Career Rocketeer
Career Rocketeerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14906162015790554668noreply@blogger.comBlogger540125
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Don’t Rush the Job Search!
In a survey earlier this year, of more than 5000 UK job seekers by TotalJobs.com, it was found that 60% spend less than two hours working on each application following a job search including the time it takes to write a resume and covering letter and to prepare for an interview.What does this reveal? It seems that many of us think that when we’re looking for a job, we have to cram in as many job applications as possible. The laws of probability determine that the more jobs we apply for, the... |
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CAREER ADVICE COLUMN: What are Jobs that Require Great People Skills?
Not to be flip but - all of them. OK, serious answer. There are many jobs that truly benefit by someone having great people skills, here are some off the top of my head: teachers, nurses, sales people, manager, clergy, customer service, coaches, counselors, HR - manager or employee support, marketing, non profits development, receptionist, wait staff, airline attendants, volunteer coordinator, bar tender, purchasing agents, logistic coordinator, project manager. Wheww! I would suggest you... |
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Leaving Effective Voicemails in Your Job Search!
When networking, following up on an application, reconnecting after an interview, or for virtually any other aspect of a job search… talking to someone is always better than an email.A professional voice on the phone is much harder to ignore than one of dozens of emails.However, for most people, the majority of calls you make will initially result in leaving a voicemail than actually being able to catch someone on the phone.I recently received an email from someone asking what they can do to... |
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Filling Your Time on “Dead Days”
Job seekers sometimes tell me that they’re actively looking for a job, but they haven’t seen anything online for a week or two, and they feel like their job search is becoming stagnant. This can be a very frustrating situation when you’re in desperate need of work. What can you do to move your job search forward when there doesn’t seem to be anything appropriate available?Update your LinkedIn profileMany people create LinkedIn profiles but never really take the time to add any detail to... |
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Job Interviews 101
"An actor never plays a speech. He always plays a scene, an event, a situation, an occurrence. Words are part of the occurrence.” Lee StrasbergSo what does this have to do with you? Your a CEO, an accountant, a programmer, a sales rep, an educator, a medical biller, or a recent college graduate; not a thespian.Think again; if you’re interviewing for a job the first 2-5 minutes are critical in getting your message across and doing it convincingly. So to get a job offer in today’s competitive... |
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Have You Sabotaged Your Job Search?
As a globally recognized Certified Professional Resume Writer, Executive Recruiter, and founder of Haute Resume & Career Services LLC, I review hundreds of resumes each year for unemployed job seekers who’ve often spent months unsuccessfully searching for a job. Most of these costly mistakes are easily preventable when the job seeker has educated him/herself in the art of resume writing.Avoid these common mistakes on your resume!• Are you using an old school resume template that you found... |
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Tell Your Story in Six Words or Less
“It’s in the Game”; “Just Do It”; and “What can Brown do for you?” are very recognizable advertising and brand slogans. To be effective they need to be more than words, they need to convey a feeling, a disposition, an “attitude.” This attitude must lead to a positive view of their product or service by the consumer. The same is true about career search. Is your brand recognizable? Does it differentiate you from the competition? Does your “attitude” lead to a positive... |
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CAREER ADVICE COLUMN: What is the Best Way to Prepare for Finding a New Job?
Rather than reaching for the word processing to create your resume, your first step is to pull together a full plan or strategy on your job search. Your plan needs to include these parts:1) Get clear on 2-3 jobs/titles you are pursuing.2) Define your criteria for a place to work that includes those jobs3) Do research to find those companies (that meet the criteria you just developed) and if you need a refresher on the hiring criteria, go update yourself.4) Figure out a schedule you will do your... |
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Want Recruiters to Call?
