“Don't lose your way in job search” plus 2 more |
- Don't lose your way in job search
- In job search, good references are key | Business Agenda
- Job Search Strategy Myths
| Don't lose your way in job search Posted: 28 Feb 2011 01:59 AM PST Q You mentioned a free website that helps people looking for a job to organize the details of their search. I wasn't interested at the time, but as of yesterday, when I lost my job, I became very interested. Can you repeat the name of the website? — J.J. A Jibber Jobber (jibberjobber.com) is the site you seek. Some job hunters record their search experiences on an Excel spreadsheet. New: Jibber Jobber has just launched a mobile version (m.jibberjobber.com) for smart phones and tablets. The mobile version is handy for immediate note-taking after an interview while details are fresh in your mind. When you get to your computer to capture the entire experience for each employment opportunity, record the names and contact information for each organization you apply to; include the names of people who interview you, helpful clerical staffers and the person who referred you. Write down the gist of the interview and any follow-up action you took. Mark your calendar for future follow-ups. Detailed records help you take control of your job search. This is especially true if you're multitasking and juggling details. QWhat do you think of robotics as an emerging industry with good career possibilities? — U.M.H. AI haven't bird-dogged the robotics industry recently, but prominent Minneapolis-based recruiter Raghav Singh thinks its prospects look pretty good. Writing for ERE.net, a recruiting professional website, Singh says: "Robots are going to be popular a whole lot sooner than we may expect. The big reason is caring for an aging population in developed economies. There will not be enough health care workers to help all who, living longer, need care for increasingly extended periods. Increasing immigration is an option, but unlikely, so that leaves robots to fill in. This scenario is already close to reality in Japan." Singh explains that Japanese companies, within a few years, will start marketing robotic home health care aides that can lift a person in and out of bed, and perform tasks around the house. Some of the robots even look human, complete with skin. "The robotic nurse will observe patients, collect data and gauge patients' reactions," he predicts. Singh expects that robotics will "spawn a huge new industry and, by some forecasts, create several hundred thousand new jobs in production, sales, maintenance and support." QJust how much deference must I show to an interviewer? Some of the interviewers I see are not very respectful, like they know we really need jobs. — C.T. ADon't behave like an inferior in a job interview. Participate as an equal, not as a subordinate, of the person conducting the interview. This doesn't mean you shouldn't show respect to the interviewer, especially if the interviewer is a general and you're a buck private. Participating as an equal is a subtle matter of self-perception, affirming that you can do a superior job when hired. Remind yourself of your status before the interview begins. QI'm well aware that jobs are hard to find and that I shouldn't quit my current job until I have another. But this job is making me physically sick. I've got to get out! Advice? — N.Y. AWhen your job dissatisfaction is so high you're becoming physically ill, you may have to choose between incurring a substantial medical bill, risking a stealth job search or resigning to job hunt full time. Your best bet is a stealth search in which you move directly into a new job from your current one. Here's a technology tip to keep your search out of your boss' sight: Watermark your résumé with the word "Confidential," from the top left to the bottom right. The watermark is quite effective and won't obscure your message. Google "Microsoft Word watermarks" for easy technical directions on how to do it — and start looking as soon as your basic résumé is ready to be customized for specific jobs. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| In job search, good references are key | Business Agenda Posted: 28 Feb 2011 07:58 AM PST By Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor | Published Mon, Feb 28 2011 9:31 am Mellora Hall quit her part-time job in Springfield, Mo., last year in search of a better life and a better job in Las Cruces, N.M. What she got instead was nine months of unemployment. She applied for hundreds of jobs. Despite a master of fine arts degree, she got few interviews and zero offers. The rejections got her thinking: Was one of her references saying bad things about her? It's a common worry in a sour labor market. Many of today's job seekers have excellent resumes and present themselves well. But the offers don't come, and they search for reasons why. Finding good references — and making sure that they aren't undermining you — are often overlooked but important steps in a job search. How important? After speaking to applicants' references, companies typically remove an average 1 in 5 applicants from consideration, according to an Office Team survey last summer. The No. 1 area managers wanted to know about? The applicant's past job duties and experience, the survey of more than 1,000 senior