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Job Hunting Tips: Organizing Your AttackLooking for work is an energy-devouring ordeal, often leading to running in circles and not getting anywhere. A systematic approach can help you focus on your goal, avoid wasting the energy you need to conserve for interviews and employer contacts, and lower your stress level. Some resources you might find helpful include: 1. Newspaper classified. Pro: you know that an opening does exist or a company wouldn't spend money to advertise. Con: there may be thousands of applicants for one position. Value depends upon the kind of work you are looking for and the uniqueness of your skills and experience. Certainly worth a weekend check but cannot be exclusively relied upon unless you have your heart set on a telemarketing position. 2. Registering with agencies. Pro: they only make money when you obtain work so they are motivated to get you employment. Con: they need you to take a job, any job, so they can earn their fees and they work to keep their real clients, employers, happy so often screen you out of the really good jobs if they have any doubt about how well you will fit. 3. Internet resources. There are some good resources -Monster.com and Careerbuilder and the job finder section of most major home pages. Beware of wasting time on groups. While some (a very few) are well-managed and inappropriate postings screened out, others (many) are choked with pornographic messages. 4. Job hotlines. These are useful for a weekly check-in but they are primarily available with large employers and jobs are more likely to be found with small and medium-sized employers. The same caveat holds true for job fairs. 5. Cold-calling. If your skills lie within a particular industry where employers typically cluster together -industrial parks, medical centers, retail - walking into offices cold, with a smile, a resume, and a confident air, can sometimes identify an open position long before any search for applicants begins. 6. Personal contacts. Listed last but of prime importance. By networking -- contacting everyone you know to obtain help, and following up on their contacts -- you may be able to marshal several hundred job hunting aides which increases your chances enormously. 7. Prioritize your activities. Assess each method for what looks most promising, try them for a short period, and determine where you, personally, feel comfortable. Spend the major part of your job search time there to avoid squandering your energy on fruitless pursuits. Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a respected Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers' Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and emotionally supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://www.virginiabola.com |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES Creating a Winning Resume Preparing your resume can often seem like a daunting task. You've done your research, but there is so much information, and how do you pick from the countless formats?! Networking Masterclass - Part 2 Practicing Altruism Practicing Altruism The 'Golden Rule' occurred in the Greek and Chinese cultures thousands of years before the Christian era: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  The spirit of the Golden Rule is one of generosity and altruism and is at the heart of any personal networking and 'right' living. Ralph Waldo Emerson said 'To have a friend, you have to be one', and his words are as true today as they ever were.  You can test this out yourself by completing the following simple exercise: List ten people you know best: People You Know Best: H/N S/U1.   2.   3.   4.   5.   6.   7.   8.   9.   10.    After each name, write an 'H' if the person is happy, or an 'N' if the person is not happy. Then write an 'S' if the person is selfish or a 'U' for unselfish. Rimland in Psychological Reports (51); Brain/Mind Bulletin 1983 defines 'selfish' as "A stable tendency to devote one's time and resources to one's own interests and welfare - an unwillingness to inconvenience oneself for others."  In his experimental study the 2000 individuals who completed this exercise reported very few individuals who were both happy and selfish. The findings represent an interesting paradox. Selfish people are, by definition, those whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness. Yet at least as judged by others, these selfish people are far less likely to be happy than those whose efforts are devoted to making others happy. So the Golden Rule in networking, as in life is if you think about the other person rather than yourself, not only is that going to increase your empathy/rapport skills but it will make you a much more attractive person to know and be a magnet for personal happiness. Surviving Office Politics It's your first month in a new position and it's rougher going than you'd anticipated. You feel like an outsider and you're miserable. An RX For Your Résumé Whether you are an accountant, virtual assistant, or a corporate executive, your job skills are constantly refined. A new sales presentation you've organized or the new spreadsheet package you've mastered should be included on your résumé. You may have new skills that could turn your dead-end job into a new career in another field. If you update your résumé continually, it