FALL 2013
STUDENT
NEWSLETTER
Career Services
NORT HAMPTON COMMUNIT Y COLL EGE
What’s Your Greatest Weakness?
Top qualities employers want
in an employee
A work ethic— stick with
challenges until you complete
the task.
Problem solving— use your
knowledge to process data and
resolve problems.
Leadership— a strong sense of
self, aware of strengths and
weaknesses.
Adaptability and flexibility—
being open to new ideas and
concepts.
This is the question that most of
us hope an interviewer doesn’t
ask. But some planning and
practice will prepare you to
answer this most-dreaded interview question.
This is not the time to clearly
state that you have no weaknesses. (We think you’re perfect
just the way you are, but an
employer doesn’t want to hear
that.) Nor do you want to simply state that you’re not good at
math or giving presentations
without providing further explanation.
Presenting a strength as a weakness doesn’t provide the employer with an answer to their
question. For example, “I’m a
perfectionist” or “I work too
Inside this issue:
hard” might be easy responses,
but won’t make you a memorable candidate.
Give this question careful
thought before an interview.
Which of your skills need improvement and what steps are
you taking to sharpen those
skills? Be as specific as possible
while choosing something that is
not a part of the job description.
For example, you might state
that your presentation skills are
a weakness, specifically to large
groups. Expand the thought by
describing what you are doing to
improve your presentation skills
(updating your PowerPoint
skills, preparing notes to present
your topic more easily, practicing in front of smaller groups).
Create A Strategy for
Your Job Search
2
How Good is Your
Resume?
3
What Empl oyer s Want
Job Fair Etiquette
3
Calendar of Events
4
Understanding how employers
make a hiring decision can help
you prepare for an interview.
What do employers want to
hear from successful candidates
during the interview?
A candidate must first demonstrate that he/she has the skills
to do the job and understands
the field in which these skills
are applied. If you are studying
hospitality, you have an edge if
you understand and use industry jargon, know recent trends
in hospitality, and have an
awareness of the opportunities
within the field.
The interviewer will then understand you are working on
that skill and that you actually
do have presentation skills—
even if they need improvement.
To sum it up, your strategy
should be to show how you’ve
overcome a weakness and you
are in charge of your own professional development. An employer will respect you for preparing a genuine response to this
question.
A part of every job is to identify
and solve problems — or prevent them before they occur.
Prepare stories as examples of
problems you’ve solved in the
past. Your stories will help an
employer visualize you as a
member of a team, solving
(Continued on page 2)
CAREER SERVICES
What Employer s Want
(Continued from page 1)
Understanding how an employer
thinks will help you prepare for a
successful interview.
similar problems. These stories
should state the specific problem, the skills you used to
evaluate and solve the problem,
and the results.
Whenever possible, talk about
how much money or time your
solution saved. Ask questions
about problems that the new
hire or company might face in
the next year to reinforce your
status as a problem solver.
Conduct yourself as a professional. Demonstrate your transferrable skills (communication,
leadership, critical thinking) and
professional values
(commitment, productivity,
reliability) in your conversation
with the employer. Give examples of past situations to create
memorable illustrations of your
skills and experience.
ble? If all other qualifications are
equal, a candidate who can
demonstrate these qualities at an
interview will rise to the top.
Research the company, take a
second look at the job description, practice your responses—
and think like an employer.
Would you hire you?
Are you enthusiastic and
motivated to work hard and
produce the best results possi-
Create A Strategy for Your Job Searc h
“...use varied tools
and combine those
that work for you
into your unique
strategy.”
In a competitive market, you
can’t rely on any single job
search tool. Your best chance of
landing the job you want will be
to use varied tools and combine
those that work for you into
your unique strategy.
Job Sites. A starting point, but
may not be productive if used as
a tool by itself. Know the job
sites specific to your industry.
Include indeed.com (a search
engine for jobs) and NCC’s
College Central Network
(collegecentral.com/
northampton) for a variety of
sites to search for opportunities.
When applying online, check
your spelling, proper use of
capital letters, and be certain to
complete all the sections on the
application. This is not the time
to take short cuts.
PAGE 2
Your resume needs to be
focused on each specific job for
which you apply. This means
you may need more than one
resume.
Job Fairs. Dress professionally.
Employers are gathering first
impressions and screening candidates. Your overall appearance
should reflect the professional
you want to become.
Prepare for the job fair by researching employers of interest.
Be open to all opportunities, but
know what you want. Have a
short introduction ready for
employers. Bring copies of your
resume. Even if you are told to
apply online after the job fair,
you’ve made a personal contact
with the company.
Be open to smaller companies
(less than 500 employees). They
generate the majority of jobs in
this country.
And always follow up with contacts you’ve made. You’ll want
to strengthen the contact with a
short email or phone call.
Internships. Pursue opportunities whenever you can. Real
world experience will help you
rise above the crowd. An internship will also provide you with
opportunities to explore, improve your skills, and add to
your accomplishments. Remember to include them on your
resume.
Networking. It’s as simple as
talking with people. Be interested in what people studied and
how their careers began.
Become involved in your community, your alumni association,
and associations for your field of
interest. You’ll meet people
with similar interests and expand your own areas of awareness. Communicate with others
and keep the relationships
strong by connecting online.
FALL 2013
How Good Is Your Resume?
If you think your resume is
good enough, think again.
Good enough isn’t good enough
anymore.
