Using study abroad to your job-hunting advantage

Study abroad has the potential to be life-changing and to bring about unanticipated new perspectives about your choice of major and career focus…..

  Even if you made the decision to go abroad without any consideration at all to how it might impact your career, the experience has been shown to be tied to career choices made years after graduation.

Study abroad and resumes

In the current tough economic climate, there’s intense competition for jobs in every field.  The question is how well prepared are you to compete and what can you do to stand out among your peers when the time comes to conduct a job search in your senior year?  Of course, internships and service-learning in the U.S. or abroad offer unique opportunities to build important skills and competencies, but studying abroad has many unique benefits which you can leverage.  If you carefully assess and analyze the outcomes of your time abroad, you’ll want to do more than just add the experience itself to your resume.

If you did not visit your career service office before leaving campus, it’s time to do so.  It will be useful to discuss the impact of your time abroad with an advisor who can assist you to:

Reflect upon the career preference you had and whether or not, as a result of your time abroad, you’re considering other options;

 Review how the experience strengthened your interpersonal and analytic skills; provided you with new cross-cultural insights;  improved your language competency;  and made you a more flexible and adaptable person;  and

Inform you about how to incorporate the above skills and competencies in cover letters and articulate these new attributes in job interviews.

The most important thing you will learn is that employers may not place any special value on the fact that you studied abroad; but, they will value how well you explain how your time overseas strengthened skills and competencies which are important to the company or organization.  It’s true that not every employer is looking for staff who speak a foreign language or who have a “global perspective,” but, since you chose to study abroad, there’s a strong likelihood you’re looking to work somewhere where your international experience is valued and will give you a strategic advantage.

Next steps

You need to craft a job search strategy which is purposeful and develop an intentional game plan to move your search forward in successful ways.  There are important steps you can take to identify employers whose goals and purpose align with your values and interests.   These steps should include the following:

Assess your career interests, personal values and professional skills

Align these with a field, a sector, a group of organizations which closely track your career preferences

Create a plan – with advice from your career service office- which moves your search forward in your senior year

Create space each week/month to conduct your research, meet with alumni, research organizations and track their job openings

Monitor all career events and presentations taking place on campus –and participate!

Research and networking

You can also design a networking strategy which leads you to speak with alumni, family and friends –on campus and in the community - who can provide valuable insights and information about the field you’re interested in. 

A career or faculty advisor can help you learn about professional associations and organizations to broaden your understanding of employment prospects in a given field.  It’s important to connect with alumni who can assist you in gaining a better understanding of how to break into a field and provide insight into the kind of skills valued for entry-level assignments

You can conduct LinkedIn searches after you upload your profile and join your campus alumni group after graduation. Before that, you can search and join groups relating to career interests you have,  geographic locales of interest, and other criteria.  LinkedIn is an invaluable asset – and used widely by professionals all over the world – in researching both organizations and individuals.  Which alumni are now or have ever worked at an organization of interest to you? 

Research websites of organizations where alumni have worked in your field and try to conduct background research which makes you a more informed networker when reaching out to speak with alums online.

Did you meet useful contacts while abroad?  Be sure to keep in touch with them and let them know about your career plans. 

Networking is about building strategic connections.  Develop a plan, stick to it, give yourself time to identify people you want to communicate with, craft a message, follow up, and keep at it. 

A job search takes preparation and especially time –while you are completing your degree, something you don’t have a lot of- so organize and prioritize the tasks you need to accomplish month by month.  Don’t wait until graduation is around the corner---as soon as you return to campus from studying abroad, get started. 

By Martin Tillman

Online Degrees and Your Career

Do you want to go back to school but don't want to quit your full-time job to do so? An online or distance learning program might be your best option….

Online colleges and distance learning programs allow workers to earn a degree without the hassle of driving to campus or attending classes. For full-time professionals, the option of learning on their own schedule is ideal. In a Zogby poll, 88 percent of those surveyed said that more people would complete a college degree if they didn't have to quit work and if they could balance their personal and work obligations.

While earning an online degree might seem like the answer to your back-to-school prayers, there are a few things to consider. How long will it take to earn the degree? How much will it cost? How do I know if a school is legitimate? And most importantly, how will employers perceive my online degree?

"Not all online programs are created equally," says Mary Ann Shurtz, executive vice president of Stratford University in Falls Church, Va., which offers both campus and online courses. "Because of this, the value of the degree and education one receives will be greatly influenced by the program they choose."

