Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Change your job search strategy

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159337100_47f31f771e_mYou’re looking for a job? When is the last time you tried a new strategy? A change of direction?

This week, I will be sharing ideas to help you “change up” your job hunting efforts.

Intellectually, we all know that doing the same thing, over and over again,
but expecting a different result does not make sense. If you always got lost on the way to someplace, would you continue to try to get there without a map or directions? If you always burned dinner because you didn’t set a timer and are always busy doing a million other things, would you continue to cook without a timer? I hope not!

By the same token, continuing to sit at your desk, applying for jobs online with the exact same resume and wondering why you aren’t landing more interviews (or ANY interviews) doesn’t phase you? It’s a tough market! You have too much (or not enough) experience. Your background isn’t exactly perfect for your target jobs and no one will give you a chance. I have heard all of the excuses. Well, it’s time for some tough love: It is very possible that what you are doing (and NOT doing) is the reason you aren’t finding more opportunities.

Today’s tip: instead of looking for a job, search for an organization!

Read more at my blog on GreatPlaceJobs…

If you need help with your search, contact me!

photo by Fifi LePew

Free ebook: Best Career Strategies of 2009

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bcsebookcover-1I’m excited to offer my readers a free copy of an ebook compilation, Best Career Strategies of 2009, edited by Bonnie Lowe.

The ebook includes advice from 28 different career experts. (I was delighted to be invited to contribute.) Topics are varied, but include an incredibly useful array of information describing how to:

  • Improvise,
  • Take a multi-pronged approach,
  • Use personal branding to your advantage,
  • Lower your lay-off risk and
  • Claim ownership of your career
  • And much, much more!

I am sure you’ll agree that you’ll find many “golden nuggets” in this collection. I am happy share a link to the ebook FREE for everyone who subscribes to my blog via Feedblitz. All you need to do is follow THIS LINK to learn more and enter your email, or just enter your email address in the navy box on the right side of this page. Once you confirm your FREE subscription, you will receive an email with a link to your copy of this terrific resource.

Once you are subscribed, you will receive an email compilation of my blog every Friday.

Read Success for Hire for great advice about the hiring process

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success-for-hireAlexandra Levit is a business author and consultant who has written several books, including the popular business world survival guide, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, How’d You Score That Gig? and Success for Hire.

I recently had the opportunity to review Success for Hire, which is targeted to employers to help them find and keep outstanding employees. In the book, Alexandra adroitly guides employers through a series of steps to help them target, attract and retain the very best candidates for their organizations.

It will be no surprise to job seekers that some employers do not plan their recruiting efforts as strategically as they might. Sometimes, the hire just doesn’t work out or employers inadvertently misrepresent the job to prospective candidates. If they all read and followed Alexandra’s advice, employers could save a lot of time, effort and money, and employees might be spared being put through a process that is less than stellar.

In her book, Alexandra outlines nine strategies for employers. Most interesting for job seekers? Number 4 – Create a Strategy for Interviewing. Job seekers may be surprised to learn that “most evidence has demonstrated that interviews have low reliability and validity, yet everyone continues to rely on them as the principal way of determining the future of their organization” (p. 49). Alexandra encourages interviewers to prepare questions that target specific criteria for the job. (This is great advice for job seekers as well, as they must be able to target their skills and accomplishments to the job’s requirements.)

She suggests guidelines from Martin Yate (2006), author of Hiring the Best. His guidelines for questions (and suggested examples) include:

  • Adaptability and suitability: What was the most difficult project you tackled in a previous job?
  • Motivation: What have you done that you are proud of?
  • Teamwork and manageability: Describe the best manager you ever had?
  • Management: How do you quantify your results as a manager?
  • Entry-level questions: How did you spend your vacations while at school?

The “interviewing” chapter expands on the different types of questions (closed-ended, open-ended, negative balance, reflexive, “hamburger helper” questions and mirror statements and silence). I was interested in reading up on the most recent research in this arena. Clearly, anyone hiring or trying to be hired can benefit from the research Alexandra included in her book about the interview process.

While I normally read (and write) information targeted only to the job seeker, reading Success for Hire was an informative and enjoyable change of pace. It is a good reminder to the well-researched job seeker that looking at books and information targeted at EMPLOYERS is a good idea. I highly recommend Success for Hire to people on both sides of the hiring desk!

