Archive for 'Career Hunting'
Getting That Plum Job: Polish Your Resume and Cover Letter
November 7th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Keep a master resume on hand at all times. It lists your name and contact information at the top, then other information under the headings of Career Objective, Education and Training, Work History, and Career Highlights. Some job seekers also include References. Later when you tailor the master resume for a particular employer, you will keep only the most relevant data for the position you seek.
The career objective is always a single statement related to the job you are applying for. A hopeful sports reporter, for example, might write, “My aim is to develop must-read sports stories that will appeal to avid and casual fans alike.” The completed resume, clean and simple in appearance, should be no more than two pages long. It should appear in easy-to-read type such as 12-point Arial or Times Roman.
The cover letter is more important than the resume. After listing your name and contact information at the top, begin the body of the letter by naming the position you seek and telling how you learned of it. Then explain why you think you are a good candidate. Tell what excites you about working for the company or organization, and finish with a thank you for the employer’s time and consideration. Edit your letter until everything fits easily into one page, and it’s ready to go.
Getting That Plum Job: Know Where to Look
November 5th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
The internet is a good place to start your job hunt, but those big websites for employment seekers are not always the best places to begin-sites like www.monster.com, www.indeed.com, and www.careerbuilder.com. Go to them only after you have tried a few of these suggestions:
–Visit the website of any newspaper in the city or county where you would like to work. Most papers publish their classified ads online.
– Browse through the yellow pages of a phonebook to find names of potential employers, and then visit their websites for up-to-date job postings. If you don’t have a printed phone book, go to www.yellowpages.com .
–Visit the website of the college you graduated from. Many large colleges list employment opportunities for their alumni. Even if you have to register at the site to use the school’s career services, doing so will be well worth your time.
–Do you or have you belonged to any professional organizations? Visit their websites even if you are no longer active in them. Former English teachers, for example, have found jobs as test scorers through the National Council of Teachers of English.
–Are you a veteran? Visit www.hirevetsfirst.gov to locate employers who give special consideration to applicants with military experience.
Getting That Plum Job: Begin with a Plan
November 3rd, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Job hunting? Whether doing it again or for the first time ever, taking the right approach can help you avoid unnecessary stress.
Notice the word unnecessary. When you are searching for a new job, you are a kind of performer, and even the most experienced performers get stage fright. Yet they value their fear, saying that it helps them keep their artistic edge. Think of your stress as a store of energy that will propel you forward if properly channeled.
Begin with a realistic plan. Decide how many hours you can devote to job hunting each week. Some say it’s a full-time job to find a full-time job, so 30-40 hours would not be too many. If you don’t have that kind of time because of other responsibilities, calculate how much free time you have, and plan to use 90% of it on “the hunt.” Then make sure you spend the other 10% doing something relaxing!
Record on a calendar the number of hours spent each day on your search. Consider this calendar your personal time clock. Punch in and out faithfully. In addition, keep a work-search diary. Here, list each potential employer you have contacted, whether by phone, postal mail, e-mail, or in person, plus the date you made the contact.
Preparing for Opportunities
October 31st, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Layoffs and firings rarely come as surprises. If there are warning signs that you will soon be out of a job, follow the Boy Scout motto and be prepared:
- Decide if your career is something you really want. Do you find your work fulfilling or are you just another paper pusher? It might be time for a career change.
- Understand your transferrable skills. Are you good with people? Do you have strong communication skills? Make a list, so you know your strengths and weaknesses.
- Dust off your resume. You will have to decide whether to include your most recent job in your work history. If you can prove to a future employer that you have learned from your actions, you can avoid leaving a sizable gap in your job history.
- Reconsider your references. In the case of a layoff or firing, your most recent employer may not be someone you want to talk to a future interviewer. Make contact with previous references to reinforce the strength of your relationships
- Start networking. Make it known that you may need a job. Take the initiative to meet new people and create opportunities for yourself.
By being prepared for the worst scenarios, you can shorten the time you spend between jobs.
Tactful Interviewing
October 29th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
If you were fired, don’t let this event mar your search for new opportunities. At your next interview, you will be asked why you left your previous job. Be honest. If you try to sugar-coat your experience, your potential employers will pick up on your lies. Instead, be prepared to tell your interviewer what you have learned from the experience.
If you had problems with your coworkers, emphasize the idea that the group could not work together any more. Talk about how your approach to group work has changed. If you were slacking off in your old job because the work was not challenging enough, tell the interviewer how you plan to be more proactive in asking for assignments. You must understand how to fix the problems of your past.
The key to this situation is to become a better person as a result of your last job. A firing is a sign that you need to change some aspect of your behavior. Once you have made the necessary corrections, you will be able to convince another company to give you a change to prove yourself. Mistakes can make us into better people and better employees if we are willing to learn from them.
