Well, we’re right in the middle of Career Fair season here in Singapore. Universities have almost finished their major on-campus fairs, and for the general public, this weekend marks the 2nd of the 3 major career fairs. Here are the details:

CAREER 2012 (March 1-4)
www.careerseries.com.sg

Career 2012 is one the largest training, education and recruiting fair in Singapore, with over 250 exhibitors and special pavilions. Kwantum Leap was present again giving talks over the weekend on “What Interviewers are Really Thinking and Looking For”

JobsDB.com Career Expo 2011 (March 23-257)
careerexpo.sg.jobsdb.com

Similar to Career 2012, admission is free (although you need to register). Suntec Convention Halls 404

JobsCentral Career Fair & Learning Fair 2012 (August 25-26)
www.jobscentral.com.sg/careerfair

Last year’s version attracted close to 60,000 visitors. This year, the organizers have added a heavy Learning component by offering a whole host of career-related workshops. We’ll be there as well, talking about 2 of our favourite topics – resumes & interview skills. Be sure to mark these dates in your calendar.

An edited version of this article was recently published in the October 2011 issue of NTUC Lifestyle - “Singapore’s Largest Circulating Magazine”. Here’s the original article in full.

Leaving a memorable impression should be your #1 goal in an interview. If an interviewer can’t remember you after 24hrs of meeting you, you have no chance. Of course, memorability works both ways. You either remember someone for something great or for something horrible. Knowing where you fall is the key. It would be simple if you could just ask the interviewer, but there are some unspoken signs you can pick up – clues from the body language of the interviewer to see if you’re on the right track. Even the best trained interviewers will give you certain “tells” as to how you are doing.

First Impressions Matter

Interviewers tend to know within the first five minutes whether the candidate has potential or is simply a waste of time. The answers to the two most common opening questions are all the information they need. “Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Why do you want to work for us?” As you give your prepared answers, how is the interviewer reacting? Are they simply rushing to the next question and giving you a slight brush off, perhaps because they’ve heard this answer a hundred times, or does the interviewer seem genuinely interested in your responses?

Follow-up questions from the interviewer during the introduction are a very good sign. It shows that you’ve piqued some interest. To do that, you must go beyond simply repeating what’s already on your resume. Share your motivations about your current career path, and be very specific about why you’re interested in the role. Keep your answers to a maximum of two minutes per question, so as not to bore the interviewer.

People Buy People First

You’ve all heard this phrase before – people buy people first. In an interview context, this means that interviewers are looking beyond your experiences and skills. They want to know who you are as a person, your philosophy, your values. And the more you have in common with the interviewer, the better.

As you think about what stories and experiences you will share in the interview, ask yourself whether the person sitting across from you will relate to them the same way you do. Will they think your biggest accomplishment is really a big deal? Can they even appreciate the difficult situations you’ve overcome? Have they experienced something similar?

Cracking of a small (or big!) smile, or a consistent nodding of the head from the interviewer are two strong signs that you’re making a connection with them. Try to use their same lingo and industry terms in your stories. The more you can sound like them, the better connection you can make. Remember to talk about more than just what happened. Share your thought process and your plans. Interviewers want to know not just what you’ve done, but how you think, and whether or not you’ll fit into their team.

Closing Strong

When it comes time for you to ask your questions, don’t forget that you’re still being evaluated. This is not the time for you to ask selfish “me, me, me” questions. It’s not about you; it’s still about them. Think of questions about the company’s direction, or challenges the interviewer may be facing. You’ll know if you’ve asked a good question by the answer you receive. If the response is short and curt, you’ve missed the mark. If the interviewer takes the time to elaborate on their answer and is enthusiastic, you’ve made another good impression.

The biggest sign you can get near the end of the interview is when the interviewer stops asking questions, and starts to tell you more about the company’s direction, the team, or the role. The interviewer has now switched to “sell mode”. Now that they’ve determined you’re a possible strong fit, they want to try and get you excited about them.

Good interviewers are trained to be neutral during an interview, and to be consistent and fair with all of their candidates. However, if you watch carefully and do the proper preparation, you will be able to leave a positive memorable impression that will help you secure the job.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, March marks the beginning of the career fair season, so I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight 3 of the major ones that are free and open to the general public.