How do employers perceive online degrees?

To many people, a degree is a degree -- but to others, there can be an issue of trust, or lack of reputation and familiarity, says Marc Scheer, a career counselor and educational consultant based inNew York City.

"Traditional programs have been around for hundreds of years, but online programs are relatively new [and] employers tend to be less familiar with them," he says.

Employers are getting there, however. In a survey done by online institution Excelsior College and Zogby International, 61 percent of CEOs and small business owners nationwide said they were familiar with online or distance learning programs.

Not only are they familiar with them, but 83 percent of executives in the survey say that an online degree is as credible as one earned through a traditional campus-based program. Employers said such factors as the accreditation of the college or university, the quality of its graduates and the name of the institution awarding the degree were among other things they considered to make an online degree more credible.

Dannie McClain, a category manager for Town and Country Linen, says she thinks getting a degree from a school with both online and traditional programs has helped employers view her degree as credible. Initially hired without a degree, McClain now has a double online degree in marketing andbusiness from Michigan-based Baker College, which also has online programs.

"I think gaining my degree from a 'true' college that offers online courses in addition to regular ground courses helps in my employer seeing this as a 'true' degree," she says.

Not all employers feel the same way, however. Brandon Mendelson, a former business owner, says he wouldn't consider an applicant with an online degree -- even if he had everything he was seeking. He says he thinks that students get only a fraction of the learning experience online.

"I want someone who made the full commitment," he says. "These days, there are no excuses. Your job will pay for school; colleges have day care facilities that are usually free; so actually going to the school gives a candidate the edge in my book."

Advantages of online learning

But what about those who don't have time to make it to school every day? Luckily, one of the biggest perks of earning an online degree accommodates that very issue.

"Online degree programs are designed to help adult learners with busy lives earn their degree without being tied down to class times and without having to go to campus," says Jeff Caplan, dean of strategic enrollment management at American Sentinel University, an online university.

Michael Rogich, director of the center of online learning at Saint Leo University, based in Florida, says studying online is just as effective as studying traditionally, and in some sense is more powerful.

"With adult students, your options are either part time or online," Rogich says. "Online, the student has more access to a good program and is constantly connected to instructors and fellow classmates."

Tom Johansmeyer, who earned his MBA online and is currently working on his doctorate, is a perfect example of that. He says an online program was his only option for going back to school.

"I was working as a management consultant and spending 40 weeks a year on the road," he says. "With that kind of travel schedule, it would have been impossible for me to get to a classroom."

Indeed, online learning can benefit some students more than classroom learning. For example, some students might not learn as well in a classroom if they are shy or disengaged in group settings. In this case, Scheer says online students may benefit from their programs by interacting with students like themselves.  Additionally, online discussions can be more inclusive and productive than classroom debates, especially because online forums offer more opportunity for participation.

Disadvantages to online learning

Not having face-to-face interaction with a teacher, however, can also be seen as a disadvantage for some students.

"Being able to attend when you want means you have no face-to-face, so there are no real-time answers to questions you have," McClain says. "You either have to wait for someone to reply to a forum, e-mail the instructor or hope that there is someone on IM that can answer you."

Scheer says it's easy for online programs to be fraudulent and nonaccredited, so there's the possibility of being scammed or unable to transfer credits to another school. Finally, some employers simply don't accept online degrees from any school, accredited or not.

Tips for finding a quality online degree

Are you interested in going to back to school online? Here are six things to consider when looking for a quality online degree program, according to Shurtz:

1.      The reputation of the school. Is it an institution that provides only online degrees or does it have physical locations as well? Having actual campuses helps to establish credibility. A red flag would be the existence of only a post office box or suite number.

2.      The accreditation of the institution. The Department of Education says that researching the accreditation is essential. Diploma mills are usually accredited by fake agencies. It's important to make sure the accrediting agency is one recognized by the department or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

3.      Does the school offer technical help and easy access to speak with advisers, professors and the help desk?

4.      How quickly the degree can be earned. A red flag would be earning a bachelor's degree in just months.

5.      Program fees. Students should pay as they go and be charged per credit hour, rather than per program.

6.      The work involved to earn the degree. Diploma mills require very little work and often take life or work experience into account. Legitimate programs require the same amount of work one would expect attending class on a campus.

