5 Typical Job Search Problems And How To Solve Them

5 Typical Job Search Problems And How To Solve Them 44 Every job search has its share of problems. Here are some examples and what to do about them. This a guest post by Tim Tyrell-Smith. If you’d also like to guest post here on JobMob, follow these guest post guidelines. It all starts with a hole in a bucket As a kid growing up in the United States, I was influenced heavily by public television. These shows included Sesame Street, The Electric Company, ZOOM and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Entertainment and education all in one. Seen all over the world, I imagine. All the songs and phrases still fill my head â€" including some that are unwanted â€" but there is one song/story that stands out the most. And don't ask me why…eval The song found my ears as a Muppet skit on Sesame Street. According to an entry on Wikipedia, the song has German origins dating back the the 1700's. Here's a few lines to give you an idea:eval There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole. Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, then fix it. With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza? With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what? With some straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, With some straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, some straw. The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza, The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long, Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, As you might expect, this song can go on forever but thankfully it does not. The solution from Liza involves the need for a bucket which, yes, has a hole in it. And the local hardware store is likely closed. The good news for Henry is that he has Liza there, to sing with and solve problems. We all need a Liza. Some of us need a more aggressive Liza, one who will even hit us over the head with the bucket when we need it most. If you're having trouble in your job search, you just might be like Henry with a hole in your proverbial job search bucket. In that case, here are 5 things that might be leaking out and causing problems in your job search. So, what does a hole look like in job search and what is actually leaking out of your bucket? 5 typical job search problems Hole #1 leaks Time: Inefficient Strategy If you wake up every morning, hop on the computer and search for jobs (via Monster or AllJobs) for hours, there's a hole in your bucket. You are losing valuable time every day. Time that could be spent meeting with real people, completing informational interviews, and using Linkedin, Plaxo or Xing to find contacts at your target companies. Since you cannot and should not search for work 12 hours a day, focus your key search hours on the right efforts. Hole #2 leaks Opportunity: Uninspired Elevator or Introductory Speech So you stand up at the big networking event when it is your turn to speak in front of 50 other people, some of whom might be able to influence your job search. You speak too softly, don't make eye contact, don't deliver a compelling message and forget to share your job search objectives. When will you be able to fix that one? You've just left a forgettable impression on 50 people. Fix this leak by learning to speak with a powerful voice, find at least 10 people to reach with your eyes and work hard to develop a compelling story for your career. Be interesting. Hole #3 leaks Credibility and Friendship: Ineffective and Self-Focused Networker If you are uncomfortable meeting new people. If you stumble in conversations. If your focus in networking is to solve your own problems. Leak, leak, leak. Networking is about giving and getting. In that order. No matter your stage in job search. Even if just beginning, there is always someone worse off than you. Someone you can help. And, of course, word gets around. If you are a giver, you will get from others. If you are a taker… well, the leak will get worse. Hole #4 leaks Interview Potential: Poor or Incomplete Marketing Materials When your resume or CV is too long, unstructured or lacking measurable accomplishments, you give little option to a hiring manager or recruiter. You give them a reason to filter your candidacy to the “HOLD” or “NO” folder. If you do not create a significant impact in two pages, you will miss out on phone interviews and you will be less likely to be invited into HQ. Also, make sure you have materials prepared for all occasions. Going to an event where the search is performed more informally? Have a “one sheet” version of your resume and carry networking business cards that include your contact information, key strengths, a clear positioning statement and your specific job search objectives. Hole #5 leaks Energy: Random Acts of Desperation Sometimes in job search a little bit of frustration sneaks into your mind. Perhaps that interview that you thought went so well… didn't. But you feel a need to reinforce your skills via a phone message, e-mail and a hand-delivered note in the hopes that the company will realize they made a mistake by not offering you the job. Not only is this damaging to your psychology, it does not endear you to the hiring manager. If they want you, they will call. Really. Make sure you have lots of irons in the fire to prevent a hyper-focus on one position â€" even if you think it is your dream job. Follow up So now it's time to inspect your bucket. Are you seeing any leaks? Look for a Liza in your network. And learn how to sing. About the author Tim Tyrell-Smith, a veteran consumer packaged goods marketing executive, started writing Spin Strategy in September 2008. Tim writes and creates from the perspective of a hiring manager and a job seeker focusing on the strategy and psychology of successful job search. He lives in Mission Viejo, California, USA. Follow him on Twitter at @timsstrategy. This article is part of the 3rd Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest. If you want Tim Tyrell-Smith to win, share this article with your friends. If you enjoyed this article, you'll also find interesting What Is Your Biggest Job Search Problem? [POLL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS].

