Inappropriate LinkedIn Usage: 2 Examples

I suppose it’s only natural to expect a few examples of “bad behavior” when you get 40 million people together in any one place, including on a website.  Still, I just can’t resist calling attention to two sleazy practices that some LinkedIn users are starting to engage in that not only violate the spirit of this wonderful website, but will hamper the effectiveness of the tool, eventually, if left unchecked.

Sleazy Practice #1:   Posting rhetorical or self-serving questions in the “Answers” section

The Answers page of LinkedIn is a beautiful thing and is clearly designed for one purpose and one purpose alone: for people to submit legitimate queries about business, careers, and (I suppose) life and receive useful input from fellow members.  More and more, however, I’m seeing some consultants attempting to use this section as free advertising to promote their own services and personal agenda.  How do they do this?  They ask rhetorical, circular, or baiting questions that they then answer, themselves, or use to promote their own products.  You’ll find a recent example of this if you click here.

Shame on you, Rita Ashley!  And what the heck is the Seattle Examiner, anyway?  She alludes to running an article with some great job search tips in this publication, and when you click on it, you get some weird made-up news website that actually says Spokane at the top, not Seattle.  Not very impressive for somebody who claims to be a professional advisor to $100,000+ job seekers.

Going forward, please help me stamp out this practice by clicking on the “flag answer as advertisement” option at the bottom of these types of questions, whenever you run across them…

Sleazy Practice #2:  Creating a LinkedIn profile for your company, instead of (or in addition to) yourself as an individual

One of the reasons LinkedIn is so useful is that you can’t hide behind anonymity on the site.  Whenever you post a job, or respond to a question, or network with other people, your actions are ALWAYS tied back to your specific individual profile so that people can immediately identify you and gauge your authenticity.  Recently, however, I’ve noticed a few organizations trying to game the system by building a separate profile for their company as a whole (in violation of LinkedIn policy) and then using this generic profile to build connections and increase recognition for their organization.  Here’s an example of this practice.

Shame on you, iMatch Staffing!  While I suppose some of these organizations think they’re just being innovative, or engaging in acceptable “guerrilla marketing” tactics, it’s abundantly clear that this practice is not the intended use of the site — and there’s also no question that the companies engaging in this practice know they’re being deceptive.  I mean, come on people.  Did you really think it was okay to type “iMatch” as the first name and “Staffing” as the last name on your profile?

In closing, thanks for letting me vent, and while I recognize that the above two examples are still fairly isolated incidents, I’m hoping that LinkedIn steps up and nips this kind of behavior in the bud before it becomes commonplace.  These kinds of actions only serve to confuse people and if thousands of additional folks starting following suit, and ignoring the etiquette of the site for their own personal gain, there’s no question that this would weaken the functionality of the site to a significant degree.  Let’s report these types of abuses when we see them and help the offenders “wise up” before they spoil it for everybody!

LinkedIn: Career Change Secret Weapon

Everybody knows by now that LinkedIn.com is the single most important website to master if you’re looking for a new job, right?  Everybody’s gotten the memo?  Well, I’ve got news for you.  As good as LinkedIn is at helping people research companies, and make relevant job search contacts, it’s equally as good at helping people research new career options, if that’s their goal.  It’s just that most people don’t think to look at the tool through this slightly different lens…

So if you’re seeking to make a significant career switch, here’s a quick rundown of how LinkedIn can help you explore your options:

•  Use Keywords to Find People Doing What You Want to Do:  With over 40 million people now on the LinkedIn system, most of whom have fleshed out their career histories to a decent extent, the process of researching career choices can finally transcend the “theoretical” realm of high-level labor statistics and government reports.  Now, with the press of a button, you can find hundreds of real people, doing the real jobs out there that you want.  You can find “proof of concept” that the job of your dreams actually exists.  All you need to do is visit the People page of LinkedIn and try searching the “Keywords” box using several of the key skills, competencies, and passions that you most want to apply in your career, going forward.  See who comes up associated with these words and then simply make note of what they do for a living!

