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Tips For Candidates

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Five Ways to Land an Internship Through Creatively Networking

Who says you have to be the smartest person in the room if you are friendly with everyone in the room? In life, it’s not about what you know it’s about who you know. A trick to getting to know every person in the room is by being more creative then the next when meeting them. You might ask yourself, why do I want to know everyone in the room? You never know if someone you meet could be your next boss, coworker, or business partner. Below are some tips on how to never let another connection go to waste.

#1 – Make a POSITIVE lasting impression. I put emphasis on the positive because there is a difference between being remembered vs. not forgotten. You want this new potential coworker that you met on a night out to remember how outgoing and interesting you were. Ordering everyone a round of shots then spilling them on yourself is not the best way to be remembered. Engage in an interesting conversation and you will never be forgotten. He or she may even email her boss that night and say she found a potential intern, that’s how I got my internship at The Melanie Andersen Agency (thanks Jillian!).

#2 – Know your place, respect boundaries. Remember that you are the one looking for a job, and they are your connection! When talking potential business strategies keep in mind that they are the professional and you are looking to join their team. Therefore, never tell them what they are saying is a bad idea, help them build off of ideas they present to you, or give brief thoughts.

#3 – Once you have secured the internship, show a respectful amount of eagerness, drive and attitude. If you are as creative as you say you are, share some of your own ideas! However, it is important to share at the correct time. You can’t just shout out your ideas whenever you want, they’ll think you’re crazy. You have to find that conversational segway accordingly, share minor details about something similar and if it sparks another conversational topic keep going. It is ok to tell them at the end, “hey so that’s just a glimpse at how my creative mind works, I have many other ideas in numerous other fields. If you would like to speak more I would love to set up a meeting/interview”. It is a great skill if you can make them ask you for your opinion by posing a thought as a question.

#4 – Do NOT be afraid of rejection. If you ask me, most people are afraid of being told no, getting laughed at, or even standing out. Creativity is a way that one expresses themselves, if you stand in the crowd vs. standing out in the crowd, will you ever get noticed? If you don’t ask, how do you know what they will say! To give you an example, I was in the dry cleaners one afternoon where I commented to the owner of a very special car and laid down some knowledge I had about it. We had a brief conversation where he ended up giving me his business card and after I made a follow up appointment for lunch, he offered me a job. The point is, you can’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone, you never know what will happen! There are opportunities everywhere we look! Don’t be afraid to stick your neck out there. We step up to the plate every morning when we wake up, but how many of us actually swing the bat. If you keep swinging you’re bound to make contact.

#5 – The key to success and happiness in life is balance. This is very important to remember when making a connection for a possible job. At the end of the day it is important to remember that you are making a professional connection, so therefore act like a professional. Show this connection that you are someone who is respectful and understanding. On the other hand don’t be afraid to let your hair down. The two of you will be working together so your professionalism is most important, in the same breath you will be seeing each other all the time. You need to show them that you have a personality. This is where balance is key, work hard and have fun. Balance in a creative workspace is the only way to have success. Do not force a friendship, anything forced simply becomes uncomfortable. Find that balance and play with it, for that will not only be the key to success with work but success in life as well.

Creativity – a word many toss around lightly. Be the creative person that you are, never be forgotten. Take some of these tips, find a new comfort zone, and go find your next career this afternoon but don’t wait, it could be waiting for you around the next corner.

How Instagram Can Work to Your Advantage to Land the Job You WANT

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We all know that to be relevant in today’s working world, companies need to maintain their social media presence. It not only helps them differentiate their company culture in the marketplace, but provides a softer platform to market themselves in an easily accessible way to the masses. Now the question is, how do you use this to your advantage and why should you care?