Autumn Fairs University of Manchester Careers Blog

Autumn Fairs University of Manchester Careers Blog Next week our autumn fairs are taking place in Manchester Central. The Engineering, Science Technology fair is taking place on Wednesday 16th and The Finance, Business Management fair on Thursday 17th. These fairs are not just for students they are a great opportunity for graduates to meet and network with recruiters. Engaging with employers at fairs can be quite nerve wracking and one of the   issues the information team get asked about the most is how to approach employers and what sort of things to ask them. Approaching employers   First things first dress smartly. It’s essential that you make a great first impression. I recommend suits for guys and a for women a smart skirt/trouser and shirt/blouse combination. Ladies also remember to wear sensible shoes; I’m not saying you have to wear flat shoes but wear shoes you should be able to walk in. Initiating a conversation with a prospective employer is often what scares people the most. But don’t panic it’s really not that hard! What I would   recommend is something like this: ‘Hello I’m Natasha I’m a 3rd year undergraduate student studying chemical engineering and I’m interested in finding out about the opportunities I could apply for within your organisation.’ Questions to ask Employers will not be impressed if you ask simple questions which could be answered by looking on their website so it’s essential to do your research first. Look on their recruitment pages is there anything you want to follow up or clarify with them? I think questions like ‘would you be able to tell me a little bit more about the roles you have available?’  and ‘I’m particularly interested in applying to your analyst stream can you tell me a little bit more about the work I would be carrying out?’  would be fine along with questions about their personal experiences such as   ‘Did you start on the graduate trainee scheme yourself? How did you find it?’ Remember that   you ask need to demonstrate your interest and motivation in the company so be positive about the opportunities they are telling you about.  Make a note of the person you have been speaking to. In your formal applications you can mention that you have spoken to them. Why finishing you conversation remember to thank the employer for their time â€" It’s just polite! For more information about the fairs and to register to attend either follow this link, you can also get more information on how best to prepare for the fair as well as a full list of the employers attending each fair. All Graduate Careers fair networking