makes it easier to send it out at a moments notice. Your résumé should be well written, typeset and laser printed. It should also be suited for your targeted employer and field, focusing on your key experience. It should be free of all grammatical errors and appealing to the eye. The Top 10 Mistakes Job Seekers Should Avoid In Contacting An Employer There are numerous tools and resources available to guide job seekers through the steps of a career transition. These tools are very useful and suggest much that you should do. At the same time, some individuals benefit equally by learning what to avoid. If you count yourself in this latter group here is a laundry list of things that "turn off" an employer. Make sure you steer clear of the following: Working From Home - Could You Cope? It is a well-known fact that more and more people are choosing to work from home rather than face the daily agony that is otherwise known as commuting. There are many companies that are even encouraging this practise amongst their permanent staff as a viable alternative to travelling to work. Blogging for Candidates 101: Nuts and Bolts A "blog" is simply an internet (web) log. Blogs are created for personal or professional use. They may promote a product or service, or merely serve as a personal online journal. There are currently just over four million blogs today, with a new blog born every seven seconds. Free Resume Examples: Untold Wealth In 10 Minutes! Doesn't every job search start with Google? Stop Whining and Ask For What You Want! When you want something, the best way to get it is to make your request in a straightforward and positive way. You should not expect your boss or co-workers to read your mind and know what your expectations and desires are. Nor should you brood about the fact that someone else has not recognized what you think is obvious to everyone. Online Resume Tips and Secrets I manage a website for corporate flight attendants that features resumes prominently listed on the first page of the site. Unlike some careers, corporate flight attendants must promote themselves overtly in order to find work especially if they are contractors. Since adding this feature two years ago, I have learned that an online copy must be arranged differently than that of a hard copy primarily for security reasons. Let's review some of the 'best practices' you need to accomplish in order to successfully and safely promote yourself online. Dont Get Caught In The Security Trap The day you begin to think of your job in terms of the security versus the opportunities it provides is the day you start to put the brakes on building your career. Giving Notice: 6 Things to Do To Prepare to Leave After days, weeks, months or longer of interviewing, you have received a job offer that meets your needs and have decided to give notice to your employer and resign your current job. How To Effectively Present All Of Your IT Skills Effectively present all of your IT skills with the IT Technical Skills Summary - an exceptionally powerful document that should form part of every resume submitted. Successful Job Seeking ? The Importance of Your Cover Letter As an employer I receive many job applications each week. Some cover letters are so well written that I am compelled to review the attached resume even if our company is not currently hiring. I don't want to miss an opportunity to contact an outstanding individual. Other cover letters are sufficiently interesting that I will file them away and review them later in the week, while others simply beg to be deleted immediately. Love What You Do! "To love what you do and feel that it matters, how on earth could anything be more fun?" --Katherine Graham Career Change - Emotional Intelligence for Knowledge Workers? Nowadays we can expect to survive the second half of our lives and as our work is knowledge-based - we knowledge workers are not finished after 30 years on the job - Are we merely bored? Work Is A Four-Letter Word I can hear the jokes already and most of them are not politically correct. Let me throw out a word that we often don't attach to work and yet I think it is a word of redemption, of contribution, of achievement, of community, and ultimately, of legacy. Tips on How to Write High Impact Letters of Recommendation Congratulations. You've been asked to write a letter ofrecommendation for an employee or colleague. This person valuesyour opinion of him or her, and you'd be glad to help themadvance. The problem is you're unsure of what to say or how tosay it! Here are four tips to keep in mind when preparing yourrecommendation. What Me? Lie On My Resume? Who Will Know? The temptation to lie on a resume is great! How can it hurt if I stretchthe truth a bit? Employers see lots of resumes. How are they going toknow who lies and who doesn't? Resumes That Work: 3 Steps to More and Better Interviews All of us involved with helping you get a new job, whether as third party recruiters or as representatives of a company, are evaluating you for employment are all receiving hundreds of emailed resumes a day. Having done professional search work for more than thirty years, I have seen both resumes change and how they are delivered change. The change in delivery means that how you think of your resume being seen needs to change too. |
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