Back to Work: Recruiter Q&A session 1

I just got out of the 11:30 session of Vault's Recruiter Q&A. Vault's John Flato moderated a panel consisting of Charna Flanzer, NYU, Roddy Gow, Gow Partners, and Michael Scheidemann, Capgemini. There were many topics touched upon. Here's a few:

Charna Flanzer is a sculptor/artist turned career coach. She emphasized following your passion versus just making a living. How are you different? What are your 5-7 proudest accomplishments? Whatever they are, they'd better be on your resume. Also meditate on this: Are you afraid of failure, or are you afraid of actually succeeding?

Michael Scheidemann says that not only should you know yourself, you'd better know the company for which you're interviewing. Get on LinkedIn, and don't be afraid to ask for advice. Hey, people love to talk, and very few will refuse to answer genuine queries.

Roddy Gow wants you to love yourself. After all, we're all unique, so understand what you can bring to a company get that message across. He says, "If it is a bad hair day, don't go to the meeting." No, he's not advocating vanity. He's just pointing out that if don't feel confident, you won't come across as capable. Also, change your attitude--layoffs are certainly stressful, but understand that you have the opportunity to change your life into a wholly new direction. And that is something to be excited about.

Finally, always have different resume versions, volunteer, explore internships, capitalize in non-traditional networking (your hairdresser, health club, neighbors), be flexible, and be asponge!

Phew! That's a lot. And there's more. Over the next few days, we'll have video posted, pictures, and more in-depth analysis of the advice being given today.

--Posted by Linda Petock, Vault News & Commentary