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In the world of social networking, job hunters can have a difficult time maintaining a professional online presence that still effectively markets their personal brands. Today, having a traditional resume with a nice layout, extensive job experience, and a master’s degree might not be enough to get your name to potential employers. For networking and other job-hunting activities, LinkedIn can be a career professional’s best resource. (more…)
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Nurses are notorious for caring for others well and themselves poorly. Too often, nurses focus so much of their energy into patient care that they miss opportunities to strengthen their own professional success and well-being. (more…)
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Tips and tricks for mid- and senior-level executives to get the most out of choosing and attending job fairs.
The recession is forcing job fairs to move upstream, bringing in recruiters and companies hiring for mid- and senior-level executives. It’s worth your time to attend a few, if you’re looking for a job or just curious about your options.
The asked recruiters and career coaches for their advice and compiled this guide for more-seasoned job seekers to get the most out of finding and attending job fairs.
1. Avoid general/government job fairs.
Events organized by local government agencies and chambers of commerce tend to be unfocused, involving companies because they’re local, not because they’re relevant.
2. Target a session or recruiter, and get there early.
Look at the agenda ahead of time to see if there’s a particular session, recruiter or company in which you are interested. Get there early and talk to other early arrivals; they probably have a special interest in the topic or company. Find out what they know and who they know you should talk to. Find out who in the room is influential in that area, and talk to them.
3. Don’t hover or wait in line.
Don’t stand still while someone else talks to the contact you want to meet. Pick up the contact’s information and leave your card; come back when the contact is free, or follow up later.
4. Research the host.
Before you attend, learn about the organization hosting the event. Check it out online. Find members or leaders in the group, and call or write them for details. Sometimes you have to make the leap and attend an event you aren’t sure will be helpful, but most of the time you can do enough research to know before you go.
5. Match yourself to the host.
Do research about who’s behind the event so you can identify the best match for your skills, background and interests. A pharmaceutical marketing manager in New Jersey will get more mileage out of an event hosted by an organization of New Jersey pharmaceutical marketing managers than by a general marketing-industry event.
6. Research the companies in attendance.
Read up on the companies going to the event; make a list of the ones you want to talk to and what you can glean from them. If you can narrow down the list to identify the actual company representative to whom you’d like to speak, you can prepare a better case for why you’d make a good contribution to his or her team.
7. Participate.
Find a way to be more than an attendee. If you’re the speaker, you don’t have to worry about chasing down recruiters or fellow job seekers. They will find you.
8. Be prepared.
Prep for a job fair, a professional conference or a meeting of a professional organization just as you would for a job interview, a presentation or a meeting with a client. You must demonstrate that you are knowledgeable, professional and capable.
9. Bring a resume.
Unlike the Internet, where most job applications occur these days, in-person events, require a paper resume you can hand out. Follow the resume rules: no images, no fonts that can’t be scanned.
10. Bring business cards.
You might also want a private business card. If you’re still working and are uncomfortable handing out your work card, have some made up with your name and private contact info. They’re cheap, they’re easy to hand out, and they give the impression of professionalism.
11. Talk to everyone.
Talk to your fellow job seekers. Job fairs are tailor made for people looking for jobs. “They’re like mixers for people too shy to mix on their own,” said Irene Marshall, a certified resume writer, career coach and president of coaching service Tools For Transition, who works with The. Everyone at a job fair has been doing their own homework, and most will be willing to compare notes with you.
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1) Recruiters will not help you change your career. They operate in the world that is familiar to them.
2) Recruiters will not accept you as a client if you are not in their area of specialization. It’s nothing personal.
3) Recruiters may not tell you it’s not a fit. Some just won’t ever call. If that’s the case, find another recruiter.
4) Executive recruiters recruit! Time is money. They are not there to entertain or listen to your life story. Don’t abuse the relationship by monopolize a recruiters time.
5) Recruiters are NOT your new best fiend. They will make money by placing you. Keep this in mind as you build your relationship.
