Guest Post by Richard Evans – The U.S. job market sucks. No matter that the unemployment rate has improved two months in a row or that consumer confidence is on the rise. Finding a job in this environment is no easy task; I know, I recently spent 3 months living through it. A month ago, I landed a job. In order to keep it, I’m not going to go into specifics, but let’s just say it’s not a great job, it’s not my life’s passion, but they pay me every other week and my co-workers are decent people. So, I’m not complaining, in fact, I’m thanking my lucky stars.
After fumbling around for a month or so when I initially lost my job, I finally got serious, got over my pity party and started actively looking for work. Following are some of the most useful tips I found during my three-month job search.
You’ve been blanketing the internet with job applications, joining LinkedIn groups, networking with recruiters and hiring managers but reality keeps slapping you in the face.
But since you are a tenacious and perserverant chap, you keep trying: you join groups on LinkedIn, you keep applying to job boards, you beef up your networking efforts and you may make a stop here every now and then to ckeck if there’s something useful you can take out to enhance your chances of changing you boring job or retiring from unemployment.
And still, Slap!
You come to realize that something is not right: you, you are just not a good candidate as you believed so you commit suicide by shooting yourself in your ego.
Sounds familiar? It’s part of a -pretty much- universal cycle. Successive failures always end up on a negative feedback loop that damages your morale and perception of self.
If you are struggling with these feelings, know one thing: you are not the problem. Your hunting strategy is.
What you need to do first, is understand how recruiters work and what they live by: “know thy enemy”.
“Uh – what did I do my research on again?”
The first time I heard those words, I felt my heart drop to my knees. I was interviewing a young lady who had just graduated from college, and who wanted to work as a research associate at our company. We needed someone who loved to do research, or who was at least open to learning more about doing good social sciences research.
So I asked my interviewees pretty much the same thing: Describe your undergraduate thesis and what research you did.
Many of the applicants were fresh graduates: some were visibly frazzled by the idea of a job interview, others were obviously trembling when they answered questions, while still others were avoiding eye contact.
This young lady that I interviewed, however, seemed to encapsulate what I’ve found is a crutch for many first-time interviewees and fresh graduates: the inability to remember what they did, and therefore the lack of confidence in their work.
Have you ever had a brilliant idea flash into your head, the kind that made you think, “Hmm… a perfect idea for a start-up!” You probably have … but did you drop everything and run with it?
Jessica Scorpio and Elliot Kroo, co-founders of GetAround, did.
In a move straight outta the comedic TV series Portlandia, Eric Loebel rode his bike to work almost every day, leaving his car languishing in the driveway. One day, he got sick of looking at it sitting there and thought: Why not put that car to use – and make a bit o’ cash — by renting it out?
So Loebel joined one of the country’s first peer-to-peer car-sharing companies, GetAround. This start-up uses P2P to get wheels out of the driveway and onto the road. Users simply add their car to a list of local vehicles and set their own hourly or weekly rates. GetAround has been so successful that Business Insider named it one of the 20 Best New Startups of 2011.
But not all start-ups are this successful. Often, it’s those oversights – like making sure you have short term health insurance, having an insufficient business plan or hiring too many managers – that trip-up start-ups, even when they’re based on fantastic ideas.
Feeling nervous before a job interview is normal. However, if you allow your nerves to overwhelm you, you may not do as well in the interview as you would like. Fortunately, you can use some helpful techniques to pump yourself up before your interview and keep your nerves under control.
Guest post by Abigail Everett - I am proactive. If I see something that needs to be done, I do it. If the sink in the break room has some dirty dishes, I’ll wash them. If the printer area is out of of paper, I’ll pick up a few extra reams when I go get the one I need. If I notice the paper supply is almost gone, I’ll leave a pleasant note on the desk of the person who orders the paper.
While some people appreciate the help, others hate any sign of individuality. Even these small acts can really irritate some people. It turns out, Sam was supposed to do the dishes, and he never does his share. Everyone wanted to see the boss get angry with him. It is Mary’s job to take care of the paper. Assistant managers are not supposed to do clerical tasks. Elliott orders the supplies and doesn’t like it when people suggest he is not doing his job.
All I wanted to do was help. Forget it. There are some companies that would prefer to see bad things happen rather than have someone step out of place and do a job that wasn’t assigned. It doesn’t make sense, but it is often true.
Guest post by Barry Magennis - Yes, it’s that time again: our latest article/blog that focuses on way of boosting your graduate employability. As you’ll almost certainly already be aware in the event that you have been reading our other articles/blogs – or for that matter, reading the wealth of other graduate jobs advice that you can find in all manner of sources – there are many ways of finding that dream job after university.
Nonetheless, it’s also true that there’s no shortage of competition, not least given the present uncertain economic climate. It’s why the following two tips may be of considerable value to you…
Guest post by Carol Wilson - Never underestimate your first impression especially; it is one of the most critical and vital aspects of your job search. Make your first impression the best one and target the employer’s attention consequently. Use a whole number of tactics and strategies to accomplish your objective and thereby, manage the best possible result by inserting the required phrases and expressions.
Importance of writing a good cover letter:
Plan and engineer the necessary details and expressions to grab the reader’s mind at the very beginning and develop his interest in the subsequent details. Thus, by providing the most eye-catching and attracting features of your profile tactfully would serve your purpose well. A good sample resume cover letter sees that your expectations from a letter are met and ascertains that such customization leads to the desired results.
