Mike Schmeckebier Associate Director, Graduate Career Services

When a job search ends, I always love getting the phone call that the person has not only received a job offer but that they’ve received multiple job offers.

I can only think of a few things that make you feel better than knowing more than one organization wants you and your talents on their team. After I share words of congratulations, give high fives, and we talk through deciding which offer to accept, I always end with a surprising question:

How are you going to stay in touch with the people you turn down?

When I’m on the phone with a client, the dialogue after that question usually goes something like this:

Client: silence

Me: Hello, hello, are you still there?

What do I mean by staying in touch with the people you turn down? 

And why would they want to stay in touch with you? You’re turning them down, after all, and that step is hard enough.

Keeping in touch with the people you turned down isn’t as crazy as it sounds. An interview process that leads to an offer is intensive. You share a lot with the people who interview you. Chances are high that good relationships were formed.

These people liked you enough that they were willing to make you a colleague, which means they probably like you enough to stay in touch.

Employers understand the hiring process. They understand that you can only work at one place. They understand you are making the best decision for you. If they’re upset about anything, they are disappointed they didn’t get you.

Some of those people might leave that company for a new position. You can figure out all the reasons why that might be good for you. They wanted to hire you now, so chances are very good that they will want to hire you again in the future.

All of this is under the assumption you turned down the offer in a professional way. If you fail to do that, then all bets are off.

So, how do you stay in touch with an employer you turned down? 

My best advice after you professionally and properly turn down the job offer is to do the following:

1. Connect on LinkedIn with every person you formed a relationship with during the interview process, if you haven’t already done it.

2. Once you do that, send them another brief note expressing gratitude and wishing good luck.
Let things lie for 5-6 months and enjoy your new job.

3. After about six months, identify a couple key people from the interview process and send them a note with an update on how things are going for you and asking how they are.

4. Once you get past the one year mark in the new job, and if you live or work in the same area as those job offers, invite those same people out for lunch, coffee, or a drink just to catch up. Do this once or twice a month, individually, until you’ve hit everybody. If you don’t live in the same area, make it a phone call or email exchange instead.

5. Once you complete that cycle, those people are officially in your network and you should treat them accordingly going forward.

Too often we leave out this vital pocket of people to add into our network. Take the time to do it, because turning down an offer might one day turn up a job.

Kendell Brown Associate Director of Professional Development in Graduate Career Services

Since it’s the start of the new year, I’m relating this post to the tradition of making resolutions. My annual resolution is to lose weight—shocking, considering it is the #1 resolution made by American adults. Perhaps it’s yours, too. The #2 resolution for American adults is to get a new job, and since you’re still reading this post, you obviously have an interest in some aspect of career management.

There is a lot of overlap between my resolution and various aspects of career management. I’ve been all over the Internet picking up tricks and tips that will help me lose the weight this year. And I’ve got to tell you, every website, celebrity trainer, and P90X success story says the same thing: Make a public commitment, set measurable goals, plan ahead, and make a lifestyle change.

Let’s take a closer look and compare a successful weight loss plan to a job search.

Making a public commitment

Weight loss: From what I’ve read, the first step in deciding to lose weight is revealing my weight loss goals to family and friends. A public announcement will make me accountable to others and create a stronger commitment to the resolution.

Job search: If you’ve resolved to get a new job this year, you should also let family and friends know.  If your brother-in-law’s company is hiring, how will he know to pass your resume along, if he doesn’t know you’re looking? And if you want to make an internal move, don’t be afraid to tell your boss.  She knows your skillset and what’s happening around the organization.

Setting measurable goals

Weight loss: If I skip lunch and dinner today, the scale reading will be less tonight than it was this morning. But a more helpful goal is: Lose 1 pound each week by eliminating soda, working out 3 times each week, and switching to Meatless Mondays.

Job search: Apply to lots of postings on Indeed.com—Yes, this is a goal, but it is one that will likely cause you frustration. Instead, try goals like:

• Re-read performance reviews. This will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.
• Conduct two mock interviews weekly, so you’re prepared for the inevitable.
• Research five companies per week, so you have some idea of where you’ll fit and where you won’t.
• Create a posting for your perfect job. If a real posting doesn’t align with at least 80% of what you’ve written, don’t apply.

