Some takeaways for job seekers

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Published on April 9th, 2009
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Earlier this week, I was interviewed for the Career Success Radio show with Andy and Carrie Robinson. I love doing interviews, because they always inspire me to write about something that came up in the discussion.

In this case, Andy and Carrie asked me for some closing thoughts for their job seeking listeners to consider. How to sum up things for a job seeker in just a few minutes? For someone who writes (and tweets) about the topic daily, it’s a challenge to choose just a few topics.

There are jobs. If you optimize your search and your materials, “the economy” will not keep you from finding a job. It is easy to think that the situation is out of your control as a job seeker. However, I believe that job seekers control a lot more than they realize. I like to suggest that my clients “drive their own career bus.”

Do not ignore the power of social networking – the connections you can make online are only limited by the amount of time you have to pursue them. You may be surprised to learn that people you hardly know are willing to connect and provide you with information and contacts that are key to landing your next opportunity. Job seekers who shrug off LinkedIn and Twitter do so at their own risk.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a positive attitude and planning your search. Job seekers must take the reigns and be focused and purposeful. In my experience working with clients, those who plan are successful and those who leave things to chance experience a much longer than necessary search period.

Finally, it’s important to ensure that your job search materials are up-to-date and optimized. If your resume isn’t targeted and packed with skills and accomplishments, it’s no wonder that you aren’t getting interviews! Does your LinkedIn profile match what you are saying on your resume? Are you taking advantage of all of LinkedIn’s features? If not, you are missing opportunities left and right!

Do you need help getting your search in gear? I can write your resume and teach you how to optimize your social networking to help you land the job you want. Contact me to see how I can help!

photo by artisan shooting

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Comments

April 9th, 2009: Luigi Says:

I totally agree on social networking. In the past 4 days, I had 3 phone interviews with people who I found/met through LinkedIN. I found out that you cannot be too pushy with this, however. People don’t like to get bombed with numerous resumes, or constant buggers who don’t really deliver anything but a bland resume.

I have a question if anyone has insight, since I am a dual citizen (of the U.S. and Turkey), I had to go to Turkey and do a 12 month military service. As much as I would love to glorify it, I don’t know how really and people constantly ask me about this 12 time gap in the experience section of my resume because I don’t want to list military service there as most of my experience items have 4-5 bullets of detailed accomplishments, unlike my military service which was basically guarding and snoring

Thanks

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