By Rachel Zupek

The Jobless Rate and How it Effects You

The jobless rate seems to keep getting worse. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Employment Situation as of August 05, 2011 showed that the "Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 117,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.1 percent....

 Job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, manufacturing, and mining. Government employment continued to trend down.

In another featured news release, on June 24, 2011, "In 2010, 18.6 percent of persons with a disability were employed, compared with 63.5 percent for those with no disability. The unemployment rate for persons with a disability was 14.8 percent, compared with 9.4 percent for those with no disability."

Those numbers are stunning.

Many of those (possibly you) who are unemployed were laid off, terminated, downsized or let go through no fault of their own. Even knowing you didn't deserve to be let go, it is still difficult to handle. It is also not easy to handle the questions that come your way from friends, family and neighbors - not to mention prospective employers.

In this era of corporate mergers and a struggling economy, we've all come to realize that job security is quite rare these days. Everyone understands that no job is going to last a lifetime. Companies aren't loyal to their employees the way they used to be several decades ago.

The good news about losing your job in this day and age is that, while losing your job is still very painful, it is no longer considered a career-ending experience. It doesn't carry the stigma that it used to in years past.

So when you're interviewing and that question about a gap in your employment comes up, there's no need to lie or try to wrap the story in a pretty bow. Just tell the truth. Even if you were at fault in some way, just be honest. Explain that you have learned from the mistake and won't make it again.

Keep your answer brief, state what you've learned (if anything positive), and express your desire to move on. It shouldn't be the focal point of your interview.

Employers want to know about your talent, skills and capabilities, so emphasize those, assure them that you can help solve their problems, and convince them that you will be a hard-working, loyal and dedicated employee.

If you have the skills an employer needs, your past employment situation won't keep them from hiring you. Keep a positive attitude and exude energy wherever possible.

Top of Form

5 job-search tips for career changers

You've hit a turning point in your career. Whether it's because your job has slowly become less satisfying over the years, or you woke up one morning and realized you hated going to work, you've decided it's time for a change…

The "I don't know what I want to do, but I know it's not this" predicament is confusing at best. Besides the issue of figuring out what you want to do, there's also reality to consider. You might  think you'd make a great marriage counselor, but do you really have the time, energy and means to get the necessary training? Will your career change require you to relocate? How will you convince potential employers that, after 10 years in one career, you have the necessary experience for a new one?

Because the career-change process is complicated, it's important not to rush into anything. Take time to explore your options and answer all of the questions you have about the career paths you're considering. Or, as "What Color is Your Parachute?" – the best-selling career guide – puts it:

"Good career choice or career planning postpones the 'narrowing down' until it has first broadened your horizons and expanded the number of options you are thinking about. For example, you're in the newspaper business, but have you ever thought of teaching, or drawing or doing fashion? You first expand your mental horizons, to see all the possibilities, and only then do you start to narrow them down to the particular two or three that interest you the most."

Once you've got a short list of potential careers, it's time to begin your job search. Mark C.D. Newall, senior vice president at Keystone Associates, a career transition and management firm in Boston, offers the following quick tips for job searching in a new field.

1.    Play the game. As newbie, you're going to have to put in a lot of footwork. "Intensively networking, utilizing technology, honing your interviewing skills -- all of these things are important and need to be done," Newall says.

2. Identify your edge. Since you won't be able to rest on your experience, it's important to identify other selling points that will make you stand out to employers. "Everybody is smart, everybody works hard, everybody has a good degree -- differentiate yourself from all of the others by having an edge," Newall advises. "If you have global expertise, call it out. If you have outstanding and demonstrated interpersonal skills, let interviewers know that you will connect with and take care of their clients."

3. Be willing to move. Flexibility can go a long way when breaking into a new career. "Expanding your geography will also expand your opportunities," Newall says.

4. Speak to your passion. "Know what is important to you -- what really gives you that sense of accomplishment -- what gets you out of bed in the morning. Hiring managers will see your passion and how it relates to their business, and they want to hire that," Newall says. Given the amount of self-reflection career change usually requires, rattling off a list of things that make you tick shouldn't be too hard.

5. Have a solid methodology. Like in any job search, you'll need a game plan, Newall says. "Organize your time, your contacts, your approach, and conduct your job search in a planned and thoughtful manner. Then be ready to toss aside your plan, and be able to react to that last minute call."