CAREER 2011 (March 3-6)
www.careerseries.com.sg

Career 2011 is the largest training, education and recruiting fair in Singapore, with over 250 exhibitors and special pavilions featuring the up-and-coming Aerospace Industry, Education in Malaysia, and 21st Century Skills.

There is a long list of free seminars and talks throughout all 4 days, including a few from yours truly. I’ll be at the fair on Sat & Sun talking about “How to Find the Hidden Backdoors in Your Job Search” and “What Interviewers are Really Thinking and Looking For”

You can visit everything on the 3rd and 6th floor of the Suntec Convention Centre

JobsDB.com Career Expo 2011 (March 25-27)
www.careerexpo.sg.jobsdb.com

Similar to Career 2011, admission is free (although you need to register). Suntec Convention Halls 402 & 403

JobsCentral Career Fair & Learning Fair 2011 (August 13-14)
www.jobscentral.com.sg/careerfair

This yearly job fair event is held in partnership with the 5 polytechnics in Singapore, and aims to draw 55,000 job hunters with the vast majority of them having at least diplomas and degrees. Again, at Suntec Convention Centre.

You’ve done your research, you know what you want, and now you’re prepared for the actual event. What do you do when you finally arrive? Here are 2 more tips to help you really stand out at the actual fair itself.

4. Ask Specific Questions

So you’re done your research, and you’ve done your preparation. Now what? You need to start approaching people at the booths and try to make a strong impression. Over the course of 1 day, I’ll probably talk to over 50 people, and will have heard all the boring questions and standard pitches. If you want to stand out, asking an intelligent and insightful question will be a like a breath of fresh air to me, and the key to being noticed.

Stay away from asking “selfish” questions, questions all about you, such as: what roles are there for me? What training do I get? What is the salary range for this position? Let other’s ask these basic questions, while you stand nearby and hear the answer.

When it comes to your turn, always start by introducing yourself. You’d be surprised at the numbers of times that this never happens. Then start your question with a preamble – a short description of what you know, what you’ve read, what you’ve heard from others about the topic you want to discuss. This will give you a chance to show off all the research and preparation you’ve done ahead of time. Be specific whenever possible and stay away from open-ended questions, such as, “what is the favourite thing you like about the company?” This does not impress anyone.

Once you’ve gotten my attention with your good questions, you can then start to talk about yourself and your strengths, the roles you’re interested in, and how you hope to contribute. If you want to stand out, you need to be unique but genuine, and really show your deep knowledge. Just remember this, when it comes to questions, it’s not about you, it’s about them.

A good way to build your confidence and to get some practice is to start by approaching companies you’re interested in learning more about, before you head to the ones that you’re extremely interested in.

5. Close Strong & Follow-Up

As a company representative at a job fair, it is my job to talk to as many people as I can. Once you’ve had your opportunity to ask 1-2 questions, thank me and move on. Be respectful and don’t monopolize my time. If you think you’ve made a connection, or if you have more questions, then ask for a name card.

More often than not, if you’ve done a good job presenting yourself, and asking intriguing questions, I’ll want to keep in touch with you, and even ask for your name or resume. That’s why I’m spending my time at the fair, to scout out potential top talent.

Once you’ve obtained a name card, make sure you follow-up with an email within 24hrs. In this email, keep it short and sweet, but be sure to reference something specific about the conversation we had so I can recall your face in my mind. Remember, I’ll most likely have spoken to over 50 people in a day, so sending a simple, “Thanks for your time, please keep in touch” is not very helpful.

If you’re not asked, or you’re given an excuse about not having anymore name cards, take that as a big hint that you probably haven’t succeeded in standing out. If you then proceed by asking if I’ll take your resume, I will of course say yes; however, the chances that resume will lead to anything are slim to none.

The best part about a job fair is that you have an immediate opportunity to try again with the next booth. However, before you head over there, take a second to think about what went wrong and where you can improve. The opportunity to accelerate your job search is real, so before you decide to just ask the same standard and boring questions as everyone else, take the time to follow these tips in order to get noticed. The more practice, the better you will get.

Job fairs are becoming a popular way for large companies to not only attract and recruit a significant number of job applicants, but to also market themselves to the general public. The larger the booth and the bigger the brand, the more jobs available and the better the company to work for? Not necessarily.

