Leaping Forward

Since today is February 29, I decided to come up with some ideas to help job seekers leap ahead in their quests for success. What follows are some suggestions, in no particular order, which some of you might already employ. Feel free to share other methods which you have found helpful as this list is extremely open ended!

~Networking is key to getting your name out to as many people as possible. Find one new networking group, professional association, job seeker support group, etc. and attend a meeting or workshop this month.
~Staying with the networking theme, contact at least 3 or 4 people you know from any walk of life and schedule a 30 minute meeting with them to discuss your job search, their impressions of you, how they have been successful and so on. You will be amazed at the knowledge you could gain!
~Make a diary of an entire week's job search activities and see if you are spending at least 3-4 hours per day. Also determine whether or not you are mixing up your week or doing exactly the same thing each day. Keys to success include dedicating enough time and also varying what you do to avoid becoming complacent.
~Dig up your notes for the past 3+ months and go back and contact every company you have applied to in the past, or at least check their websites, to see if something new has developed which you could qualify for.
~Finally, try something new and different to add some new energy to your process. I admit I am an old dog at times but did learn a new trick from my daughter recently. Check out Pinterest through Facebook. I am not an expert yet but there are some great pieces of information for job hunting on this site!

That is probably enough to keep you busy for a while! As I said earlier, feel free to share other ideas if you wish. I will do my best to have a new list ready to go by next February 29!!

Advice for New Grads

Every year, a few friends will approach me asking for advice for their child who recently graduated from college and cannot find a job. With the current state of our economy, the number of such inquiries continues to grow. No matter how great or depressing the market is in a particular year, my guidelines pretty much remain the same. Even though some folks maintain I am boring and inflexible about just about every topic, the basic rules of job hunting never change, just the technology used to execute them. These suggestions will be offered in no particular order and your recent grad may select the ones most suited to their needs.

One strong recommendation needs to be voiced before moving on and some of you may not like this but here it is anyway! The majority of the search for a first job out of college must be done by the candidate, not their parents!!!! Certainly, we all should feel obligated to advise and steer but we must all let our children learn the lay of the land immediately to strengthen for the future. Use self restraint when they try to get you to do their work for the. To any recent grads reading this: I am not being harsh, rather I am a realist and you need to dig down and get involved now!

1. If you have not already done so, contact your college's Career Services office and ask them for any guidance and recommendations on places to search. While they are not obligated to find you a job, they should be able to support your efforts.


2. Contact everyone you know at home and from school and make sure they are aware you are out there job hunting. This includes former school teachers, professors, long time neighbors, members of the clergy, former scout leaders or coaches, etc.


3. Personalize your resume so that you stand out from all the other entry level candidates vying for the same very limited pool of jobs.


4. Be extremely open minded about the types of positions you will consider applying for. No job is too menial for someone trying to start at the bottom.


5. Realize early on in your search that the pay rate, work schedule, and title might not be what your college admissions assured you would be available four or five years back. Even in better times, this was not always the case.


6. Strongly consider aggressively searching even during the long and hot summer. Many folks wait until September to begin locking around and, before you know it, December is approaching and hiring budgets dry up until April.

Have fun searching for a job. Be as creative as you wish and look for ways to challenge yourself each and every day!

Commitment!!

Commitment is a key part of a job search. One must commit to a certain amount of time each day for the process then stick to the plan. It is okay, especially if you are still somewhat employed, to say that you will search certain days but skip others so long as you do what you say you will each and every week.

Commitment also means keeping your appointments with unemployment office counselors, support groups, contacts who offer you help, etc. Not showing up for a meeting, even if it is only for some free advice, shows a lack of interest in improving your situation. Professionals will not recommend you to their colleagues if they doubt that you will followed through as you could endanger their reputations and they will not risk such an occurrence.

Commitment is crucial to your future success. Make sure you understand and subscribe to this before beginning your quest for a better future!!

Umbrella Needed!

Yesterday, a resume passed through the office (and to the shredder) that was one of the worst I have come across in the last 25 years! It started out by stating the candidate was a 'Rainmaker' who had 'increased by 27000000.' The front page never gave any indication of what the person actually is trained to do or when and where they did whatever it was they were talking about. I never made it to page two!

Truthfully, I doubt the candidate came up with this awful format on their own. I have seen similar (though not quite this dreadful) disaster in recent weeks and suspect someone is charging huge dollars to produce these resumes. Should you decide you need outside help, please read carefully the finished product before accepting ti and paying for it. Resumes in this style will negatively impact your job search and keep you from recharging your career.

Upcoming Presentation

On Wednesday evening, March 3, I will present a discussion on giving your job search a self examination to the Job Seekers Support Group of Jewish Family Services in Somerville NJ. This group is open to everyone but reservations are preferred. please contact me for details!

Resume Error

"a young 59 year old, happily married white male with 3 children"

This statement began a resume which I recently received and left me scratching my head. For many years, I have taught classes on job search skills and individually advised thousands of job seekers. Basic rules including never divulging things that could influence a decision maker before they even meet you!

Stating your age is one of the fastest ways to get eliminated from the candidate pool. Even though they should not, many hiring managers have preconceived age requirements. Many people are gun shy of married parents, fearing that family (as it should) will come before the job. On the other hand, some managers prefer family-oriented people and will eliminate singles from the group. Finally, there are those out there looking for people from a specific race or nationality (as illegal as that is) and you might just eliminate yourself.

As I have said before, a resume is your personal marketing brochure! Use it to demonstrate all the great skills and experience you have, not to eliminate yourself!