Conducting Phone Interviews

A potential employer may want to do a preliminary interview by phone. If you're prepared for the call, you can impress the interviewer.  Here are some tips, since doing a phone interview is a unique experience!

First, have all your tools in one place, which should include:

• Your resume
• Pen and paper to jot the interviewer(s) name(s) down immediately and to take notes during the interview
• Company research (with relevant information highlighted)
• Questions to ask about the company and position
• A glass of water

 Some additional tips:

• Turn off distractions. Take your phone into in a quiet room.
• Make sure you write down the interviewer’s name and contact information.
• Dress the part for the interview. Experts say if you're dressed in a professional manner, you'll speak that way.
• Make your answers more concise and to the point.  It is harder to keep the interviewer’s attention on the phone, due to the lack of non-verbal communication.

Some final thoughts:

If an employer calls and wants to do the interview right away (instead of setting up an appointment), tell them you are interested but would like to call them back in five minutes. This will give you time to make the psychological switch from whatever you are doing to your professional demeanor and collect some basic materials.

When the employer ends the interview, thank them for their time.  Be sure you have their full name and contact information.  Close the interview by thanking them for their time and reiterating your interest in the position.

Write a thank-you email within 24 hours of the interview.

If you have other questions, don’t hesitate to come see us!

Gary Alan Miller,
Executive Director

The 5 Paths of Personal and Professional Success

On Friday, August 7th, my co-worker, Michele Roberts, and I attended a workshop by Dr. Zebulun Davenport, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at Indiana University. His workshop was titled 5 Tools to Create Success In Your Personal and Professional Life.

In this workshop, Dr. Zebulun gave 5 tips that we could start using immediately to improve our lives:

1. Start your day with a positive attitude.

2. Set goals in your life and stay focused on those goals.

3. Take responsibility for your life and actions.

4) Take advantage of the here and now.

5) Laugh sometimes.

As Dr. Zebulun talked about his "5 Tools", he also gave extra important lessons to keep in mind. One of them was that life is too short to worry about what others think of us, what we are and what we do. It is important to grow in ways that are authentic to you. Also notable was when he defined FEAR as "false experiences appearing real."

I am glad I took the time to see this workshop. The messages in it were simple but still impactful, and an effective pick-me-up as we get very close to the start of the Fall semester.

Try to see how you can use these 5 tools in your life starting today. And, as Dr. Zebulun says, success is the journey not the destination.

Nayelli Perez

Assistant Director

Taking a Weakness and Making it Into a Strength!

I don't consider myself the creative type. I find that I struggle with coming up with new, innovative ideas sometimes. I have artistic abilities, but that doesn't always necessarily lead to creativity. I find my strengths to lie in support and implementation, and not so much on the "start-from-nothing-and-get-creative-type".

Do I consider that a weakness of mine? Yes.
Is that something I have made strides to work on? Definitely!

Recently, I had the opportunity to work on my creative skills and make something my own. Thanks to Deanna Rodin (the Career Center Associate Director) I was able to take over our recent #HUInternSelfie Challenge and make it my very own. I worked with Deanna and brainstormed a ton of ideas (from very practical to wild and outrageous--think riding an elephant) to use throughout the entire process. This included ways to advertise and get the challenge out there, how to logistically manage the event, which platform was optimal to host the challenge, what challenges would students participate each week, what can we use for the future, and what would be some of the post-event activities with our winner. Although I worked within certain guidelines, it really was a great opportunity to make an event completely my own and have fun with it! I also learned a lot along the way about the process of putting on event and how things work on the Hofstra campus. In the end, I felt we had a great participation (of 10 diverse student interns) and I'm truly proud of the end product (and excited for our winner of the $250 Nordstrom Gift Card!).

Overall, I view weaknesses as future strengths that haven't been worked on yet. The steps I took to work on this particular weakness were:

• Admit to myself and to another person that this is a quality I want to work on. This made me accountable to actually take the steps towards improvement.
• Find an opportunity to work said-quality, big or small. This will give you the freedom and space to work on that skill--remember, practice does make perfect!
• Have fun with it! Not succeeding doesn't always mean failure, this could be one of your first attempts at working on this quality. Give yourself the space to have fun and you'll continue progressing in the future.

With the support of the Career Center staff, I felt encouraged to continue moving forward with my creativity and come up with a fun event, and I hope participants enjoyed it too! If you have a weakness you want to work on, the Career Center is here to support you make it into a strength! Maybe communication isn't your forte and you have a big interview coming up--we'll practice with a mock interview to transform it into a strength. Maybe you're writing skill isn't where you want it to be and you're struggling with a cover letter--the Career Center is here to help you through that process too! All you have to do is reach out and we'll be here!

Anne Monique Concepcion,
Graduate Assistant

Definition of Success

How do YOU define success?

Now call me intrigued, but I’m the kind of person that likes to get to know the inner workings of the people around me. I’m always interested to hear what their past experiences are, find out what their goals are for the future, and learn what it is that is unique to them.

So this brings me to an interesting question that I find really says a lot about a person: What is success to you?

If I’m answering, success is a variety of things:

• Learning something new or developing new skills as a result of taking on new projects—and being happy with your outcomes!
• Reaching those little goals that bring you a step closer to your big picture goals.
• I’m the kind of person who fears becoming stagnant in life, so a big indicator of success for me, is moving forward in anything you do!