One complaint from many job seekers is that they can’t seem to get recruiters to call them back when they’re looking for a job. You’d think they’d love an opportunity to place a good candidate… so why don’t they call? They often know the market in their field of specialization better than most people. Is there anything you can do to get them to be a little more proactive in helping you find a job?It helps to understand their motivations and what gets their attention. Then you can be... |
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Presenting Your Executive Climb to the Top
Many executives share similar career paths. One of these paths involves entering a company at a job relevant to your degree or experience, and climbing your way up the corporate ladder until you’re eventually running the place. Another path involves working for many different companies for a few years at a time, while regularly being courted away with a higher salary or greater responsibilities. Both of these career paths show that you’ve got what it takes to be an executive. Whichever... |
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Every Lone Ranger Needs a Tonto
Since I offer free resume critiques for Career Rocketeer readers and volunteer as a career coach at local colleges, NYC job fairs, and for a national NFP organization, in any given week I will speak to a wide spectrum of job seekers ranging from first time FT job seeking college graduates to veteran CXO level executives.After chatting at length with these candidates what I found most perplexing is how long it took most of them to reach out for any kind of human assistance in their job search.... |
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That to Which You Give Attention Grows
That to which you give attention, grows. If you’re having a terrible time with your job search, you’re the reason. Those who stop reading here are especially the ones who should continue. Do any of these phrases sound familiar?• Craig’s Consulting laid off 150 consultants. Now the market is flooded.• It’s hard to find a job when the economy is so terrible.• No one is hiring me! I’ll never find a job!If you’re uttering these types of phrases, stop it. Thought precedes action precedes... |
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CAREER ADVICE COLUMN: Getting a Job with No Experience
Question: How does one negotiate for a job when inquiring about one without having a career? One feels vulnerable after being out of work for a long time or gaps in employment. –K-Discussing a job when you don’t have experience. First you need to make sure you are feeling confident about yourself when you discuss jobs with a potential employer. Second, we all have to start somewhere, even if we lack experience so it’s best to be looking for an entry level position. Third and most important,... |
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Your Job Search is Rarely "One and Done!"
It’s probably not news to many people that there are not many “lifetime” jobs available anymore these days.My dad worked at the same company for 35 years before he retired in 1993. At the time, it wasn’t that unusual to hear similar stories as his. In the last 20 to 25 years though, even the companies considered the most stable and secure have had massive lay-offs at one point or another.The median job tenure of American workers was 5.1 years in 2008. When you consider people that still... |
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Positioning Yourself as an Executive Candidate
As you advance in your career as an executive, the number of opportunities appropriate for your skill set decreases. You know what they say: It’s lonely at the top. In order to secure an executive position that will fully utilize your talents and abilities, it’s important to have a resume that effectively markets you as a truly outstanding candidate. Some ways to distinguish yourself include:Graduate degree or continuing educationMany executives have set themselves apart from the others... |
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Is Your Job Search Over 8 Weeks Old?
Recently (July 2010), the New York Post ran an interesting article in their career advice section, and the writer included these three ubiquitous facts, some of which you may already be aware.1. “Today’s workers will run through at least 10 jobs, three careers, and two layoffs between college and retirement.”2. “90 percent of all jobs come through networking.” (Face-to-face and online)3. The big five [social media networking sites] are Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and blogs.As... |
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I’m an MBA Grad: Now Where?
One of the toughest things a graduate has to do is to find suitable work. The big question is….where? In this post, we’ll take a look at where corporate recruiters say the best places are to search for a job if you’re a 2010 MBA graduate.The world’s economic troubles are certainly impacting hiring. According to the GMAC’s 2010 survey, experienced professionals are seeing a lower level of mobility. They are also experiencing less opportunities, or direct hires from industry. The... |
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How to Make Your Resume Sell
The most problematic part of a resume for people seems to be crafting their accomplishments. The confusion between an accomplishment and a responsibility is the difference between generating excitement by selling what you can do, and making a bland statement that elicits the question “So what?” It’s the difference between being invited in for an interview….and getting no response at all.A responsibility reads as if it was taken from your job description. It fails to distinguish you from... |
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CAREER ADVICE COLUMN: How to Network
Dorothy, The biggest question and stumbling block I have is networking. If you could address this subject in a useable fashion in your article, that would be very helpful to job seekers like myself.Thanks, T-yHi T-y, thank you for your question/request. Let me do two things. First, to reference an article on my blog I did recently on networking and then I’ll expand from there.http://nextchapternewlife.com/blog/2010/04/career-development-networking-for-the-socially-inept-introverted-and-reluctant/This... |
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Tracking Your Targets with Google!
In your job search, outside of LinkedIn, I believe Google can be your best friend online!Google has many tools that can make it easy to find and target the jobs and information you need to run ahead of the pack at the companies you want to pursue.Used wisely, some of these tools can help you find job postings, company news, contact information and many other valuable pieces of information that can help you set yourself above the crowd.Here are some ideas to consider:Do an X-Ray! Google allows... |