Archive for December, 2009

18 Minutes a Day Job Hunting – REALLY?

December 30th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

Apparently, the US Department of Labor came out with a very interesting and controversial data point recently -

The average job seeker spends 18 minutes a day looking for a job.

And that datapoint has created an uproar online about the ignorant people who are dumb enough to think that 18 minutes a day is a sufficient and/or appropriate amount of time to find a job.

So, with visions of my hard-earned tax dollars helping some lazy bums take  paid vacations at my expense, I decided to look into it. (more…)

New Job Hunt Articles + Career of the Week

December 29th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

This week, Deborah Shane, founder of the Women’s Empowerment Conferences and TraneWithShane, joined the growing roster of Job-Hunt’s Job Search Experts with her introductory article on 5 ways to stand out in a job search.

In addition, two other experts added to  our knowledge with their newest articles this week: Kate Duttro, Job-Hunt’s Expert on Careers for Academics, and Diane Hudson Burns, on Veterans’ Job Search.  In addition, a new blog post about Twitter was posted.

 Career Spotlight: Attorneys – $56.87/hour average wage, expected 10-year job growth is 11%. More about other Careers.

Why Twitter Works

December 27th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

In 2008, my first impression of  Twitter was that it was really kind of dumb and useless.  It asked “What are you doing?”  and many people obligingly (and boringly) answered this question – having a grande half-caf latte in Starbucks, watching a TV show, etc.  Who cared?  Very few.  NOT me!

But, a friend convinced me to try it for a couple of days, and I discovered that I was very wrong about Twitter being dumb OR useless.

Twitter is excellent for many things and has opened a whole new online world for me: (more…)

Job Search Success Postponed

December 20th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

“I wasted this whole year, doing everything wrong.”

That’s the sad comment a job seeker made to me last week as we were leaving a WIND-West job search support group meeting in Westborough, MA.  She had been an active participant in the meeting, asking many questions, clearly a well-educated, highly- intelligent, and experienced professional who had been focused on job hunting since being laid off in January.

What I think she did wrong:

She waited a year before attending a job search support group meeting.

Get help with your job search. NOW!

Doing a job search with no coaching or support is akin to diving off a diving board without knowing how to either dive or swim. For most of us, job hunting is a lonely, discouraging process, with many land mines to trip up the inexperienced and/or unwary.

(more…)

New Job Hunt Articles + Career of the Week

December 15th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

Three great new articles were added to Job-Hunt this week: Marci Reynolds, Job-Hunt’s Social Media & Job Search Expert, Nancy Collamer, Job-Hunt’s Lifestyle-Friendly Careers Expert, and Jeff Lipschultz, Job-Hunt’s Working with Recruiters Expert.  In addition, a new blog post about developing green industry expertise was posted.

Career of the Week:

Detectives – $30.05/hour average wage, expected 10-year job growth is 18%.  More about other Careers.

(Holiday) Party Your Way to a New Job

December 10th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

One of the most enjoyable parts of the holidays are attending holiday parties, catching up with people you know and meeting new people. Interestingly, catching up with people you know and meeting new people is a wonderful opportunity to NETWORK. Coincidentally, networking is the NUMBER ONE WAY TO FIND A JOB.

So, how do you party your way to a new job? (more…)

New Job-Hunt Articles + Career Spotlight of the Week

December 8th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

Three great new articles were added to Job-Hunt this week: Beverly Harvey, Job-Hunt’s Executive Job Search Expert, Susan Guarneri, Job-Hunt’s Career Assessments Expert, and Erin Kennedy, Job-Hunt’s Marketing and Sales Job Search Expert.  In addition, a new blog post about developing green industry expertise was posted.

Career of the Week:

Occupational Therapy Providers – $30.00/hour average wage, expected 10-year job growth is 23%. More about other Careers.

Build Green Industry Expertise for Your Next Job

December 5th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

Looking to the future, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the growing emphasis on “being green” will be increasingly critical – in our homes, in our work and play, in education and industry, and in our governments.

Add to the growing need for “green-ness” the scarcity of experienced experts in the various “green” fields, and we find *OPPORTUNITY* for YOU!

(more…)

New Job-Hunt Articles + Career of the Week

December 5th, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

This week, we introduce Job-Hunt’s NEW Social Media & Job Search Expert, Marci Reynolds. Marci is CEO of J2B Marketing (Job Seeker to Business),  a Boston based Internet Marketing and Copywriting firm for job seekers.

Three great new articles were added to Job-Hunt this week: Marci Reynold’s first article on LinkedIn SEO for job seekers, Meg Guiseppi, Job-Hunt’s Personal Branding Expert, and Barbara Safani, Job-Hunt’s Finance Industry Job Search Expert.  In addition, a new blog post about Job-Hunt’s very popular Twitter Lists was posted.

Career of the Week:

Dental Hygiene Technician – $31.21/hour average wage, expected 10-year job growth is 30%. More about other Careers.

Holiday Preparation for the January Job Crush

December 2nd, 2009 by Susan P. Joyce

January 2, or as soon as the bowl games are over, a tsunami of people jump into the online job market.

New Year = New Job Hunt = Crush of Competition

As someone who has been working in and observing the online job market since 1995, I know that shelving a job search during November and December is a mistake because of the plentiful holiday networking opportunities and reduced level of competition. However, “taking the holidays off” is a common November/December job search strategy.

So, use this “time off” to advance your job search without doing the hard stuff – resumes, cover letters, interviews, etc.

(more…)