You should care because, as an active job seeker or someone who has their eye on a future career prize and wants to stay on top of the marketplace and trends, it is imperative that you get a sense of whether you are a good cultural fit as well as using this “insider” information on a prospective upcoming interview with your dream company. Nothing says “I’m impressed, this candidate did their research” more than mentioning during an interview how much you love the company’s culture of doing philanthropic walks together as a team unit. It is a sure-fire way to turn a 1-way interview into a dialogue amongst two people assessing if they are a mutual match to work together.

To get started, make a list of the companies to which you’re applying, or if you’re happily employed, the companies to which you could see yourself in the future. Then Google “company name” + “Instagram.” Even if a company doesn’t have its own Instagram, there are methods to the madness. Get on a company’s LinkedIn or the company’s “Team” page to find four or five employee names. Then, Google “employee name” + “Instagram.” Start monitoring trends for your own personal and professional edification and to keep this information in your back pocket for when you will need the ammo! And, always remember to keep it on the side of being an enthusiast- everyone always loves a fan, not too many people appreciate a stalker! Moreover, enjoy the process and feel great knowing you have great tools at your disposal to help you chart your professional career forward.

Ace a Job Interview- How to Answer “Why Do You Want to work at This Company?”

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When preparing for a job interview, it is important to research the company, but it is also crucial to remember to answer the question “why do you want to work at our company?” Even if this is not explicitly asked during the interview process, employers want to know the answer to this question. There are a few ways to prepare how to answer this question and these tips will hopefully help you in moving forward in the interview process and landing you the job!

The most important thing to do is your research on the company, showing this knowledge in your answer is essential to demonstrating your interest in the role and company. Be specific and mention key points that are specific to that company, for example, it is important not to just give general statements like “I want to work with fantastic talent”. If you do start with a general statement like “I admire your work”, then follow it up with a specific example of a project or initiative or campaign that the company or individual has produced and explain why you found it inspiration or worth mentioning. If company culture is important to you, look into that and share specific examples and explain precisely why you like this aspect.

Another great way to show your enthusiasm about the company is to explain how you first heard of them or why you sought the company out out. This personal story is a great way to show that you were interested in the company even before you had the opportunity to apply, and allows the potential employer to see your point of view of the company and its evolution.

It is also important to think ahead and explain where you see the company going and how you can see yourself in that plan. Remember that it’s not just a one way street and all about you– it’s important to demonstrate to your future employer why they should hire you. Showcase some of your skills and give examples of how you can be of value in the role. This shows you’ve gone above and beyond just research, really displaying your ability to think about the future of the company and your role in that.

There is no perfect way to answer this question, but these tips can definitely prepare you and give you some unique ways to show your enthusiasm!

Win Over Anyone You Meet in Seconds

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Being successful in the business world doesn’t necessarily come from what you were taught in college. Surprisingly enough it has been proven by extensive amounts of research that about 85% of it has to do with your capacity to connect with other people. The key factor in ANY relationship, whether it be personal or a professional is establishing some sort of mutual trust and respect.

Technology has played a very important role in shaping and molding how we interact and behave with one another, specifically in the creative industries. Although there are a considerable amount of pros to our rapid tech advances, there have also been many cons as well which have made us more impatient; therefore within seconds, everyone you meet forms a strong impression that is the deciding factor on whether someone will like, trust, and respect you.

Whether you’re simply job-hunting, dating or mingling at an opening of a new art gallery, making a good impression is absolutely essential in life and in the workforce as well. But not to worry, as the creative tips below will guide you in the right direction.

Tip #1: Respect Boundaries

Be aware and conscious of other people’s space. Try your best to notice any clues like if they lean in, then lean in some more and if they step back, then try to do the same. Remember that rules or norms about people’s personal space depends on culture so that is always something to keep in mind.

Tip#2: Body Language Awareness

Actions speak louder than words, so be mindful on your body language as it makes up for more than half of what other people respond to. Always carry yourself in a way that projects ‘openness’-meaning that you aren’t closed off since that shows a lack of interest and at the same time doesn’t want to make other people stay around you. Feel free to refer back to a blog post I’ve written in the past that dives deeper into the specifics on the importance of body language.

