Category Archives: Job Search Tips

Dispelling 3 Job Search Myths That Are Paralyzing New College Grads

Congratulations on your recent graduation from college! As you prepare to launch your professional career, you might feel overwhelmed and unsure how to start your job search. You may have heard that no one is hiring, or that you need to apply to hundreds of jobs to win one interview. Don’t let fear or outdated career advice derail your job search efforts. Here’s the scoop on the top 3 job search concerns that I hear most often:

MYTH #1: No one is hiring.

TRUTH:
Despite the doom and gloom reported by the media, there is actually a good deal of hiring going on today, in nearly every sector. Continue reading →

Defeated, Disillusioned and Desperate to Escape

Jared called me on a Monday morning as he sat in his car in the parking lot, not wanting to go into the office. Over the last few years, his workload had tripled, new ineffective procedures had been instituted and he was getting no support from his boss. He was miserable and the stress was effecting his health.

Although he knew the unemployment rate was pretty high and the job market was tight, he could not take it any longer. He needed to escape and reached out to me for help with his resume. I knew his story well. I had been there and had felt the same spirit-crushing pressure to perform in corporate America. I assured Jared that I could help him, but explained that there was a lot of work we needed to do together before we got to the resume writing stage. I promised him that he was not in this alone. I would be there to guide him through the process to make it less overwhelming and more successful. I was confident that I could help him find a job that was fulfilling, where he was respected and compensated properly. Continue reading →

Your Online Activity Can Either Help or Hurt Your Job Search

Welcome to Part 2 of my summer 2015 blog series on what it takes to conduct a successful job search in today’s competitive job market. In my last post, I shared tips on writing a strong resume. Today’s segment: the importance of using social media in your job search.

Your online activity can either help or hurt your job search. It is not simply a matter of using social media; you have to use it the right way to find a job and impress employers. Employers use social media in their recruitment process two ways: Continue reading →

Frustrated by Online Job Applications?

I hear from job seekers all the time about how time consuming the online job application process is and how aggravating it can be to submit dozens of online job applications and never hear back. You wonder if your resume even made it through the Applicant Tracking System.

Because of the highly competitive job market, you need to sell yourself stronger than ever before to stand out from the other candidates. It is crucial that you answer every single question as well as possible, making sure your grammar and punctuation are perfect. This is difficult because the input fields you type into are so small that it can be hard to see what you are typing, and many of these online application systems do not even have a spell check feature. One typo and you are out of the running.

Many jobseekers skip over the salary question, because they do not want to be eliminated with a figure that is outside of the salary range – but you can’t do this. Make sure you answer every question, as many companies use incomplete applications as a way to weed out candidates. Continue reading →

Are These Mistakes Preventing You From Landing a Job?

I recently met with a group of job seekers, many who had been out of work for quite some time. We discussed their current job search strategies and it quickly became apparent to me why they were having trouble landing interviews.

1. Their resumes were not selling them as the ideal candidate or contained elements that are not compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems.

2. They were spending hours upon hours every day in front of their computers searching for open positions on the large paid-for-post job boards, and quickly applying to as many jobs as they could find. One person told me that he had applied to more than 600 postings in the last few months!

3. They were either not a member of LinkedIn, or they were not using its full capabilities to accelerate their job search.

Fortunately, all these things are easily correctable!

Continue reading →

Experience the Power of Networking

Networking is a skill we all need to master. Whether you are employed and looking to advance your career or trying to get back into the workforce, networking is key to career success. A strategy combining face-to-face and online networking has been cited as the most effective way to find a new job. In this competitive job market, you need to differentiate yourself from your competition to be noticed by hiring managers.

Networking can also help you navigate the “hidden” job market. Many companies are not advertising their open positions externally because they do not want to be flooded with thousands of resumes. Instead, they post the jobs internally and ask for employee referrals, or they conduct their own search for candidates on LinkedIn.

