Posts Tagged ‘Job Search’

Do More than Send a Sorry-You-Got-Laid-Off Card

October 16th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

I think this is a fabulous idea – as long as the card isn’t snarky or sent with a mean spirit.  I’ve also seen “Happy Lay Off” cards that can be very funny, if you’re in the mood.

But, I also wouldn’t stop with only a card, even if the card is wonderful. There are so many more things you can do for someone who has just lost their job.

When you’ve been laid off, you can feel like an escapee (if you’re lucky) or like a failure or a victim, and sometimes you feel awkward about reaching back to people you saw every day but who are now employed where you were once employed.

You also feel cut off from your colleagues – from your (former) support network at work.  With luck, and a little effort, colleagues can transform into a network outside of work, too.

So that card is a great start.  And then: (more…)

WIIFT – The Key to Successful Job Search

September 24th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

Think about it: would you buy something from someone who didn’t care what you wanted or needed?

“Buy this computer.  I need to make a sale today.”

You’d be a lot more interested in buying if the salesperson said this:

“This computer does exactly what you need.  It runs the most popular and reliable operating system, the one you know how to use.  All the software you use every day is already installed, and ready to go.  It has plenty of memory, a super fast processor, and the largest and fastest hard drive on the market.  It has built-in WIFI and 5G network connections, plus the latest anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-malware, anti-spyware software to protect you and your computer from the Internet bad guys.

If you’re like me, you’d be so thrilled by that offer, it would take you a while to remember to ask the price.  That’s why really good sales people are so successful – they look at things from the customer’s perspective.

In your job search, view potential employers as your customers. (more…)

Indeed Resume: Great News for Job Seekers & Employers

September 19th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

 The world’s # 1 online job search destination just became even more important!

On Sept. 14, in response to requests from job seekers (and probably employers), Indeed.com announced the launch of Indeed Resume, a new function that will help both job seekers and employers, and could be the next must-do for job seekers.

As of September 14, Indeed now provides:

  • Resume posting for job seekers (free, of course) with many different resume formats accepted, including PDF.
  • And, free resume searching for employers, although a cost to employers will probably be coming. 
  • A personal URL for the job seeker (customizable by the job seeker) to use for their Indeed Resume.

I’m happy to say that Indeed is a Job-Hunt Sponsor, but I see this as an important new development benefiting both job seekers and employers regardless of that relationship.

How Indeed Resume Works

(more…)

Mid-Year Job Search Check-Up: Getting Un-Stuck

July 19th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

Are there things you know you should be doing for your job search, but you can’t seem to get started? Or finished? Do you feel like you are trying to run through a tar pit wearing water skis to get anything done?  

You are stuck, and July is the perfect time to get un-stuck.  Leap out of that tar pit, and leave those skis behind!

With your rivals for that great job taking it easy this summer, you vault into action and snag that job while they aren’t paying attention.

How to get un-stuck immediately so you can do all this leaping, vaulting, and snagging?  Try applying these 5 rules for making progress in landing your new job.

(more…)

Find Jobs Using Google

May 15th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

Just typing “jobs” as your query in Google will give you nearly 3 billion results – a little time-consuming for you to check out each one, and not very practical or useful either. 

So, you need to do three things to help you find the job postings you want:

  1. Know the job you want. 
    An unfocused web search on Google is as useless as an unfocused job search, “IRL” (“in real life”).  “Anything” seems easy to find, but it really is not because no one describes their job opening as “anything.”  So figure out the job(s) you want to do next to have terms you can use in Google and also in your answer the next time someone asks.
  2. Modify your Google search so the results are more useful to you (see the tips and example below).
  3. Analyze pages like the pages you want Google to find for you.  Look for terms that are repeated on those pages, and then use those commonly-used terms in your search to find similar pages.