Success is different for every person. Maybe you define success as catching up on your readings for class, getting married and having a family, or even starting your own T-Shirt company! Either way, success is personal and cannot be defined by anyone other than you. So don’t let anybody get you down if you see others succeeding in their own lives because you can’t compare your Step 1 to their Step 22. They’re working on their personal success and so can you. Whatever actions you need to do to start moving forward, go with it! And if you need some support getting started on your Step 1, know that the Career Center is here waiting to help!

Anne Monique Concepcion,
Graduate Assistant

5 Questions All College Students Should Be Asking

You have a lot of experiences and gain a lot of knowledge as a college student. But, to a large degree, it falls to you to figure out how all these things are connected and to make personal meaning from them. So, while it’s perhaps not the type of advice that makes the rounds on the internet, reflecting and synthesizing your knowledge and experiences could be among the most important things you can do to impact both your short- and long-term success.  

This kind of deep reflection and meaning-making can be hard to do. So, here are five questions you can ask yourself to help with the process.  You can use these during and after experiences (and by “experiences,” I mean just about anything – class projects, volunteering, student organization work, studying abroad, interning, going to your part-time job, and so forth).

1.      How does this connect this to other things I’ve learned or experienced? 

2.      What was the most challenging aspect of this experience, and what skills did I use with that challenge?

3.      In what ways did this experience require me to communicate with others?

4.      What mistakes did I make, and how could I have done things differently?

5.      How did I interact with other people in this experience?

There are many other questions you could ask yourself to prompt reflection as you move through college.  These are just a start. I recommend you start a journal and have a set of standard questions like these that you use to reflect on everything you do. You will learn a lot from doing so, and you’ll be better prepared to integrate what you’ve learned into future experiences. Resume writing and interviewing become easy when you do this kind of reflection. But, more importantly, what you experience and learn will have relevance and meaning to you, and that’s truly what college is about!

Gary Alan Miller,
Executive Director

Do's and Don'ts: The Ten Commandments of Interviewing

From time to time, we are lucky to have one of our valued employers volunteer to write a blog post for us.  Aside from giving us a break from having to come up with a blog topic, we love when this happens, as it gives our students the opportunity to hear tips directly from hiring employers. When I talk to my employers about writing a blog, I always tell them to think about what they wish they knew when they were a college student. So, The Career Center is pleased to present a blog post from Michael McKay, PR/Marketing Director at Jozii, who is going to tell you what he has learned about interviewing for a job:

I. Thou shalt do research on the company

Knowing about the company not only makes for a better interview, but also shows potential employers that you are interested in the position.

II. Thou shalt dress correctly

How you dress is often the first impression an interviewer will have of you. Even when interviewing for jobs that allow more casual dress for employees, you should still dress up for the interview. 

Tip: It’s always better to overdress rather than underdress.

III.Thou shalt give a firm handshake

A firm handshake shows confidence and is an important non-verbal part of the interview. 

Tip: make sure to look the person in the eye when shaking their hand.

IV. Thou shalt ask questions

Asking questions shows that you have done research on the company and allows you to address any concerns you have about the position. Remember that the hiring process is a two way street.

V. Thou shalt send a thank you note

Sending a thank you note shows the employer that you’re serious about the position and went the extra mile.

VI. Thou shalt not be late

Being late is unprofessional and interviewers may think this practice will continue if they hire you. Make sure to plan ahead and leave some extra time in case your commute takes longer than expected.

VII. Thou shalt not give one word answers

“Yes” or “no” answers do not give the interviewer much information to work with. 

Tip: Elaborate by providing reasons or examples.

VIII. Thou shalt not check your cell phone

Looking at your phone during an interview is rude and distracting. The interview is your chance to sell yourself to a potential employer, not see what your friends are doing later.

IX. Thou shalt not speak badly of previous employers

Employers don’t want to hire people with negative attitudes. Plus, you never know if they may know your former boss.

X. Thou shalt not lie

In todays day and age it’s easy to to research a candidate and catch them in a lie. Be honest and focus on your strengths.

Use these tips to present yourself in the best light and remember, confidence is key. For more information on the hiring process visit the Jozii blog.

Darlene Johnson,
Director of External Relations

Let’s Talk About “My Pillow”

When looking for an internship, job or anytime you want to put your best foot forward - it is important to have proper nutrition, to take good care of yourself and to get a good night’s sleep in order to be fresh, vibrant and your best version of yourself. 

So let’s talk sleep for a minute. And more specifically, let’s discuss the 'My Pillow'. This item is by far the best new product I have tried in a long time. Well actually it’s not exactly a new product, it’s been around for ten years now – but you’ve probably seen it “as seen on TV” or in the “as seen on TV” section of your local drug store, CVS, K-Mart or Bed Bath and Beyond. My brother gave my husband 2 of these soft and fluffy gems for his birthday in February – so naturally I ended up with one of the two and the “rest” is history. I cannot stress enough how wonderful I believe this product is and how restorative the sleep I've had as a result of using this product. You lay your head down into the cool, comfortable goodness and may not wake up until the next morning! No more tossing, turning, waking yourself up by snorting or snoring – and no more bouts of insomnia (well maybe that was just my issue). This pillow has just the right amount of support, yet not too much – just the right amount of “memory,” but not enough to leave a permanent indent or in a creepy foam form. It has just enough cool – so that there is no need to flip the pillow throughout your night’s slumber.  And for you side sleepers, there is that height that is necessary to keep your spine aligned properly, but not too much.

So get a good night’s sleep and you will be in a better position to tackle your responsibilities for the day – which may include a visit to the Hofstra Career Center – where you will have a clear mind and be better able to build your personal brand, be prepared to conquer the necessary steps for a successful internship or job search and to conquer the world in general!

Michele Roberts,
Assistant Director