The goal of networking is to build relationships and gain exposure. To set yourself up to succeed, go into the event with the intention of getting to know a few interesting people. If your goal is to come out with a definite job lead, you may come on too strong, and will probably be disappointed with the results.

Here are a few tips to make your networking efforts more productive: Continue reading →

Volunteer Work Can Counteract Discrimination Against Long-Term Unemployment

Research by the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of Chicago indicates that applicants who had been out of work for 8 months had 45% fewer callbacks from employers. A study from MIT found that someone unemployed for 1 month would typically win 1 interview for every 10 job applications, while someone out of work for 7 months has to send 35 resumes to get just 1 interview. Not only is this wrong – it can be very demoralizing for those who have been in an extended job search. Continue reading →

Don’t Abandon Your Job Search During the Holidays!

If you are in the process of searching for your next job, keep your momentum going during the holidays. A few advantages of a holiday-season job search?

– More access to hiring managers – As many gatekeepers are on vacation, your odds of reaching the decision makers increase. Many executives actually answer their own phones when their assistants are out of the office. Continue reading →

What Is Your Resume Saying About You?

Your resume says a lot more to a prospective employer than just conveying your work history, skills and qualifications. Because they do not know you, hiring managers and recruiters judge you completely by your resume. If it is not winning you interviews, your resume might be sabotaging your job search efforts. Continue reading →

Psychological Profile Tied to Career Happiness?

Designed for hiring managers and human resource professionals, Software Advice’s New Talent Times blog shares strategies for building and managing today’s workforce. Knowledge is power. The same information that guides companies’ hiring decisions can help jobseekers sell themselves to hiring managers and target their ideal roles.

The Psychological Profiles of the Dream Team series analyzes 4 types of top performers: The Giver, the Champ, the Savant and the Matrix Thinker. They explain how these individuals tend to function in the workplace, the roles in which they excel and ones for which they are least suited.

Being in the right role is important to your overall career success. In the wrong role, an individual is typically not performing optimally which can result in a low level of satisfaction for both the worker and the manager. We all deserve to be happy in our career. Finding the best role for you is the first step.

According to these guidelines, where do you fall? Continue reading →

Overcoming Age Discrimination in the Job Search – Part I

As a career coach, I work with fresh college graduates looking to launch their professional career as well as baby boomers looking for a satisfying second career. While they have different obstacles – they have the same goal: they need to make their resumes “age-neutral” and convince the hiring manager that they are the ideal candidate for the job. Jobseekers with little experience need to sell themselves on their potential while more mature workers need to show they still have a lot to offer an employer. There are effective strategies for each to overcome age discrimination in the job search. This week I’ll offer a few tips for the new graduates, next week I will address the boomers.

New college graduates and other Millennials need to show prospective employers that they have transitioned from “college kid” to “young professional”. Continue reading →

The Millennials Are Right!

Boomers can learn a lot from Millennials. As a generation, many of us Baby Boomers have never managed our careers with intention. Rather than identifying careers that aligned with our passions, many of us moved from job to job as the opportunities presented themselves. Now, in our 50’s and 60’s, we are looking for careers that provide us with the opportunity to do meaningful work. Whether precipitated by a layoff, stress-induced health issues or dwindling prospects in our field, many of us are considering job satisfaction for the first time. What do we really want to do next?

Continue reading →

Have You Ever Considered a Video Resume?

More companies today are relying on video resumes and video interviews during the hiring process to reduce their travel budgets. They are especially popular in high-visibility executive roles, sales and training positions where the employer is hiring you for your personality as well as your skill set. Jobseekers seem to be slowly adopting this new job search tool as a means to differentiate themselves from the competition. “18% of job seekers have reported participating in video interviews in the past year – more than double the rate of a year ago” according to a recent Right Management survey. Are you prepared to sell yourself on video? Here are a few tips.

Your video resume should be no more than 2-3 minutes in length.
Wear attire suitable for a face-to-face interview.
Make sure you have proper lighting, a non-distracting background, and have eliminated all sources of ambient noise. Continue reading →