Downtown, The Future of Banking: Part 3

In the job search, it's the follow-through that really matters now, panelists for "The Future of Banking: Salaries, Sectors and Uncle Sam” said.  Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio noted that it's especially important to fine-tune your job search skills. "Follow-up, especially, is important," she said.

And--I'm sure it comes as no surprise to most--Facebook and social networking have become extremely important for candidates as well.  Insana said that while social networking used to be a strictly face-to-face affair, that's not the case anymore.  But watch out--it's a tool that can make you or break you as a job-seeker.  Thanasoulis-Cerrachio added that there's "so much 'digital dirt' out there," and it's a job candidate's task to get it cleaned up.  "If you don't want your grandmother to see it," it shouldn't be out there in cyberland, she said.  She added that looking up prospective candidates' Facebook pages was a regular occurrence for her at former jobs.  Decisions are made based on the page, she added.

Beyond your cyber-self, it's important to excel in every aspect of the job search, the panel agreed.  Don't let follow-through fall through the cracks.  Quaint as it may seem to some, things such as handwritten notes are a rarity that employers sit up and pay attention to. 

And again, find your passion and follow it.  "You need a place that you have some interest in," Jonathan Knee said.  For example, if you find a company you'd like to work for and they're not on a regular recruiting schedule, you actually may have a higher probablity of getting hired.  Don't be afraid to reach out, he added.

But in the end, the very journey you take to get your next job matters.  "Realize you learn more from failure than success," Michael Curran said. "Look at what you want to learn from--that's the important process."

--Posted by Stephanie R. Myers, Vault Staff Writer