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DISCUSSION
GROUP
What's on your mind?
Packaging Horizons
Strategic Moves
Want the inside track on the right way to land a position? Human resources directors can offer some hot tips.
"If there is one piece of information I could give to people beginning their careers, it would be to manage yourself as if you were a private business," says Janet Walsh, director of worldwide human resources for Mead Packaging, Atlanta.
Why would she offer such advice? According to Walsh, you are the one person who has a vested interest in your success. You are the person most interested in your growth and development. You are the primary person concerned about your economic well being. "It makes sense to look upon your talents and inclinations as marketable skills and to leverage them in your own best interests," explains Walsh. "By focusing on the assets you bring to the table, you begin to look at your relationship with an employer a bit differently than you would if you depended upon that employer as your sole source of professional growth and development," she adds.
According to Walsh, companies hire you to perform a specific function, which contributes to both customer satisfaction and stockholder equity. In effect, you become a mini-company selling your production capacity. The employer, in turn, can use your assets to your mutual best interests.
Show your portfolio of skills
As you build your personal portfolio of skills, keep in mind that those skills must meet current marketplace demands. In general, employees who are armed with "in-demand" skills find themselves in a more competitive position than those individuals who do not possess skills that add value to an organization.
"Graduates with liberal arts degrees can enhance their marketability by developing specialized skills such as computer applications and foreign languages or by earning a minor specialization in business," she advises.
Pamela Grabowski is the senior project leader for human resources systems and services for Ralston Purina in St. Louis. Prior to Ralston, she worked in generalist HR positions for McDonnell Douglas and Mallinckrodt Medical. But no matter where she plied her skills, Grabowski has dispensed one specific piece of advice to those just beginning their careers: "Get involved in cross-functional project teams. If a person has the opportunity to become the leader of a cross-functional project team, that's even better," she adds. "By serving as a team leader, you are able to showcase your skills to an audience outside your immediate working environment."
Read all about 'em
Jane Prendergast is a seasoned HR professional with particular expertise in the international area. Currently the director of human resources for technical operations--including engineering development--for The Coca-Cola Co., Prendergast notes that beyond possessing multiple skills, it takes a great resume to get you noticed. "Your resume helps open doors. It gives you access to the people who could hire you. Consider it a major marketing tool." She cautions, however, that a resume is just that: a tool. Every time you send one out, it needs an accompanying, personalized letter. Once all the resumes have been read, preliminary interviews completed and the field of candidates narrowed to a few qualified applicants, what makes one applicant shine above the others? "Confidence and communication skills--the ability to relate ideas clearly," says Marvin Jones, manager of human resources, U.S. operations, for Dallas-based Mary Kay Co. Qualities that exude confidence include good eye contact, which is not the same as being totally focused to the point that it becomes a distraction. Jones also cites motivation and enthusiasm--without looking like you are going to jump over the desk and attack if you don't get the job. Speaking clearly and concisely ranks you high. "What catches my eye is for an applicant to be motivated and able to interface with people [in the plant]," he concludes. "It does no good if, as a package design person, you can't relate to the people running the equipment."
All aboard
Congratulations! You have been offered a position. But how can you be sure accepting is a smart career move? By being prepared. Make sure you have all the information you need before you make a decision.
With respect to compensation expectations, decide what provides you and your "personal company" the most benefit and value. Consider this a starting point in your negotiations. Most large companies subscribe to salary surveys and compensation systems that identify market costs for people with specific skills and in certain positions. Most companies also use some type of system that ensures salary equity between what is occurring externally and internally.
Your salary offer will be established based on your skills and the value that company puts on those skills. Most likely your salary will not be as high as the person who had the job prior to you. However, the more skills you have in your "tool kit," the greater your bargaining power.
You should know the value of the services you offer and the going price for those services on the open market. You can find this information in most libraries and or on the Internet. By reviewing internet job banks such as The Monster Board, Career Path and Women in Packaging's Career Hotline Online, you can gain a pretty good idea of what businesses are paying for people with your skills.
Bear in mind that base salary isn't everything. Large companies offer benefits packages equal to anywhere from 30 percent to 45 percent of base salary. Pension plans, 401Ks, medical, dental programs and social security contributions all cost the employer money and are key parts of the employment relationship.
Professional Development
Building Career Skills
As the director of worldwide organizational development for Mead Packaging in Atlanta, Barbara Graves has skillfully funneled her share of people through various career pipelines. She has had the opportunity to develop and pass on what she believes are seven critical points to successful growth and development.
1. Identify your personal and professional mission and goals. Books such as What Color Is Your Parachute and tools like the Holland Self-Directed Search or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator help individuals identify links between what they like to do and what are salable skills.
2. Research the "larger picture," identify current and future needs and trends in your job, your company or your industry.
3. Create a personal profile of necessary competencies, and explore your areas of strengths and weakness against current job requirements. Skill inventories based on current job requirements can be especially useful for determining what is working.
4. Develop a profile of needed competencies against the backdrop of this larger picture. Identify skills, knowledge and behaviors that will provide you with a competitive advantage in your field in the future. Compare what you already have against the competencies of the future and work on closing any gaps.
5. Draft a plan of action and close the gaps on areas of needed improvement. Create a building-block approach to development: a reading/discussion program, training programs, and on-the-job training application of the skill, project or task.
6. Assess your level of mastery. Ask your boss, peers, direct reports and friends for feedback to determine how you are performing the new skill.
7. Your ultimate goal: Add the new skill to your personal profile and update your resume.
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