•  Reverse-Engineer Using Education:  Wondering what doors a certain degree or certification can open up for you?  As above, try doing a People search on the LinkedIn site, but this time leave the Keywords box alone and search instead using the name of your degree, major, or certification in the “School” search field.  This approach will scan the educational backgrounds of all the other members in the system, to see who shares your same degree, and then, as above, you can then simply note what occupations these people have now found themselves in.  Want to eliminate the obvious choices?  Try using a minus sign parameter in the Title box to screen out any job titles your research has already turned up.  For example, if you’ve got a degree in Psychology, but already know you don’t want to be a counselor or psychologist, search with “psychology” in the School field but then add “-psychologist -counselor” in the Title field.  You’ll turn up numerous alternative paths such as Curriculum Designer, User Experience Specialist, and Organizational Development Consultant.

•  Find Role Models: What Do They Read & Where Do They Congregate? Once you’ve identified some people in the LinkedIn system who do the kind of work you want to do, or seem wired to the types of topics that interest you, scroll down in their profiles to see what they read (if they’ve filled out their reading list) and even more importantly, which LinkedIn Groups they belong to.  LinkedIn Groups have EXPLODED over the past year and can be a phenomenal source of useful information for career-changers.  For example, if somebody was interested in breaking into the field of web analytics, and looked up a list of people with the phrase “web analytics” in their Title, they’d quickly uncover a number of relevant Groups to consider joining, including Web Analytics Demystified, Web Analytics Professionals, and the Online Marketing, Web Analytics, and E-commerce Group.  Getting involved in these Groups can be a tremendous way to build contacts within the appropriate professional communities and immerse yourself in the latest relevant trends, talk, and terminology.

•  Ask & Ye Shall Receive: Amazingly, many people still haven’t figured out that if they ask virtually any semi-serious career or business question on the “Answers” page of the LinkedIn site, they’ll likely receive dozens of thoughtful, useful responses from other members of the LinkedIn community.  This is a pretty incredible thing.  Try throwing out a question like “What career options, aside from being a novelist or journalist, would be best for somebody with strong writing skills?” or “What certifications are red-hot and would offer the most immediate marketability, these days, for somebody trying to break into the information technology field?”  The answers, suggestions, and positive boost of encouragement you’ll receive from your fellow members might amaze you!

One of my favorite all-time lines from the Simpsons TV show is when Homer once said: “Doughnuts.  Is there anything they can’t do?”  (guess you kind of had to be there…)  But that pretty much sums up my feelings about LinkedIn.  It can be used in so many incredibly creative ways, including as a pivotal brainstorming tool for those seeking a new career path.  It’s just that most people don’t quite think to use it from that angle, so hopefully the above tips will help get some of you pointed in the right direction in terms of these powerful capabilities!

Grab Bag of Interesting Career Stuff

Over the past week or so, I’ve come across (or been forwarded) a number of links, articles, and resources that I feel are relevant to folks in career transition and eminently worthy of passing along via my blog.  So rather than carve out a separate posting for each item, I’m just going to bundle all of them together and turn you loose on them.  Enjoy!

1)  Video: Sir Ken Robinson on “Are Schools Killing Creativity?”

I almost didn’t open this link at first, but boy, am I glad I did!  This has to be one of the most important and well-delivered speeches I’ve heard in many years, addressing some of the built-in problems with the educational system, and consequently, the problems many folks are having in terms of their career challenges and finding positions that take advantage of their natural strengths.  Job hunters (not to mention all parents) need to watch this video in its entirety.  It’s not only packed with original and important thinking, but is downright funny, to boot, especially the little riff about Shakespeare that takes place about eight minutes into the presentation.