managers found. "The reference is one of those things to help a potential employee to really differentiate themselves," says Robert Hosking, executive director of Office Team, a staffing service specializing in highly skilled administrative professionals and based in Menlo Park, Calif. The key to finding and keeping good references is communicating with them throughout the job search. For starters, that means calling each previous employer you plan to use for permission to use their name as a reference. But don't stop there. "Make sure you have had 'the discussion' with them," counsels Hosking. That means asking if they could share with you what they plan to say about you. "It's almost like conducting a postemployment review," he says. The next step is to let them know when a potential employer might be contacting them. "Keep the person in the loop," says Heidi Allison, managing director for Allison & Taylor Inc., a reference-checking company based in Rochester, Mich. "Think about etiquette." When you've landed a job, circle back again with a thank-you note to all your references. It's not only polite, it alerts past employers that you're moving on and up in the working world. That way, the boss you had when you were an intern won't be surprised a few years later when you're applying for a far more senior position, says Allison. Even though she has run her own company for 26 years, she still sends a Christmas card to former bosses — just in case. Bosses aren't the only people to consider for your reference list. Think about other managers or co-workers who can provide insight into how you work on a team or complete a project. If you're a senior manager, is there an administrative assistant who can speak to how you manage others? Hosking also suggests including someone at a club or volunteer group who can reveal a different side of you. Don't forget the human-resources manager. If nothing else, you can go over things such as dates of employment and positions held, details that sometimes can prove crucial. For example: One Allison & Taylor client was accused of lying on his resume because he'd gotten the dates wrong on when he worked at a particular company, Allison says. Another client was knocked out of consideration when human resources at his longtime place of employment said he'd never worked there. "Twenty-some years and they didn't have him in the database," she says. Then there are the occasions when job seekers are victims of a bad reference. Time and again, they have a great interview and then get dropped like a stone. That's typically when many job seekers turn to a reference-checking service to find out what's going on. The service calls up references and asks about the job seeker as any potential employer would, then it sends the job seeker the findings. About half the time, there's a bad reference, Allison says. "You can't believe what they say!" Although in many states employers can be held liable for saying something negative about a former employee that they can't back up, managers are often quite open — and negative — about performance. "One guy gave his mother as a reference, and she had bad things to say," Allison recalls. Sometimes, those comments reflect facts — such as the firing of an employee — that employers could be sued for if they didn't reveal it during a job-reference check. Other times, however, the comments are prompted by rivalries or jealousies that unfairly taint a reputation. During one Allison & Taylor reference check, a former girlfriend still working at the job seeker's old company called him dyslexic. Some 20 times a month, the company comes across really bad references who say the employee was embezzling, stealing, or committing other nefarious deeds. When those charges are untrue, the company typically sends the reference a cease-and-desist order, which usually takes care of the problem, Allison says. Are such services worth it? Allison & Taylor charges $79 for each reference check ($99 for executive-level references). Other firms charge less. "It would probably be a big waste of money if [employees] are confident of the way they left their employer," says Jim Evans, president of JK Evans & Associates, a human-resource consulting firm for employers based in Zanesville, Ohio. "If you left on good terms, you shouldn't have a thing to worry about." Hall couldn't afford the service on her own, but agreed to a complimentary reference check through Allison & Taylor as a test case for this Monitor story. In her case, all four of her references gave glowing reports. As it turned out, none of them had been contacted by the companies where Hall had applied. