“What To Reveal During Your Job Search” plus 2 more

What To Reveal During Your Job Search
Facebook Chat Tuesday: Ask Your Job-Search and Career Questions
A Successful Job Search: It's All About Networking

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:57 AM PST

You're interviewing for a job and you know you may need time away from the office to care for your children, or for a terminally ill parent, or for your own serious medical condition. What and when do you tell your potential boss? Vicki Brackett, who runs Make It Happen for Women, a firm in Denver that professes to do "job search makeovers," takes a hard-line stance. "You never tell an employer," she says emphatically. "Never. Not until you've been there a while."

Especially in this job market, she adds. The competition for jobs is so fierce that employers will always go for the candidate they believe can work the longest and hardest. "What employer wants to hire someone who's not going to be there?" she asks.

In Pictures: What To Reveal During Your Job Search

Many job seekers, especially women, want to find a job that fits their life, rather than the other way around, Brackett says: "What women want most is a culture that works for them. They make the mistake of thinking that other women are going to understand, or that employers will care. It could be that the woman who's interviewing you barely got to work in the morning because of problems at home. She doesn't want to hire someone who has problems at home too."

Brackett advises that as a job candidate you focus on proving your value to an employer, not only throughout the job search but even in the first months on the job. Some companies don't firm up their hires until an initial trial period of 90 days has come to a close. Only then should the employee consider asking for flextime. Frame the request by describing how it will benefit the company. "You should say, 'It's something that can help me be more effective,'" Brackett advises. "Every discussion should be about the company."

Stay away from chatter about your personal life, including seemingly harmless topics, she also advises. Even if you just returned from a fabulous two-week honeymoon in Italy, keep that to yourself. "The boss may think, here's someone who takes long, expensive vacations. She's going to want a lot of time off."

Though it may seem a smart move to form a personal bond with an interviewer, avoid the temptation, Brackett says. A harried employer can view even do-gooding work outside the office as a liability these days, she adds. "If you say you've been out banging nails for Habitat for Humanity, the employer might think, she's going to want time off to do that." Only bring up non-work subjects if you've done your homework and you know, for instance, that the company encourages employees to do volunteer jobs.

Keep in mind that employers are forbidden by law to ask most personal questions. Kathleen McKenna, a partner in the labor practice at the law firm Proskauer Rose, says that both federal and local statutes forbid interviewers from asking about marital or family status, or about medical conditions. The only exception comes when a medical condition may directly affect the candidate's ability to do the job. "If someone comes in in a wheelchair and you're hiring for a pole-vaulting position, then you can ask, 'Exactly how do you see this working for you?'" McKenna says.

Not all career coaches agree with Brackett's zero-disclosure policy. Win Sheffield, a coach in New York City, says, "The way I look at the job interview process, it's about three things: Can you do the job, is it a job you want, and will you fit at the company." If you realize during the search process that a special medical condition or family circumstance will make for a bad fit, then speak up, Sheffield says, or at least be honest with yourself. If you don't, you may wind up feeling you betrayed yourself--or your employer may feel you betrayed her.

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Facebook Chat Tuesday: Ask Your Job-Search and Career Questions

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:42 AM PST

Have a question about your job search or career?

Maybe you want to know how to handle an annoying co-worker. Or have a specific question about the format of your resume. Or are hoping to better understand how working with a recruiter could help you find a job.

On Tuesday, February 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, our On Careers bloggers will answer your questions on our Facebook page. Leave any question at any time, and receive real-time advice from our careers experts.

When: Tuesday, February 15

Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST

Where: http://facebook.com/USNewsCareers

Bloggers who will answer your questions:

Hope to see you there!

A Successful Job Search: It's All About Networking

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 02:22 PM PST

Enlarge Stephan Savoia/AP

Kelly Rice, an independent human resources counselor, volunteers as an interview techniques trainer during a job fair in Boston.

Stephan Savoia/AP

Kelly Rice, an independent human resources counselor, volunteers as an interview techniques trainer during a job fair in Boston.

Matt Youngquist, the president of Career Horizons, tells job seekers that finding a new position presents the same challenges as taking a product to market. But the product they are selling is themselves.

"First, you've got to know what you are selling and to whom," he says. "Then, you've got to package it up properly."

Next comes the all-important execution phase. Networking is essential.

Most people still hunt for jobs primarily by looking for positions posted online. Websites like Indeed.com and Simplyhired.com aggregate job offerings and make searching easier.

—Wake up early every day to get started on your search. Treat it like a job.

—Network aggressively: Look for connections in companies or with people you want to work with. Use the people search function on LinkedIn to help with this.

—Make 100 new contacts a month by making cold calls, sending e-mails or even showing up at a company's door.

—Research companies you want to work for and write customized cover letters focused on what you could do for a company as a future employee.

—Find the hiring manager for positions you're interested in or at least get to someone who can put in a good word for you with that person.

—Search websites like Indeed.com and Simplyhired.com, which aggregate job offerings and make the online search easier.

Source: Career Horizons

Most Jobs Are Not Published

But just sending out resumes, even hundreds of them, in response to ads probably won't help that much. The reason, Youngquist says: Most jobs aren't posted or advertised publicly.

"At least 70 percent, if not 80 percent, of jobs are not published," he says. "And yet most people — they are spending 70 or 80 percent of their time surfing the net versus getting out there, talking to employers, taking some chances [and] realizing that the vast majority of hiring is friends and acquaintances hiring other trusted friends and acquaintances."

Los Angeles-area resident Terri Garfinkel, for example, e-mailed past employers after she was laid off from her job at a high-end retail bakery, telling them she was looking for a new position.

It took a while, but she landed a job with someone she had worked for just briefly a decade ago.

That personal connection is especially important now. With so many people applying for jobs, it's hard to get noticed.

An Overwhelming Number Of Applications

Ashley Stirrup, the vice president of product marketing at Taleo, which creates software to help companies sift through job applications, says major companies typically receive about six times as many applications as there are employees in the company.

"So, for a 30,000-employee company, that would be 180,000 applications a year," he says.

Youngquist, the career coach, suggests job seekers network aggressively, looking for connections in companies or with people they want to work with. He often directs job seekers to the people search function on the networking site LinkedIn. Get to the hiring manager, he advises, or at least get to someone who can put in a good word for you.

Make 100 New Contacts Each Month

Another tip from Youngquist: Individuals looking for work should make at least 100 new contacts a month by making phone calls, sending e-mails or even showing up at a company's door.

It's the same type of work a sales representative often has to do — making cold calls and hustling to find new business.

"It takes X number of contacts to get this many appointments, to get this many chances of actually getting a sales opportunity or a job," Youngquist says. "I do think volume is a big part of it."

He says many people's efforts are "really anemic."

A Full-Time Job

Former pharmaceutical sales representative Camilo Ruan says the smartest thing he did in his job search was treating the hunt for work as a job.

He says he would get up early every day and get to work. Among other things, Ruan used his knowledge of firms he was interested in to create customized cover letters that focused not on his past performance, but on what he could do for a company if he were hired.

His well-informed and aggressive efforts paid off. He landed what he calls a great position at the package delivery company TNT Express, and he's making more money than in his previous position.

Experts say that even though the job market is undeniably tough, there are more positions available than many people think. But job seekers will have to be smart and disciplined to find them.

Job Search

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

“What To Reveal During Your Job Search” plus 2 more

“What To Reveal During Your Job Search” plus 2 more

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