Virtual Learning

January 15, 1999

It certainly looks like 1999 will be the year of cyber-classrooms, online education, and virtual learning. Universities are quickly moving to offer online courses, and students are clamoring for more. For example, the University of California has joined with Cal State University and California Community Colleges to offer nearly 2000 online courses and degree programs.

There are obvious drawbacks as well. Email conversations eliminate some of the spontaneity and visual cues that are inherent in face to face interactions. Recent reports indicate that the students that suffer the most from using online classes rather than traditional methods are those that need to be 'bottle fed' information. Stanley Chodorow, Dean of California Virtual University, notes that cyber-learning "students must be active. There is a certain percentage of students whose only action is to get themselves to class… then they sit there dead silent."

Western Governor's University provides more than 300 online classes from 26 different universities, colleges, and corporations. Look at what online classes are offered in your area, and try one out. Some proponents of online classes think that they are more appropriate for core introductory material, or for specialty/technical classes.

Afterviews

January 14, 1999

Job Interviews are not only one of the Holy Grails of Jobhunting, they are also regarded with fear and loathing. You are assessed like a piece of meat, fodder for the labor grist mill. And it takes a lot of effort for most of us to walk away still feeling good about ourselves, especially since the odds are so great we'll be rejected for the Job.

Given our Love/Hate relationship to Job Interviews, there are some important things to remember before you thank the Inquisitor, er, Interviewer, for their time. First and foremost, don't forget to ask for the Job! Most Interviewees forget (or are too shy, embarrassed, etc) to ask for the position they are Interviewing for.

Offer to come back for another Interview. Recognize the plight the Interviewer is in, talking to dozens of candidates and trying to discern relevant differences between them. Showing your compassion, or ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes, may be the deciding factor in your favor. If not this time, maybe it will stick with the next Interviewer.

Find out the Employer's hiring timeframe, and whether they inform all applicants of their decision, or just the ones they hire. You need to know when you should be crossing this company off your 'possibles list', and concentrating on the next Job lead.

Finally, at the end of every Interview, ask the Hiring Manager for leads to other Jobs. They may be the best possible source anywhere for Job availability information. You've just made an effort to sell them on your skills, and they've reviewed your work history in some detail. Hiring Managers travel in a circle of associations with like-minded concerns, namely, "How do I fill these positions with competent and dependable Employees?" What a goldmine! Their professional success is dependent on finding good Employees. Even if you are not the best candidate for the particular Job they are filling today, you may be the best match for one they are (or a colleague is) filling tomorrow.

So don't leave an Interview on a depressed note when it looks like you're not 'the one and only'. Remember that the Interviewer is human, prone to errors in judgement, and may yet serve as the critical resource in getting you either the Job you want, or something close to it. And send a thank you note!!! Hiring managers are almost universally surprised (read disappointed) that less than one out of fifteen Interviewees takes the time to perform this simple courtesy. They remember the Jobhunters that give them respect, and this may just be the edge you need.

Weigh Your Options

January 13, 1999

Many of us are in the position of having to grab the first Job offer that gets within grabbing distance. Unfortunately, this does not constitute 'career planning'. Even if the first Job offer is in a field that interests you, I hope you will have the time and financial wherewithal to make a conscious decision to either accept or reject any Job offer.

Throughout your career you are going to be judged (to some extent) by the length of time spent with previous Employers. If your periods of Employment are too brief, then Hiring Managers will mark your application with cautionary red flags. In some cases you will have excellent reasons for your brief tenure at your last position - the Job was temporary or seasonal, or the particular project ended. In other cases, you may have true but weaker explanations for why things didn't work out. For example, the classic "My Boss was a jerk." Although the vast majority of firings occur because of personality conflicts rather than incompetence by the Employee, Employers get nervous when they look over work histories that read like a travel log.

Some questions that are worth asking yourself before saying 'yes' to the next offer that comes down the pike:

Am I taking this Job just to be Employed?

Am I willing to work for someone I don't respect?

Will I sell goods/services I don't believe in?

Does this Company promote Employee growth and learning?

Will this Job further my career goals? If so, how?

These are not always easy questions to answer, and you're bound to make mistakes. In fact, you're guaranteed to make mistakes because you'll be evolving from one Job to the next, and your likes, dislikes, and career plans will change several times as you gain experience. One way to help make these kinds of decisions is to chart the pros & cons of a Job offer on a page. Sketch out what you think is positive about working for Company X, and write down possible negative consequences. While the items don't have equal weight, just writing them down often allows the subconscious a chance to emerge and give you some input.

Whenever possible, delay impulse decisions regarding Job offers. Employers will understand (usually!) that decisions like this are important and should require some reflection. If they push you, remind them of the serious consequences of hiring the wrong person. If you show them that you consider accepting a Job offer to be a serious commitment on your part, they should be appreciative of your thoughtfulness and respect your decision-making ability in the future as well.

Someone who leaps before looking will eventually take a portion of their hard-earned business down the drain.

Best and Worst Methods

January 11, 1999

What are the best (and worst) methods for getting a Job?

Knowing the answer to this question is one of the first steps in your Jobhunt. And one of the best resources available is Richard Nelson Bolles' Industry Standard for Jobhunters, What Color is your Parachute? Both the hard copy book and associated website should be accessed repeatedly by the diligent Jobhunter. His advice? Use a combination of the best methods so that if you are screened out by on you may access the person you need to talk to by other means. Bolles rates Jobhunting methods by the average number of successes (per 100 Jobhunters) for each of the following methods, from best to worst.