Most people believe that their objective at these fairs should be to use the “machine gun approach” (i.e. hand out their resume at every booth present) or for them to only go to the booths of companies they recognize, ask some basic questions to fake some interest, then hand in their resume. Let me be the first to be burst their bubble; this doesn’t work!

If you don’t already know this, when you approach the booth and have that first conversation, you’re having your first interview with the company. With that fact, job fairs are unique and a great opportunity. If you play your cards right, you may be able to accelerate your job search, so here are five tips to help you maximize your job fair potential.

1. Do Your Research

Like a normal job interview, half the battle is in the initial preparation and the most important part of that preparation is your research. At job fairs, a list of companies that will be attending is normally available ahead of the event. Study this list and divide the companies into 3 categories: ones you’re extremely interested in, those you want to learn more about, and finally companies you have no interest in. One you have these categories, for those companies you’re still interested in, you need to visit their websites, at a minimum.

Click on their About Us page. Learn about what they do, their mission and company values, and what products or services they sell. Next, visit their Career section to learn about the skills they look for in their employees, what open roles are currently available, and get a feel for their corporate culture.

With those that you’re extremely interested in, you’re probably already familiar with these basics. You should then go and visit their News section to read the latest press releases and see the latest issues facing their company/industry. Do a Google a search to see what else is making the headlines. In this research, you’re looking for anecdotes and facts that spark some interesting and unique questions for you to ask and impress the representatives at the fair.

What you want to avoid is asking the basic questions that are constantly heard: What does your company do? What opportunities are available for me? What are you looking for? If you are really interested in a company, these questions should never need to be asked. You should already know the answer.

2. Know What You Want

Now that you know about the companies, it’s time to do research on yourself. This may sound silly, but when someone approaches me at the booth and asks, “what roles are available?”, the first question I ask is, “what are you interested in?” When the response is “anything” or “I don’t know”, that is almost a guarantee that you won’t be getting hired. Before you approach anyone, you need to know what you’re interested in and where you might fit in within the organization.

What are you strengths and weaknesses? What are your biggest accomplishments? What are you most proud of? What are your most important transferable skills? The answers to these questions will form the basis of your 30-second pitch. Other things you should include in these 30-seconds are your name, your education, and why you’re so interested in working for us. Please don’t tell me it’s because we’re such a “prestigious firm” or “it will be a great opportunity to practice what I’ve learned at school”. Be specific and personal, give details.

3. Come Prepared

On the day of, start by coming dressed to impress. Again, since your first conversation at the booth is your first interview, you should dress as you would if you were invited to the office for an actual job interview. Comb you hair, polish up your shoes, and please leave your white socks at home!

Forget your backpacks; come with a nice looking portfolio. It doesn’t need to be very fancy or expensive, but please not the clear plastic folders or boxes. Look professional. Having copies of your resume to hand out is nice, but can be cumbersome to carry around. Also, many companies today would prefer that you apply directly on their website so they can track you properly and they don’t lose your resume in transit. My suggestion is to have perhaps 10 copies made that you reserve for the companies that you’re most interested in.

A better alternative is having professional-looking name cards created to hand out instead. When you’re at the booths, your objective shouldn’t be on trying to shove a resume in front of someone, but to stand out through asking good questions and your 30-second pitch. If you are able to make a genuine connection, exchanging name cards at the end will give you a good chance to kick-start the hiring process with that company. This is much more effective than simply handing over your resume which will get thrown into a box and then pray someone gets back to you.

I’ll continue with the rest of the tips in Part 2…

A Master of Business Administration has become one of the most popular and biggest money-making degrees, both from a revenue standpoint for educational institutions and for those who succeed in making a huge-leap in the pay scale post-graduation. It’s a program that’s also extremely popular. But to be admitted to a top program requires careful planning. Whether you’re thinking of applying this Fall or a few years down the road, let me highlight a recent trend that will force you to start planning today.

The Average Age is Getting Younger

In the past, all business schools used to “strongly recommend” that candidates possess a minimum of 2 years work experience prior to applying. While 2 years was the usual guideline, most admitted participants would enter with 5-6 years, putting the average age at around 27-28.

