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Area employment experts give tips and cite trends during panel discussion at Germanna Community College Date published: 11/19/2009
BY CATHY JETT Employers were so desperate for workers in the booming Fredericksburg area three years ago that the application process was a breeze. "If they could fog a mirror, they were hired," joked Peter Mocarski, acting manager of the Virginia Employment Commission office in Fredericksburg. Oh, what a difference an economic downturn makes. These days it's an employers' market, and they have the luxury of being selective, he said during a panel discussion at the Employment Resource Fair held at Germanna Community College's campus in Spotsylvania County on Tuesday. Potential employees are now sized up the moment they walk in the door for their interview. "Support staff is watching to see how you greet other people, and how you talk to others in the waiting room," said Amanda Talbert, who heads the Fredericksburg Regional Society for Human Resource Management chapter and is district director for the Virginia SHRM State Council. Applicants should come prepared for a more extensive interview than in the past, as well as skills assessment tests and background checks, she said. And one of the most important things they can do during that interview is show how skills they honed at their previous job can be transferred to a new position. "Employers want to know, 'How does this apply to my business?'" Mocarski said. As an example, he said that someone who worked at W.J. Carpenter, a business near Madison that used to make wooden chicken coops, should say that he operated woodworking machinery or specialized in shipping, rather than "I made wooden chicken coops." Applicants also should have researched the company before they apply, be honest during the interview, and try to prove that they'll be loyal, reliable and ethical employees if they're hired. "Don't ask, 'When's lunch? When can I leave?'" Talbert said. "They'll read that as, 'I'm wasting my time with this person.' Instead, say, 'What's the potential for growth at this company? Are there other things I can do here?'"
any employer that acts like that is one you don't want to work for.
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