A solid relationship with a good recruiter can be a boon to your career. It used to be considered a negative career factor if you changed jobs too frequently. Now, it’s the opposite. If you haven’t changed jobs people want to know why. (They think you are unmotivated.) Your recruiter can be one of your career barometers letting you know when the market is ripe for a career change and when its not.
TIP: A good rule of thumb is to stay three years in the same position. After that, it’s time for a promotion or a new assignment. Your recruiter should be on top of industry trends too.
Caution: Don’t just make a move because three years is up. Manage your career move as part of a solid personal business plan. When the market is soft, as it is right now, consider long and hard any potential career changes. Not just the short term/immediate gain but evaluate how this move will position you for future career growth.
No matter how good the fit, time is money. The recruiter will always push those people that are marketable and profitable. Keep your skill set current and your name in the limelight. This will make you more valuable and worth the recruiter’s time.
Discover the easy way to make yourself stand out from others. How to become an expert in your field; How to write a better resume; How to write a personal press release; How to accomplish things no one else is doing and to get people to think about you in ways they have not thought before and much more including critical checklists for those important business meetings.
This indispensable workbook will show you specific ways to accomplish your personal branding goals and launch your career into the stratosphere. We have done all the work for you with guidelines, cheat sheets and easy-to-use templates to customize for your own use.
So don’t put off building your brand any longer. Don’t wait till your associates get your promotion or raise or even a better job.
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The First Step to a Job You Love |
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Higher Learning Leads to Higher Earnings, Especially for Men [InfoGraphic |
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It’s no secret that most people don’t really like their jobs. You’d probably rather be doing anything but sitting in a cubicle, tapping away at your keyboard and watching the seconds tick by on the clock. But no matter how bad your profession may seem, it’s nothing compared to some of the highly demanding and stressful jobs that you could be stuck at. Here are a few of the worst to make you feel a little better about your own occupation.
Find a job you love
1. Waiter/bartender. Not only is this type of job physically demanding, since you have to be on your feet and moving fast all day (or night), it can also be terribly stressful (have you ever noticed how demanding, picky, and unforgiving people can be when it comes to dining out?). And since you practically live on tips, you pretty much have to put up with whatever crap people hand you (and take it with a smile). It’s even worse for bartenders, who also have to listen to everyone’s sob stories, break up bar fights, and try to wrestle car keys away from drunken idiots who think they’re “okay to drive”.
2. Psychologist. Can you think of any job more depressing than listening to people talk about their problems all day? There’s a reason most psychologists seek therapy themselves. And add to that the fact that you’re engaging in an imprecise science, which relies heavily on your ability to read people, get to the root of their complex problems, and basically wing it when it comes to helping them, and you’re looking at a job that is undeniably stressful (and often disappointing).
3. Freight handlers. Talk about a job a monkey could do. If you spend your day lifting and sorting boxes for shipping, you are likely losing a few brain cells a day to utter boredom. Not only that; this job is also extremely demanding on your body. It won’t be long before you have aches and pains in areas that you didn’t even know could hurt. You’ll put stress on all of your joints and back injuries are pretty much par for the course. And for all of this, you get paid just slightly more than minimum wage.
4. Dentist. Often cited as one of the most stressful jobs, dentistry can be a trying field. Face it: most people would rather be anywhere than in the dentist’s chair. And it can’t be fun to make kids cry every time they see you. It’s no wonder so many dentists commit suicide.
5. Police officer. Serving and protecting rarely reveals the best of humanity. If you’re pulling someone over or responding to a 9-1-1 situation, you’re likely to witness the absolute worst that the human race has to offer. This can leave you pretty jaded. In addition, you’ll be called on to chase people, shoot them, get shot at, suffer physical attacks, come under scrutiny for your actions (sometimes publicly), and often face criticism from the very people you’re trying to help. Of course, there’s a certain nobility to it all, but that won’t keep you warm at night.
Sarah Danielson is a writer for Roth IRA where you can find out information about converting to a Roth IRA and learn how to start a Roth IRA as well as finding other tools and information to help you on the road to retirement.
