Archive for the ‘Job Search’ Category

Are you wondering if you should put your job search on hold until after the New Year, since the hiring process tends to slow down from now until mid-January?

My advice is to keep some momentum going throughout the Holiday season. In fact, the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years can be a particularly effective time to make strategic and useful connections.

With many executives curtailing work travel schedules to make themselves available for end-of-the-year planning and office events, you may have easier access to decision makers at this time.

You might also have a competitive edge in the job market, as many applicants assume not much is happening and opt to wrap presents and sip eggnog instead of pursue job leads.

Take advantage of holiday gatherings to connect with people you don’t see very much during the year – former colleagues, neighbors, distant relatives, old friends. They can all be helpful in your job search, providing you are forthcoming with information about what you need.

When the time is right, tell them what type or position you are looking for or ask to be introduced to someone who may be a great networking contact.  If they seem interested in helping you out, let them know you’ll follow up with them in a few days—and do!

With an attitude of “anything is possible”, and a challenge to your assumptions about this time of year, you may find yourself in a prime position of opportunity to celebrate the season and enter the New Year with sense of promise and good connections too.

I was listening to “http://www.npr.org/” National Public Radio tonight and heard a reporter talking about the Sundance Film Festival. She said that some filmmakers had done well this year because they “booted up” their approach to making films in order to stay current with trends and popular interests.

I immediately made the connection between the concept of “booting up” and a person’s approach to his or her job search. I began to think about the various ways a person might “power up” or “load” their job search process to improve the chances of achieving their goal of landing a job.

Finding a job is taking longer today, and job seekers need ways to sustain their enthusiasm and efforts. New approaches and strategies that energize and add interest can revitalize a discouraged and weary job seeker.

The following is a list of ideas that might power up your search:

Add a new credential to your portfolio. Education and training can boost your confidence as well as your candidacy. Be sure that the program or course you are considering is valued and legitimate.

Make sure that your approach is effective and reflects current job search best practices. Many people work hard at finding a job, but they are using outdated and ineffective strategies. A website that provides hundreds of current topics of interest to the job seeker is “http://www.quintcareers.com/” Quintessential Careers.

Pamper yourself as a reward for your efforts. I’m not one of those people who believes that everyone should make a full time job out of finding a job. Breaks are good. Whether it’s a massage, taking a class that’s only for fun, or settling in for an afternoon with a good book, diversions help restore and replenish the spirit.

Seek out help when you need it. You don’t have to go this alone. In fact, it’s not strategic to do so. Talk to friends, family, colleagues and even a professional who might help guide you when you think you’ve exhausted all possibilities.

Keep looking for the angle you’ve yet to discover, and it might give you just the boost you need to recommit to your search.

Even in this still-sluggish job market, there seems to be a buzz around how to keep employees–particularly those of the elusive post-boomer generation.

Employee engagement and worker retention tips top the lists of workshops and management journal articles.

They speak to the imminent talent drain and worker shortage as a perfect storm of economic disaster gathers.

Each day, 10,000 baby boomers turn 60. Although they’re not all dreaming of packing up for Sun City, once seen as the epitome of retirement, most want to work less and attend to priorities more.

Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life, believes that boomers’ can turn the tide of the diminishing talent pool.

By engaging with their community, whether globally or locally, a win/win occurs. The marketplace benefits from retaining employees from a generation with experience the likes of which our country has never seen.

Boomers at the same time, reap the satisfaction that comes with making money, meaning and a social impact.

Boomers need to consider how they can reinvent themselves to reflect what they need and want from the 10+ years they are projected to remain in the marketplace.

Employers in the non-profit, public service and for profit sectors would be wise to consider what they might offer older employees that aligns with their increasing desire for meaning and emphasis on life priorities.

Stemming a crisis calls for creative thinking and new perspectives—both of which can generate unexpected and effective solutions.

The key is being willing to see your situation from varying perspectives and determining how everyone’s needs might be addressed in the outcome.

I’m home with my feet up after standing non-stop at the MaineJobs.com job fair. Amy and I at Heart At Work were pleased to provide a community service by offering resume consultations and a seminar on the topic of this blog.

Even though I can’t capture the interesting Q&A’s from the seminar participants, I can pass on the tips I outlined during the sessions.

While it’s true that there are many applicants for any one position in this job market, it is also true that many applicants do not present themselves well. YOU can have the edge on any competition by taking the following tips seriously:

How To Stand Out In A Tough Job Market

Create impressive and impeccable documents (cover letter and resume or professional portfolio) that capture your skills, experience and education. (good resource: www.rileyguide.com

Be able to clearly and concisely state the skills in which you are competent and which you enjoy. Always be ready with a results-oriented example of when you used each skill.