By Kaitlin Madden

Job-hunting Errors to Avoid

Rejection is a killer. No matter how many times you tell yourself it's not going to hurt, it does. Turndowns take many forms, but in the job-hunter's mind they all say, "We don't want you. You're no good." Here are 10 common mistakes job-hunters make and ways to avoid them:

1. Your goals are unclear

You haven't examined yourself carefully. You're drifting, floating, and your resume says, "Seeking a challenging and rewarding position in which my background, training and abilities can be fully and effectively utilized." What is that? Are you hoping the employer will figure out where you belong? They can't and won't.

You must figure out what you want to do and tell employers clearly and precisely. Begin with structured testing and assessment like theBirkman Method®, and with time-tested paper-and-pencil exercises.

2. You're pretending

You're getting rejection everywhere you go. Nothing works. Perhaps you're trying to go somewhere you really don't belong or don't want to go. You know it, and employers know it instinctively. You're not listening to your insides. You're trying to do what's "practical or realistic" rather than what's right for you. When you listen to your intuition and go in the right direction, doors open.

3. You don't "appeal" to anyone

Your resume tells the employer what you "have done" and where you "have been," but that's not enough. They are interested in themselves, and you need to appeal to their situation and self-interest.

Recently, I noticed billboards for fast-food restaurants that said, "Buses Welcome." (Buses were welcome because each bus holds 60 customers!) The sign "Buses Welcome" repeated until finally one sign really grabbed me. It said, "BUS DRIVERS EAT FREE!"

Give employers 75 reasons to hire you. Make a list. Tell them in clear and simple language what you're going to do for them.

4. You're taking, not giving

You're coming across as a taker, not a giver. You're acting needy, explaining when you can't work and what you can't do. The biggest word in job-hunting is "Help," that's why it's called "Help Wanted," and you need to come across as energetic and enthusiastic. Your prospective boss may be tired, stressed and buried under a mountain of paperwork. They probably need help badly, and they will hire the person they think will help them the most, the fastest, with the least amount of hassle. The second they think you're helping them, you're on the way to being hired.

5. You take "no" too easily

You make a phone call or send a letter and no one answers. So you turn on the tape that says, "I'm Worthless." Don't give up. "No" doesn't mean "never." It means "not now, maybe later." If the job, the company, or the person interests you, stay in touch.

Once you find someone you like, make them a friend. Send him an occasional letter and something helpful. A clipping. An idea. A piece of your work. Send it with warmth and enthusiasm. Why do this? Because one day your friend may tell you a new job has opened up—your job.

6. You're "shopping" from a distance

Rejection letters are coming in by the hundreds. What's wrong? Perhaps you're too impersonal, too distant. The Director of Marketing doesn't like a letter addressed to "Director of Marketing." Would you like a love letter addressed to "Occupant?" Get personal. Find out who you are addressing.

A recent letter to me said, "Your article has directed and stimulated me and I'm following your directions..." AHA! She was talking about my favorite subject: me. Your prospective employer might like you to talk about his or her favorite subject too.

7. You're waiting

The interview was fantastic! You can feel it in your bones - you've got the job. Might as well go play tennis and wait. And wait and wait and wait. Until suddenly the bad news, "We've hired someone else." As salesmen say, you don't have the order (the job) until you have a check "in the hand" and then, not until you have cashed it. Then you have a job (temporarily). The solution is to stay busy. Keep a lot of balls in the air so that no one "rejection" will stop you.

8. You lack support

There are several kinds of people in the world. Positive people tend to know positive people, negative people seem to know negative people. Be sure you stay in a positive network. When someone is especially warm or kind, ask if they know any other really friendly people who might help. Chances are, they will. When you meet a negative or rejecting person, go somewhere else.

9. You've found a jerk

Sometimes you do everything right and still get rejected. A client recently wrote a letter that said, "Jim Taylor's my name...Transportation's my game." The hiring executive wrote back, "We find your introduction somewhat interesting in that you say, 'Transportation is your game.' Transportation is not a game to us - it is serious business. Your brief rundown of experience indicate specialization in areas where we are adequately staffed with competent professionals."

This seems cold and unfeeling. What can Jim do? "Judo" the rejection! For example, he could write back, "Thank you for your letter of... Yes, you do seem to take your work seriously—perhaps too seriously! I'm sending along a couple of transportation cartoons to help lighten your mood (include them). I do take my work seriously. Here are examples (include them). You will find me a very helpful employee as so-and-so did (include a one-line testimonial). Thank you for your attention. Let's talk again."

