Networking in College, an Interview with David Bradford

By admin, on May 12th, 2014

David R. BradfordWe had the opportunity to ask David Bradford, “The Bottlecap Kid”, for networking advice for college students and young professionals. His advice is practical and realistic; check it out.

SC: What are practical ways for college freshmen to begin networking?

David: Be curious. Ask lots of questions. Find areas of commonality. When that happens, trust forms and magic can happen.

SC: How can college students, who are at the start of their careers, be “givers” in a professional relationship?

David: Offer to intern for free. Ask to shadow a great professional for the day. Offer to do some mundane tasks for leaders. Repost great articles from people they admire. Tweet when something happens great to a leader you are follow.

SC: How can a young professional recover if they have damaged their reputation/credibility?

David: Unfortunately, it takes hard work to remake a damaged reputation. But the best way is not to hide in the shadows – show up at stuff; be seen online. Become a giver and not a taker.

SC: Is there a fast way to network?

David: 90% of success in life is showing up. Today it is done both online as well as in person. But the key is not to just show up, but follow up within 24 hours of an initial meeting. Otherwise, you will become forgotten.

SC: What networking advice would you give to college students who are open to moving to multiple geographic locations?

David: Wherever you go, whatever you do, find a local church, a local sporting event, a local community play, or a local networking club of some sort. Then show up, give, and be seen as someone who is there to do good.

up-your-game-by-david-bradford-bigDavid Bradford, “The Bottlecap Kid”, is Executive Chairman and former CEO of HireVue, former CEO of Fusion-io, and a member of the Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame. David is known for accelerating the growth and performance of game-changing organizations by utilizing his “UP Principles” which he outlines in his new book, UP YOUR GAME: 6 Timeless Principles for Networking Your Way to the Top. His last two companies, HireVue and Fusion-io are two of the fastest growing tech businesses in the U.S. Learn more about David and UP YOUR GAME at DavidBradford.com.

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College Students, networking, Young Professionals   , , , , , , ,  

Quick Tips: Save backup copies of your resume!

By admin, on March 20th, 2014

Don't PanicYou work so hard to tailor your resume for each specific position. You word-smith and tweak, re-size and fuss until it is absolutely perfect. You submit the resume for the job and follow up with the employer a few days later, only to receive awful news. The file got corrupted somehow and they couldn’t read your resume!! You tell them it’s not a problem and that you’ll re-submit right away, but quickly discover that your resume file is completely corrupted on your hard drive!

To avoid the scenario above, here are some tips to ensure you always have backups of your resume. Some of these tips may seem over the top, but if you ever find yourself in a situation where your computer has failed or your file has been corrupted and you need to re-send your resume to an employer, you will appreciate having extra copies available. Many of these tips can also be applied to your cover letters, and to any other important documents.

  • Don’t just save over older versions of your resume whenever you tailor a new version for a new job. Save a brand new document, naming it lastname_resume_jobtitle_company.docx
  • Save the final copy (the one you submitted for the job) in a few different locations, such as:
    • on your hard drive,
    • on a USB key or other portable drive,
    • in a cloud service (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, iCloud, etc.), and
    • email it to yourself and save the email in a folder called “Application Materials.”
  • Keep your LinkedIn profile up-to-date. This is a good idea for any job seeker, but if you find you’ve lost your resume file, you can pull information from your profile as a last resort.
  • If your school has a career management tool, take advantage of the option to upload different versions of your resume to your account.
  • Finally, for a low-tech back-up solution, keep printouts of your tailored resumes with the name of the company to which it had been sent, written in pencil, in a corner on the back.

Recovering your file
If you find you’ve already lost your resume and are desperate to get it back, there are a couple of options:
Continue reading Quick Tips: Save backup copies of your resume! »

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College Students, Cover Letters, Quick Tips, Resume Writing, Tips for College Students, Young Professionals   , , , , , ,  

Questions Answered: Should I transfer to a different school?

By admin, on March 4th, 2014

sfu_gradsQuestion: A bunch of my friends from high school and I got together over winter break. All of them went to big universities in our home state, while I went away to a small liberal arts college in a different state. They were all teasing me that I would never find a job with my degree because I go to such a small unknown school. I like my school a lot, and have made a lot of friends, but it is super expensive. Since I got back to campus, I’ve been stewing on all the teasing and now I am seriously thinking about transferring next fall! If I ask people at my school, of course they will tell me it’s a bad idea. And if I ask people at the public schools back home, I’m sure they will tell me it’s a good idea! So I kind of need an unbiased opinion? Will going to my small school make it hard for me to find good employment? ~ Jenna T.

Answer: Transferring schools is definitely a big decision and I applaud you for gathering information before coming to a final conclusion. While I currently work for a small liberal arts university, I graduated from a much larger public university, so I can absolutely appreciate the value of both types of institutions. Let’s take a moment to consider the pros to each:

Continue reading Questions Answered: Should I transfer to a different school? »

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Career Advising, Career Decision Making, Career Planning, College Students, High School Students, Liberal Arts, Questions Answered, Tips for College Students   , , , ,  

Career Tag – You’re It!

By admin, on February 24th, 2014

tag_youre_itJust a little fun for all of you. Tell us your answers in the comments, then tag and share with anyone you’d like.

  1. Do you live to work or work to live?
  2. When you were a kid, what did you imagine you would be when you “grew up?”
  3. What is the worst job you’ve ever had?
  4. Working with family, good idea or bad idea?
  5. What was the first job you ever had?
  6. What’s better, working with people who are competent, but mean, or working with people who are incompetent, but fun to work with?
  7. If you could work for any organization, which one would it be and why?
  8. Do you have any skills/abilities that your friends or coworkers would be surprised you have?
  9. What is your least favorite interview question to answer?
  10. What, if any, job would you do even if you didn’t get paid?
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College Students, Getting to Know You, OT-Off Topic, Young Professionals    
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