How to stand out at an employment meet-and-greet
Dear J.T. & Dale: I’ve been invited to a networking event for a company I want to work for. They host a really big internship program in the summer, and they are inviting prospective interns to come to a meet-and-greet with some of the team members. What can I do to really stand out at this event? — Ewan
J.T.: Events like this are designed to see how well you do at connecting with strangers. The employees attending this event are assessing you on your personality and aptitude. For starters, I would make sure you are not only dressed properly for the event but that you also have the proper game face on. What I mean is that you don’t want to have facial expressions that make you look scared or angry. You’d be amazed how many people go to networking events and don’t realize that their look is off-putting. I’m not suggesting you have a big smile on your face the whole time, but you do want to practice in the mirror and make sure that you know how to look relaxed and happy.
DALE: There’s something about this whole “event” idea that troubles me. The best bosses understand that the best employees rarely look like what you’d suppose great employees look like, and they rarely are the social butterfly sort. That means an event like this could encourage the worst kind of stereotyping. But, hey, you’re going, and you want to do well. The worst thing would be to try too hard. You don’t want to be prowling around grinning. So, go into this event with the goal of learning, not impressing. Come up with questions you want to ask, and not questions about pay or benefits; no, you want to ask current employees about themselves — their backgrounds and how they got their jobs — and questions about the profession or the industry. Do some research on the company and see if you can’t find some names of people you’d like to meet. Figuring out why you want to meet them will itself be excellent preparation.
J.T.: Yes, you’ll want to learn more from the current employees and what they like about working there as well as what they look for in co-workers. By asking other people questions you are showing your emotional intelligence and the fact that you understand about relationship building and being able to work better together.
Finally, in addition to questions you want to ask, work on general interview preparation to handle behavioral questions that you may get asked. These are openended questions that require you to give more than one word answers. They will be asking you a lot of these so it’s good to prepare in advance so that you can answer them effectively.
DALE: Perfect. You go in friendly, curious, having done your background research and prep, and you come out an intern.
Dear J.T. & Dale: Last year, my company was saying it was planning on hiring
thousands of people in 2023. Now, all of a sudden, we’ve been told there is a hiring freeze. Should I be worried that they may be doing layoffs? — Maddy
DALE: Yes, be worried. Indeed, the only way not to worry is to always worry. That is to say, you should be living in a state of preparation, ready to catch the next opportunity. Or, as we’ve been saying for the last several New Economies: ABL, or Always Be Looking.
J.T.: Anytime a company says they’re going to be hiring and now suddenly has a hiring freeze means that they do not have a good handle on their finances. You should absolutely be concerned about layoffs. Get your résumé and LinkedIn profile in good order and start checking out who’s hiring in your area of expertise. The goal is to find a job opportunity and then decide if you’d rather stay where you are or make the jump. This year, there will be a lot of uncertainty as the economy adjusts itself, and the best way to recessionproof your career is to be proactive and explore your options.
Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www.workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “Experiments Never Fail: A Guide for the Bored, Unappreciated and Underpaid.” Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.