Take your power and use it. Don't let others have the last word. Often you can have the last work if you apply a little creativity.

10. You're rejecting yourself

You're telling yourself all the things you can't do, itemizing your failures. Why not make a list of "Neat Things About Me"—and don't be modest. Or keep a "win file." If someone says something nice about you, ask them to write it down. They most surely will.

Finally, remember how very special you are. Know that your background—everything you've done, both positive and negative—has a reason and purpose. It all fits together like a puzzle—and makes sense—if assembled properly.

BY Franklin covey

Why does everyone want a 1 page resume?

Why one page?

I have years of experience with several different employers and it takes 3 pages to fit all of my employment history into my resume….

  Aren’t employers interested in knowing my whole story? In reality, no they are not, at least not initially.

Employers’ receive sometimes thousands of resumes in response to one job posting and they just can not read each one. Larger employers use scanning software, where they scan all incoming resumes into a database. Then they do a key word search on the resume database to select the candidates that most closely meet their criteria. Employers in these cases don’t like dealing with more than one page.

 For smaller employers who don’t use scanning software HR only has a few seconds to review each resume and make a decision of yes possible candidate no doesn’t meet our criteria. This usually means 90% are sorted out and the 10% that were sorted in, get some further review and only a few are sent on for final consideration by the hiring manager. If you are selected for either a phone interview or an onsite interview, at that point you can supply them with your complete resume or an addendum which gives them more information.

Think of yourself as a Marketing Manager.

A Marketing Manager creates a 1 page tear sheet for his/her product. This tear sheet starts with the name of the product and a summary of exactly what this product will do for the customer. What problem or issue the customer may have that this product will resolve. Then it goes on to list all of the products features and specifications. This tear sheet is not an owners manual, but rather a sales tool to spark the customers interest and get the salesperson an appointment where they can go into detail with the customer the benefits and cost of the product and hopefully the opportunity of closing the sale.

As a Marketing Manager, you have only one product to sell (You). Your customer is the (Employer) who has a need, a problem or an issue to be resolved and needs to hire an expert to resolve that need. Your goal is to grab the employer’s attention, secure an appointment (Interview), to discuss in detail what you can do for the company and hopefully close the sale with a job offer.

Contents of your One Page Resume.

Therefore your 1 page tear sheet (Resume) starts with

the Name of your product (your name)

next an Objective which should match the title of what your customer (the Employer’s) need is.

next a summary of what you have to offer the employer is relation to this position.

next a list of features of your product ( a list of achievements that include; the issue or problem that needed to be resolved; the process you went though to resolve it and finally what was the result.

next a list of specifications (skills) make sure your list includes all the keywords that are listed in the job description

next a list of companies that have used your product (Employment History)

and finally your Education

Remember, every job description is different, but a 1 page resume is simple to modify to look as if the job you are applying for is the only job for you and that you meet all or most of the customer’s requirements.

BY D.B

How To Get Promoted (9 Obvious And Often Not Practiced Tips)

Everyone thinks about getting a promotion. We think about it before we even get our first job. It's a daydream we have even in high school - a vision of climbing the corporate ladder. We all want to know how to get promoted….

 Of course, many people who ask that question are asking it looking for a shortcut. They want to know a magic way to leapfrog from one rung on the ladder to the next rung without having to pay their "dues" so to speak. Well, this isn't how it works.

Everyone has to pay their dues in order to get promoted. However, there are some ways to improve your chances of getting promoted earlier than your peers.

If you want to know how to get promoted before other people in your same age group or doing the same kind of work that you are doing, keep reading! Then, start internalizing these tips and make them part of your career plan. Before you know it, you will have moved up to the next level.

The biggest reason people ignore these obvious practices about how to get promoted faster is because they seem like long-term approaches. Honestly, they really aren't. The only thing you need to remember is to do them on a consistent basis.

Here are the things you need to do broken down into three different areas: Planning, Your Attitude and Taking Action.

PLANNING

1. Where Are You Now and Why Are You There?

Before doing anything about getting promoted, you first have to understand where you are and how you got there. Then you can focus on how to get promoted. First you will need to have a reference point. Ask yourself, where are you right now? Is there any key strength that has brought you where you are now that you can continue to leverage for the next promotion? Are there any weaknesses that you really need to correct before the next promotion is possible? These questions are vitally important for you to answer. They allow you to determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. This kind of analysis allows you to assess what has worked and what will work to get you promoted.

