells me that you:

· have programming and engineering skills, pretty complex if it’s heat-seeking

· tells me you work well in a team environment

· tells me you are successful

· and tells me you can make meaningful presentations to various groups of people like teachers, students, potential company bidders

So combine these three things in your resume: Keywords, Good References, and Quality Content, and you will surely show up higher on the recruiter’s search!

Factors to consider when accepting a job offer

The day I graduated college, I was faced with a decision to choose between two good job offers. Each of the jobs had its pros and its cons, but it seemed like they were perfectly balanced - making my decision nearly impossible. My decision would also sway depending on my mood, the people I was talking to at the time, or the books or articles I was reading. Although having to decide between two job offers is a good problem to have, the decision nonetheless required me to take a systematic approach.

I finally sat down with a piece of paper and pen and decided to write down all the factors that I was considering in the decision. I then went down my list of factors and assigned a priority to each, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the most important and 1 being the least important. A week later I revisited my priorities and made any necessary changes to the priorities after talking to people, reading articles, etc. I then assigned a score on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best and 1 being the worst, to how well each of the jobs met those factors. I multiplied the priority by the score, added up the list, and found that the highest-scoring job was the right choice.

While reviewing my list below, notice that I did not include salary as one of the factors. Money can blind you while making the correct career decision. To me, money is too volatile and uncertain to be considered a good factor. Once you totaled your score and know who the clear winner is, you can then examine the cost/ benefit to making your choice. People tend to heavily way salary when starting their first job, because it seems so appealing and exciting to them. So my suggestion is to exclude starting salary from your factors and focus on everything else. And remember, these are the the factors that I considered important.  You should modify the factors to accurately reflect what's important to you.

	Priority	Score A	Priority * Score A
Towards your career goals	5	4	20
Fitting in with the culture company	4	4	16
Benefits/ Options/ Bonuses	3	4	12
Cost of living in area	3	2	6
Commuting distances and difficulty	4	5	20
Promotion factors and room for growth	5	5	25
Getting along with coworkers	3	4	12
Your job interesting	5	3	15
Job security	3	3	9
Job location	1	3	3
Job Travel	1	5	5
Job stress & responsibility	2	4	8
Learning opportunities	2	4	8
Educational benefits	3	2	6
TOTAL			165

Additional Resources:
Download Scoring.xls

Another List of Factors

Education vs. Experience

I have two good friends who constantly argue about the importance of a Masters of Business and Administration (MBA). Eugene, a web marketing entrepreneur from Rochester, NY, argues that learning how to be a successful businessman is all about experience and learning from your mistakes and that paying for a piece of paper is unnecessary. Roman, a financial expert with a MBA, argues that a MBA education will teach you the knowledge you need to avoid making mistakes when you're in business and therefore is a valuable piece of paper to earn. They both recognize and agree that both experience and education are necessary but what does the job market value more?

Getting a job out of college is just like applying for college, in that you are competing to appear more worthy or qualified than your competition. Just like colleges use SAT or ACT scores to baseline your abilities nationally, hiring managers use education qualifications while searching for prospective applicants. It gives hiring managers a way to measure your ability. Whether or not you feel like your degree is representative of your knowledge or experiences, your degree is one of the best ways to measure you against your competition because our society highly regards education.

On the flip side, a degree could be an extremely costly investment. It can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans and decades to pay back. Most people learn better from experiencing something first hand anyway. Besides, there are  other ways to educate yourself besides pursuing a degree (Read about other forms of education at 1st Pillar of Success - Education). Unfortunately, it is much harder to prove this to prospective hiring managers.

So what's the bottom line? As always, it depends. But here are a few factors to consider when making a decision:

1. Figure out your career goals
2. Research the degree to see if it aligns with your goals
3. Talk to people in your profession that are in your desired positions, and ask them if a degree would help
4. Ask yourself if you are looking for an education or a degree
5. Is the degree a good investment?
6. Will the degree get me the job I want

No one can argue that both education and experience are extremely important in the future of your career. Just make sure you think about all factors that are involved for today and tomorrow.

Additional Resources: 1st Pillar of Success - Education

Landing a Job Out of College

More and more college students graduate every year with the assumption that they will land a job right out of college.

On a sunny spring morning 3 years ago, two college students graduated with Master's degrees from a well-known college in the northeast. Both had very similar grades and similar career interests. Both graduates were ambitious and hard-working, and both were well-liked by people they met. Both went to live back home with their parents while looking for the next exciting opportunity in the job world.

Today, one of those graduates has been promoted 3 times and holds a high-exposure position at a well known technology company; the other, works temporary administrative jobs and is a bartender at night. One lives on his own and is soon to be married to his lovely fiance; the other still lives with his parents and has expanded his domain to the basement.

What made the difference?