Tip#3: Dress the Part

Try and find a sense of style that sends the right message that you would like to portray. Think of yourself as a product, and your wardrobe as packaging. For tips on how to dress specifically for an interview, you can always check out my previous blog post which gives great tips and tricks about dressing for success.

Tip#4: Attitude Adjustment

People can sense the energy you give off instantaneously, it’s the 1st thing they respond to without even knowing it themselves. If you find yourself disengaged or bored, put that aside and try to portray a positive vibe even if that is not how you are feeling at the moment.

Tip#5: Introduce yourself with Pride

Share what is it that you do to others in a brief and fluid way. Be passionate and explain what it means to you and why you think it makes a difference. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re pitching yourself as part of a new business initiative, but as a way to engage and creatively form a power point slide to which the subject is YOU.

What To Write In A Cover Letter : The Do’s and Don’t’s of Selling Yourself

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Writing a cover letter is something many employers will tell you is an essential part of the job process in order to get your resume read, and we have to agree. It’s something that shows you put the extra effort in, and sets you aside from the numerous resume’s that get sent through by themselves. A great cover letter complement’s your resume by highlighting your skills, and adds a personal touch by demonstrating your writing style in explaining why you make the best fit for a position. A cover letter is usually the first written contact you have with a potential employer, so naturally, you want to make a sure it has the best impact as possible.

Effective cover letters are no longer than a page (you don’t want to bore the reader) and no shorter than a paragraph. You want to get your points across, yet make it flow and enjoyable for the reader.

If emailing your resume to a potential employer, put your cover letter in the body of the email rather than an attachment. This way you are able to reach the employer with your words, and it will encourage them to open your resume.

Answer the question “Why should I see you?” This may be the most important thing to remember when shaping a cover letter. These employers are taking the time out to read your document, and make the executive decision whether or not to open their doors for you. Summarize your strengths, and include details about why you are writing: what exactly about the company excites and motivates you? Feel free to delve into details about what brought the role to your attention, how you became interested in the industry or company, and why your past experience makes you a perfect fit for a career within that realm. Make sure you use the right tone; you want to be professional yet carefully assertive.

Tailor your skills from the job description to fit into your explanation. You’ll want your experience, personality and capabilities to reflect what is asked for by the employer. Try and mirror what is in the job description.

Highlight details from your resume. Explain any gaps, mention additional accomplishments and correlate your experience that is relevant to the job or industry. You don’t want to explain your entire role at a company, that’s meant for the interview phase. Instead, touch upon a position briefly, and connect it to the current posting.

Stay positive throughout the note, after all you are selling yourself! Be enthusiastic, and never bad mouth your old company or boss, or explain why you quit your last job.

Thank the employer. Make sure you thank the reader for their time, and offer to provide any other information if needed. Sign off with an appropriate signature, such as sincerely or best regards, and say that you look forward to hearing from them soon!

Additionally, make sure you never lie about your experience, as this is a sure way to ruin any chance you had in the first place. And don’t sell yourself short – this letter is meant to boost your position, not lower you in the ranks! And always, always, remember to proof read! Spelling and grammatical errors are too easy to fix to get penalized for (and you will, if they’re that obvious).

You’ll want to make sure each cover letter is tailored for a specific job or company, so don’t get lazy once your start applying – each posting requires its own letter. Stay positive and remember, the more time and personalization you put into it, the more likely you’ll hear back!

The Importance Of Being Responsive When Searching For A New Job

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The process of getting a job has a lot of moving parts. Consequently, most of these moving parts are extremely time sensitive. As a recruiter for The Melanie Andersen Agency’s fashion division, one obstacle I often face is response time from my creative candidates. As a creative, it goes without saying that you are on tight deadlines, busy and not necessarily at your desk all of the time. However, once you are engaged with a company regarding a potential job, you need to be on the ball or it may jeopardize your chances.

