Career Fairs Great opportunities October 1, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career, career search, careers, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting
1 comment so far
We all know how Career fairs are run today.
Most of them have some flunky standing behind a table collecting resumes. Others have an low level HR person collecting them who can not tell you much about the company they work for or the position.
While others have hiring managers working the table but why is it they are not the ones that will be hiring you. Such is the realm of career fairs.
Oh one last pet peeve the fairs I have been to lately are great if you want to sell insurance, be a financial advisor, or sell Avon.
So with all this negativism why should go to a job fair?
Because it is a place of opportunity if you know how to work the floor!
The floor???? What are you talking about?
The most important people at the show in my opinion are the job seekers. Yes the job seekers!
These are people who have worked at companies that you may be interested in. These are people who may know someone that works at a company that you are interested in.
These are the people you should be talking to.
I started doing this awhile ago and it works great for a number of reasons.
One it builds your network and it gives you the opportunity to maybe help someone.
You may get the inside skinny on a company that you are interviewing with.
It gives you something to do instead of just standing in line looking at your feet.
It makes the time to get to the table to dump your resume go faster.
If there is by chance a hiring manager at the table you are more open to talking and asking the right questions because you just spent all that time talking to a bunch of strangers.
It makes the fair much more enjoyable.
So how do you do this?
While standing in line turn to the person behind you and say something like what do you do? My favorite ice breaker is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It usually gets a smile, a chuckle or a laugh but it breaks the barrier immediately.
So after a couple of minutes say excuse me and tap the person in front of you and get them engaged. Then the person behind the person behind you. Then the person in front of the person in front of you. You should know have a 5 person network meeting running.
Oh but you are not done because there are more people in the lines on either side of you so get them engaged in the network meeting also.
As the lines move and people drop out engage more people to keep your mini-networking meeting going.
I have found out some interesting information while conducting these meetings. While at a Monster.com fair I had a woman who works for Monster come up and give me kudos for starting it.
So do not look at Career Fairs as boring and not worth the trip or effort go have fun and start your own networking event on the floor. Be sure to bring plenty of business cards and practice your pitch.
Reality check time! August 14, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career, career search, careers, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting, starting a business
add a comment
The stock market was down again for the fourth day in row Wednesday. The great recession continues. National unemployment is still over 10% despite what the media quotes.
So what is the reality check your preaching to the choir!
Here is the check!
If you are still devoting a lot of time to job boards then you will be out of work for a longer period.
If you are not getting out of the house and networking you will be out of work for a longer time.
If you are not using social media (LinkedIn Twitter Facebook) effectively you will be out of work a long time.
If you have lost your focus and drive for what you want to do then you will be out of work along time.
If you are using the shot gun approach well good luck to you.
REALITY CHECK!
Learn what the hidden job market is! Research make a list of target companies and then form your strategy, your game plan to land a position there. It take work and determination.
If you want the job and you want to work there, then do the work. The pay off is better than sitting there reading this.
If you have or others around have convinced you that you will never get another job doing what you have been doing, then what?
What is your passion? Is there a market for it? Can you develop a business plan for it? Well then just do it! You will probably be happier doing what you have a passion for and working for yourself. Then if it takes off you can hire other people to help you.
As Nike says Just Do it!
Sometimes we need a timeout! May 10, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in Job Searching, Job Searching.Tags: attitude, career search, job hunting, job seeking, mentor
1 comment so far
Thursday mornings is my usual time to attend a meeting of other “professional detached” people, WIND Networking. I attended the meeting and we talked about the same old stuff. Elevator pitches given by all and suggestions flowed abundantly. I am not saying this is a bad thing it is a major part of the job search cycle.
This is about the meeting I had afterwards with a fellow WIND member who did not attend.
We met at a local Mall, got a bite to eat and sat down to have a discussion about everything and nothing. Just two people talking about what ever popped into our heads. It has to have been the best 4 hours I have spent in recent times.
I left the meeting feeling more relaxed more rejuvenated than I have in awhile. We have agreed to have more such meetings as we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
So if you have been out of work for some time (both of us have been out longer than a year) set up a meeting with someone to talk about anything and nothing. The only rule is job hunting subjects are not allowed.
Oh as a side note I then spent a fabulous weekend with my youngest son. Where we talked about everything and nothing as well.
Sometimes we are so caught up with our job search we forget that the rest of the world exists. So it is good to just sit down with a friend or colleague and talk about everything and nothing. I strongly suggest that you try it and comment on how it worked for you. After all we need to maintain our sanity too!
How do you stay focused and positive after a year? March 24, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in 1.Tags: attitude, career, career search, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting
2 comments
Well I have been unencumbered by employment now for 1 1/2 years. I have heard of people giving up, I have heard of people changing careers, I have heard of people loosing focus and taking anything, I have heard of people that have gone from focus to the shotgun approach.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures. Do they really? Or is that a cop out statement?