2) School of Visual Concepts: Discounted Classes for Unemployed Folks

If you’re interested in launching a career in the graphic design field, or brushing up your skills in areas such as web design, broadcast production, or copywriting, the School of Visual Concepts has announced a new program where they’ll be offering unemployed individuals a 50% discount on tuition for certain classes.  More details on this offer are available by clicking the link above, and we salute the school for going the extra mile to help transitioning professionals develop some marketable new skills at an affordable price point!

3) Diane Renihan: Financial Boot Camp for Executives

Does your career future require a better understanding of the corporate bottom line?  Are you mystified by modern accounting terminology and the way companies measure their financial performance?  Would demonstrating a strong knowledge of finance enhance your current marketability?  If so, I’d strongly encourage you to click on the link above and check out the “Financial Boot Camp” seminar that will be offered by Diane Renihan, of Ballantrae Consulting, starting in mid-September.  Diane has given us a preview of the material that she’ll be covering in this four-session series and we can assure you, it’s excellent!

4)  Article from TheLadders.com About the “Overqualified” Issue

Given that many Career Horizons clients are in the 40+ age range, and concerned about both age discrimination and the perception that they’re overqualified for certain opportunities, here’s a well-researched article that explores some of the realities of this issue — and offers some good advice on how to combat this obstacle in the job search process.

5) Wharton Business School Article: Unemployment Among Older Managers

On a related note to item #4, above, here’s another sobering (but highly informative) article about the impact of today’s recession on the ranks of older managers and executives.  We’re glad to see an institution as prestigious as Wharton raising awareness of this important and highly under-reported issue — and near the end of the article, you’ll see some encouraging predictions about future trends and some suggestions on how older workers can repackage themselves to compete more effectively for available opportunities.

Book Review: Bye Bye Boring Bio (Nancy Juetten)

If you’re feeling a little blah about your career or your business, and a can of Red Bull isn’t available, I’ve got a suggestion for you: call Nancy Juetten, author of the Main Street Media Savvy blog!

Nancy is a local publicist and marketing expert who I recently had the opportunity to meet, and it would be hard to imagine coming across anybody who is more passionate about the publicity field — or about helping individuals tell their story and gain visibility for themselves out in the marketplace.  What I also love about her is her willingness to empower people to do these things largely for themselves, drawing upon her line of DIY (Do It Yourself) Publicity workshops and resources.  In fact, her website is a treasure trove of useful links, suggestions, and buzz-building ideas that I’d encourage everybody (especially small business owners who are marketing-challenged) to check out!

In particular, however, I wanted to sing the praises of a new e-book that Nancy has published (available here as a review copy for $39) called “Bye Bye Boring Bio Action Guide.”  As the title implies, this book is designed to help people rise above mediocrity in their copywriting efforts and craft an extremely compelling, attention-getting biography for themselves.  Trust me people, this book is good.  Unlike some books that just skim the surface of a subject, or take a single lukewarm insight and milk it for 100 pages, Nancy goes into incredible depth in terms of the steps involved to put a great bio together — and backs her advice up with example after example after example in way that really brings her suggestions to life.  Got a big speech to give tomorrow?  She even has several “fill in the blanks” templates contained in the book to make it easy for people to whip out killer copy about themselves, on the fly.

Beyond the main focus of bio-creation, B.B.B.B.A.G. also includes some useful advice about other publicity-related topics like how to arrange to get a great mugshot taken for yourself, how to diplomatically solicit testimonials from other people, and how to create powerful Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking profiles.  So again, it’s one heck of a resource, and I assure you she’s even got me (who professes to know a thing or two about this stuff) thinking hard about taking another crack at my own bio and website copy.  I don’t want to show up in her next book as a “bad example”, after all…

Words From a Successful Job Hunter

Given the recent stretch of “success stories” I commented about a few posts ago, I asked some of these clients to document their journey and share some insights and observation about the job search process, now that they’re on the other side of it.  I’ll be keeping these commentaries anonymous, for various reasons, but am confident the experiences of these individuals will be helpful to those of you still in the hunt!