The argument was simple. Most of the learning that occurs in an MBA is through class discussion, and sharing of stories and experiences. Without enough work experience, you would have less to share and potentially have a tougher time really appreciating some of the situations that are studied. With my MBA experiences still fresh in my mind, I totally agree. It was obvious in class to tell those students who had been around with amazing experiences under their belt to share, versus the younger students who when challenged had a hard time defending their views.

With that being said, there is a new movement and philosophy regarding this topic, led by schools such as Harvard and Stanford. These schools are slowly but purposefully trying to lower their average age to 25-26. Harvard recently introduced its 2+2 Program (http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/2+2/), encouraging those still in their undergraduate programs to apply. If accepted, you are basically pre-admitted to the MBA program 2 years from today, while you go off to get your 2 years of work experience after you get your first degree. Harvard will even assign a Career Coach to help you with your job search. Not bad, eh? The only catch: You have to apply the summer before your final year of undergrad; otherwise, you have to go through the regular MBA process.

Why the sudden change?

One of the first reasons has to do with recruiting. Top B-schools such as Harvard pride themselves on attracting superstar candidates. By encouraging young applicants, Harvard is attempting to be the first to latch on to potential top talent before other schools do, or other distractions such as a rising career or family get in the way. Harvard wants to ensure that these top candidates enrol, and when they go on to do amazing things post-graduation, Harvard is able to take the credit for the “sudden” transformation. It doesn’t hurt that these superstars become amazing alumni (i.e. big donors!) too.

A second reason has to do with the statistics. One of the most important numbers, besides rankings, that prospective applicants look at when assessing a school is the percentage increase of salary a.k.a. the ROI – how high does your salary jump pre-MBA to post. Many believe that this metric is the main (and some say only) reason people invest in returning to school. Personally, if this is your only motivation, there’s lots of easier ways to make that happen than B-school. However, by admitting younger applicants, schools are making this number look way better than it really is. Younger applicants with less experience come to B-school with lower salaries, so of course, upon graduation their percentage increase is going to be much higher.

The most important reason though comes from the feedback of professors. With students in their upper 20s, many professors are finding it extremely challenging getting through to them. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Older students are much more set in their ways. With more work experience under their belt, many are more skeptical of some of the generic teachings that professors try to impart on them. How much can you really learn and actually change as a person in a condensed 10-month/1-year program like an INSEAD or Ivey?

However, the main driver of change has been the huge number of corporate scandals that have tarnished the reputation of the MBA: Jeff Skilling (Enron – Harvard), Joseph Berardino (Arthur Andersen – Harvard), Anil Kumar (McKinsey – Wharton). Students that are younger with less experience will come into the MBA program with a more open mind and be more receptive. To put it more bluntly, professors will have an easier time breaking down an impressionable 25yr old and then brainwashing them with the “proper” MBA training that will hopefully prevent any future Enrons from occurring again. At least, that’s the theory.

What does this mean for you?

If you’re thinking of waiting until you have 4-5 years of work experience to apply, think again. As more schools begin to follow the lead of Harvard and Stanford, your best chances will be when you’re 25-26. Of course, there will always be schools that will buck the trend (e.g. IMD avg. age 31 & INSEAD avg. age 29). This means that you may need to start planning right now.

A well-planned and well-executed MBA admissions strategy can take a good 2 years. You must first start by assessing your strengths, but most importantly where the weaknesses in your application may be. Then you need a plan on how to fill these gaps, whether it’s more leadership examples or strong letters of recommendation. If you only start 6 months before you apply, it will be too late. Admissions Directors know all the tricks, so if you all of a sudden start pilling on the community service, or become a Big Brother just 1 year before to pad the application, they will see right through it. Those of you interested in a program like the Harvard 2+2 may need to start planning as of your 1st year of undergrad.

One of the most important reasons for potentially moving up your MBA timetable is where you’ll end up in your career immediately after graduation. Many large multi-national employers such as GE, Johnson & Johnson and LVMH have standard MBA leadership / rotational programs for students to enter where everything is standard, including your pay. In investment banking and management consulting, two of the most popular post-MBA professions, regardless of your background, experience or age, everyone starts at the Associate level.

So, if you graduate at 26, you could really take a big leap forward in your career, while if you’re now 30, you may have only taken a small step forward, and some would argue that if you didn’t take 2 years off for school you’d be at the same place now or maybe even further along. There are some older MBA graduates that even have to take a pay cut or a step back in their career progression, in order for them to make the transition into a new industry.