Society often makes us believe that, a college degree will…

• get us a good job,
• make us lots of money,
• find us a wife or husband,
• buy us a house with a white picket fence,
• and we will live happily ever after.

Fairy tale indeed!

Instead of living the dream,  you are sitting at home in your parent’s house or living in some less-that-stellar apartment asking yourself how you can get out of this dead-end!

Maybe you don’t know what you want to do with your life. Maybe you do, but you don’t know how to get there. Maybe you know how to get there, but just don’t know the first step? Maybe you know the right first step, but you can’t get the interview for that job. Maybe you can get the interview, but can’t land the job.

Unfortunately for us, the competition for quality out-of-college work is growing. We worry about globalization and outsourcing, fluctuating unemployment rates, political instability, and more college graduates flooding the job market. Instead of living the white picket fence dream, we are haunted by nightmares of reality.

Despite the drawbacks, there is a world of opportunity out there for the taking. Everyone needs to look for ways to distinguish themselves from their peers and a way to market themselves to the world. In comes the Internet!

Although the Internet provides an easy and fast way to search and post for jobs, just remember that most people in your predicament are using the Internet as well. So, how are you going to compete with your peers on a global scale?

Quick Lesson #1: “The Internet is just like any other tool… it only helps you if you know how to use it!”

Finding the right career can be difficult if you don’t have the right mind-set or tools to do it. You have been taught the importance of a well-organized resume, how to dress and act in an interview, and where to look for jobs, but how far has that gotten you? The job market has changed drastically as a result of the Information Age. However, people looking for jobs have not adapted to the new way of applying for them.

What you really need is a systematic approach.

In the past few years, I have spent countless hours speaking to recruiters, Human Resources, and hiring managers to learn what they are looking for in potential candidates. I have worked with the software tools they use in searching for applicants and understand the key elements they use to eliminate “unqualified” candidates, such as lack of detail in experiences or consistency in “the story” you resume tells. I also know where their struggles lie in their day-to-day activities and know how to mitigate those issues.

“Peter has put together a systemic method not taught in universities.  When it comes to finding a job you don't need to be book smart.  Your grades don't matter.  You need to be street smart!  Through interviews and real life research he's assembled an arsenal of tools and techniques anyone can use. It takes other people years to discover this valuable information.  Peter's system takes much of the guess work out of finding a job.  His advice is straight forward and effective.  If you are serious about finding the right job in the shortest time possible don't look any further.” - Eugene Loj, President of Usability Matrix

I have also spent countless hours speaking and helping college graduates with their resumes and career search. I have mock interviewed these individuals to better pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, I have interviewed many candidates for an assortment of positions (web developers, project managers, sales, police force, engineers) along with other interviewers, discussed the candidate’s pros - like professionalism, integrity, honesty;  and cons – like arrogance, sloppiness, and poor communication skills. Things like professionalism, In short, I know what employers are looking for.

I have developed a proven system that will help both job seeking graduates and hiring recruiters achieve their goals. The system is based on real-life experiences and the suggestions of recruiters, managers, small-business owners and college graduates who became be very successful. This system is aimed toward individuals like you who are intelligent, capable, and hard-working but for whatever reason have never found out how to take that first step in finding the right career path.

Quick Lesson #2: “A job is something you do and get paid for… a career is something you aim to become!”

It is unfair for you and other individuals to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a college education and not have that perfect career waiting for you when you graduate. I want to help you find the right career – once you find that, money will come afterwards.

Why do I want to help? Because I have been in your shoes and I know how hard and frustrating it can be. I think that everyone that tries deserves a fair chance, and the only way to give everyone a fair chance is to level the playing field.

The good news is, it is not your lack of experience, ability, or intelligence in a particular field holding you back – it’s merely an understanding of the job application process. And once you get your job, I want to help you grow your career to get you where you want to be.

My system indicates that one of the most typical interview questions is – “where do you want to be in 5 years from now?” I want to help make that dream a reality by providing a systematic approach to not only getting that job offer, but pushing your career forward as quickly as possible.

If you want to know more about…

• What recruiters are looking for in resumes, cover letters, and interviews
• How you can distinguish yourself from other candidates
• How to find and land the right job for you
• Tips for networking and relationship building (before and after your hired)
• Tips for interviewing

… sign up for a FREE mini-course during which you’ll learn how you can distinguish yourself from the droves of other candidates.

The mini-course will cover:
1)    Your Resume – “The Google-Optimized Resume”
2)    Social Networking – “Musical Chairs”
3)    The Interview – “How Borat can help you interview”
4)    Following Up – “My Dog, the Great Salesman”

Instead of paying thousands of dollars to meet with a career counselor or to take career-aptitude tests, I will steer you in the right direction to help you move forward and begin your career.

Right now, I am giving away 100 FREE 4-day mini-courses. But remember, the system will not stay at this price for long!