4 CV Tips You Should Always Give to Your Candidates

4 CV Tips You Should Always Give to Your Candidates The job market is extremely competitive and so, CVs have to be an enjoyable read, whereby recruiters and employers can extract the information they need quickly. Getting this right will provide candidates with responses from employers and many interview opportunities. Here are 4 key tips you should always give to your candidates. 1. Keep it Simple While candidates might think that a complicated looking CV will earn them points with employers as it makes them look sophisticated and clever, it is not necessarily true. Like many things in life, a CV has to be simple. Employers and recruiters for that matter do not want to spend hours trawling through CV’s in order to find what they need. They want CV’s that are quick and punchy, easy to understand and to the point. Therefore, make sure they keep the design and font clean and simple and consider the content more than the style itself because this is what will sell the candidate. In fact, tell them to forget adding in designs, photos, and logos in an attempt to get them noticed. While it will get them noticed, it will be for all the wrong reasons. The idea of a CV is to showcase your skills, abilities, experience, and qualifications. There is nothing more to it than that. 2. Deliver a Reading Experience that is Pleasant It is important to remember that your candidates are more than likely not going to be the only one applying for jobs. So, their CV is going to be up against tens or hundreds of CV’s at a time. Those individuals who are in charge of the hiring will have experience of reading many CV’s, so they know what they are looking for and they know what works. This means that they need to keep it simple to read so they can deliver their message in a clear and concise way. To achieve this successfully, candidates should consider dividing your CV up into sections that are identifiable and will make employers want to read more. This also enables you to gain their attention in the areas that matter. The text has to be clear, so avoid large blocks of text, as that will not entice employers to consider your candidates. Break it up into manageable chunks because that way, they will be able to digest the information easily. When it comes to roles, head them up with bold titles so that they stand out, you need them to stand out because you need them to know what roles you have undertaken. 3. Keep it Looking Professional In the world of employment, professionalism counts for a lot. Your CV is your way of showing potential employers who you are, what you do and how you can benefit them and so, you need to portray a professional image. If you have an email address that has followed you from your school days then it is not wise to use it on your CV, especially if it is an unprofessional looking email. Create a free and professional looking email that is straight to the point with no fuss. While candidates are keen to tell employers all about themselves, now is not the time to start using an informal tone. Keep everything formal, informative and to the point and deliver it in a way that is punchy. This will enable employers to get a real feel for who they are without having to wade through too much pointless information. What use is a CV if it is full of errors? It will become difficult for them to read, it will show employers that candidates have not paid attention to it and it will show them that they are careless. This is their chance to shine so proofread their CV, proofread it again and then pass it on to someone else to proofread. Make sure they root out any spelling and grammar errors because you really want to reduce the chances of employers casting their CV aside. 4. Use the Space Wisely As mentioned, CV’s have to be short, sharp and punchy. This will enable candidates to communicate their values to readers quickly and efficiently, therefore, they should consider keeping their CV under two pages in length with minimal wasted space. To achieve this, they should consider altering the margins of their CV so that you can fit more content onto each page. This makes it possible to maximize the space and make it easier for you to fill the space while keeping it under two pages. Making good use of the space is not about filling it with superfluous information such as their Date of Birth. Employers do not need to know this at this point, making it irrelevant. Finally, if they have many past roles and find that they are struggling to stick to the two-page rule, consider summarising the older roles. Essentially, the more recent roles will need more space for more information so consider turning older roles in shorter summaries. About the author: Andrew Fennel is an experienced recruiter and founder of CV writing service StandOut CV. He also contributes to a number of leading career pages such as The Guardian, Business Insider, and Huffington Post.

Are you a Renaissance Soul Getting Started When You Want to Do Everything. University of Manchester Careers Blog