When they talk about people over 40 they always mention career transition like after 40 you have to seek a new career. What was wrong with the one I was in? It is still around and I still like the work so why do I have to transition?
I might be an enigma. I have worked in the same industry for a number of years. I still have a lot I can contribute. I still have the time to do it also. I really like my industry because it is constantly changing and you get to learn new things all the time. I have worked with some great people and I have worked with some real pain the asses.
I have hired people and I have fired people. It was just part of the job.
They tell you in these times to surround yourself with positive people who will support you. People who have been out this long have a hard time staying focused and being positive. I have my ups and downs but I try hard to have more ups than I do downs. When you start having a down day it can drag you down fast. You have to be aware and not let that happen.
How do you stay focused? I know what I want to do. I know that I can do it very effectively. I know there is a position out there for me. I just have to find it . So I keep looking for it and nothing else.
I know I have hurdles that I have to overcome. Knowing what these are gives me the advantage to address them in positive ways. This allows me to stay focused and up beat because I know that I can jump these hurdles with ease.
Staying positive is hard especially after all this time and then loosing my last 2 extensions because I worked a part time gig for a friend of mine. I have stopped watching TV there was nothing worth watching anyway except maybe the DIY and NAT GEO channels. Not listening to bad news everyday helps you stay positive. I would get my information online in daily emails from the business journals and the tech wires. This allowed me to be selective on what I read especially if it related to my industry. I could see if my target companies received a contract or bought another company or merged with someone. It kept me informed with what really mattered.
Getting into discussions and answering questions on LinkedIn helped a lot for me to stay positive because it provides a sense of worth. Especially when you get voted best answer or someone in a discussion gives you kudos for your part.
Writing this blog helps me stay positive as it has been my hope to help others who are job seeking. I have received good feedback from other seekers thanking me for it.
I guess what it really comes down to is the person character. Do they have the discipline to keep themselves focused and upbeat when the world is crumbling around them? Do they have that dogged determination required to go the distance to achieve what they desire or are they going to throw in the towel and take what ever and be miserable until something better comes along?
If you have been unemployed for a year or more please tell me here what you have done and what you do to keep focused and keep going. I would like to know and I am sure it may help others who read this blog.
Whats with Unemployment and Career Centers? March 17, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in 1.Tags: career, career search, job hunting, Job Search, job seeking, jobs careers job hunting
1 comment so far
Here in Massachusetts there is a growing concern about a particular issue. That concern is about your UI benefits and extensions when you hit the one year mark in your endeavor to find gainful employment.
The career centers are encouraging you to find part time and contract work. They will tell you upfront that you can only make X number of dollars over your unemployment before it has an effect on your weekly UI check.
What they neglect to tell you is what effect it will have on your UI benefits if you are still unemployed after a year.
The eligibility amount is $3,500 to get UI benefits. I only worked a 3 week part time gig for a friends company and only made $2,300. When I went to file for my next to last extension I was told I was not eligible due to the fact I only worked 3 weeks in 2009 and did not make sufficient monies to collect. So now I am at zero income and no safety net left.
What others in Massachusetts are finding out is that there benefits are being greatly reduced because of their part time work. I know of a number of people who have gone from the maximum to $94/wk because of part time work. This places a further financial burden on these people and myself. It makes it many times harder for us to job search when we cannot afford gas to travel other than an actual interview. It hampers our ability to network as we cannot afford to buy the contact a simple cup of coffee much less the gas to get there.
So if you are starting or have been on unemployment and are working part time and /or contract I would suggest strongly that you go to your UI office and ask how this will effect your benefits down the road. The job market is going to be slow to recover and many of us will be unemployed or underemployed for years to come.
Lets tackle Recruiters and HR in a recession. January 4, 2010
Posted by jvmullin in 1.Tags: careers, HR, job hunting, job seeking, recruiting
add a comment
I am not here to condemn Caesar I am here to bury Caesar!
I am neither a recruiter nor an HR person to make this perfectly clear.
I have been in the position to hire people while an engineer and a manager.
Facts:
Recruiters work for the company
There are good recruiters and there are bad recruiters
Recruiters have their own reputation to protect(if they are good)
Recruiters are working on numerous opening at once AKA they are busy (I do not use this as an excuse for what I have to say later)
Good recruiters do not cover every market or position out there they have their niche market
HR personnel come in all kinds of functions, generalist, payroll etc
HR has the tasks of screening resumes for the hiring manager base don company criteria and hiring manager needs
HR departments have been downsized because they are seen as pure overhead and if you are cutting employee counts to bare minimum why do you need a full HR staff
Scanning software is used and HR does not even see most of the resumes filed they see what passes the criteria and weighting factors. So yes your resume has gone into a black hole or as I like to call it the Great Bit Bucket.
All that said lets get down to the nitty gritty here!
Recruiters:
Dealing with a recruiter is a business venture! Like most business ventures they do not work for you either but you must enter into a business relationship in order to get the job done. Is this not true?