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Finding a recruiter that best matches your personality, professional needs, and profile can be difficult under the best of circumstances. The best time to find one is while you are employed. Locating one at this time allows you to be more particular. Building a relationship with your recruiter will take time and effort so it’s important to find the right person from the beginning. You might need to contact several recruiters before you find a good match. It is important to be discreet at this point. You don’t want the word to get out that you are “looking” or to be contacted by recruiters on the prowl for new clients.
It’s never too early to cultivate a recruiter relationship. Keep in mind that this process can be challenging when you are a new professional, and do not have a career track record. The younger/less experienced you are, the harder it will be to have a recruiter work for you.
Note: Recruiters, with the exception of “retained” search professionals, make a percentage of the offered salary. The higher the salary, the more money they make. Consequently, it pays them to place the “High Ticket” people first.
Here are six tips to get you started:
1) Find a recruiter BEFORE you need one.
Your initial contact should serve to the recruiter get to know you and you know them. Make sure that you both understand that this is a preliminary meeting so you won’t be bombarded with unwanted calls or jobs until you are actually seeking a position. If the ideal position comes along, make it clear that that it would be appropriate to contact you, but that you will notify them when you are actually looking to make a change. If the recruiter calls you constantly with “positions” that are not suitable, you need to move on. In your consultation with your recruiter you should share your talents, career plans and goals. Cover conditions such as being unable to relocate.
TIP: Don’t conduct these discussions at your present place of employment. Find a time and place where you can concentrate and give the recruiter your undivided attention. Never look for a new job on your employer’s time.
TIP: Some companies have “alert” notices installed in the computer network. If you access job board or job related sites they will know it.
2) Find a recruiter that specializes in your field or industry.
Today, recruiters are very specialized. You want one that knows your business, preferably one that has some longevity in the field. If you are active in your industry eventually you will either meet a recruiter or one will contact you. Be sure and do your homework. Check out your recruiter’s credentials. Ask colleagues if they have heard of this person (careful and discreet. You don’t want the word to get out that you are looking). When you check out your recruiter’s references, ask how long it took to be placed and what the recruiter relationship was like. Ask the recruiter to provide you with articles and information they have written or prepared. Check out the recruiter’s website. Ask for references of people they have placed.
Note: Be wary of recruiters just starting. As a temporary measure, many unemployed people hang up a recruiter shingle when they themselves become unemployed.
TIP: Here are a couple of websites to get you started www.findarecruiter.com or www.findrecruiter.com.
3) As you uncover potential “matches” send out a cover letter of introduction.
Keep your cover letter simple and to the point. Your cover letter should make the recruiter want to know more about you. Explain why they should invest time in getting to know you better. Ask to set up a telephone appointment. It’s up to you to sell the recruiter your skill set. You might include facts in your letter that are specific to your situation and may not be included in your resume.
4) Find a recruiter that you feel comfortable with and you trust.
I can’t emphasize this enough. Your recruiter must be able to work in absolute confidentiality. You MUST like working with and feel comfortable with your recruiter. If there is a “personality” conflict, move on to someone else. You are establishing a bond with your recruiter and you want them to work for you, not just submit your resume to any job opening.
Be careful about sending your resume out to recruiters while you are still employed. Your goal is to build a relationship. Be cautious. Many recruiters work on a numbers theory. If they send out so many candidate resumes eventually
one will be qualified. Most recruiters are true professionals with very high ethics. They will gladly keep you in mind for new positions that are “right up your alley” as they are uncovered. Make sure you cover your resume in depth with your recruiter. They may opt to have you rewrite it with a professional service. You may need several different versions of your resume.
TIP: Under no circumstances should a recruiter “enhance” your qualifications to fit an opening or a position they are trying to fill.
5) Cover current salary information and expectations. Make sure you set clear and concise parameters. You don’t want to waste time going on interviews that are not in line with your expectations. Remember to discuss that you expect your new job to pay more than your old one. It’s perfectly acceptable to have your recruiter seek out a better job or a promotion rather than a lateral move.