Are you a Renaissance Soul Getting Started When You Want to Do Everything. University of Manchester Careers Blog Most students I see are split broadly into two camps. Those who know exactly what they want to do following graduation and those who have no idea yet.   There’s lots of advice available for both of those groups in terms of what they can do next to get where they’re going or figure out where they want to be.   However, what if you’re one of those people who doesn’t fall into either category?   It’s not that you’ve got one idea or no idea, you’ve got dozens! Teaching appeals but so does being a writer or maybe   a journalist. However you also want to travel or   do a Postgraduate course but want to be sure that whatever you do is of benefit to the community and involves using your foreign language skills.   Throw in the fact that the science and philosophy modules your friends are doing sound fascinating and it all gets a bit overwhelming. What adds to your confusion is that every new option you come across is just as interesting as those already on your list and fills yo u with the same wave of enthusiasm.  You probably have felt under pressure to make a decision and stick to it. You might consider yourself a commitment-phobe and worry that there doesn’t seem to be one thing you excel at.  So, where do you start when you want to do everything? The key is to manage and explore your options in a way that means you dont get overwhelmed by the range of choice facing you.   Easier said than done? Heres some suggestions to help you out. Identify what it is specifically that interests you in each of your options.   If teaching is on your radar, is it working with children, the opportunity to use your subject knowledge or the working hours/pattern that attract you?   Is Postgrad  study an essential step to one of your chosen careers or do you want the opportunity to explore a subject (or more than one subject!) in greater detail? What would you hope to gain from going travelling?   Each time you find yourself saying I like that   thats interesting Id love to do that   imagine someone has asked you Why? and start to articulate the reasons. By identifying key elements you can begin to create a picture of whats important to you in a job.     Prioritise the elements   you identify from what is absolutely non-negotiable to what youd like to be included but isnt essential. You might not have one neat job title to file it all under, but you will start to understand what a career must contain for you to be happy in it.  Alte rnatively, use a tool such as Prospects Planner. While this tool will suggest some roles that might be interesting to you (more ideas to add to your list!) what you’ll find most useful is to focus on the elements that Prospects ask you to consider. Think carefully about things like the skills and experience you’d like to use and develop in the role . Also,   what motivates you and maybe the environment and people youd be exposed to.   Don’t just rate the things you’re good at, as being good at something doesn’t automatically mean you want to make a job of it.   Don’t limit yourself to the range on Prospects, if something is important to you, include that too. Explore, explore, explore.   Try work experience, work shadowing, volunteering,   getting a mentor or any other opportunity to actually get a real taste of the role(s) youre interested in.   Theres no better way to find out if the job really is what you expect it to be.   You also get the opportunity to consider the strength of your interest and ask yourself, even though you find this interesting, is it something you see yourself doing in the longer-term as a career? If youre someone with a quite a few options to explore, you might want to start this sooner rather than later. Have a look at the Careers Service website to see how we can help you with this. Consider if working is the only way for you to get involved with some of your options.   If you just dont have time or opportunity to undertake more than one of your career options (or work experience has made you realise that one or more of your interests isnt something you actually want to do as a career but you still enjoy it  ) could it be a hobby or something you do on a freelance basis? If writing is something you enjoy, writing blogs and freelance articles can be a way to get your creative fix and still fit it in around a career in a completely different field. Still think of yourself as a jack-of-all-trades and worry you’ll never master one thing? Who says you have to?   Margaret Lobenstine would describe you as a Renaissance Soul (doesnt that sound better?) with the skills and abilities to do multiple things well. You can get a brief  overview of her ideas HERE.  You  could also read Barbara Shers book  What Do I Do When I Want to Do Everything which can be found in the Careers Resource Centre. Sher identifies a range of types of people with different approaches to managing their range of interests and options. Are you a Scanner (wide range of interests), a Plate-Spinner (doing a number of things at once) or a Serial Specialist (doing one thing well and then moving on when you’ve mastered it)? Rather than trying to find just one career to do, you might find it useful to identify your preferred style of indulging your interests and then use that style to help you decide what to do next (and maybe what else to do after that, or alongsi de it, or maybe at the weekends etc. etc.) Problems only occur if you feel so overwhelmed by choice  that you do nothing.   If youre out there exploring and getting experience   but still    feel under pressure to be making a choice by now, so long as youre taking some kind of steps reassure yourself that its actually fine to be open to a whole range of options.   Wheres the rule that says you can only have one career choice at a time? There isnt one! All Undergraduate

