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August 7, 1997
SMOKE SIGNALS
The Tribe's Employment Services Program would like to assist you with your employment needs.
To schedule an appointment for any Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday please contact Sheila
Elliott at 879-2031 or Connie Holmes at 879-2267.
Most of the following information on this page was taken from the Oregon Careers 1997-98
paper published by the Oregon Employment Department. To obtain a copy of the Oregon Careers
1997-98 paper, which is full of information regarding employment, write to: Workforce Analysis
Section, Oregon Employment Department, 875 Union St. NE, Salem, OR 9731 1; call the Oregon
Employment Department at (503) 378-6059 or 1-800-237-3710, ext. 8-6059; or stop by the Em
ployment Department nearest to you.
Do you have the skills
employers value?
Asking yourself the following questions will help in deter
mining whether you have the key personal self-management
skills and key work-activity skills employers usually
value most. Answer the following questions with "most of
the time," "sometimes," or "not yet."
1 . Do you get to work daily on time?
2. Do you follow your supervisor's instructions?
3. Do you get along well with co-workers?
4. Do you work hard and get things done?
5. Are you flexible?
6. Are you honest?
7. Are you dependable?
8. Are you willing to learn new things?
9. Are you friendly and courteous?
1 0. Do you show interest in your work and company?
11. Do you meet deadlines?
1 2. Do you accept responsibility?
1 3. Do you coordinate projects and people?
14. Do you plan, organize?
1 5. Do you solve problems, think creatively?
1 6. Do you coach or mentor co-workers?
1 7. Do you improve or increase products or services?
18. Do you speak in public?
19. Do you manage money, budget?
20. Do you practice the principles of conflict resolution?
If you answered "most of the time" to the majority of
these questions, you will likely be on your way to having
the skills employers want most. If the majority of your an
swers were "sometimes," then you need to focus on im
proving your skills to help you advance in your career field.
If you answered "not yet" to many of the questions, you
may have a lot of work to do in readying yourself to work
in the "real world" today.
Source: Oregon Careers 1 997-98
RESUME DON'TS
B Don't use a "fill-in-the-blank" format resume.
Originality is important.
Don't present a resume that is more than two pages
maximum. One page is preferred.
B Don't include irrelevant personal information like your
age, height, weight, etc.
B Don't include salary and wage information.
B Don't use abbreviations.
B Don't be the only person to proof your resume.
Have someone else read it for clarity.
B Don't leave out essential information, like where you
can be reached.
B Don't send out a resume that has an error in it.
If it's misspelled, you need to redo it.
Source: Oregon Careers J 997-98
Questions to ask a
potential employer
People conducting the interviews expect you to ask ques
tions. Here are a few sample questions you could ask a po
tential employer after they have finished interviewing you.
1 . If hired, would I be filling a newly created position, or
replacing someone?
2. Would you describe a typical work day and the things
I'd be doing?
3. Which duties are most important for this job?
Least important?
4. How would I be trained or introduced to the job?
5. How would I get feedback on my job performance,
if hired?
6. If hired, would I report directly to you, or someone else?
Are there any questions
I should NOT ask?
Never ask any questions about salary, vacations,
holidays with pay or sick days. You're looking for a
job not a vacation. These are questions you could ask if
offered the position or maybe the interviewers will men
tion their benefits during the interview.
INTERVIEWING TIPS
One of the best ways to get prepared for an interview is
to practice. The following is a list of questions that are
often asked in interviews. Write a sentence or two
to answer the questions and then practice an
swering them out loud. Keep in mind that you should
keep your answers under two minutes, unless the inter
viewer asks you to go into further detail.
1 . What jobs have interested you the most that you
have held, including summer and part-time jobs?
2. Why were these jobs the most interesting to you?
3. What are your career goals?
4. Where do you see yourself in five years?
In ten years?
5. Tell me about yourself and your work background?
6. What do you consider to be your strengths?
7. What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
8. Why are you interested in this job?
9. Why do you want to work for this company?
1 0. What did you like most about your last job?
1 1 . What did you dislike most abut your last job?
12. Which classes did you like best in school? Why?
13. Why should I hire you for this job?
Source: Oregon Careers J 997-98
If you would like further assistance with inter
viewing techniques, contact Connie Holmes or
Sheila Elliott at Employment Services to sched
ule a "mock" interview.
o
If you are currently unemployed or under-employed
then this fair is for you. Meet and talk with repre
sentatives of some of the area's best known and
most respected employers who are looking forward
to meeting you and are serious about filling their
open positions. BE PREPARED TO INTERVIEW
AND BRING YOUR RESUME.
Source: Oregon Empoymenf Department's Internet home page.
Employer Expectations
APPEARANCE
Do you look like the right person for the job?
Dress Grooming Hygiene
Behavior Writing Speaking
DEPENDABILITY
Can you be counted on to do the job?
Attendance Punctuality Reliability
SKILLS
What can you do?
Job-related skills Self-management skills
Transferrable skills - for example, if you were a girl scout
leader, just one example of a transferrable skill would be
organization.
NOTE: Drug testing is often a condition of employment.
Self defeating behaviors
Below is a list of self defeating behaviors that can keep
you from either getting or keeping a job. If you have
identified any of the following as one of your behaviors,
then this can become a barrier to employment that you
can get help in overcoming.
Sleeping until noon
Beating self up mentally
Staying up late
No schedule or timeline
Bad relationships
No goals for life
Heated temper
Not dependable, don't show up on time
Keep hanging around with "losers"
Relying on others to take care of you
Jump to conclusions
Money matters out of control
Emotional or reactive
Dwelling on problems from the past
Not improving education or learning new things
Physical abuse, either to you or to others
Messy environment
Low self esteem
Drug, alcohol or food obsession
Not planning ahead
Gambling
Any others you identified?