First stop in hunt for job should be at grad's alma mater
Q. My daughter has been searching for a job within the community economic development field for nine months without success. She has been networking within the field, but as a new graduate from a master's degree program, she does not have actual experience. She has had many interviews, but has not been chosen for a position. I am wondering if a job coach would be helpful, and if so, where we can locate one.
A. Your daughter's first stop should be back to the graduate school where she earned her master's. Most career offices or faculty department offices maintain meticulous records of their graduates' employment. Many alumni are loyal to their alma mater and are eager to help students or recent alumni. I suggest that your daughter get in touch with her faculty and/or thesis adviser; any other faculty with whom she established a strong rapport; and the alumni and career offices at her school.
Your daughter should ask for the names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of alumni who are working in the kinds of jobs or organizations she is targeting. Networking with these individuals may help your daughter succeed in actually being offered a job, especially if the alumni themselves are hiring managers.
As your daughter has been successful in getting interviews, it seems as if her resume is working for her. You and she may just need to be patient; in a down job market, it may take six to nine months to find a job. Your daughter may just need to continue doing what she's been doing, and hope that one of her interviews will lead to employment.
The good news is that your daughter must have marketable skills that she is presenting well in her resume and cover letters. Also, apparently she is finding and targeting appropriate jobs. However, something may be happening when your daughter interviews that is preventing her from getting job offers. Sometimes an interviewee is unaware of body language that distracts an interviewer. Or a nervous interviewee may be talking and/or smiling too much or too little. Some applicants simply fail to "close the deal" and are unable to convert interviews to job offers.
Your daughter may need some help to improve her interviewing skills. Many university career offices offer this service to students and alumni, most often without a fee. Some offer individual in-person and/or virtual practice interviewing sessions.
There are distinct advantages to your daughter working with faculty and staff at her graduate school. Most of the services are free or low-cost to alumni. Also, presumably, school personnel are familiar with the job market in the community development field. In addition, the school should be highly motivated to help its young alumni, as it's in the school's best interest to help their graduates find employment. The number of new applicants to their program correlates directly to the program's past employment statistics.
Your daughter's school may not offer these services, or she may complain that she has tried the career office and has not found them to be helpful. If this is true, then you might want to consider hiring an outside career coach. Encourage your daughter to do the research and to "interview" prospective career coaches. She is the one who has to demonstrate a willingness to work with a career coach, even if you are the one who will be paying for the services.
There are three local resources that your daughter may find helpful in locating a career coach:
The Division of Career Services of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development oversees one-stop career centers, which are located throughout the state. Services vary from center to center, but most provide the opportunity to meet at least once with a counselor. Some offer a full range of one-on-one counseling sessions, including the opportunity for practice interviews. Many services are free; others involve a fee. For more information about the one-stop career centers in your area, go to www.massgov/eolwd and click on "Division of Career Services."
The Career Counselors Consortium, careercounselorsne.org, maintains a database of 100 local career counselors and coaches.
The Association of Career Professionals-International, iacmp.org, is an international organization that has a Massachusetts chapter. It's a bit cumbersome to find a local coach on this site, as it requires clicking on "Find a career services expert," then "United States," then selecting "Massachusetts" and a specialization from the pull-down menus.
Q. We are a small Indiana-based company and are trying to set up an operation in India. The person we plan to send to work in the Indian office is a US green card holder. We heard we need to do some paperwork so that his stay in India is considered as time spent in the US when he applies for American citizenship in two years. How do we do it? Any restrictions?
A. As you set up your India office, you may want to consult with an attorney who specializes in immigration for additional legal advice and information. He or she can guide you step-by-step through the process. Here is some basic background information that you may find useful.
An individual is eligible to apply to become a US citizen five years after being approved for permanent residence (as a green card), or three years if permanent residency status is as a result of marriage to a US citizen. The person must live in the United States for one-half, plus one day, of that five-year or three-year period.
If your employee will be absent for more than 364 consecutive days, then that employee should file a Form N-470 prior to leaving the United States, says Gerald Rovner, an experienced Boston immigration lawyer. In addition, your employee must have remained in the United States for at least one year after achieving green card status before being able to work overseas. The overseas employer must be a US corporation, which the Immigration Service defines as at least 51 percent stock ownership by US citizens.
When your employee applies for naturalization, he must prove that he has been physically present in the United States for at least one-half the required period plus one day and have resided for at least 90 consecutive days in the district in which his application for naturalization will be heard. "In addition, he must be able to read and write in English; pass an oral exam about US civics and history; and be of good moral character," says Rovner.
Q. If you are applying to a position via e-mail, is it appropriate to attach a separate cover letter or is a note in the body of the e-mail considered a cover letter? Also, if salary requirements or history are required when submitting a resume, do you put these on a separate document, in the cover letter or e-mail body?
A. Attach a separate cover whenever humanly possible, even when applying via e-mail.
A cover letter provides a sample of your writing, and gives you the opportunity to personalize your application. In a cover letter, you can highlight the exact qualifications and experience from your background that most closely match the job requirements.
You can attach your cover letter and resume to a brief e-mail that indicates something like "Attached please find my cover letter and resume for the position of x which I found in y publication." Or you may want to add a sentence or two about your interest in and major qualifications for the position in your e-mail, while at the same time attaching a complete and separate cover letter and resume.
Address the e-mail and your cover letter to the individual mentioned in the ad or on the website. If there is no name given, try to find one, if you can.
I am old-fashioned enough to recommend that you still send a hard copy of your cover letter and resume, via fax and/or, preferably snail mail. Although many resumes are scanned by technology which does not notice of formatting and paper quality, there are still human beings who do.
The cover letter is also the place to address salary requirements or salary history if the employer asks for them. If you can, try to avoid a discussion of salary until later in the process, and say something vague like "my salary requirements are negotiable, depending on the exact responsibilities of the job."
If the employer demands that an applicant will not be considered unless he or she provides salary history, then, of course, you do need to comply. Be truthful about your salary history - it's far too easy for a prospective employer to verify salary information and to catch a job-seeker who lies.
It may not be possible to include a separate cover letter when applying for a position via e-mail, to a company website or to a megajob site such as Monster.com, Often, the company provides a designated space into which you are supposed to paste your resume and whatever brief "cover letter" will fit in the remaining space.
In whichever form you end up communicating with a prospective employer, make sure that all of your communication is letter-perfect. Don't rely on spell-check alone; read and re-read your e-mails, cover letters, and resumes, and ask a trusted friend to give your correspondence a final edit.
Roni F. Noland is a career counselor/coach in private practice. She can be reached at rfnoland@comcast.net. E-mail questions to jobdoc@globe.com or mail to Job Doc, Boston Globe, Box 55819, Boston, 02205-5819.
