CBSNews.com: Get A Job

(CBS) Resumes, cover letters, interviews, salary negotiation were some of the topics covered during The Early Show's Get A Job series. The aim: To help people looking for a job get organized and better informed to market themselves in an effective way to prospective employers.

On Feb. 21, career counselor Kate Wendleton, president of the Five O'Clock Club answered viewers' questions during a live chat. If you missed it, here is a transcript of the chat.

Wendleton: There are two components in thinking about the right job for you. One is to understand yourself and the other is to understand the market. In understanding yourself, the most important thing you can do is the Seven Stories Exercise. This will help you find out what you enjoy doing and also do well and increase your chances of getting to do those things again in the future.

Secondly, you need to find out what the market needs in your geographic area. It's best if you can pick a growth market.

Question 2: Where are some good places to look for job listings? How do you find out about job openings?

Wendleton: Surely the web is full of job listing sites. Everybody knows about monster.com, futurestep.com, and other sites. You should look at those sites, because they give you a good idea of who is hiring and the margin that those companies are using.

However, just at it is very easy for you to push a button and submit a resume, it is easy for everybody else to do the same as well. In fact, some companies are getting one million resumes a year.

If you only go after "job openings" you are competing against everybody else who is looking for job openings.

Instead, we suggest that you target companies that most interest you. If you see a job listing that appeals to you, go ahead and answer the ad. In addition start your "search" process and find the name of someone you can talk to at that specific company.

It's actually best if you do not contact first the actual hiring manager. It's better to get in and talk to someone else - anyone else - and find out about how the company works and the kind of people they tend to need.

That person could then refer you on to the hiring manager. And you will be in a much stronger position than all those other "desperate" job hunters who are only looking at openings, and are not sincerely interested in this company at all.

Wendleton: Technology jobs are the top five growth jobs noted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not to long ago healthcare dominated that list, but now and for probably the next five years or so, almost anything having to do with technology is hot, hot, hot!

So if you want a Marketing job, get a job marketing technology. If you want an operations job, focus on technology. At the same time, don't forget to consider the results of your Seven Stories Exercise.

Question 4: How do you sell yourself for a job that you only have minimal experience for?

Wendleton: At the Five O' Clock Club, we say "only insiders get hired," and that's true. Yes! Most of our attendees are changing careers. So how do they land those terrific new jobs? They become "insiders" by joining trade associations, reading trade journals, and getting to know people in the new fields.

For example, a guy in bank marketing wanted to work in hospital marketing. He read hospital marketing magazines, and, believe it or not, he joined hospital marketing associations and met with the top people in hospital marketing. He landed a job as the head of marketing at one of the country's largest hospitals, even though they wanted someone with hospital experience. He made himself into an "insider."

Question 5: They're talking about the Republicans wanting an investigation of Election Night reporting. Isn't that a bit premature? That's something that should be addressed after the election is over, don't you agree?

Wendleton: An investigation probably won't get going until after this. Yes, it would seem premature to dig into this sooner. But it should be explored. That was quite a mess on Election Night.

Question 6: I am trying to enhance my salary negotiating techniques. How should I respond when an interviewer asks what kind of salary I'm looking for?

Wendleton: Contact hiring managers in other companies and say "I'm talking to a few companies right now about the possibility of working for them, but I didn't want to accept a job elsewhere before I had the chance to talk to you."

At the Five O' Clock Club, we say you must have six to ten things in the works at any one time. It definitely increases your chances of getting the salary as well as the kind of job you want.

Then, you will say to the interviewer, "I'm talking to four other companies right now, and they are talking to me about the salaries for example - $50,000 to $60,000 range - it seems that's what the market is paying. If the company doesn't like that number, you're innocent. You're just reporting back to them what is going on in the market. The safest answer is to tell the interviewer what other companies are offering you.

Question 7: When I am asked to fill out an application before an interview how should I respond to inquires about my previous salary?

Wendleton: If most of your job search is filling out application forms before you meet with the hiring manager, chances are you are getting in through personnel and you are hurting your chances to negotiate salary later. So, although you might not like this answer, it's best to try to get in to see the hiring manager first, and negotiate with that person and see personnel last.

If you don't have the energy for that, personnel is most likely to insist that you fill in the blanks on that form. And list all the salaries you've ever made. One way to hedge it is to say, "approximately," because you cannot lie on these forms. Or put question marks after the salary numbers. But this is a very weak way to begin the salary negotiation process.

Question 8: I am 54- years-old and looking for a new career. How do I determine what would be the most fulfilling career I can choose?

Wendleton: No matter what the person's age or salary range, the starting point is always the Seven Stories Exercise. The second exercise, however, is called the "Forty-Year Vision." This exercise helps you think about where you would like to be five years from now, fifteen years from now, and so on. Chances are, you will live until age 85 or so. You need to have a plan.

When you realize that you will probably work for the next twenty years, you also should realize that you have a lot of time to learn a new field. You've already learned a lot in your career that employers would value perhaps in another industry or field.

At your age people often think that this is the time for me to have fun in my career. You could work a three-day week, for example. Or you could go to work for a small company if you have only worked at large companies. So go through the assessment process and try to imagine what you would like your life to like five years or fifteen years from now.

Question 9: What is the best answer to the question "What are your weak areas?"