Fired? Don’t Despair.
October 27th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Toby Young is not a household name, at least not yet, but his story can serve as an inspiration for the rest of us. Young landed his dream job early in his career, working at a major American magazine, but after only about six months his editors showed him the door. After repeated incidents of unprofessional behavior, including sending a stripper-gram to one of his coworkers on Bring-Your-Daughter-to-Work day, Young lost it all.
While many would think that this guy missed his greatest opportunity, he instead started thinking about what he could gain from the incident. His experiences as a magazine writer bloomed into the international bestseller How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which was later adapted into a movie.
When you’re down on your luck, take the time to reflect on your work history. While you may not want to write a book, you may have learned about work environments you need to avoid. Your temperament may be best suited to an entrepreneurial or freelance setting. Alternatively, you may find that you were let go because you weren’t using your skills to their greatest potential. Although shrouded in failure and disappointment, a firing can serve as a call to self-discovery.
Knowing If Your Job is Not Right for You
October 20th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Picture this: You’ve been called into your boss’ office for what seems like the thousandth time. Your work isn’t up to the standard. You can’t get the procedure for filing reports down. Even though you try, your spirit is not in your efforts. The chasm created by your failures seems so steep that you can’t climb out. This scenario reflects many indications that you are not using your strengths in the right area.
In the movie Stranger than Fiction, the character Ana tells the story of how she became a baker. While attending Harvard Law School, she started going to study sessions that lasted all night long, but her grade point average didn’t improve. Ana began baking cookies to share with her study buddies, and she loved it. She failed law school but found her true passion in the kitchen.
If we are not in the right environment, we will never succeed. Failure in this case is an indicator that you are not following the correct career path. If you have exhausted all your options for improving your situation, it is time to change paths. Listen to what your experiences tell you and see the signs that you need to explore another field of employment.
Why Did You Really Take this Job?
August 8th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting, Uncategorized. No Comments.
Financial Pressure
The average amount of debt per household in the United States is $14,500 (not including mortgages) according to Bankrate.com. Many Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, so it seems impossible to quit an unfulfilling career. If you are one of these people, you must plan your career moves carefully.
- Begin sending out resumes to your new field of choice immediately. If you are lucky, you will line up a new job which uses your strengths more fully. Remember, if you change career fields, you may take a pay cut.
- Analyze your spending. Many people have small habits which add up to great costs, like your morning cup of coffee or that burger for lunch. By cutting out these habits, you will have more money left at the end of the month and will soon be in a more secure financial position.
- Find a part-time job in addition to your full-time job. While this may not be feasible for everyone, it will increase your income and your financial stability. You might also find a part-time job in your new career field which will give you valuable experience and better chances at the premium jobs when you are ready to switch careers.
By reducing your financial burdens, you will have more freedom to find a job you love. And as the old saying goes, if you do what you love, the money will follow.
Why Did You Really Take this Job?
August 6th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Family Pressure
All too often we take a job because we feel we have no other options. Meeting others’ expectations and paying the bills, however, do not necessarily lead to a fulfilling job.
I know a woman who chose her children’s careers for them. Her two girls were supposed to be a school teachers and her son was supposed to join the military. Not wanting to upset the status quo, they followed their mother’s desires and took the jobs they were supposed to. All three were extremely unhappy, two of their marriages failed, and they all quit their jobs to begin arduous career changes.
Family pressure has a heavy influence on many careers. Often you are expected to follow your parents’ footsteps, becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher or a mechanic. However, the only person who has a complete understanding of your strong points, desires and dreams is you. When it comes to choosing a career, you have to block out the voices from others, determine what you value, and recognize your strengths. By being your own guide, you will be on your way to a more successful and fulfilling career.
Doing a Background Check on Your Next Job
August 4th, 2008. Published under Career Hunting. No Comments.
Often when you are looking through job listings, you come across companies you’ve never heard of advertising for positions that sound like they are made up. This makes it difficult to decide if you want to apply for that job, let alone make it a career. In order to get more information about fields which pique your interest, you should schedule an “informational interview.”
An informational interview, a term coined by Richard Nelson Bolles, author of “What Color is Your Parachute,” allows you to ask questions of a professional in your potential field. After choosing a career, come up with questions which you believe will better prepare you for the job hunt. The next step is to select someone to talk to, which may be intimidating, but it will gain you valuable contacts. Nearly one out of 12 informational interviews results in a job offer because of the networking which occurs.
The golden rule of informational interviewing is to never ask for a job. Employers will feel that you are taking advantage of their good will if you immediately ask them about openings in their company. You must let the interviewee take the lead, and if they want to offer you a job, it is their call. At this stage, your immediate goal is to learn if this career will suit your personality, talents and values.