Planning ahead

Weight loss: It’s time for me to start packing a lunch and some healthy snacks, so I’m not tempted by the office candy jar.

Job search: If you are fortunate enough to be currently employed, now is the time to job search. There’s nothing like the luxury of time.  An effective job search (a search that results in a job that you really want) doesn’t happen overnight.  I’ve been a career coach to lots and lots of people and none of them have had a job just fall into their laps. So figure out where you want to be in 6 months or a year, and create an actionable plan to get you there.

It’s a lifestyle change

Weight loss: Ok, I’ve heard it tons of times and I’m sure you have too – no diet, workout regimen, or cleanse will lead to permanent weight loss. The only way to keep weight off is by making a lifestyle change. Cutting out Diet Coke this month, but drinking it again next month isn’t gonna do it. If you train for a half marathon, run the race and then stop running, the weight comes back (I know from personal experience).  So what I’ve come to realize is that losing weight shouldn’t be my resolution for 2015. Instead, I should focus on eating better and exercising long term.

Job search: One thing you’ll hear from GCS over and over again is the importance of networking. You know about networking, right? Getting and staying in touch with people, building a rapport with them so that when the time comes they’ll put in the right word with the right person, etc. Well, networking should not happen just when you are actively searching. Networking should happen all the time. If you are regularly in touch with people, they get to know you, your skill set, and your interests. That’s all valuable information for someone to have about you when they are thinking about whether you match up with a job they know about. Networking is the most important tool in anyone’s job search toolkit.  So networking is not a one-time thing—you should make it a lifestyle.

Kendell Brown is the Associate Director of Professional Development at the Kelley School of Business in Graduate Career Services. Kendell and her team meet and coach hundreds of students, alumni, and corporate partners on tried and true recruiting methods, interviewing tactics, and career management strategies, while staying in tune to how these areas are changing and evolving. Email Kendell at kendbrow@indiana.edu. 

From all of us at the Kelley School of Business in Bloomington and Indianapolis, we wish our Kelley family and friends a warm, safe, and peaceful holiday season.

Spread the joy by sharing this video with anyone and everyone whose holidays can be made brighter by IU’s beautiful sights and sounds.

Startup Weekend Bloomington gave teams 54 hours to launch a startup that would change the world.

Two of the three winning ideas were led by IU and Kelley School of Business students. The 1st place winner, CareBand, is a wearable wandering management solution for people with dementia. The 3rd place winner, SwapBeat, is a social commerce platform to buy and sell instrumental music between producers and recording artists.

CareBand and SwapBeat have moved on to the Regional track of the Global Startup Battle, and voting will determine which two ideas in the US Central/East region will move on to the global competition.

Voting ends tonight.

CareBand is a wearable wandering management solution for people with dementia. The CareBand team is Scott Trepper, Andrew Jones, Claudia Maria, Adam Sobol, Vince Rowold, and Chris Chu.

SwapBeat is a social commerce platform for buying and selling instrumental music between producers and recording artists. The SwapBeat team is Mary Catherine Burns, Askar Akhmetshin, Sanjana Nayak, Chris Williams, Natalie Lamm, and Francis Mejia

CareBand‘s Adam Sobol and SwapBeat‘s Christopher Williams sat down to answer a few questions about how ideas are born, and what makes a winning idea.

You had 54 hours to create a product/service from scratch. What were your steps?

CareBand: Last year at Startup Weekend, I pitched CareBand but there was limited interest. Over the past year, I continued to work on the idea, gained information through networking with professionals, and filed for a patent. With my continued persistence, I was fortunate to have a sense of the target market, the intended product, and the specific technology to allow the product to function. With this knowledge, the focus throughout Startup Weekend was on the business aspects. We considered the key components of taking a product at its prototype stage to market. This included gaining knowledge in many avenues including manufacturing, marketing, sales, operations, and distribution. We really enjoyed the suggestions and feedback from Kelley faculty and others who acted as mentors throughout the weekend. Using the information we already had, as well as our newfound business knowledge, we were able to create a comprehensive pitch.