The flip side is that having more experience will give you an advantage over your younger peers during the job hunt. Your resume will have more depth, and in the interviews you’ll have more stories to tell. Companies will also tell you that although all graduates start the same, because you have more experience, you’ll move up faster. While that might be true, there’s no guarantee.

In short, if you’re thinking of an MBA down the road, now is the time to start planning! If you’re lost on where to start, below is a list of some of the major tasks in the MBA admissions journey.

• Determining your Personal Brand and Future Goals
• Assessing your Application’s Strengths & Weaknesses
• Creating a Plan to Fill your Gaps
• Writing the GMAT/GRE
• Finding the Right School & Program
• Visiting Campuses
• Securing Letters of Recommendation
• Crafting your Admission Essays
• Revising, Revising, Revising…

Too many people come to see me 1-2 months before the deadline for help. By that time, any major challenges or gaps in your application are hard to overcome. Spending the time now to put together a plan will guarantee that you’ll improve both your overall application and your chances of success to get in to the program of your choice.

Ideal interviews are ones where you and the interviewer(s) are carrying a normal conversation. Both parties take turns asking and answering questions within the flow of the conversation, and you don’t feel like you’re part of an interrogation. While you may not have the opportunity to ask questions in the middle of the interview, you will always be given at least a few minutes at the end.

Most people now know that asking good questions is a key part of the interview. Asking the right type of questions can definitely leave the interviewer with a great impression about you. But what are good questions to ask? Here are 3 rules to keep in mind:

1. Only ask questions you genuinely want to know the answer to

This first rule may sound basic, but it is violated over 50% of the time. An experienced interviewer has heard virtually every question there is, especially from the younger candidate pool. We can tell almost immediately whether someone told you to ask that question to impress us, or whether you really want to know the answer. Not genuine = lose points and credibility.

“What does your company do in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility?” If we haven’t talked once about CSR during the interview, and this is how the question is posed to me, I would immediately be skeptical. Why does this person want to know about CSR all of a sudden? Are they just trying to impress me with the latest corporate mumbo jumbo? Do they even know what CSR means??

2. Don’t ask open-ended questions; try to be as specific as possible

Interviewers have to follow a fairly strict timeline, especially if they are talking to multiple candidates in one day. When it comes time to have you ask questions, the last thing we want to do is have to use our brains and think really hard. That will annoy us more than impress us. Bad examples: “What’s the one thing that you love about your job that makes you get out of bed each morning?” “What’s the company culture like?”

3. Always start your question with a bit of a preamble

If you follow Rule #3, you will almost always adhere to Rule #1 & #2. Stated another way, don’t simply jump in and ask your question right off the bat. Start by giving a bit of a description of what you know about the subject of your question. Tell us what you have read, what you’ve heard, your opinion on the matter, or what others have told you, and then ask your question.

Following this format will give you the opportunity to bring up all the research you’ve done ahead of time and maybe even get some credit for it. By giving a preamble, you’ve also automatically made the question more specific. Finally, if you’ve shown me the lengths of your research and your interest in the topic, you will come across much more genuine and sincere.

Now, if you truly are interested in the corporate culture, here’s a better way you could ask the question. “I read on your company’s website that integrity and respect for others are 2 of your most important values. Speaking to previous interns, they also echoed similar thoughts. How do these values translate into the everyday culture in the workplace?” Here, you’ve shown the interviewer that you really care about this topic. You’ve not only done research from the website, but have also gone out of your way to talk to other interns that have worked for us. Finally, the question is much more specific by asking me to comment on integrity and respect for others, not just company culture in general which can mean so many different things.

A final point to keep in mind, in addition to the 3 rules…Try not to ask “selfish” questions, questions that are only about you, what’s in it for you. “What are the working hours like?” “Will there be any overseas opportunities during this internship?” “What is the training program like?”

If you want to impress someone, the last thing you want to do is simply talk about yourself, and ask questions that only you care about. If you want to leave a lasting impression, try to ask questions that they will care about. Find out about their interests, their challenges, their ideas. Obviously, keep it professional, and try to never put the interviewers in an embarrassing situation (e.g. talking about a recent corporate scandal that has been in the news). It’s not about you, it’s about them.