6 Personal Development Habits to Help with Your Career Growth

6 Personal Development Habits to Help with Your Career Growth Sometimes you feel stuck in your career and seem to be clueless about where you are going. Its time you need to work upon yourself which would eventually lead to growth in your career . Following are some points one needs to remember:1. Becoming aware of yourselfIt is very important to know yourself. Awareness about your strengths, weaknesses, skills, interests etc.,helps you to understand your emotions. For this you need to sometimes reflect and jot it down on paper. It also means accepting yourself the way you are and then deciding how you can change yourself for better.eval?Take care of yourself spiritually. Sometimes we tend to get frustrated with our failures.?It’s very natural, but if we reflect on the events and try to figure out where we went wrong and accept our shortcomings and work upon them ,the next time our performance would be better. Most of the time we do not accept our shortcomings which hinders our personal growth.2. Developing emotional intelligenceThe term emot ional intelligence refers to recognizing your emotions as well as others emotions. It requires individuals to be aware of their emotions and effectively express them toward others. By doing a self evaluation and reflecting on how we react in stressful situations helps to develop our emotional intelligence.?Empathy and self regulation are core to this phenomena. It helps boost your personal as well professional life. An emotional intelligent person is successful in his personal as well as professional life. Developing emotional intelligence, though not an easy task, can over a period of time lead one to a better relationship at home and at work.?As you will be in a position to understand your emotions as well as other’s emotions , it would be easier for you to manage your stress or any stressful situation.3. Positive networkingNetworking, a very common word these days. Meeting different people surely helps in our personal as well as professional life. But at the same time it is ver y important to be cautious of who we are networking with. People with positive attitude and optimism induce positive energy in people around them.?Networking with such people helps in our personal growth. On the other side there are people who are just the opposite. The sooner you get rid of those negative elements around you the better it is for your personal growth.4. Setting priorities in lifeevalThere a lot many things we can do and want to do but sometimes we need to do away with few. It is always good to set priorities in life and sticking to it. When it comes to developing yourself, health is one of the most important aspect which we often neglect until we start seeing signs of it. There goes the old saying ‘a sound mind in a sound body’.?A good health is the biggest asset of life. If your health is good,it’seasier to focus on other aspects like your family and career. Giving more attention to what you eat and a bit of exercise is surely going to pay in the long run.?An other very important aspect is your close relationships. It is equally important to manage your personal relationship . Spending time with your family members especially the elderly ones. And of course your career !5. Working on your communication skillsFor some people communicating in the right manner with different people is not easy. It is important to know who we are talking to and how. Getting at the level of our listeners helps our ideas to be received the desired way. Sometimes we have a plethora of ideas in our mind but when it comes to presenting it to others it might lack clarity and sometimes confusing .eval?Articulating your ideas so that it is convincing and impressive to others is sure to get you success in your personal and professional spheres.6. Respecting and admiring cultural diversityAn essential aspect for better team work in a multicultural setting. We all are brought up with certain set of values which we tend to adhere to lifelong. These set of values are cul ture specific and are very different across cultures. Certain workplaces consists of people from different ethnic background, language, traditions etc.?Respecting others values helps us in our personal growth, which eventually leads to better team work at workplace hence more productivity.