Tips for Effective Google Searches for Jobs
(more…)

5 Worst Reasons to Use Twitter for Your Job Search

March 20th, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

As we’ve all said countless times in our lives, “it’s all in how you look at it.”  If you see Twitter users as a bunch of self-absorbed people with too much time on their hands Tweeting about what they ate for breakfast, then that’s what you’ll see when you go to Twitter.  Not necessarily true…

5 Worst Reasons to Use Twitter for Job Search:

1.  Because your job search coach or career counselor told you that you should do it.

2.  Because you read somewhere that you should do it.

3.  Because “everyone else” is doing it.

4.  Because your spouse/significant other/teenager/tweener/neighbor set it up for you.

5.  Because you don’t have anything better to do.

Much MUCH better reasons to use Twitter for your job search exist!  Below are the first 5 I could think of.  Many more exist – feel free to add them in the comments. (more…)

Beat the Job-Search-Is-a-Numbers-Game Myth

February 1st, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

I am a member of the Career Collective, a group of  resume writers and career coaches. Each month, all members discuss a topic, and this month’s topic is out-dated job search beliefs. Please follow our tweets on Twitter #careercollective. See the links to the other Career Collective articles at the bottom of this post.

The Numbers Game theory:

Just keep applying over and over and over and over again on every job board and employer website you can find, and sooner or later something will click. 

Like buying lottery tickets every week?  And, how well does that work for most of us!

Next to “being flexible” and “keeping your options open” (in other words, not knowing or communicating what job you want – see this post about that major mistake), this is the next most out-dated job search belief I see. 

What Does Work?
(more…)

Future of Job Search: 3 Predictions & 2 Wishes

January 3rd, 2011 by Susan P. Joyce

Looking into my foggy crystal ball, these are the trends I see for  2011, or “to infinity and beyond!” as our friend Buzz Lightyear would have described it.  I have 3 predictions to make and 2 fervent wishes.

First, the 3 predictions:

1.  Increasing use of mobile apps – iPad, iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, etc.

If you have an iPhone, iPad, Droid, BlackBerry, etc., you can job search on the bus, in the dentist’s waiting room, in a restaurant while you wait for a friend or the check, etc.  You can also edit and send your resume, write a LinkedIn Recommendation for your colleague, check for local MeetUps, and on and on and on.

LinkedIn and Twitter have free mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, etc.  Two of my favorite job posting sources, Indeed and LinkUp for example, now have free mobile apps, so you can still job search even when you’re not at your computer.

And, the mapping app will help you find the location of that interview, while the traffic app helps you avoid the traffic jams and construction and the weather app keeps you informed of the latest blizzard or drenching rain storms. Plus, of course, the email and browser apps will keep you up to date on what’s going on in your digital world.

(more…)

Welcome Debra Feldman, Job Search Strategies Expert

December 30th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

As 2010 comes to an end, we are very happy to announce that Debra Feldman, the JobWhiz, is the newest member of the  Job-Hunt Experts.  Debra has been helping job seekers with their job searches for over 10 years.  As the JobWhiz, Debra is an executive talent agent who helps senior executives find their next opportunities.

Debra is Job-Hunt’s Job Search Strategies Expert.

A prolific author, Debra’s advice appears in traditional and new media. She writes feature articles, guest blogs, and posts tweets (@Debra_Feldman) and has contributed to more than a dozen resume and career books. She has been quoted in and interviewed for countless blogs as well as print (Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Fox News, Reader’s Digest, Greenwich Time, Hartford Courant, Yahoo careers, The Boston Globe, etc.).

As Debra describes 21st century job search -

“Job search is not about you or what you want but about exceeding the employer’s expectations, removing their doubts, increasing your credibility, and making them recognize your potential for them and that you are trustworthy – their first choice, the go-to expert.”

On Job-Hunt, Debra will help job seekers of every organizational level understand how to job hunt more effectively online.  Topics Debra plans to cover include: (more…)

Fortune 1000 Employers: Research, Jobs, & Internships

December 12th, 2010 by Susan P. Joyce

In 2010,  96% of the Fortune 1000 employers post their jobs on their Websites! (Only 4% don’t.)

And, we found internships posted on more than 60% of the Fortune 500 company websites (we didn’t check for internships in the entire Fortune 1000 this year, but we will next year).

Most employers see the value of  having those job postings on the corporate website.  A link directly to “Careers” or “Employment” is often in the top right of the home page or in the housekeeping links at the bottom of every page. 

And, as you will see from these pages, only 3 of the Fortune 500 lack job postings on their websites. And, very few companies in the Fortune 1000 (less than 5%) fail to use the corporate Website for their own job postings.    Of course, sites like Job-Hunt advertisers Indeed.com and LinkUp.com collect those job postings (“aggregate” them), and make them visible to people who have never heard of the employer.  (more…)

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