Author: Portfolio Creative

This Friday and Saturday at The Wexner Center for the Arts catch a new film by the director of the acclaimed documentary Helvetica. Gary Hustwit introduces Objectified for three screenings May 15 & 16!

How to Hire-and Get Hired-in a Recession is a good article about job-hunting and the current market. Tough? Yes. Opinionated. Absolutely . But a lot of what he says is true now and in any job market or economic situation. Employers want the best people. Job seekers have to show why they’re the best person. Easier said than done.

Highlights for job seekers:

– candidates have to work harder to come out on top, and not be afraid to show it (by the way, this doesn’t always mean more hours)

– focus in on what employers may be looking for and be prepared in an interview (check out the questions about halfway through the article)

– you MUST be able to prove your value, right now positions who are not directly selling or perceived as bringing in money are considered the most dispensable so prove your ROI to the employer

– employers are looking for people who are not just hard workers, but who can (positively) impact the business right now

Communication Arts has announced it’s Call for Entries for the 50th Annual Design and Advertising Competition. Any design or advertising project printed, published or aired for the first time between June 3, 2008 and June 1, 2009 is eligible. Deadline for entries is June 1, 2009. Winners are selected by a nationally representative panel of distinguished visual communicators and published in the Annuals and on the CA Web site.

Because Portfolio is a Columbus Green Spot we wanted to find more ways to be green. We decided to recycle some CDs we had around the office, and added even more CDs with the help of the community on Portfolio’s Earth Day Event.  We currently have a total of 134 CDs that will be shipped off to GreenDisk! GreenDisk will destroy the contents of the CDs (and many other technological materials) and then dispose of them in an environmentally responsible manner.

Did you also know that CD cases are recyclable? Those you can recycle locally, just be sure to double check that your city accepts that type of plastic.

In Part 1 we talked about how important performance and behavioral skills are to our clients, based on the results of a recent survey. In a nutshell, very important.

Clients ranked “performance skills–soft skills like communication, team player, flexible, etc” an entire point higher than anything else, an average of 4.0 out of 5.0 points. This was significantly higher than technical skills, experience level, work samples or work history, all at 2.6-2.9 out of 5.0. Of those four items “work samples, examples of the candidate’s previous work” was next in importance. But they truly all are very close. So, beyond performance skills clients are looking at all of those categories equally.

When asked “for software or technical skills what level is acceptable for a candidate to be considered?”, the answer was overwhelmingly “Intermediate is best, they should have some experience.” Only a few clients were okay with a beginner, and a few wanted experts only.

What does this mean to you? Make sure you can comfortably say your technical and software skills are at an intermediate level, if you learn something new show a few samples of work to prove your experience. For example, if you are moving from print design into interactive, designing and launching a few active sites that you can show an employer will be much more effective than only having taken training or classes. Exercises from a class generally look like it and would be considered “beginner”, make sure you are showing professional-level examples of your work that feel “intermediate” in experience.

And when putting together a resume or interviewing be sure you are including technical skills, experience, work history and samples, in addition to featuring where you have demonstrated the performance skills we know they are looking for.

At Portfolio we’re pretty good at knowing and understanding what our clients are looking for, but wanted to dig deeper into what is most important to an employer when they are considering a candidate. Our goal was to understand how important technical skills (what you do) are to our clients versus performance skills (how you do it). We believe technical skills can be trained and could become somewhat of a commodity, but how someone works and approaches their business relationships can really set them apart. We were right, but even more so than we thought.

Clients ranked “performance skills–soft skills like communication, team player, flexible, etc” an entire point higher than anything else, an average of 4.0 out of 5.0 points. This was significantly higher than technical skills, experience level, work samples or work history, all at 2.6-2.9 out of 5.0. (More on these other areas in Part 2.)

The highest ranked skills were team player, goal-oriented self-starter and takes direction well. But they were only slightly higher than excellent communicator, flexibility multi-tasking ability and adaptable. So all of those skills are important to an employer, there is very little difference in the weight given to each. Least important? Sense of humor, leadership and team building, and low ego. But they are still highly ranked, every skill on this list is 2.9-3.7 out of 5.0 points. Clients are saying all of these are important, some are just slightly more important than others.

What does this mean to you? First of all, simply being aware that this is so important to employers is key. They may be willing teach skills or overlook a little less experience for someone who has the right attitude and fits in well with their team. By keeping in mind how influential behavior and performance can be, you have the ability to affect your relationships with co-workers, supervisors and future potential employers. And if you’re working on a resume or interviewing, make sure you are emphasizing your performance at least as much as your technical skills and work experience.

We did it again, we hosted another webinar on April 18th with Sharon DeLay as our presenter.  Sharon provided attendees with new insight on how to make the most of the connections in your life.  The key is they are people you already know and are comfortable with. Follow this link to view the powerpoint with audio and get on your way to networking!

With so much negative news around us…economic downturn, layoffs, unemployment statistics, businesses scaling back or shutting down…it’s hard to see any silver lining in the situation. But I propose, in the midst of all of this, it’s a good time to hire. Yes, hire.

IF you are in the position to add to your team, think of the incredible talent you can access. People that couldn’t be lured away from your competitor a year or two ago are now available. Experienced leaders, highly talented individuals, motivated and skilled people. When things are a little slower it can be a great time to bring in someone new and get them up to speed with your business. Plus the right hire can bring fresh ideas to help your business grow or at least stabilize, and prepare for a turnaround. Because we all know a turnaround will come, it’s just a matter of time. When it comes you’ll be a step ahead if you have the right people on your team, trained and ready to go, with new fresh ideas and tons of motivation.

Radical idea I know, when companies all seem to be cutting back. But there are companies out there following exactly this strategy of taking an economic downturn and their competitor’s misfortunes to strengthen their own team. And you know what? They’ll be the first ones out of the gate when business picks up. Smart.

Thank you to all who attended our Earth Day Event this week! It was great to see everyone and meet a few new people as well! Cell phones were a popular item for recycling. We’ll be donating the used phones to ACTION OHIO, local organization that provides funds and free emergency use phones to domestic violence survivors and victims’ families. If you have an old phone that news a new home, consider recycling it by donating it to this great cause. The phones can be dropped off at any Central Ohio Batteries Plus location.

I picked up this great new book over the weekend, Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview? by Ellen Gordon Reeves. It’s straightforward job seeking advice, covering a lot of the common questions people have. It’s especially geared to recent or soon-to-be college graduates, but the advice is pretty universal no matter where you are in your career.

And the book’s answer is “Yes. If you wear one and intend to keep wearing it, don’t take it out for the interview, get the job, and then wonder why you’re never introduced to clients.” Basically a ‘let them see the real you’ point of view. My caveat is that it depends on your industry, the position you’re interviewing for and how conservative the interviewer is likely to be. The point, and the goal of this book, is to set yourself up for success.