Comments From a Sucessful Career Horizons Client

1)  “The numbers matter – number of emails, new introductions, referrals from referrals, etc.  It was fairly critical to make sure time was spent on at least 5 intros per day.  Even when it was semi-painful because of zero followup on the other end.”

2)  “I found it very effective to hang out with ‘lucky people’ I have known in the past vs. job seekers.  I did not go to many “job seeker” type parties or events because there was generally too many woes.  Rather I focused on other networking events  – or events that were industry-related, but not job specific.”

3)  “I kind-of-sort-of viewed myself as a ‘free agent’ in the past – but I definitely view my career as that right now. This was a lesson that only I am responsible for my career and progress.”

4)  “I made a list of horrible companies I interviewed with and will NEVER do business with them again. Yes, it sounds spiteful, but the experiences were so bad that it felt good to make a decision to simply not do any business with them. Ever.”

There you have it — agree or disagree, you’ve at least now heard the thoughts of one professional who has taken on the job market recently, beaten it, and accumulated a valuable dose of perspective along the way!

Career Q&A: What Interview Questions to Expect?

“Matt: I’ve got an interview coming up and want to make sure I’m prepared for every possible question the hiring manager could possibly throw at me.  Can we spend some time and work on this together?”

I get approached with this kind of request fairly frequently, and while it’s a great thought, I usually tell my clients that what they’re attempting to do borders on the impossible — and would break the bank, in terms of the funds they’d need to invest with me (or any other coach) to pull this off!

Given the enormous range of methods that companies use to interview, there’s just no way to predict what array of questions a given manager is going to throw at you to evaluate whether you’re the right person for the job.   Interviewing is still far more of an art than a science.  This point was validated in a fairly interesting way during a recent episode of one of my favorite shows on the Bravo channel — Top Chef Masters.  In this show, three of the country’s greatest chefs were doing a competitive cook-off for charity and were asked to quickly interview and select three assistant chefs from a group of about 12 candidates.  Surprisingly, each and every one of these culinary superstars took a radically different approach to solving this puzzle.  One master chef asked the applicants to describe the foods they most liked to eat.  Another asked each candidate if they’d ever cooked his particular style of cuisine before.  And the third, Michael Chiarello, gave them a performance test, asking each one to brunoise (cut in a fancy French way) a carrot while he watched.  Several of the applicants, all experienced chefs in their own right, were insulted by this, but it was Michael’s reputation on the line and that was the technique he used to determine who to add to his team.

So the point is, you never quite know what methods a company or particular manager is going to use to evaluate your worthiness for a job — or what questions they’re going to ask you.  Any thought that one can be “perfectly prepared” for every interview, therefore, just isn’t realistic. This being said, there are a half-dozen questions that are so incredibly common that job seekers should always be prepared to address them:

– Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
– Why are you interested in this job?
– Why are you interested in our company?
– What is your greatest weakness?
– What are your greatest strengths?
– How much money are you looking for?

Beyond these old standbys, there are 10-20 other fairly common ones that come up like “Tell me about a time your work was criticized” or “Tell me what your previous supervisors would say about you.”  Beyond that, though, there a near-infinite number of behavioral interviewing questions you might get asked where employers will ask you how you’d react in a certain situation or to share an example of a time you displayed a certain skill, strength, or personality trait.  And if you’re applying to a company like Microsoft, you might even get hit with some stress interview questions like “How would you move Mt. Fuji?” or “Why is a manhole cover round?”

Given this array of possibilities, I’m just not a big fan of job hunters poring through the dozens of interview preparation books out there of the “100 interview questions and how to ace them” variety, since I don’t believe such rote memorization of questions and answers is a very effective way to improve your odds in a hiring scenario.  Instead, after developing some decent responses to the six most common questions above, and anticipating a few additional ones based on the job advertisement itself, I’d suggest people focus on mastering a few high-level rules of thumb that will help them answer any question more effectively in an interview situation.  Here’s what comes to mind:

1. First, make sure you fully understand the question being asked; always reserve the right to ask a clarifying question back if you’re not 100% sure what the employer is actually asking — just don’t do this every time or it will appear to be a stall tactic!