The time you have to make your case during an interview is somewhat limited: 25 to 60 minutes.
The time it takes a recruiter or hiring manager to assess your viability for a job is shorter: around 10 minutes.
The time it takes for you to make a good impression and start on the right foot is even shorter: 10 seconds.
Still, many interviewers fail to recognize this and waste their 50 or so minutes asking questions that shed no light on the potential performance of a candidate.
When you feel that a job interview is not allowing you to explore and demonstrate your skills and potential because of the interviewer’s style or the protocol used to do the assessment, you need to take action or risk being sidelined.
Guest Post by Stewart Bradley – It hasn’t been much time since I have finally managed to hike up my credit score by a considerable amount since it had taken a deep plunge a few years back. The main reasons behind the degradation of my credit score were multiple late ...
Guest post by Jonathan Seiter – I recently purchased a Blu-ray player. What I thought should have been a fairly simple decision turned out to be much more difficult. All I wanted was an affordable Blu-ray player that preferably could stream Netflix.
So what made the decision so difficult? All of the Blu-ray players were the same. They were roughly priced the same. I got on Amazon to see if one had better reviews, but none stood out in my price range. None of the players had a feature that was compelling enough for me to pick it over the next player. I finally got tired and picked the next player I looked at.
Unfortunately the same thing can happen when an employer looks for an employee. So what can you do to avoid this trap? Stand out! I’ve listed 3 ways you can positively differentiate yourself from all of the other job candidates you are competing against.
Genoveva Grillo is an Organizational Development, Learning and Talent Management Consultant. She is also a trainer who develops and facilitates training activities linked to the development of interpersonal and organizational skills.
She holds a BS in Work Relations from the University of Buenos Aires (AR) and has a Masters Degree in Organizational Studies from the University of San Andrés (AR).
In the past, Genoveva has been an In-Company Education Manager at the Corporate Education Center at the University of San Andrés, in charge of design and implementation of business executive training programs (management, strategy, marketing, HR and leadership among others).
Previously she performed in different functions within the HR field at Movicom Bellsouth and Movistar.
Genoveva is also an Adjunct Teacher at San Andrés University. She teaches HR Management and Organizational Behavior (Masters class). She has also taught the class Theory and Organizational Behavior for the Labor Relationships class at the University of Buenos Aires.
Her MS thesis boarded the problem of Talent Management in high uncertainty environments, which was selected for presentation at the Latin American Council of Administration Schools (CLADEA).
Guest post by Nadia Jones - Interviews are 90% confidence and 10% experience. Many applicants are under the mostly false impression that it is their knowledge and skills that are being tested in an interview and spend hours trying to anticipate questions about their experience and formulate answers that will impress interviewers.
While any amount of preparation is helpful, and though there will be questions about experience, interviews are primarily an opportunity for employers to gauge an applicant’s emotional intelligence (EQ) and personality.
Doing some in-depth research of a company at which you are applying for a position will do a lot more than prove to them that you are eager to work for them. A good understanding of an organisations cultures and values will enable you to pitch your application and demonstrate how well aligned your own beliefs are with their; helping you to prove to them that you are the perfect match.
Stories of personal data and information online and on social networking sites are commonly featured in the media with a usual theme of how it can be damaging for existing employees when their employers find out what they are really like. I used the same techniques to land my first job on a lucrative graduate scheme after graduating from University, by ensuring I knew what the bank valued in an employee I managed to match these values to things that I had experienced in my life. By doing so it enabled me to go into the interview with a good understanding of what they were looking for in my answers.
In this article I will explain how you can use the information available online to your benefit.
Guest post by Logan Baker - We’ve all seen it and some of us have even experienced it. When an employer expects humans to perform like a robot they put them in danger of burnout. It starts out with feeling overwhelmed, then you overwork to try and manage an impossible workload. The stress takes a toll on the body and the worse part is, there’s no end in sight.
Burnout can result in lowered productivity and damaging effects to the personal life and even health. There are a few signs to look for if you suspect it, a few ways to try and prevent it if you’re an employer, and a few ways to try and reverse it if you are suffering from it yourself.
Personally, I’ve suffered burnout in a couple of jobs. It’s not as simple as being overworked. It’s more about feeling helpless against unreasonable expectations or obstacles that you face at work.
Guest post by Barry Magennis - If you have a creative flare and are considering a career change then you could give the Social Media industry a thought. With the development of the social media age many new websites are emerging with thousands of new job vacancies, however there is no need here for the traditional media roles such as journalist. They need for people to fill the roles of Digital Producer, Social Media Coordinator, Site Analyst, plenty of database administrators, customer support agents and marketing and advertising executives.
The social media industry has grown rapidly in the last decade thanks to the success and growth of websites such as Facebook and Twitter. With these companies hiring thousands of people in many different media jobs roles, you’re sure to find one which suits you!
Guest post by Heather Green - Were you one of those idealistic college students who majored in Art History or Political Science? Did you major in Communications because that made theatre a required course? Degrees in the arts and humanities don’t come with set job titles at the end.
For people who pursue these fields, the analytical thinking skills the courses cultivate can prove useful in carving out a career. When trying to pitch yourself to a potential employer with a degree in Gender Studies, you will need to work to sell the soft skills as vital and necessary for the company’s mission.