Be mindful of your assumptions about what’s possible. Keep in mind what you want, not what you fear might happen.

Stay current with best practices as well as who is doing interesting work in related fields. Be prepared to communicate your knowledge of trends in interviews.

Consistently attend to your needs. Take time to replenish your resources so you’ll be in good shape to go for the next best opportunity!

Some career counselors advise job seekers who are unemployed to consider their job search a full time job. But, I’m not among them.

Being unemployed provides an opportunity to regroup in finding a new job, but it can also allow for a needed balance to your life.

If you are like most people, you spend a significant amount of time, attention and energy on work-related matters to the neglect of other important areas of your life.

A life out of balance can weigh heavily and create stress and anxiety for anyone. It’s difficult to shift a cycle of imbalance while external demands remain the same or are increasing. That’s why a planned, or unplanned break from work can be useful in making a “correction” in how you live your life and act on your priorities.

Here are some tips on how to stay focused on your job transition and shift the balance in your life:

• Get clear about what is important in your life. Make a short list of actions you can take in the next week to create a better balance between your priorities and your actions.
• In regards to your job search…First, identify what you bring to the marketplace in terms of skills, experience and education/training that relate to what you desire.
• Establish a set of criteria for what you’d like in your next position. Don’t assume you cannot have or find a job that meets your desires. You can always compromise later on in the process.
• Begin to investigate possibilities through informational interviews. You do not need to target a job title. Check out a range of options that might meet your criteria.
• Make sure that your supporting documents (resume, cover letter template, list of references, writing samples, if appropriate) are up to date, error-free and have been proofed by someone other than you.
• Create a “contact card” that has your name, phone and email address, so you can give it out at networking functions.
• Set weekly goals for what you want to accomplish in your job search. That way, you can feel you’re getting somewhere, even when there is no offer in sight.
• Spend a minimum amount of time researching on line job postings. Research consistently shows that networking and putting the word out to friends, colleagues and family is the most effective way to learn about jobs.
• Connect with professional association members for the positions in which you’re interested. Attend meetings as a guest if you are not a member.
• Make time for activities that help you manage the stress that comes with any job search. Ask for help and support when you feel down, stuck or discouraged.

In the April 19 edition of the Portland Sunday Telegram, Ann Kim wrote a useful  “http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=251531&ac=PHbiz” article about social networking and how it’s being used by today’s job seekers.

She interviewed me wanting to know if my clients utilized Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn as part of their job search strategy.

Perhaps it’s because the majority of my clients are over 45, who are not the largest users of social networking, but I had to honestly say “not many”. While I believe that it’s not a bad idea to have a profile on LinkedIn, I can’t say that I’ve heard any impressive employment results from having a LinkedIn page. In my opinion, Facebook is a social site and not the best place to be seeking employment information.

Nonetheless, these days, I recommend that people do whatever they can to increase their visibility in the marketplace. Certainly, social networking sites provide a broad venue for that to happen. It could be effective to join a (LinkedIn) group that’s associated with your job target. That way, you can post a question about networking or employment, as well as participate in discussions on relevant topics in your area of the marketplace. You never know when a particular topic might come up in a job interview and staying current is key.

If you’ve been in the job market in the past few years, you’re aware that some of the standard ways to find a job have shifted dramatically as online searches surpassed classified ads in popularity and use. While this blog is actually about another type of job search strategy, I do have a couple of favorite job search sites I’d like to pass on: www.idealist.org and www.indeed.com are easy to use, allow you to sign up for specific job alerts, and are typically current and accurate in their listings.

In spite of changes in popularity between online and print job postings, one search strategy has retained its place as the most effective way to find and land a job: networking through informational interviews. Here’s an example of how it works:

Recently I met with a client who had taken a few months off after resigning from a job she’d held for several years. After much soul searching, Joan decided on a new area where she hoped she could transfer her skills.

While Joan was hopeful that a new venue for her skills was possible, she needed a reality check to increase her confidence about the potential match. After revising her resume to reflect her new focus, she was ready to explore options in the marketplace.

I recommended informational interviews as a great way to move forward with her need to test out her new job target, have her résumé noticed and hear about the latest job news.

Informational interviews are meetings with individuals whose jobs are of interest, or who might have relevant contacts or suggestions. After brainstorming a potential contact list and discussing the purpose of the meetings and questions she’d ask, Joan was set to go.

A few weeks later, she returned with good news. Not only had people been willing to meet with her, they offered enthusiastic support ranging from names of people with whom she should meet, to information about two actual job vacancies.

Joan was amazed at the positive results of this process and was excited to keep going until she found the right match for her background, skills and interests.