2. Don’t ramble or go off on tangents; when responding to questions, keep your answers to 1-2 minutes and never lose sight of the initial question that was asked, as you respond, or there’s the potential you’ll start drifting off on a tangent — which interviewers hate.

3. Tell a good story; resist the urge to answer questions in vague terms or high-level resume-speak; instead, pepper your answers with specific facts, names, examples, and details that will keep the listener interested and make your answers stand out from those of your competition.

4. Don’t bluff; if you really get stumped by a question, it’s better to say “Give me a moment to think about that” or “Boy, I’ll confess, I’m really drawing a blank on that one — can we come back to it later?” rather than give a weak, rambling, or factually-incorrect answer; in some cases, too, you could say “While I don’t have that answer right at my fingertips, I’d be happy to walk you through my thought process and explain how I’d come up with the best answer to that question — would that be appropriate?”  And if you really bomb a question, you can (and probably should) follow up after the interview with a letter or e-mail indicating you weren’t satisfied with your own answer to one of the questions asked — and wanted to provide a more thoughtful response in writing, now that you’ve had the chance to think about things further.

5. Spot-check your effectiveness; if you feel that you stumbled on a question, or are getting very little feedback from the interviewer on your performance, you can periodically ask “Did that answer your question?” or “Is that the kind of example you were looking for?” to make sure you’re on the right track.

Ultimately, my belief is that there’s more ground to be gained by job seekers learning the ropes of how to answer any question more effectively, as opposed to saddling themselves with the anxiety of trying to anticipate each and every possible question that a given interviewer could ask.  It’s a little different twist on things, I realize, and takes practice, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be pretty much ready for anything someone might throw at you!

And Now, Let Me Contradict Myself…

Sorry about the headline — just a little rummy Friday afternoon humor heading into the weekend!  Having written a fairly depressing post earlier today about the inescapibility of politics in today’s corporate world, however, I thought it was rather ironic that I received an e-mail from my friends at the Puget Sound Business Journal, announcing the 66 winners and finalists of their annual “Washington’s Best Workplaces” survey.

So while I still don’t believe it’s healthy to expect to find paradise out there in the working world, I do think that this list the PSBJ has compiled (accessible here) is one of the best resources around for identifying the organizations in Puget Sound that have the best track record of engaging in good business practices and doing right by their employees.  Sure, there’s a public relations angle underlying these kinds of things, without question, but it’s still an incredible handy cheat sheet for people trying to find a healthy, functional corporate culture to work in.  Check it out…

Re-Engaging After Job Loss

If you’re a member of Generation X, I have a hunch it will take you less than three seconds to recognize the slice of movie transcript below.  If not, click here to watch the movie clip live (warning: contains mild foul language…)

Merlin: “C’mon, let’s get back in the game, Maverick!”
Maverick: “Nah, it’s no good.”
Merlin: “Get in there, Maverick!”
Maverick: “It’s no good.”
Navy Commander: “Damn it, Maverick’s disengaging!”
Merlin: “Get in there Maverick, you can’t leave him!  Come on, Maverick!”
Maverick: “Talk to me, Goose!”
Merlin: “Get in there, for Chrissake!  Ice is in trouble!  You can’t leave him!”
Maverick: “Talk to me, Goose!”
Merlin: “Get in there Maverick, he won’t last down there alone!  Get in the fight!”
(Maverick gazes intently at his fallen comrade’s dogtags; seems to see/hear something from “beyond”…)
Navy Lieutenant: “Maverick’s re-engaging, sir!”

