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BY Joel Junker

Kicking off 2014! The January Career Conference

As we enter into 2014, we all have dreams, hopes, and goals about what a brand new year will bring.  For the January 2014 Career Conference candidates those dreams, hopes, and goals of a new business career will be becoming a reality very soon.  This coming Friday the Cameron-Brooks team and our January candidates will arrive in Austin, TX to begin our first Career Conference of 2014.   As we make final preparations for the Career Conference, we are seeing strong signs that the demand we saw in 2013 looking for standout AND well prepared JMOs will continue into 2014.

 Sample industries for the January 2014 conference include: Financial, Consulting, Medical Device, Oil & Gas, Consumer Goods, Logistics, Healthcare, Building Products, and more.  Sample companies include: Carrier Corporation, ExxonMobil, Boston Scientific, Chatham Financial Corporation, Enerflex Energy Systems, Gallo Winery, Koch Industries, Kraft Foods, Linde Group, Johnson & Johnson, and many more.  Sample positions include:  Senior Consultant, Inside Sales Director, Field Clinical Specialist, Applications Engineer, Technical Services Engineer, Manufacturing Supervisor, Logistics Manager, Business Systems Analyst, Reliability Engineer, Six Sigma Black Belt, Supply Area Manager, Product Marketing, and more.  As we finalize the interview schedules for the candidates and client companies, it is looking like the average number of interviews will be approximately 12 per candidate. 

If you are a January Candidates making your last preparations for the Conference, or if you are a JMO planning to or considering transitioning, remember two words….professional authenticity.   While they want to find someone who will be a fit for the position (i.e. has the skills to do the job) they are also equally looking for company fit, someone who will mesh well within the culture of the organization.  That is why it is so critical to be authentic in the interview and not deliver canned or robotic answers.  If a company cannot see the real you, they will most likely not pursue you.  Remember, they are hiring for future leaders and not someone to come in and do a specific functional job.   

But, you must also be professional in your communication (think like you are briefing an O-5 or O-6).  Being authentic does not mean laid back, loose, or casual.  It is a professional interview and not a conversation over a burger at a restaurant.  It is a balance and those that can strike the balance between being professional and being themselves tend to be successful in their interviews.  That ability to be yourself comes from preparation and practice to the point where you know yourself, your accomplishments, etc. really well and you can deliver your answers in a very natural style.  My colleague, Joel Junker, wrote a previous blog post that relates to this which you can read here, http://bit.ly/1ar0d7Z. 

 Best of luck to the January 2014 Cameron-Brooks Candidates and be ready to be your professional, authentic selves!  As always, I will publish a blog post commenting on the results of the January 2014 Career Conference once the Conference has been completed. 

 Rob Davis