6) Find out what is the most acceptable way for the recruiter to receive your resume. They are working for you so you need to provide them your essential details in the shortest and easiest possible method. The more complicated you make it for them to receive your information the less enthusiastic they will be to read your material.
TIP: This is especially true to day were it’s a recruiters market. There are many more qualified candidates than there are recruiters to place them.
TIP: Remember to follow up once you have sent your credentials. Investigate if the transmission was clear, are there any questions, etc.
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This makes us laugh… every time we see it |
The First Step to a Job You Love |
Palestinian Traffic Cop Loves His Job |
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Higher Learning Leads to Higher Earnings, Especially for Men [InfoGraphic |
How to Ace the Interview BEFORE it Starts |
Video Resume – May Work Wonders, But Not for Everybody |
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When clients tell me they need to do a better job of networking, there are two things I want to know:
* How they define networking
* What’s stopping them
As it happens, how they define networking is often what’s stopping them. That may sound strange, so let me explain.
If your idea of networking is to find and attend a networking meeting, that probably doesn’t sound very inspiring. And it isn’t. The prospect of walking around in a roomful of strangers hoping to find someone who might be able to help isn’t a possibility that excites me, either. Although there are some terrific groups that get together to help each other, all groups are not created equal. Despite the exceptions, I’ve never been a big believer in this approach for one simple reason: Networking meetings tend to attract people who don’t consider themselves well-connected.
How helpful is that?
While there are many ways to expand your network, one of the most powerful is to get involved with philanthropy. It’s a great opportunity to help other people while you help yourself. To appreciate how philanthropy can be a better way to increase your network, let’s first look at three of the primary goals of networking:
* Visibility
* Getting connected
* Helping others (networking as a two-way street)
Sometimes you can achieve these goals at networking meetings, but the circumstances are less than ideal. Philanthropy can be a better way to achieve all three goals because the primary goal is helping an organization or people in need. You achieve your other goals seamlessly because the activity puts you in contact with other people who share similar interests.
This strategy is even more effective if you find a way to create or get involved in a wide-scale project. For example, when I worked at Chicago advertising agency Leo Burnett, I was shocked by the volume of waste generated by graphic- arts studios. For example, once the ads were mounted and trimmed, large scraps of foam core and paper were regularly discarded. It also made me cringe to see art directors throw out giant sets of not-quite-new but perfectly usable markers. As a long-time volunteer in the Child Life Department at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, I had a feeling that much of what we were throwing out could be put to good use. So I organized an effort where the various studios began collecting materials. On an almost weekly basis, we shipped boxes of foam core and art supplies to the hospital.
At first, the Child Life staff wasn’t sure what to do with the foam core. But being quite resourceful, it wasn’t long before they couldn’t get enough of it. Our primary goal was to recycle what would have been waste and give the patients at Children’s access to great art supplies. None of us did it to build our networks or increase our visibility. But that’s exactly what happened when we all started working together. I met countless people throughout the agency and hospital I would otherwise never have met.
There are other ways to get involved . For example, an attorney I know who specializes in mergers and acquisitions joined the board of a local community health center that caters to the uninsured. At first glance, that might not seem like an ideal place for him to expand his network . But consider this: A s a board member and head of the finance committee, he now has contact with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies that actively support the center and donate product to the on-site pharmacy.
As you look for opportunities to get involved, here are a few questions and tips to consider:
What people or organizations would value the expertise you’ve gained through work or personal interests?
Philanthropic organizations, like their for-profit counterparts, have needs in every conceivable area including finance, marketing, public relations, event planning and fundraising . Of the organizations that could potentially benefit from your involvement, which possibilities do you find most energizing? To paraphrase educator and speaker Marsha Sinetar : Do what you love, and the contacts will follow.
In which organizations are you most likely to find the people you’d like to meet?