Clients can be pretty unpredictable in their response time, but they have the freedom to do so, they are the ones who are deciding whether or not to give an offer. I’ve had a search that I worked on for 6 months, where the client was moving at a snails pace, and then the final stages happened so fast my head was spinning. This is how it goes, and the most important thing is to be on top of making sure your recruiter or potential future employer has all the information they need from you in a timely manner.

In my experience, I have had to practically stalk some candidates on a daily basis to make sure they were giving me the information and documents I needed. It wasn’t because they felt lukewarm about the job, because they eventually accepted the offer, it’s just an issue of prioritization. At the end of the day, you are at a point where you want to change jobs so that should be a priority, and not on the backburner, since you could lose the opportunity because of a reason that was preventable.

My suggestion would be to answer emails as quickly as possible, even if you can’t do what is asked of you right that second. Acknowledge receipt and give a timeline of when you can have the information back to the recruiter or employer. Please bear in mind that absolutely no longer than 24 hours should pass from the moment something is asked of you to the moment you complete it. As recruiters, we abide by the same rule. When a client wants something from our candidate, we check in with the client after 24 hours, even if we have nothing to give them. In the age of smartphones where we all get our emails directly to our phones, this is something which shouldn’t be too hard to fix, but the payoff is significant in terms of giving you the best chances possible of landing your dream job!

5 Ways to Ignite Creative Inspiration

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It happens to the best of us that at times we feel uninspired, and it can be difficult to climb out of the rut. Sometimes we need that extra push to get us focused and revamped so below are some tips to help spark that creativity.

– Take a break from the computer and office environment and go for a walk. Take in your environment- the people, the places, the culture. Be vigilant and check out new stores, restaurants, landmarks or even new street art/graffiti, as these can provide for some great inspiration for your next project.

– Learn a new skill. As creatives, we are fortunate enough to be able to continually add to our skillset. Try taking a class or check out free tutorials and videos online to learn a new skill that could provide value to your current work environment or to simply to expose yourself to a new experience. For example, take a coding course, a cultural dance class, or even a cooking class.

– Make use of your off-work hours by taking on a freelance project that would give you hands-on experience in something that you wouldn’t normally be doing, either in a new industry or within a different skillset.

– Invite someone who you admire but who is working in a different industry to yourself to pick their brain. Find out what inspires them, learn about their job/skillset and possibly find a way to collaborate with them and learn from them.

– Go on a vacation or even a staycation. Relaxing and letting go of obligations for even just one day can bring new energy and inspiration to your work and life in general. Sometimes giving your mind a break is necessary in order to be productive.

For Freelancers – The Importance of Billing Clients on Time

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If you are a freelancer and invoicing your client directly, I cannot stress the importance of keeping up to date on your invoices. I know, this may sound counterintuitive. Afterall, who wouldn’t love to get a bill later or perhaps even not receive one at all!? I will tell you who – anyone that is managing a budget and has a P&L to work against (i.e. your client). Clients budget for projects within specific fiscal periods and if the checks and balances of those numbers do not reflect such forecasting and allocation, then it can affect their bottom line. Moreover, it can cause your client more hassle and more work, which I’m betting is not your goal. That is, unless you don’t want to work with them again. And more importantly, you yourself want to get paid, and the sooner you invoice them the sooner that can happen.

While clients do hire creatives to be “creative”, no one appreciates continually having to follow up with someone to receive an invoice or their timecard. People want to work with people who are not only talented but are also professional, responsible and accountable. To rise to the top of the heap of freelance resources available to a client, do yourself a service and be that total package of amazing talent and an ease to work with.

Summer Style: How To Dress Appropriately In The Workplace While Keeping Your Cool

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Summer is upon us and you know what that means : less clothing! However, despite the scorching temperatures outside, it is important to find a way to incorporate minimal clothing will still maintaining professionalism, style and appropriateness in the workplace, or while interviewing for a new job. We’ve compiled a breakdown of what’s appropriate to wear during those hot summer months, and what you’re better off saving for the weekend.