Wendleton: Most questions that interviewers ask are just silly. What we suggest is that you go into the interview knowing your Two-Minute Pitch, which is a summary about yourself. Also, be prepared to talk about four or five accomplishments that you want the interviewer to know about you.

If they ask what your weak areas are, make sure that you name things that are not important in this job. For example, if you are a writer, you could say numbers are not my strong point, unless you're a financial writer. But these questions are basically silly, so you just want to find something to say, so you can get back to talking about your accomplishments.

Question 10: I do not have a degree but I have gained a lot of experience. It seems that everyone wants you to have a degree. What should I do?

Wendleton: Who is this "everyone" that you're talking about? I have worked with plenty of clients who have no degree and lots of experience. At a certain point in your career, the degree becomes less valuable and the experience more valuable.

There are certain jobs, for example Product Manager at a packaged goods company, where they tend to hire MBAs. So I tell my clients don't go after those jobs. That requirement is not true for 99 percent of the jobs out there. Because you have a lot of experience, do not be defensive about your lack of formal education. Instead, be light-hearted about it if anyone brings it up. Say to them, "When I was young, I was eager to get out there to do real work. And that's the kind of person you'll get if you hire me. Someone who knows a lot and gets the job done."

Question 11: How can I get started on my road to success if I haven't ever had a job due to illness, would a company not hire me for not being in the work force for nine years?

Wendleton: Chances are you've been doing something the past nine years. For example, a man in our Harlem program had rheumatoid arthritis. He could barely walk. He said he had done nothing for the past eleven years. Yet, when we had him do his Seven Stories Exercise, it turned out that he had spent quite a lot of time coaching and helping other people who had Rheumatoid Arthritis.

He got a job in just six weeks at a Social Welfare organization, as a caseworker, helping people with disabilities. So, what we want people to do is identify the things that they have done. And if a person truly has done nothing for many years, they should volunteer for a month or two so they have something to put on their resume.

Question 12: I've often felt that I am underpaid, how do I ask for more money when I'm grossly underpaid?

Wendleton: Your present company is probably used to mistreating you and it is not going to stop just because you asked once politely. Instead, you must start a campaign and be serious about it.

First, take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. In the left-hand column, make a short list of your job requirements. In the right hand column, make a very long list of your accomplishments in the job, listing the most important accomplishments first.

Go to your boss, with this professional-looking document, and say that you are happy to have gotten all this experience, but now you want to be paid more in line with what you are doing in the job. Tell your boss the amount you want.

Your boss will tell you, "no." That's the game. If you really want a pay raise, you will have to say "I'm not happy. Can we talk more about what I need to do to get the money I think I deserve."

"When can we talk about this again?" Set up another meeting with your boss. Decide how far you want to push this. When I was young I asked to meet with my boss' boss. Eventually, I got what I wanted. Remember that the squeaky wheel does get the grease.

Question 13: I live in a town where career opportunities in my field are limited, therefore, competition for available jobs can be quite high.

How do I let the non-profit I want to work for know that I want the next available position more than anyone else; even though my experience or volunteer work may be less stellar than other applicants?

Wendleton: You have two strikes against you. There's a lot of competition in your area, yet you want the job over other people who have more experience. Can you get the experience some how by doing the work your competition has already done? Answer that. Then make sure that many people in that organization know about you in an ongoing basis. So that, if you were qualified, they would all think of you when an appropriate job opens up.

Question 14:I am a 49-year-old single woman. I was laid off in June 2000 and have two children attending private college. I have 20 years of experience as a computer specialist. I am out of unemployment what should I do?

Wendleton: Often the quickest way to earn the money is as a consultant in your prior field. Can you contact all of the hiring managers in your industry and tell them that you are willing to work full or part-time? Often, computer specialists working freelance can actually get paid more than those who are on payroll.

Get a list together tomorrow. And methodically talk to every single person on that list about the possibility of doing consulting work.

Question 15: My wife has a dilemma, she is 5 months pregnant and her "dot-com" is about to sink. Do you have any recommendations regarding her approach and honesty (about the pregnancy) when she is hunting and interviewing?

Wendleton: If she's not showing, we tend to recommend that women do not bring up the fact that they are pregnant until after they get the offer and have set a start date. If she is showing, it shows that she is a trooper, looking for a job while pregnant. So she could easily say that nothing keeps her down. And this shows them the kind of worker she will be if they hire her.

She should also address how she will handle her pregnancy leave, letting them know that she will take care of them. For example, she could tell them that she would train anyone who is going to handle her job and document her job so that there will be no problems while she is out.

Question 16: Would you please outline the resume format that you believe to be most effective and is it available for viewing on-line? What are your thoughts of a functional Vs. chronological resume? Should a resume always include an objective?

Wendleton: Basically, you will need to have a headline on your resume that tells the reader exactly who you are. This should go under the name, address, and phone number section.

In the center, bolded, you could say for example, "Accounting Manager" And the second line could say for example, "with strong computer skills." Then you would list bulleted accomplishments that would be of interest to your reader. For example, "Managed a staff of six." That lets them know your level. You could have five or six additional bullets, highlighting the accomplishments you want them to know about.

Chronological resumes with a summary are always stronger than a functional resume. Instead of a doing a functional resume, list in your summary functions you want to highlight and accomplishments associated with those functions. For example, "Strong presentation skills" then give examples. That's the approach to take.

E-mail your questions and suggestions regarding this series to earlyshow@cbs.com.

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