Interviews are won or lost in the first 5 minutes. Experienced interviewers can tell in your initial interactions with them if there’s potential here, or if you’re just not going to fit in. Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve worked with over 75 undergraduates conducting 1-on-1 mock interviews with them, and I can definitely tell you, after just the first few questions, which were the handful that stood out from the crowd.

So what does this mean? You need to start your interview strong! Prepare for the typical introductory questions (e.g. can you start by telling me a little bit more about yourself? Why are you interested in working for us? Why this role?), and be ready to really impress the interviewer with your answer.

Today I want to focus specifically on the introduction – what should you say and how much should you say if the interviewer asks you to tell them more about yourself.

Let me start by sharing some insights on why interviewers open with this question. Firstly, interviewers will have prepared and read your resume ahead of time, most likely the night before. However, if you’re not the 1st candidate of the day, the interviewer will have a difficult time keeping track of everyone’s details. And if the interviewer is anything like me, they’ll be running a little behind. Starting with this question allows us to begin the interview right away, and gives us the opportunity to browse your resume to refresh our memories, while we try to get back on schedule.

Secondly, there is a limited amount of time we can spend with each candidate, so we have to pick and choose which areas of your past to probe. Allowing you to start first is our way to see what you highlight as the most relevant areas of your experience, and whether what we plan to ask matches and is appropriate. Despite what you may think, interviewers aren’t out to stump you or to make you look bad. Our job is to try and determine what your strengths and weaknesses are, and whether you’re a fit for the team.

With that in mind, preparing a good holistic introduction about yourself may give you the opportunity to potentially influence the questions that the interviewer asks to you. And if you’re able to better direct us to what we want to know, then it becomes a win-win situation.

A Framework: the Front Page of the Newspaper

A good introduction is one that last somewhere between 1.5 to 2 minutes long. Think of your introduction like it is the front page of the newspaper. The front page is unique as it gives the headlines of the key news stories of the day. You should do the same in your introduction – give the interviewer just the headlines, the highlights of your background.

Another key characteristic of the front page is that it doesn’t just focus on one particular area. You don’t see the front page covered with just politics. You get a little bit of business, sports, politics, arts, etc. In your introduction, don’t just focus only one aspect of yourself, tell me a little bit from different areas. Show that you’re multi-talented.

In terms of where to start, try the following the order:

1. Start with your educational background. Where are you going to school, what are you studying, but most importantly, tell us your motivation and reasons why you decided to pick this field of study. Remember to try to relate it back to the current position / industry if possible. (30 seconds)
2. Next, quickly outline some of the different roles in your work experience. Then pick the one that you think is more relevant, and tell us why. Focus first on your achievements, and the impact you made. If you don’t think that’s very impressive, tell us what you learned in that one job that would make you extremely successful in this new role you’re applying for. (30 seconds)
3. Finally, talk about your achievements beyond work and the classroom. “Outside of school and work, I’m very involved in the community and extracurricular activities…” Similar to the work experience, quickly tell us what type of activities (e.g. CCAs, community work, or extracurriculars) you’re involved in. Then pick the one that you’re most proud of, or is the most relevant, and again tell us why. (30 seconds)
4. If there’s anything else unique about you that doesn’t fit in the 3 categories above, you can add it here at the end. Perhaps a hobby, or a passion. Best if it’s somehow related to the role or the company. (30 seconds)

Remember, like the front page, just give the headlines so the reader (in this case the listener) gets excited and wants to read the rest of the story. By telling the interview what your strengths are, this will allow them to know where to probe further and perhaps even have them adjust their questions to talk about the areas you’ve highlighted.

Having a good introduction is crucial in starting your interview strong. You want to highlight your strengths early, potentially dictate where the interview goes next. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to sell yourself, but keep it to a maximum of 2 minutes.

Also, don’t forget that half the evaluation in the interview is not about what you say, but how you say it. Remember to talk confidently, be energetic and enthusiastic. Show your passion and maintain good eye contact. A solid well-rounded introduction delivered with energy is a sure way to start to connect with your interviewer. As the saying goes, you never have a second chance to make a first impression.