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Posted: 24 Feb 2011 12:59 PM PST  Enthusiasm matters. Here's another piece from New York City career coach Win Sheffield, on job search myths. This piece has to do with strategizing your search. For me, the great pearl of wisdom in this piece comes from Sheffield's observation about how much enthusiasm and genuine interest count when you're looking for work. Put yourself in the employer's shoes. Would you hire the candidate who seemed lackadaisical about the opening you needed to fill, or would you choose the slightly less qualified applicant who was champing at the bit to work for you. For a related article, check out this piece about new research showing that optimism pays off on your job search. Now, here is Win Sheffield's wisdom: Myth: In a tight market, my best strategies are to: (a) Look for jobs in growing sectors whether or not they interest me. (b) Pursue a lower-level job, because that will be easier to get. (c) If I am moving to a new industry or function where I don't have experience, I should aim for an entry-level job. (d) People will only want to hire me to do what I do now, so I should only look for jobs that closely match my current job description, even if I'm unhappy at work. (e ) Take any job; beggars can't be choosers. The thinking behind this: (a) "Plastics." This was the career advice famously given to Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate. Health care, anything to do with aging Boomers, "green," are all hot new areas. I will join the trend and increase my chances of long-term, stable employment. I see statistics that show college grads moving away from banking and toward other fields. (b) It is easier to find a job that's one or more rungs down from my level. I increase my chances of employment by applying for jobs where I can clearly excel. (c) If my industry is on the decline, I will move to a new industry. Since I don't have experience there, I will only qualify for an entry-level job and will move up from there. (d) You can't get a job without experience. Employers want employees who have done the job before. Ads ask for 8-10 years of experience, so I can only do what I have done before. Unless I qualify for a job, I shouldn't bother applying. The candidate who can do the job for the least amount of money will get the offer. Besides, I don't know what I want and don't know how to discover what I want. Finding out about something new seems impossible, so I will stick with what I know. (e) If I present myself as broadly as possible, able to do many things, the more options I give myself. Because I am too old (young, inexperienced, had a bad experience in my last job, can't get a recommendation, have been out of the job market, etc.), I am even more at the mercy of employers. The appeal – why we want to believe it: Being without a job tends to undermine if not destroy our self-esteem. We are not inclined, having been burned once, to pursue a job that might be a stretch and may lead to us being burned again. In a situation where jobs seem scarce, we figure it is best to go for jobs that we assume are more plentiful or easier to get. The real deal: The deciding factor in the hiring decision is very often the candidate's enthusiasm for the job. Recruiters say it again and again. While current job market realities are an essential consideration, they are not the primary driver. People change fields all the time. Today's graduates will work in jobs and even in industries that do not exist today. The job market is complex and nuanced. Employers need employees who not only can do the job, but who want to do it. If there are two qualified candidates and one is clearly interested in the job, the interested one is clearly going to offer more to the employer than the one who is just putting in time. The assumption that we have to do what we don't want to is based on our idea of what the job market looks like. If ads reflected the full job marketplace, it would be easy to assume that we need to be something that we are not. Most jobs are not advertised, however, so job ads are really not a good indication of all the jobs out there. You are not going for a job that is like everyone else's. If that were going to work, it would have by now. Unintended consequences: Pursuing jobs because they are popular or seem easy to get can backfire if you're indifferent about the opportunity. You are competing with people who have a real interest in the job and who are therefore more likely to be hired. Even if you do get a job you don't really want, there's a good chance you'll wind up feeling bored or uninterested. What this means for you: You increase your chances of getting the job when you pursue an opportunity that truly interests you. In addition, going after something that excites you will make the whole process less painful. Many of you will say, "that is fine for people who know what they want, but I don't." I say to you: OK. I have been there. I understand. Start where you are. Take a look at things you have enjoyed in the past. Look at industries that interest you. Among the people you've known, have any had jobs that interest you? What are you curious about? By pursuing your interests, you learn about jobs you never thought existed and you open up new avenues. When I finished business school I briefly considered being a consultant. I rejected the idea because of the travel involved. I didn't want to stay in hotels in strange cities throughout the week. It wasn't until years later that I discovered that consulting firms sometimes organize themselves around industries and that by joining a practice focused on investment banking, my clients would largely be in New York City, where I live. I took a job in a consulting firm where I took short trips daily, and spent every night in my own bed. I never knew that was possible until I explored. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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