5 Tips for Finding Your First Entry-Level Job - CareerAlley

5 Tips for Finding Your First Entry-Level Job - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Dont rule out working with your hands. It does not preclude using your head. Andy Rooney In this economy, finding work can be extremely difficult and time-consuming. But if you are a recent college graduate with only an inkling of what you want to do with your life, finding work can seem practically impossible. I know this, because for four months including my final two months of college my life was consumed by the job search. I sent out resumes, scheduled informational interviews to get practice, worked connections I barely knew, and even tried recruiting agencies. Finally, I found a job, and if I can do it, then you can too. Here are some tips I think helped me eventually land my gig. Get organized and stay organized When I started applying to jobs, I learned quickly that my typical method of functional disorganization would never work. Work applications vary wildly. Some ask for just a resume and cover letter. Others ask for writing samples and references and critical thinking questions. In order to handle all of the confusion, I created a spreadsheet with each job I applied to and a checklist to make sure I had met all of the application requirements for each one. Some of you might not need a spreadsheet to keep them organized, but whatever your method of organization is, make sure you use it freely; otherwise you will end up with cover letters addressed to the wrong company or an application sent out with four writing samples and no resume. Those arent hypothetical situations either, those actually happened to me. Keep your nose to the grindstone Some of you just read that piece of advice, shook your head, and wondered how this column made it into the boring clich portion of the advice already. I understand, but this is one clich that needs to be restated over and over. You can apply to five jobs, turn off your computer, and start watching television thinking you are all set. But that probably wont land you a job. You need to be applying to dozens of jobs per week, and you can never rest on your laurels. If you throw enough darts at the dartboard, eventually one of them has to hit the bulls-eye. Selling yourself can be uncomfortabledo it anyway This was the hardest piece of advice for me to follow through on. I am not lacking in self-confidence, but I am acutely aware of how ridiculous it sounds when I start talking about myself like I am some sort of automaton sent to Earth for the sole purpose of landing this job and crushing the work involved. In a social situation, bragging about you is arrogant and self-centered. But if you are trying to find a job, you should start learning how to brag about yourself, because everyone else applying for that same job is doing it. Employers are looking for the best candidate; it is your job to make yourself look like that candidate by painting yourself in the best possible light. Dont be afraid of the informational interview While I was looking, I used connections to set up what essentially became interviews conducted by me over lunch. The people I had lunch with were in the field that I wanted to enter, but none of them had jobs to offer. This was disappointing at first; I didnt see the point in going to these interviews if it wasnt going to help me get a job. But thats where I was wrong, it did help. Not only did I learn a lot about what prospective employers were looking for and what questions they would ask, but the people I had lunch with usually liked me, and were willing to shop my resume around to other friends in the industry. I didnt get my job through a connection from an informational interview, but I did turn two informational interviews into actual interviews with other firms. Interviews that dont result in jobs are practice, and practice makes perfect. Dont get discouraged and dont take it personally At the height of my employment search, I bet I was sending out 15 or 20 resumes per week. What did I get for all of that hard work? Mostly radio silence. It got to the point where I would have been happy if the prospective employer wrote a rejection e-mail back because at least it meant someone had seen my resume. I would estimate that 90 percent of the applications I sent out, I never heard back from. I started taking a defeatist attitude and wondered whether it was something about my resume that people hated or were turned off by. What I learned is that hundreds if not thousands of candidates were applying to the same job I was, so these companies had no way of reading every resume, so they dealt with whom they could. It had nothing to do with my qualifications and everything to do with the fact that finding a job is a rat race. Sometimes it doesnt matter if you are the best candidate if you were the first candidate to apply. If all else fails and you cant find the job you want, you can always go back to school and aim higher with one of the many schools that offer cost-effective executive MBA programs. Book Corner [easyazon_link asin=1598695479 locale=US new_window=default nofollow=default tag=caree07-20 add_to_cart=default cloaking=default localization=default popups=default]College Grad Job Hunter: Insider Techniques and Tactics for Finding A Top-Paying Entry-level Job[/easyazon_link] Mike Lemaire is an education content editor who also runs a blog about online schooling. This is a Guest post. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ what where job title, keywords or company city, state or zip jobs by

The Best Executive Resume Examples To Help You Create Your Own Successful Resume

The Best Executive Resume Examples To Help You Create Your Own Successful ResumeWhen it comes to creating a well thought out executive resume, many people find that they are simply left with limited options. Instead of relying on the traditional paper format and trying to get things all organized on the page, the best way to create a professional looking executive resume is to use the following executive resume examples.When it comes to making sure your resume presents all of your important aspects, make sure you utilize samples that are professional in nature. The first tip that I have for this is to look for sample resumes online. If you simply browse through the top resumes websites online you will be able to discover several sample resumes that can help you when writing your own.Even if you choose to use executive resume examples, you should still know how to use them correctly. For example, in order to get the most out of your resume you must make sure you utilize all of the imp ortant components such as your curriculum vitae section, your personal statement section, and the summary.These components work together in order to create an executive resume that will attract an employer's attention. The curriculum vitae section is a section of your resume that is basically where you make sure to include your education. When you submit your resume you will be able to see exactly what degree or school you attended, along with how long you have been a student.You may also decide to include some information about yourself in your personal statement. This is a section that can be very helpful when writing your resume as it will be able to give the reader an idea of your personality and your experiences.The summary is also an important aspect that you will want to consider when you write your resume. In order to create the perfect summary, you should make sure that you include all of the information that you feel is relevant and will appeal to a reader.The final compon ent that you will want to consider when writing your resume is the section that shows all of the important aspects of your past career. This is typically a section that provides examples of work you have done for your employers, your students, and even for your church.As you can see, there are many executive resume examples that you can choose from. The key to utilizing them correctly is to be able to incorporate the right elements in order to create a resume that will surely draw a potential employer's attention.