Everyone has heard the importance of networking and building a personal network, and in today’s struggling economy that’s even more true than normal. While job creation is beginning to slowly pick-up, experts say that as low as 10% of all available jobs are ever posted publicly (i.e. in the newspaper or on the Internet). That means that potentially up to 90% of jobs form what we call the Hidden Job Market. With that in mind, letting people know what you’re interested in, what you’re good at, and what you’re most passionate about are critically important.

Reaching out to your existing network is the first step, but that typically won’t be enough. You will need to re-connect with people you haven’t talked to in sometime, and you will definitely want to meet new interesting people. Well, there’s no better time to get going than right now! Don’t make the mistake of waiting until you’re about to graduate or suddenly out of a job to begin to think about “networking”. The first call or email you send to a friend you haven’t spoken to for a few years shouldn’t ask if they know of any job openings.

The most common questions I get next is how do I find the type of people I want to meet, where can I go to meet them, and how do I even go about it? The most common answer, “by networking”. Before we go any further, I want to state that I don’t like the word “networking”. I’m not sure if it’s only me, but over the years, networking has developed a bit of a negative connotation for me. When someone tells me to start networking, or that I should network more, all I can picture are eager beavers coming up to important people and trying to kiss up to them as best as they can.

On the first day of my MBA program, on the official schedule right after the welcome speech by the Dean, there was an event entitled “Welcome Networking Cocktails”. And sure enough, at the end of the Dean’s opening remarks he told us to enjoy our year and encouraged us to get started on “networking” . So there we all were in the cafeteria area (yup), all trying to get to know our fellow classmates on the first day. Every conversation seemed to start like this, “Hi my name is Jon, very nice to meet you…Where am I from? I’m from Canada, yourself?…Wow, that sounds like some great stuff you were doing before; I was a management consultant for 7 years.” It was like clock-work; what’s your name, where are you from, what did you do before coming here. The MBA version of name, rank & serial number I guess. Pretty sad, and totally ineffective.

As soon as people heard and saw the word “networking”, it was as if they totally transformed. They put on their fake smiles, turned on the fake enthusiasm, and tried to put their best business-like persona forward. It didn’t help that it was mandatory for all of us to come in formal business attire, so suits & ties despite the 35C+ degree weather in Singapore. Why couldn’t the event have simply been called, “Welcome Drinks” and why couldn’t the Dean have told us just to have a good time, enjoy and mingle?

When’s the last time you were at a party and the host came up to you and said, have a good time and try to “network” as much as possible? Simply using the word mingling could have easily set a much more relaxed tone and created a more friendly, casual and non-threatening environment. This would have allowed much more natural conversations to develop and most importantly allowed us to potentially develop a better initial connection with each other, which is ultimately the end goal. Great networkers are people that are able to, in a short period of time, make you feel comfortable, engage you in interesting conversations, and create that connection with you.

As you begin to expand your network, try to think less about networking and more about mingling, especially when you’re in a large group situation. Next time, I want to focus on an important 1-on-1 activity that can help you add to your network, the coffee chat.

If you’re reading this article via a RSS reader or by subscribing to my feed or through email, I don’t think I need to tell you too much about how powerful and informative blogs can be. Blogs have quickly moved from a niche personal outlet to the mainstream. CEOs from large MNCs to celebrities and politicians are all jumping on the blog (and for that matter Twitter) band-wagon.

The education industry is no different. As students begin to move away from their home town to their new university environments and experiences, they have been quick to use the blog, and other social media channels, as a way to let their friends back home know what they are up to. Blogs have been a great way for prospective students to get a real feel and insider perspective of how life can be like at the schools they are interested in.

Admission departments are now beginning to embrace this new marketing channel as well. While MBA programs have been soliciting student volunteers to be part of their official blogs for sometime now, undergraduate programs are joining in on this growing trend. One concern some administrators have had is the lack of control and influence on the specific content student bloggers write about.

This New York Times article gives you some more insights about the issue, and talks about M.I.T.’s policy of allowing their student bloggers to write censor-free.

The corporate world has also been engaged in blogging as a marketing tool for new recruits. One thing to be aware though is that corporations generally have much stricter guidelines for “official” bloggers and I wouldn’t be surprised if virtually every corporate blog has some sort of approval (read: censorship) process to adhere to. This was definitely the case when I helped Deloitte Canada start their first recruiting blog aimed at undergraduates back in 2006. Keep that in mind.