The point of all this?  This famous scene from Top Gun pops into my head several times each day, every time a client tells me (which happens a lot) that they are fed up with the corporate world, sick of the politics, and thoroughly burnt out on the rat race and all its trappings.  Each time I hear this, I instantly flash back to Tom Cruise, the crackerjack fighter pilot who suddenly loses his nerve — and is afraid to go into combat — due to the tragic death of his navigator several months previously during a training exercise.  Luckily, for the sake of his fellow pilots (and the plot of the movie) it only takes Tom 10 seconds of intense soul-searching before he regains his composure, re-enters the fight, and mops up the enemy in short order!

Would that it were this easy for job seekers.  For many people, it can take weeks, months, or even a lifetime to overcome some of the emotional scars that can occur as the result of unexpected job loss.  I’ll never forget one client of mine, in fact, who I was catching up with over coffee, a full year after I’d worked with her following the loss of her position as a hospital executive.  Everything seemed to be going well and she’d moved on to a promising new opportunity, but when I asked “Do you keep in touch with any of your former co-workers from XYZ Hospital?” she instantly burst into tears, clearly still affected by the circumstances of how the departure from her previous organization had taken place.  What’s more, she kept apologizing to me through her tears saying “I don’t know why I’m crying!  I thought I was over all this…”

So clearly, as much as some people adopt a stiff upper lip and pretend otherwise, there’s a grieving process that always takes place when it comes to the loss of a job — even in cases when the transition is voluntary.  The problem (from my annoyingly pragmatic standpoint) is that most people can’t afford to grieve these wounds indefinitely or “take as much time as they need” to heal, process things, and come to peace with what’s happened to them.  Most individuals out of work, at least the ones I encounter, have little choice but to get back on the horse and focus on re-entering the corporate world sooner, rather than later, due to financial concerns.  They can’t indulge themselves by thinking they’re going to be able to find a job, or a new place of employment, where they’ll be immune from politics and won’t run into some of the same frustrations, challenges, ethical issues, or bureaucracy that cropped up in their last position.

Over 80% of all jobs in this country, after all, involve working in the private sector where predictable bottom-line profit concerns tend to be the root cause of most of the shenanigans that working professionals complain about.  Additionally, in my experience, corporate politics are really nothing more than an inescapable side-effect of people working with other people — so you’re going to run into these no matter what you do, even if you try to chart an escape route into academia, the public sector, or the non-profit world.  Just ask anybody who’s been there!

So from my standpoint, short of the self-employment route (which isn’t a practical option for many people) I tend to suggest that time-sensitive job seekers learn to read the warning signs of a truly toxic work culture, in advance, or focus on acquiring better strategies and coping mechanisms for handling conflict and corporate B.S. when it arises.  But I find the concept of “disengagement” itself to be a dangerous thing.  I don’t care if you end up clutching dogtags, like Maverick, or coming up with your own rituals and remedies for relieving the sting of your last job experience, it’s important to get past that stage — and get back in the game!

WSJ “Expose” on the Outplacement Industry

As a veteran of the outplacement field for over 15 years now, I’ve had a ringside seat in observing both the best and worst practices of the industry — and seeing how the services of various outplacement firms have kept pace with the times and provided real value (or not) in terms of helping individuals impacted by corporate layoffs.

From my own self-interested standpoint, admittedly, I’ve trumpeted the notion that “not all outplacement firms are created equal” and that many companies, and HR professionals, should exercise far more caution in the purchasing process to ensure they get real value for their dollar.  Far too many firms, in my opinion, have been gotten away with murder over the years by providing lackluster service for outrageous sums of money.  I’m contacted frequently by executives, in fact, who have recently received a $10-15,000 outplacement package from their past employer — but are now seeking to pay out of their own pocket for resume help and job hunting assistance!  This is shameful.  For that amount of money, these firms should be writing these peoples’ resumes on gold leaf and personally chauffeuring them to every single interview they line up…

So given that I’ve been something of a lone voice in the wilderness on this issue for years, I can’t tell you how happy I was to discover that a source no less reputable than the Wall Street Journal was validating my perspective in an article they published this very morning!  Even if you have no particular interest in the nitty-gritty details of the outplacement world, I think you’ll find the article below fascinating, entertaining, and provocative.  Take a few moments and give it a read:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125069793645343423.html

Seriously, 60-person caseloads?  Boilerplate resume templates?  Providing only 4 hours of coaching in a one-month program, valued in the $2,500 to $5,000 price range?  Advising people not to order cranberry juice in a lunch interview, lest the interviewer suspect they have a bladder infection?  This is the stuff that drives me nuts.  Such delivery methods may not technically be criminal, but boy, are they unethical.