What’s OK:

– Spaghetti straps (this one’s two fold; as long as this is covered up with a sweater, cardigan or jacket). 99% of offices will allow this if you are covered up appropriately.

– Open toe sandals or heels

– Shorts (as long as they are not too short!) and you smarten the look with a cute blazer

– Maxi dresses

– Wedges

– Ripped jeans (this one is tricky, but if you work in a casual environment, we say go ahead)

– Any dress below the knee, and a few inches above

– Skirts (no more than 3 inches above the knee)

– Espadrille shoes

What’s NOT acceptable, no matter what the season:

– Flip flops

– Spandex shorts

– Denim shorts

– Tube tops

– Forgoing undergarments

– Bathing suits (seems obvious but hey, when you’re in a rush to get to the beach after work…)

– Cover ups/sarongs/anything see through (if it’s meant for the poolside, leave it there)

– Crop tops

– Sunglasses inside

5 Tips for Using LinkedIn to Further Your Career

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Tailoring your LinkedIn profile and keeping it updated may seem like a daunting task, but maintaining an informative profile is an invaluable way to get noticed by potential recruiters, employers or collaborators. To help tackle this task, I’ve compiled some of the best tips for managing your profile so that you can utilize your LinkedIn in order to get noticed by potential connections and make a great first impression:

Connect with Recruiters
One of the best resources LinkedIn can offer is the option to connect with recruiters in your industry. When looking for a new job, proactively reach out to recruiters either by finding their contact info on their LinkedIn profile, or by sending them a connection request with a personalized message. Explain in your initial contact with a recruiter that you are looking for new roles and that you would love to connect to discuss potential opportunities.

Respond to Recruiters – Even if you are not looking for new opportunities
Even if you are currently happy in your current position, you should never ignore a recruiters request to discuss potential opportunities, or worse yet, give them a rude response. While you may have no intention of changing jobs currently, you never know what the future holds and you could find yourself looking for a job and wishing you had kept in touch with that recruiter who reached out to you. The best policy is always to answer politely and honestly – let them know that you would love to work with them in the future should your current job situation ever change. It’s a great way to start a relationship and have a head start should something change with your current job situation.

When reaching out to a connection on LinkedIn: Don’t neglect their contact policy
Whether you are sending a message to a recruiter, a potential employer, or someone you admire in your industry who you’d love to form a working relationship with, make sure you always check that person’s contact policy on their profile. While some people may accept messages on LinkedIn, a lot of people include email addresses to directly connect with them or may have specific instructions on how to best reach them. It’s best to check someone’s personal preferences on contacting them so you can show that you have paid attention to the details of their profile.

Editing your profile: Know how much information to include
It’s imperative to not post too much or too little to your LinkedIn. It’s great to include a concise personal summary to quickly recap your career so that anyone looking at your profile can quickly get a sense of your background. However, be sure to not be too superfluous- avoid writing an autobiography about yourself. It’s a fact that people lose interest quickly and you can lose your audience’s attention if you’re too lengthy. As far as your work experience goes, after including your company and title, it’s best to include a brief description of the responsibilities associated with your role – maybe one or two bullet points or an example of some clients you worked with. Think concise but informative; a snapshot of your career that won’t bore your potential connections.

If you want people to connect with you: Make your contact information readily available
If you are open to being contacted by recruiters, potential employers, or potential collaborators in order to further your career – it’s imperative that you include your contact information in your LinkedIn profile. Don’t leave it up to people having to search high and low for your contact information because that’s one way for a potential connection to become disinterested and give up on contacting you. Depending on your profession, if you have projects that showcase your work – it’s also helpful to include a link of any portfolio or personal website you may have in order to allow people to see the caliber of your work and encourage them to reach out to you.

While it may seem like an intimidating task to perfect and manage your LinkedIn profile, remembering these easy steps can help to keep your profile in tip top shape and help attract potential connections in your industry!