Do you not also have to do research to see if the vendor/supplier has the right credentials and criteria to help your business grow? Would this not be the same for the recruiter? If your business is in the high end audio market would you look to a vendor who made seat covers for automobiles to be your partner? Of course not! The same is true of recruiters. Good recruiters ( notice I keep saying good when I want to emphasize) have a niche market they deal with. I know a great recruiter in the financial field we are friends but I would not ask him to find me a job because he would be ineffective in my search. Therefore I need to find technical recruiters who also deals with mid to high level management positions. I can tell you there are not many good ones out there.
If you know of any please let me know.
Sorry I digressed.
So what am I getting at telling you this? A good recruiter will ask for a face to face meeting. If they do not then you may want to think about asking many more questions or walking away. A good recruiter will want to learn about your personality, your character, your experiences and your skills. After all if he can find a fit for you that meets his clients needs he will need this information to represent you. A good recruiter will call you and discuss the position before submitting you. If you do t want to work for Company X then why waste their time with submitting you. If you are interested in Company Y let the recruiter know. Company Y may be one of their clients and they can get you in the door faster and probably better represent you than you can.
A good recruiter can be a powerful ally even though they do not work for you. If you are the best fit they will get you in there. Once your are in do not ruin the recruiters reputation you may need them again in the future. This may not be a one shot deal so you want to maintain a good relationship with them.
Recruiters are bust trying to fill a number of positions at the same time. Here is where I condemn recruiters (sorry but I have to) yes it is true that you do not work for us. But professional courtesy and a little compassion helps your image and character and makes us seekers more willing to provide you with other well qualified candidates to help you out.
A quick phone call or email reply does not take that long but the rewards, while intangible, will be paramount in the end. After all it is your reputation that you are harming. The same is true for HR personnel.
Human Resource:
If that does not give a negative image to them I do not know what would. Human meaning us resource meaning use and dispose of. Isn’t the term human resource an oxymoron? It gives us the idea that there is no compassion for us the workers, after all we are just another resource like parts, and the energy to run the machines. It gives the appearance that these are cold blooded creature incapable of feelings. I know this isn’t true they have a hard job. However, it does not excuse them from a little common courtesy either. The represent their company’s reputation. IF I am trying to deal with HR and I do not get a simple answer or quick return on my status check then I start to wonder what kind of company is this and do I really want to work for a company that cold to its employees. I have stopped trying to get into some companies just because of their HR department. It is the company’s loss as I may have been the best viable candidate for the position.
NOW for us the job seekers!
Shame on us as well!
If we are truly as professional as we claim to be and we are as business savvy as we have stated on our resume.Then in a recession we know that companies reduce HR to bare bones, we know that companies cut recruiters to save money. We look for these people to have courtesy and compassion for us because we need a job. Well we need to have understanding, courtesy and compassion for them as well.
I just stated the facts for both groups. So now there is no excuse for either side to continue this war. The understanding has been brought to light and neither side is a winner unless both sides change. We are all professionals and we all need to remember that and conduct ourselves in that manner.
Now job seekers and recruiters:
If you have read and comprehended what I said earlier here is what your responsibility is in this; You need to approach a recruiter as a business partner not a smuck. You need to interview the recruiter as much as the recruiter needs to interview you. You need to find out how long they have been a recruiter, what their success rate is in placing people, how they work, who some of their clients are, if they have references they can give you. You need to build a relationship and trust with a recruiter. You do not and I repeat do not just hand over your resume to a recruiter and then wait for results. Your resume is a marketing material that represents you and your reputation. Would you hand it over to snake oil salesman to represent you for a major position in a company? I would highly think not! Then why do job seekers constantly do this?? Is from ignorance of the industry? Yes recruiting is an industry!
Find the good recruiters in your industry or niche and only use them.
The last word is this; both the recruiter and the seeker have reputations they need to protect at all cost. Therefore an understanding of this is paramount in the business dealing between the two. Both sides must maintain due diligence in the protection of their reputation. This will make for a stronger relationship in the end.
HR and the job seeker;
Knowing that HR has been cut to the bare bones (sometimes there is only 1 left), we need to understand a few things.
HR does not have all day to talk to us. We need to formulate pertinent questions that require easy short answers. We need to say please and thank you and your welcome ( that goes for the other side as well). We need not ask questions that we already know the answer to. This will help both sides.
A simple statement like “I am very interested in your company but I have some other prospect that are coming to light would you please provide a status update for me?
Be prepared for a short conversation like;
well how far have the other offers progressed?
why is my company that interesting to you? or what can you do for my company?
You as a seeker being well prepared puts you in a better light and shows how professional you are. It shows that you understand how busy they are and are not looking to waste anyones times yours or theirs.
So my dream for 2010 is that these groups can come together in harmony, collaboration, understanding and respect for one another.
Job seeking from a hunters perspective Blog 