August 2008

Landing the Interview

Jump-start your career by getting a job before you graduate!

by Cherie Sohnen-Moe

Most students are so overwhelmed with all the tasks necessary to complete their education that they wait to start their job search after they graduate. Take advantage of this and start your job search early to get your name higher on the “potential employee” list. One of the personality traits employers highly value is initiative and by contacting potential employers while you are still in school demonstrates your foresight and motivation.
• Create a list of potential employers. Get their addresses, phone numbers and the names and titles of the people who have hiring authority.
• Network, network, network! Talk to people; let them know you’re available. Ask for leads. Remember, quite often it’s who you know that gets you the job.
• Set up initial contact on the phone. You must be well-organized; know your purpose and goals for this call. The primary goal, of course, is to get an interview.
• Send your resume and cover letter. If you don’t get an interview from this initial contact, send a resume with a cover letter, or just send a letter.
• Be persistent. If you have not received a response within five days of the potential employer having received your letter, call them.
• Stay visible. In some cases, endurance pays off. If you keep yourself so visible that an employer is fully aware you really want to work for her company, you may get the job out of sheer persistence.

Check out Interview Questions You Can Ask and Potential Employer Checklist at www.futureLMT.com for more ways to '

Cherie Sohnen-Moe is an author, business coach and international workshop leader. She has been in business since 1978. She was in private practice for many years as a massage and holistic health practitioner before shifting her focus to education and coaching. In her coaching/consulting practice, she has worked with individual therapists to small wellness centers to day spas that have multiple locations. She has served as a faculty member at the Desert Institute of Healing Arts and the Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and is an adjunct professor at Clayton College of Natural Health. She has written more than 100 articles that have been published in more than 15 national and international magazines. She is the author of the book, Business Mastery, which is in its fourth edition, has sold more than 325,000 copies to date with 650-plus schools requiring it as a text. She is also the author of Present Yourself Powerfully and The Art of Teaching. She is co-author of The Ethics of Touch, with more than 300 schools requiring it as a text. She is also a contributing author of Teaching Massage: Fundamental Principles in Adult Education for Massage Program Instructors, and was interviewed for a chapter of SAND TO SKY: Conversations with Teachers of Asian Medicine. Sohnen-Moe is a firm believer in education and as such serves on the exam committee of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) and is a founding member of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE).  She can be contacted through her website, www.sohnen-moe.com.