6 Common Job Search Questions Answered – Marcelle Yeager

Mar 272017
 

There are many questions about job searching out there, and unfortunately, a wide range of answers. This is because each employer and every single recruiter is different, and hiring practices change over time. That makes it very hard to nail down one answer to every question. However, among the most common job search questions, the answers that you get will generally be along the same lines. Let’s dive in.

[See: 10 Things They Don’t Tell You About Your First Job.]

“Do people even get hired anymore without knowing someone?” Yes! It is surprising how many job seekers think this isn’t true. You actually can apply to a job online and be asked for an interview and receive an offer, or be contacted by a recruiter and have it lead to a job offer. Shocked? Apply away, but be smart about where you apply and what you spend your time on. If you don’t meet the minimum qualifications, you are probably wasting your time.

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Job Hunting? Avoid These Common Mistakes – Chad Brooks

Feb 132017
 

When searching for work, it is important to remember that employers are evaluating you on all aspects of the job search process. From the application to the interview, you always need to put your best foot forward. New research, however, shows that all too often, job candidates make myriad blunders that damage their chances of finding work.

The study, from the staffing firm Accountemps, revealed that there are a variety of mistakes job seekers regularly make on their applications and resumes. The most common error candidates make is not customizing their materials to the job they’re applying to, the study found.

Other application and resume mistakes executives see on a regular basis include not proofreading for typos or poor grammar, focusing on job duties and not accomplishments, and including irrelevant information.

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10 Job Skills That Will Get You Hired in 2017 – Megan Elliott

Jan 092017
 

who-would-hire

 

If you’re in the market for a new job, you’re not alone. More than 75% of full-time employees are either open to new opportunities or actively looking for work, according to CareerBuilder’s 2016 Candidate Behavior Study.

You might be more than ready for a career change, but you may not have the skills it takes to get noticed by recruiters. LinkedIn recently combed through its database to find out which skills employers were looking to hire for in 2017, both in the United States and around the world. They found you’re in good shape if your talents lie in statistics, cloud computing, and mobile development, while other job hunters might have to work a bit harder to catch the eye of hiring managers.

To develop lists of the top 10 in-demand job skills, the professional networking site looked at trends in hiring and recruiting from January through September 2016. LinkedIn predicts these skills will also be in high demand in the first part of 2017.

“While some skills expire every couple of years, our data strongly suggests that tech skills will still be needed for years to come, in every industry. Now is a great time for professionals to acquire the skills they need to be more marketable,” LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher said in a statement.

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5 Things Job Applicants Can Expect in 2017 – Ray Bixler

Dec 192016
 
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With unemployment dropping, companies are aggressively hunting for the best talent.

After another strong jobs report, which shows the unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent, job candidates will have the chance to press their advantage – but only if they know the new rules of the game. It pays to be prepared. Here are five key trends that job seekers will encounter in 2017 – and tips on how to navigate this new terrain.

[See: 10 Things New Grads Can Do Right Now to Get a Job.]

A Need for Speed. The job-search process is moving faster than ever. Companies are paying close attention to how fast job applicants respond to their questions and complete any necessary assessments, and they are sometimes using this information to rule candidates in – or out. For example, our research shows that the reference response rate is a factor in predicting turnover, along with the overall rating those references provide. Job applicants who take longer to provide references, or whose references don’t respond in time to a request on behalf of a potential employer, may be perceived as less likely to last for the long term. Potential employers know this and are factoring it into their decision-making.

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Your Guide to Making Unrelated Experience Look Relevant on Your Resume – Kat Boogaard

Nov 282016
 

guide-to-making-unrelated

Perhaps you’re a few years into your career with just a few jobs under your belt. Maybe you’re an experienced professional looking at making a pretty major career change. Or, perhaps you entered the military right out of high school, and now you’re looking for your first civilian job.

Regardless of your specific circumstances, you’re dealing with an all-too-common problem: You know exactly which jobs you’d like to apply for, but the majority of your work experience up to this point seems completely irrelevant.

Believe me, pretty much everybody’s been there. I remember sifting through openings when I was fresh out of college—with work experience that equated to a part-time pizza waitress and someone who did all of the grunt work at a law firm—and getting frustrated by the fact that I would never be able to make myself look impressive (or relevant) enough to even get my foot in the door.

Yes, it can be somewhat discouraging. But, if up until this point you’ve reacted by either crying, cursing, or contemplating throwing your computer out the window, it’s time for a serious change.

Luckily, there are a few different tactics and strategies you can use to make even the seemingly most unrelated experience appear more applicable to the position you’re applying for. Follow these six steps, and you’ll be armed with a resume that makes you look like a no-brainer fit.

