Speaker gives advice on landing job in tough economy

Correction Appended

In front of a packed conference hall with roughly 85 citizens of the City of Richmond and no more than 10 University of Richmond students Monday night, Bud Whitehouse gave his advice on how to succeed in an interview and land a job in a tough economy.

Whitehouse, director of Career Management of Virginia, an organization that helps prepare clients for job searches, gave an interactive speech, walking among the audience members in the Jepson Alumni Center and breaking down the "typical American job interview."

"Hiring for a job is just solving problems," Whitehouse said. "Think about a job or position as a problem. If I am an interviewer or employer, I will look for the individual that I think can best solve my company's problems."

Most of the audience members were people that had recently lost their jobs and were having a hard time finding a new one, Whitehouse said.

Carolyn, who was let go after 25 years in human resources at a bank, said Whitehouse gave her some really good advice.

The University of Richmond did a great job with this event, since it was free and open to the public, she added. It is reassuring that there are facilities and organizations helping people out during this time of need, she said.

"It's like getting your right arm cut off," said Carolyn, who declined to give her last name. "I still haven't gotten over losing my job and now I have to go out and find another one just to get by."

Carolyn and others said the event hosted by Richmond was much better than the other job fairs and events she had attended in the City of Richmond.

"It all fits in the strategic plan of Dr. Ayers and being connected to the Richmond community," said Joe Testani, associate director of the Career Development Center. "It's the responsible thing to do when so many people in our community are being affected during these times."

Testani was not too bothered by the fact that there were hardly any Richmond students at the event, he said.

"For students, it is not an immediate problem to find a job," Testani said. "Plus they can visit us any day at school and use us as a resource after graduation as well. We'd love to see 100 percent of the student body in our office regardless of their interests or career aspirations, and we are constantly trying to diversify the programs we provide so we can meet the needs of every individual student."

Whitehouse and Testani agreed that for students, finding a job is not as immediate of a problem. And college students naturally procrastinate and hold off the process, Whitehouse said.

The event, "Landing a Job in a Tough Economy," was hosted by the Career Development Center (CDC).

The primary objective of the event was to give people advice on how to be more competitive in a tight market, said Testani.

"In Richmond, there is an even smaller opportunity to find a job right now," Testani said. "With the money, resources and people this school has, we have to be better than others in helping out. We are all in the business of helping people at Richmond."

Whitehouse was critical of the standard American job interview, which he said was an adversarial process.

"Society tells you to have an unquestioned respect for authority," Whitehouse said. "We fear and obey our parents, then our teachers and after many stages in school and college, by time you reach the work force, you're trained to obey. As you walk in to the interviewers office, a switch is turned on and you revert back to the student child."

Whitehouse covered the entire interview process, from setting up the interview to following up with an employer. Although he had much criticism for the American job interview, Whitehouse sought to boost people's confidence and make them feel a little more comfortable for their next interview, he said.

"It's never a good sign when these people are seeing rejection after rejection," Whitehouse said. "If they can use some of my advice to make an interview easier and less intimidating, it's been a success."

Contact staff writer Nick Mider at nick.mider@richmond.edu