Demonstrate your accomplishments by stating numbers and
results whenever possible.
Describe briefly what problems
you solved and how it benefitted the employer.
Keep it relevant to the position
you want. Does your resume
clearly show a potential employer what you can do for
their company?
A resume is a living document.
Keep it fresh by updating it
when you learn news skills and
earn relevant certifications or
continuing education credits.
The top third of your resume is
the most important space. If an
employer doesn’t see relevant
skills and experience in this
space, that employer will
probably stop reading.
Formatting is important. Your
resume must be readable. Templates or complicated formats
may not open properly at their
destination. Avoid them.
The line “References available
upon request” takes up too
much valuable space and states
the obvious. Eliminate it.
Instead of an Objective, use a
Professional Profile. The former states what you want. The
latter tells the employer what
you can do for them. And that’s
what they really want to know.
Job Fair Etiquette
If you want to make a good first
impression with employers
when attending a job fair (and
we hope you do), think about
what they expect from you.
quality paper. If an employer
instructs you to apply online,
follow those instructions. Have
a pen and paper to take notes.
Avoid having your hands so full
that you’re not free to shake
hands with an employer. That
means no food or drink while
talking with employers. Carry a
small portfolio or case to stash
any materials you might collect.
You might be on the same college campus where you dress
down for class, but now the
employers are waiting to meet
you. They expect candidates
who behave as professionals and
look like professionals.
Approach recruiters with a
smile and a firm handshake.
Dress as you would for an inIntroduce yourself, including
terview. Think conservayour major and what type of
tively—avoid revealing clothposition you seek. Include a few
ing, inappropriate messages on
sentences about your relevant
ties or t-shirts, too much jewskills and experience. Ask any
elry, hats, flip-flops, and anyquestions you might have but be
thing else inappropriate for a
respectful of the recruiter’s
work environment.
time and the other candidates
Stow all electronic devices so
that are waiting. Collect a busiyou won’t be tempted to check ness card from everyone you
your messages. Employers are
talk with and send a follow-up
paying attention.
email within 24 hours.
Bring extra resumes printed on
We know you’d like to grab
some of the goodies employers
place on their table. Do that,
but don’t load up on so many
that you can’t easily locate your
resume or shake hands. This
isn’t a Halloween haul.
Work the job fair alone. Attending a job fair with children
or a significant other is unprofessional. You’ll want to focus
your attention on talking with
company representatives and
getting job leads. Friends and
family can be too much of a
distraction for you—and for the
employer.
“Employers... expect
candidates who
behave as
professionals and
look like
professionals.”
A job fair is your chance to
make a connection with companies that are looking for candidates to interview. Make the
most of this opportunity by
representing yourself well.
PAGE 3
Be Your Own Career Coac h
What can you earn as an accountant? What does an architectural drafter do? How many
computer systems analysts will
be retiring in our area within the
next ten years?
Career Coach is an online tool
designed to help you find a good
career by providing current
local data. Find information
from the Lehigh Valley, Monroe
County, and surrounding areas
on what matters to you most —
income, amount of education
required, employment information, and job postings.
Enter a career in the search bar
and Career Coach will provide
the information you need. It will
even connect you to the job
postings on Indeed for that title.
Employment information.
How many people are employed
in our area in this job? About
how many annual job openings
are there? How many workers
are approaching retirement age?
Find the answers in this section.
Wages. How much can you
expect to earn in this job locally?
Career Coach provides amounts
of entry level wages, the median
wage, and a high wage.
About. What are the job duties
and typical education level for
this job? Find details in the
About section for each career.
Related majors. What degree
at NCC will lead you to this job?
View the Related Majors section
for information.
Browse by majors. Click on a
major at NCC and discover
careers related to that degree.
Explore hundreds of careers—
anytime you want. And spread
the word. Career Coach is available to students, alumni, and
members of the community.
From www.northampton.edu,
click on the Student Resources
tab. Then click on Career Coach
on the left side of the page.
Get started on your future!
Calendar of Events —Fall 2013
Fall Job Fair, Monroe Campus. Tues, Oct 1. 10 AM to 2
PM, Community Room.
Steps to Impress,Wed, Oct 2
10 AM to 12:30 PM, Student
Life Zone.
Fall Job Fair, Main Campus, Wed, Oct 9, 10 AM to 2
PM, Spartan Center, Gym C.
Dining Etiquette Luncheon, Main Campus. Thurs,
Oct 31, 11 AM to 12:30 PM.
Tickets purchased in advance.
Contact Us
Advocate & Educate:
Careers for the Common
Good. Information Fair, Tues,
Nov 12, 5:30 PM to 8:15 PM.
DeSales University, Center
Valley.
Bethlehem Campus—College Center, 348
610-861-5344
Monroe Campus—Student Services Area,
570-620-9221
Online—www.northampton.edu/careers
careers@northampton.edu
More workshops will be
announced as soon as they
are available.
Our Staff
Connect with us on social
media and watch for flyers
around campus.
The mission of the Office of Career Services is to educate and
assist students and alumni in clarifying, evaluating, and
implementing career and employment decisions.
Karen Veres, Director
Jennifer Napierkowski, Assistant Director
Nina Rehrig, Career Development Specialist
Lynn Fischer, Office Manager
Rosaan Barker, Perkins Placement Support Specialist
Robert Colletta, Student Success Specialist
Francine Maiatico, Secretary