SwapBeat: We began by using the lean startup model that the Startup Weekend leaders recommended. By using this model we were able to articulate our goals for the weekend and create the necessary steps to ensure success. With our vision in mind, we then divided up tasks that best suited each member’s skill set. Responsibilities included creating surveys for customer feedback, developing a marketing strategy, and designing the actual SwapBeat website.

What inspired your ideas? Why instrumentals?

CareBand: The idea was sparked during a discussion with my father, an internal medicine doctor with a specialty in geriatrics. We were watching the local nightly news, which highlighted an elderly woman who had gone missing due to Alzheimer’s (a type of dementia). I was intrigued about how this could occur. My father explained the illness and its characteristics of causing wandering behavior. He explained that dementia is a slow regression in the cognitive ability of a person, and it is not preventable, curable or easily slowed. After some additional research, I discovered that more than 35 million people in the world suffer from dementia. Also that more than 60 percent of these people will wander during their time with the illness. I knew there had to be a solution. With my technical skills and creative thinking, I dreamt up CareBand as a way for people with wandering tendencies to stay safe living in their homes.

SwapBeat: I’m a music producer and recording artist by trade. I realized that there was no authoritative marketplace for the exchange of instrumental music. The current transactional system is inefficient, requiring artists to use several websites to conduct a single exchange. This realization birthed SwapBeat.

How did your team come together?

CareBand: After pitching the idea at the beginning of Startup Weekend 2013, many participants came over to discuss the idea. I was thrilled to have provoked more interest. When teams were being formed, I was able to choose assets for the team. I had in mind the specific skill sets that the team needed and was able to piece together a strong team.

SwapBeat: It was honestly very random. At Startup Weekend we were able to choose to collaborate with whomever we wanted; it just had to be an idea we felt passionate towards. This worked in our favor because everyone on the team shares a love of music and has some sort of music industry knowledge. We are lucky it worked out so well.

What are your team’s strengths?

CareBand: I firmly believe that people are not interested in what you do. People are interested in why you do it. The people helping with the project understand the reasons for the creation of the technology. They share my vision in seeing how this innovative product has potential to help the thousands of people suffering from dementia. The team understands that this creation allows caretakers of those with dementia to have peace of mind. This alignment in ideology is a true driving force in the success of CareBand.

SwapBeat: The SwapBeat team thoroughly represents the term “cohesive.” The skill sets we each possess are vastly different but complement one another. They include everything from coding to marketing to structuring a business plan. What sets SwapBeat apart, though, is the passion each member has towards the project. For us it doesn’t even seem like work.

What makes a good idea?

CareBand: Ideas are not developed overnight; they take hours of thinking and discussion. Someone once told me to approach ideas by figuring out what makes the idea bad. It took me a long time to appreciate this advice. I have come to realize, though, that entrepreneurial minded individuals are constantly coming up with new ideas, and they often believe that each idea they come up with is a great one.  However, it is when you contemplate an idea for a few days and analyze it from different angles that you truly understand if an idea is worth pursuing.

SwapBeat: A good idea is one that becomes a reality. Many people talk about good ideas they have but don’t actually take steps to create the product or service. This is not the case with SwapBeat. We set goals, we have weekly meetings, and we get stuff done. None of us see failure as an option at this point.

Why should people support yours?

CareBand: CareBand aims to increase safety and independence for those suffering from dementia. It is an innovative tool to assist caretakers in monitoring wandering behavior. There has been infinite effort on this project and it will continue until the idea can become a reality. Many people are ailing from this difficult disease. CareBand has an opportunity to minimize associated challenges.

SwapBeat: We have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback. Artists and producers alike have told us that this would be a marketplace they use frequently. We already have a lot of support, and for that we are grateful. We want to show the world how efficient SwapBeat will make the online transaction of instrumentals.

CareBand and SwapBeat both are competing against ideas from these cities. Voting ends tonight for the regional track of the Global Startup Battle.