Get help for your job search before desperation sets in

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Looking for a job can be a lonely process, even when it is clear that no unemployed job seeker is alone. All you need to do is read or listen to the news to know that you are in good company if you’ve been laid off of your job. However, knowing that you’re not alone isn’t usually enough to help keep job hunters motivated and on track. In anything, the negative news may just send more people to bury their heads under their pillows to escape the incessent bad news

My colleague Alexandra Levit recently wrote about how job seekers are turning to “accountability groups,” teams of job seekers whose goal is to help each other stay motivated and on track.

She shared information from a New York Times article that reported on one such group in suburban Chicago. The article notes what we all recognize: being out of work and job hunting can be difficult and demoralizing. It may be a very lonely process, especially for those unaccustomed to job hunting and for job seekers who don’t know how to conduct a successful search.

The benefit of an accountability group is that job seekers encourage and support each other, network and keep each other motivated and on task in what might otherwise become a very unstructured time.

Alexandra notes,

According to the Times, membership in various networking organizations across the country for unemployed executives and other professionals has ballooned in recent months as the recession has continued its march, sparing not even the highly educated and skilled. Providing a spur as well as solace, the groups offer transition assistance for people who previously led comfortable lives in the middle and upper-middle class.

One thing that struck me about the group described in the New York Times article was that it was organized and run by the job seekers themselves. “Seven of nine members have been out of steady work for six months or longer; the other two are approaching the six-month mark.” The organizer of the group lost his job 16 months ago, struggled to get interviews and wondered if he was “spending too much time applying for jobs online.” The article quotes him as saying, “I’m not doing something right yet.”

Honestly, reading about this group breaks my heart! Clearly, these job seekers could benefit from some professional job hunting advice. What if they knew how much time to spend sending out online applications and had expert feedback about their resumes and other job search correspondence? I am sure they could benefit from up-to-date information about using online tools and social networks. I wonder how different their stories might be if they had engaged the services of a coach before things began to look so glum?

I am happy to announce that I will be facilitating “virtual” accountability groups to help job seekers succeed in this difficult and competitive market. Help is just a phone call away! Participants will benefit from targeted professional coaching, an understanding team of other job seekers for networking and support and a structured program to help keep their job hunt on track.

Please CONTACT ME if you are interested in learning more about these groups.

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How important is a college degree for your job prospects?

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Last month, 20/20 ran several career oriented items. Interestingly, one segment, which questioned the value of a college degree, was perfectly timed for me. I’ve been hearing from more and more clients and potential clients who have worked their way up to positions that now require a college degree as a basic qualification. Unfortunately, these professionals are now finding themselves laid off and in the unenviable position of being “unqualified” to apply for the jobs they have been doing for years!

How frustrating to have this extra barrier to winning a new job! Is it impossible to overcome? I don’t think so. With strong networking and the right connections to less traditional organizations, I think these job seekers can still succeed.

So, when job seekers wonder about the value of their undergraduate degrees, I always come out on the side of earning the degree, even though college doesn’t typically prepare you to actually find a job! The skills you do learn in formal education should serve you well as a job seeker, and those letters after your name will not hurt.

Of course, there are iconic figures who never earned a college degree (such as Steve Jobs), but historically, workers with college degrees have been shielded much more from the ups and downs in the market.

The national unemployment rate in January 2009 was 7.6 percent. Recently, for those with college degrees, unemployment was 3.7 percent — a reduction of nearly 50 percent. Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington predicts that the unemployment rate for college graduates will reach a record 4 or 5 percent in 2009. His comment to the AP: College-educated workers “are going to experience the kind of pain that has been common for people with less education.”

The New York Times suggests that the typical gap in unemployment favoring college graduates is narrowing a bit. Certainly, having a college degree, including those from online colleges and universities, is no guarantee against unemployment.

What all of this points to is that today’s economy doesn’t offer anyone a free pass to employment. No matter how highly “qualified” you are, knowing how to market your qualifications is much more crucial. Your ability to connect your skills and accomplishments to an organization’s needs will be just as important as actually having the basic qualifications.

It’s up to you to convey what you have to offer that is above and beyond your competition. When you do that well, you’ll be on your way to landing the job of your dreams!

Need a little help marketing yourself in today’s tough market? I can help! Contact me to discuss how I can help you succeed!

 

photo by adobemac