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  •  November 28, 2016
  •  Posted by at 10:03 am
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  •   Career Success, Resume Tips

Tips To Win Over A Resume Tracker – Diane Stafford

Oct 032016
 

resume-tracker-tipsWhen you search Google for information, your success in finding what you want depends on typing the most appropriate words. So it goes when employers search for job candidates.

Most large and midsize employers use applicant tracking systems – software applications that cull applications for a posted position. The systems make cuts by matching words in resumes to the same keywords posted in the job descriptions.

Industry experts estimate that automated cuts often dump three-fourths of applications before human hirers enter the process. That’s a huge reason you must tailor your resume to each job for which you apply.

Job hunters understandably get frustrated when they believe they’re perfect for a job but fall into a cyberspace black hole. It’s absolutely true that terrific matches are missed by computer scans, so read these tips to improve your odds.

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  •  October 3, 2016
  •  Posted by at 2:19 pm
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  •   Resume Tips

Ten Books That Can Help Your Career – Diane Stafford

Sep 122016
 
ten-booksOld standards and newer books provide timeless career advice.

Summertime “best book” lists usually focus on easy, beachy reads — thrillers and bodice rippers that temporarily engage you but are easily forgotten. Here’s a list of career-minded books that should stay with you.

First a caveat: No book offers a sure menu for success. What you take away from reading is only as good as what you practice once you get out of the deck chair.

That said, here’s a totally arguable selection of career advice books that might be of use. First on the list, two old but gold standard recommendations:

“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie: This is all about being nice to people, but not so nice that you’re a doormat. It prescribes a non-Machiavellian — or at least subtle — way to get along and yet get results you want without making people hate you.

“Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey: Business students the world over can recite the habits. If you don’t know “sharpen the saw,” it might be time to open the Covey toolbox.

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13 Social Media Power Tips for Getting the Job You Want – Matt Sweetwood

Aug 092016
 

13 Social MediaI believe that social media is the most effective tool for building your brand and business. That is true whether the brand is for business or is personal. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Linkedin have become commonplace in our culture and maybe the most popular forms of interaction today. In fact, Facebook has 1.5 billion monthly users. That’s one in five people on earth.

Job seeking has changed a lot over the past few years. Gone are the days of waiting for the Sunday newspaper to scour the job section for new opportunities. We have Monster, Ladders, Recruiter, ZipRecruiter and other dot coms which provide job listings and automatically deliver your resume electronically. So, do you need to use social media to find a new job? Does having a powerful personal brand give you an edge in the job market?

Related: The Easy Way to Get a Social Influencer Advocating Your Brand Is to Hire One

Let’s look at some statistics, courtesy of the September 2015 study done by the Society for Human Resource Management: 57 percent of companies hired from LinkedIn, 19 percent hired from Facebook and 65 percent of companies used some form of social media to hire.

Related: Build a Social Media Hiring Strategy

From the same study: Hiring managers thought it important for job seekers to have the following social media accounts: LinkedIn — 87 percent, Facebook 63 percent, Twitter 56 percent, and a blog 55 percent. The statistics tell us that if you are not using social media to help you find a job you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage.

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11 Sloppy LinkedIn Mistakes That You’re Too Qualified to Make – The Young Entrepreneur Council

Aug 012016
 

11 SloppyA LinkedIn profile’s an awesome opportunity to shine beyond the traditional resume. Between your job history, publications, endorsements, and connections, potential employers scan your information to see what you can bring to the team that no one else can. But if your profile is riddled with typos or you don’t have an adequate picture, an employer isn’t going to see you as a viable candidate.

We asked 11 entrepreneurs and members of YEC to share the mistakes they see most often and how they hurt your professional image in an employer’s eyes. Here’s what you should avoid:

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These Ten Mistakes Are Killing Your Resume – Liz Ryan

Jul 182016
 

These Ten MistakesAlthough most if not all of us were taught to write our resumes using horrible, zombie language like “Motivated self-starter with a bottom-line orientation,” it is easy to see that if your resume sounds like everybody else’s resume, no one will notice your brilliance!

You have to stand out, right in your resume. You have to sound like yourself.

You can’t pitch your resume into anonymous online recruiting portals. Those things don’t work. You could wait months to hear back from an employer when you apply for jobs online. You may never ever hear anything.

You have to take a different route to get a job these days, and contact your hiring manager (a.k.a. Your Next Boss) directly.

You’ll send two documents to your hiring manager and skip the online job application. You’ll send your two documents together in the mail, stapled to one another with one staple in the upper-left corner. The two documents are your Pain Letter, written specifically for this hiring manager, and your Human-Voiced Resume.

Your resume has to sound like a human being wrote it in order for it to catch your hiring manager’s attention. He or she is crazy busy the way we all are. Here are ten mistakes that will keep your resume from doing its job for you.

Make sure your resume isn’t holding back your career by failing to brand you as the capable and unlike-anyone-else person you are!

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