If you have a particular goal from a networking perspective, there is nothing wrong with being strategic about your involvement. For example, if you know certain people are actively involved in a particular organization, it’s perfectly acceptable to get involved as well — as long as you are genuinely interested in the organization. If it looks like your primarily goal is to meet a particular person, this approach will backfire. And for good reason. For a philanthropic approach to work, the organization has to benefit in some way. It can’t be all about you.
Make it easy for people to help.
If you are coordinating the efforts of others, be sure to make it as easy as possible for them to be involved. I almost learned this the hard way. When we were working on the art-supply donations, one studio was particularly active in collecting foam core. Unfortunately, the more quickly they collected it, the more quickly it piled up and created an eyesore. To keep the studio and staff interested and supportive, we had to arrange more frequent pick-ups from the hospital so we could get the scraps out of the studio.
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With unemployment soaring and the job market becoming saturated with quality candidates, it’s time for you to start getting creative in your quest to engage in your next professional opportunity. Give some thought to engaging the services of a recruiter or career coach.
In developing your brand and proper messaging, there are five valuable discussion points to consider when meeting with a recruiter or coach:
1. Professional integrity
One way to demonstrate your professional integrity is to make sure that you leave a company in great standing. This shows that you are accountable for your performance at your former company and relationships with your previous colleagues.
In completing reference checks on candidates, I have had prospective employers ask for references from people in the most recent applicable employer, which may include your former boss; peers; subordinates; and in some cases, the clients. Have a complete understanding of what your references will say about you, and make sure that they are ready to start taking calls.
2. Showcasing capacity
One of my favorite things to do when screening candidates is to determine if they have the appropriate skill set to become flexible and scalable. Candidates often need to be ready for expansive growth with the prospective employer. That said, I often ask the candidate to explain the difference between having depth and having capacity to be successful in the company; rarely do they have the right answer.
Depth is coming into a role with a solid background and necessary knowledge to do the job. Capacity is demonstrating the skills and proper knowledge base to assume the role but also possessing the skills to take on more as the job grows.
As you look around, you may know people that are very content having the depth to do the job. The ones that get promoted are usually those who demonstrate the capacity to take on more responsibility.
3. Claims versus evidence
As the candidate, you must be able to demonstrate examples of your performance as solid evidence in the body of your resume. In other words, you can talk about the success that you may have had in your previous role, but it has a much higher perceived value when it becomes a statement on your resume.
Nearly every task in every job affects revenue, systems or people. This is the evidentiary and supporting data that is vital to understanding the effect you have had in your previous role. Your resume should not look like a job description. It must contain quantifiable results, especially if you were in a sales role.
4. Communication skills
Lack of conversation reflects lack of interest. A solid candidate should have exceptional communication skills on several levels. It’s important to be able to carry on with typical small talk because many relationships are established this way, but you must also be a person that the company can count on to deliver executive-level presentations to internal and external clients and customers. Recruiters will gauge your level of comfort with communication.
5. Financial benefits to the company
Among other things, remember that the hiring manager really cares about the financial aspect of the candidate’s contribution to the company. Regardless of the role that is being filled, there are usually two important considerations that must be reviewed in screening the right candidate for the role: Revenue and Timing.
Revenue - Based on the background of the candidate and the role that will be filled in the company, the hiring manager must be able to determine or anticipate how much revenue you will generate as the candidate of choice.
Timing - The hiring manager then needs to understand how quickly this candidate can begin to generate revenue for the company. The return on investment will vary based on the role being filled, but this is vital to determine that the candidate is of long-term value to the company.
As you embark on your professional journey, and establish relationships with your recruiter or career coach, I am confident that these five points will prove instrumental in your search strategies towards success!
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101 Tips Every Job Seeker Should Know |
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| Check out these hot articles! |
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This makes us laugh… every time we see it |
The First Step to a Job You Love |
Palestinian Traffic Cop Loves His Job |
Beef up your email signature |
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Higher Learning Leads to Higher Earnings, Especially for Men [InfoGraphic |
How to Ace the Interview BEFORE it Starts |
Video Resume – May Work Wonders, But Not for Everybody |
How to Develop All Star Job References |
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