Provided properly, I believe outplacement can be a tremendous win/win both for the company and its departing employees, helping both sides move on and make a smooth transition into the future.  And I’m happy to report that there are plenty of quality outplacement firms around, both in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the globe.  But more and more providers, I’m afraid to say, are cutting corners and exhibiting some of the laughably bad behaviors chronicled in this article.

Thanks for shining the light on this particular topic, WSJ!

Corporate Want Ads: Signs of Evolution?

Following the article I posted yesterday about candidates needing to be able to sell themselves as solutions, and showcase the added-value they can bring to an organization, one of my astute readers (thanks Michael!) sent me a published advertisement that he thought related closely to the concepts I was trying to get across.  He came across a Full-Charge Bookkeeper listing (pasted below) that starts out looking like any other boring, formulaic advertisement on the surface.  When you get near the end, however, you’ll see a special twist that the company has thrown into the application process!

Personally, I’m astounded that more and more companies haven’t adopted this approach in their hiring process.  If you’re really looking for the best and the brightest talent, and for employees who are articulate, creative, and willing to go the extra mile, why not challenge them to make the case for themselves — beyond simply sending in their resume in zombie-like fashion?  The answers to questions #4, #5, and #6 at the end of this advertisement would reveal far more about the mindset and interest level of the various folks in your candidate pool than all of the other stuff in this ad put together, I’d conjecture…

Full Charge Bookkeeper for Retail E-commerce Company

We are looking for an experienced Bookkeeper to join our operations team. This position will report directly to the Controller. Must have 3+ years of work history as a bookkeeper with strong references. We are looking for a person who can check and enter data with precision and find the source of any irregularities. Good interpersonal skills and phone and writing skills will be required to work with our many vendors and clients.
We seek only those with a wide array of experience, ready to get their hands dirty in all aspects of book keeping.
Experience in an e-commerce company is a plus.
Primary Responsibilities:
• Accounts Payable (Checking Invoices for accuracy against PO System)
• Accounts Receivable (Light collections from corporate clients)
• Reconciling Settlement Reports to Deposits (Containing several thousand transactions)
• Reconciling Bank Statements
• Preparing Monthly and Quarterly Tax Reports
• Handle Customer Credit Card Charge backs (Write letter to Bank)
• Data Entry into QuickBooks Pro
• Running Reports
• Some light administrative duties
Employee Skills:
• Exceptional, Clear & Concise Writing Abilities For Correspondence with Vendors & Customers
• QuickBooks
• MS Excel
• MS Access
• Good problem solving and multi-tasking skills are essential.
• Professional, High-energy, team-player
Employee Requirements:
• Extremely Organized and Detail Oriented
• Fast Learner With Desire to Grow Into New Skills
• Ability to Handle Large, Fast Paced Workload
• At least 3 Years As a Bookkeeper
• Must possess a positive attitude and be friendly and professional.
3 days per week (approximately 20 hours per week), on-site in Georgetown offices
Full-time may be a possibility
Please reply with the following information. Please include all information, or your reply will not be considered.
1. Your pay history and desired pay
2. Your desired schedule
3. Your resume
4. A 1-2 paragraph answer to this question: “What can you offer to add value in this position?”
5. A 1-2 paragraph answer to this question: “Why would you love to have this job?”
6. A 1-2 paragraph answer to this question: “What is the single most important thing in the accounting department that makes a great company different than an average company?”