Monthly Archives: April 2010

Steps to Starting a Career Plan

Posted on by Bill Ryan

When working with young people in career development, by which I mean teenager to approximately age twenty-five, I find that there are most often two distinct types of clients: Those with their heads in the clouds and those who can’t get up off the ground. 

It is tough figuring out a career path. Most of us find that there comes a time when we are forced into having to earn money and we try to do it as painlessly as possible. At the same time, we know that we must knock our “growing-up” a notch or two and start planning to do more than work minimum wage jobs. 

But how to make career related decisions that move you forward when most of what you have known is being told by teachers and parents what to do next? 

Getting started on a career is largely determined by how you make decisions and what those decisions are. The first step in career development is always to undergo a self-assessment and the first question to ask yourself is, “What is my decision-making style?” 

Understanding what problems need to be solved, systematically determining fixed conditions from variables within situations, and being able to reasonably project the likely consequences of various options taken is an approach that should position you for opportunities.  

Easier said than done? Let us look at some steps that I feel young people entering the workforce with the hope of beginning some sort of career should consider. 

  • Have a career advisor. This could be a professional, family member, or trusted friend, but someone who is willing to engage you through an intelligent process of making career-oriented decisions. This could take some time, so the advisor should be someone who does not tire of the process too soon.  
  • Assess thyself. First mentioned above, the value of a self-analysis cannot be overstated. You need to know clearly what your entry levels of skills, aptitudes, talents, values and most of all interests, are. Interest precedes capacity. You will develop most that which you care about. 
  • Begin establishing your network. Building, growing, and maintaining a professional network is an important part of any serious career. Making contacts with those who share your career interests and with whom you begin networking by helping and being helped, will set you up for valuable learning and employment experiences. 
  • Build interpersonal and teamwork skills. Employers are almost always looking for people who can work together well with others. Place yourself in situations in which you learn how to get a job done with others. Join clubs, volunteer, be available to help and work with others whenever the opportunity arises. 
  • Write the first draft of your resume. Expect that your resume will undergo many iterations over the years, so the sooner you get started the better. Writing this document forces you to paint a professional self-portrait that details your significant characteristics. 
  • Complete a Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Become familiar with the construct of personality type theory and see how your personality measures up. You will learn some valuable information about yourself that will assist you in knowing how you take in and process information, make decisions, and express yourself to others. 
  • Over time, relate your skills, values, personality traits, and interests to a small set of career choices. Remember, you are not choosing the one job in your life. This is the 21st century. You will hop onto the first of many stepping-stones that will lead you on a non-linear career path with one job leading to another. 
  • Use informational interviews and job shadowing to learn more. Gather the data you need to both learn about viable career options and to begin making professional relationships that will translate into options and possibilities.   

Careers do not just happen for most of us. They are built. If you seem lost and without direction, then you need a plan. Can’t plan on your own? There is help available. Find it. 

Can They Ask That in an Application?

Posted on by Bill Ryan

There are some questions that just should not be asked in an interview. In fact, Human Resource professionals know that legal complications can occur if questions that are too probing crop up during that check-out-the-potential-employee event. 

Of course, an employer wants to know who they are getting. Why should they hand the keys to the castle to someone who is incompetent, a self-aggrandizer, or worse? The drive to mine as deeply as possible into every aspect of the job candidate is intense when what is at stake is spending cherished company resources onboarding and training in hopes a value-added asset has been acquired. 

However, there are rules as to how far an interviewer can go. Specifically, interviewers should stay away from the following: 

  • Are you a U.S. citizen? (Of course, the employer can ask for proof of eligibility after the candidate has been hired.) 
  • What is your native language? 
  • Are you married? 
  • Do you have kids? 
  • How long have you lived here? 
  • What religion do you practice? 
  • Do you plan on becoming pregnant? 
  • How old are you? 
  • What clubs do you belong to? 
  • When do you plan to retire? 
  • Do you have a disability or chronic illness? 

And this is not the complete list of no-no questions. Clearly, privacy rights are being weighted in favor of the job candidate. Or are they? 

Have you filled out a job application lately…especially for a professional position? There is a major healthcare provider in New Hampshire that has a job application that looks downright 1984-Big Brother-ish in its line of questioning. Although I haven’t conducted an exhaustive study of statewide applications, my hunch is that these guys are not alone. 

Questions asking the applicant’s age, ethnicity, race, Social Security number, driver’s license number, whether they have a disability or are a veteran, are just some of the intrusive inquiries made on this application. This begs the question, why can employers examine so closely a job seeker’s past in an application, but not in an interview? 

Here is part of the answer. Job applications become legal documents in that the applicant must sign that all information given is true. Notice that interviewees do not have to swear on such a Bible. This is useful for screening out applicants with past criminal convictions or other unwanted behaviors. Companies can use the application to check for truthfulness and integrity, which protects their organization and the people who work there, from disreputable people. 

Another issue is that employers are required to file U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports with the federal government. Applications standardize the hiring process and can be used as documentation that shows employment discrimination is not occurring. Discrimination is much harder to prove in an interview.    

Two additional points about the discrepancy between questioning on applications vs. during interviews: Human Resource professionals should be the ones viewing completed applications, chuck full as they are with private information. When a receptionist, for example, is the one handling the app, then that is evidence of a shoddy operation. 

Also, let us not assume that all applications are in perfect synch with EEOC guidelines. One Boston professor informs me that, “I have found many job applications with prohibited questions on them. If someone doesn’t complain to the EEOC, then the practice will continue until someone does.”  

Job applications and interviews are governed by the same EEOC rules. Unfortunately, it cannot be safely assumed that all employers will follow those rules. Like it or not, diligence and knowledge about what is appropriate and what is not is yet another task falling to the already overburdened job seeker.