Job seeking from a hunters perspective Blog

New Age in job hunting October 8, 2009

The techniques we used just 3-4 years ago do not work today. For those who have held the same job for 15+ years are really at a loss because those techniques are really outdated. What do you do where do you get up to date information?

Instead of buying books on job hunting except for a few, your best bet is networking groups for unemployed, searching the net, searching blogs on job hunting(oh look you found one) or asking fellow colleagues who are in the same boat you are. What boat is that you ask? Why the worse sales and marketing job there is. The hours are long the pay is pitiful and sometimes there is no support. Your customer base has and continues to dwindle. You say hey wait I am not in sales and marketing I was a (fill in the blank here). Yes you were! Do you remember all the skills you used to perform that job?  Do you  remember all your accomplishments? Are they in your resume? Is your summary telling the skills and what you can do for my company now?  Well I hope so!

There is a vast array of tools out there for the job seeker to use. As a job seeker you need to test each tool to see if it is the right tool for you. So you try this nice shiny tool and you use it for 2-4 weeks and you get no results. Now what? Put it back on the shelf it isn’t the right tool for you and now try another. You keep doing this until you find the right set of tools that work for you.  We all have different backgrounds and skills and tools we used to perform our last job. Well it is the same thing for job hunting and all the techniques. You have the find the combination that best fits you.

LinkedIn has become a very powerful tool for job seekers. But just having a basic profile doesn’t cut it if you are a seeker. You have to learn to use every portion of LinkedIn and understand what advantage it gives you.  To hel pout my fellow seekers I have a power point presentation on developing a web presence using LinkedIn. I am also going to conducting a workshop in a few weeks to help them further. How did I learn? By researching reading online articles and just using it until I got it right. Now I have added this  blog to my LinkedIn page.

People ask me, why haven’t you landed yet? I have a few red flags that I have to overcome in order to land. I do not see a problem with any of them as they are personal and will not effect my work or business ethic. I just need to explain that in person.

Knowing your short comings is half the battle. Having a strategy helps you face the inevitable. Ah! Strategy.

You are in a hunt of your life. You are 1 in 6 candidates qualified for a position. Do you have a strategy to show that your number 1? Do you know what you are going to say in an interview to come out on top? Do you have a plan to land your next position? You need to develop a strategy a game plan a project plan. After you develop it then execute it.

Networking! Is networking part of your plan? The BLS says that only 5% of jobs being filled are done through a job board and that everyone else is landing through networking. They also say that those that are in an organized networking group land twice as fast. I am actually in 3 networking groups in person and 4 more online groups via LinkedIn.

I will get into specifics of job hunting in later posts.

Feeling violated October 6, 2009

I went to log in to my LinkedIn account Saturday and was told that my account was suspended. It took until this afternoon to get the problem resolved. It seems that someone hacked my account and sent out a number of messages. All they asked me to do is to change my password.

Since I use LinkedIn as my number one job tool, I felt a major lose without having access. I manage a group for a networking organization for unemployed professionals. I post interesting articles and other information for my fellow job seekers. It made me feel like I was letting them done not having the ability to put information out.

I guess no sites are safe from hackers. I thought that LinkedIn being a professional networking side would not attract hackers but I have been proven wrong.

Protect your sources is all I can say.

Depression in job hunting October 4, 2009

The last couple of days has brought further bad news about the unemployment scene. They do not see the employment picture getting any better until 2017. The economy isn’t due to hit bottom until 2014 and maybe that will inch out further.

This type of information does not help the job seeker. With growing competition and few openings it is hard to get motivated to get up in the morning and face the day. I talk with fellow job seekers all the time and there is a lot of depression building out there.

Depression is bad because it shows and it will show when you get that elusive interview. Depression is also self defeating. It makes us question our worth and ask ourselves are we really any good at what we do?

When people ask me what I do to get motivated in the morning I joke around, I say that, “I lift the sheets up and look for a toe tag and if there isn’t one I get up and get going”.

I then tell myself that there is a career out there for me and that I have to find it. I know that finding it is hard work. I also know that when I do not get a reply from a company not to be discouraged. I know that companies have cut what the view as overhead staff i.e. HR, accounting,  finance etc. I know that HR is very busy sifting through resumes and cover letters trying to find the best of the best as well as perform their other duties. I know that somethings have to be put aside and unfortunately we are it.  Recruiters do not work for us and we do not yet work for the company so we are viewed as insignificant and therefore we do not get the respect that is due to us as professionals. This just adds to the depression.

I myself try to stay open minded and understanding. That does not make it any better it just makes it a little less painful.

I try to stay positive and understanding what my fellow job seekers are going through I try to help them as well. I guess it is therapeutic for me.

I find that networking helps me to control the depression, as well as, telling myself that I am the best at what I do, that I am unique at what I do, that I am valuable to a company and I just have to figure out how to get them to realize it.

For all my fellow depressed job seeker friends out there, you are somebody and do not let this economy destroy you. Stay open minded and learn what HR and recruiters are going through. Learn the newest job search techniques. We will prevail in the end. We are talented and worthy.