2. Where Do You Want To Be and How Do You Get There?

You obviously need to have a goal and a set of objectives. Just expressing your desire to get promoted is not enough. You need to be clear on your next career move, right down to the position, the tasks you will be performing and the title you will have. Is it a promotion to a different department? Will you have a new supervisor? Will you be doing substantially different work? Be very clear about your goals. Put them down in writing.

Now that you have your goal written down, how do you plan to achieve that promotion? Develop your plan by developing step by step objectives. You might even be able to work this out with your immediate supervisor. Most bosses do not promise that you'll get a promotion during such discussions but at least you will get an idea of what you need to do to get the job promotion you want.

YOUR ATTITUDE

3. Put Pride and Passion In Everything You Do

People who get promoted are the kind of people who have a sense of pride in their work. They are driven by genuine enthusiasm and an authentic passion to work hard no matter how small the task. They believe in themselves and they believe in the bigger goals of their department and company overall. Not many people believe in their jobs to this extent. If you have this kind of attitude, you will go far in your organization.

4. Back it Up Action

Having pride and passion is only part of how to get promoted, though. It must be backed up skills and knowledge. That means having the right skills and experience to the job correctly. Otherwise, any effort you make is wasted. Without action - the right kind of action - nothing else really matters. You will be judged by what you do.

5. See Challenges As Opportunities

Very often I see co-workers being given challenging assignments. More often than not, these co-workers see these responsibilities as an additional chore rather than an opportunity. If you want to be promoted, look at challenges as opportunities. Your boss will notice.

TAKE ACTION

6. What Is Your Part?

Know your part and play your part. What is your role in your job? Are you an forecaster? Or are you a leader? Know what you need to do in order for your department to achieve its goals. Knowing your part means being a team player. No one can succeed without help from others. We all need the support of our co-workers. When the team succeeds, each individual succeeds, too.

7. Do Your Best NOW

I consider this one of the most important tips on geting a promotion. Do your best at this moment, this hour, this day. This week's tasks and projects need your full attention and they need your best efforts. Do not bask in the glory of your previous work. That is gone. In all likelihood, no one else is concerned about it. Right now, everyone is concerned about the current situation - the current project. Don't worry about the future, either. Focus on DOING your best NOW.

8. Do More Than Necessary

If you want to get the attention of your supervisor - and their supervisor - do more than is necessary. That means volunteering for work and taking the initiative to go above and beyond what your co-workers are doing. It also means not sitting around waiting for work knock on your door. Bosses like people who can help them solve problems. Even if the problem is not yours, but if you feel you can be of help and have the expertise to solve it, then volunteer to help. You become the team's competitive advantage when you do that. And bosses like people who give their unit an advantage over the others. Helping your team stay ahead is then helping you stay ahead too.

9. Fill in for your supervisor

Whenever possible, fill in for your boss when he/she is on vacation. If you demonstrate that you can do the work of the person one level up from you, you'll be more likely to be promoted to the next level up. You will certainly be ahead of anyone else in your department.

Obviously, there are many such job promotion tips that could be shared, but these are the most relevant to today's environment. If you put these into practice, you will greatly increase your chances of a getting a promotion. 

How To Find the Best Candidates for that Job

Looking for talent? Or do you have problems looking for the perfect candidate who could help you close that job offer? As a recruiter, you should never run out of brilliant candidates…..

 Countless untapped talents are everywhere. It is all in how much effort you put and the strategies you utilize into pooling not just 'good' candidates but the candidates that are job-worthy.

Try to check your database again and see if there are resumes that do not tell you a lot. Or is your staff still retrieving the same scrap? As much as possible, you would like a database that stores only the cream of the crop. So, how you separate the wheat from the chaff depends on the skills of you and your staff.

1. Source candidates like a pro and build long-term relationships with them. Be creative! That's the best advice I could give you now. There are various ways to look for candidates. It's not just subscribing to major job sites. There is actually more relationship built when you tap candidates you trust and ask for referrals. Also, allow your staff to tap their own networks. Expand and use your affiliates and organizations. You do not only aggregate more resumes into your database but you are actually building a personal, long-term connection with them.
2. Familiarize yourself with the industry's buzzwords. It is only by knowing and understanding the keywords that you will be able to competently assess a candidate for a job. By knowing what it means to truly qualify a candidate, you spend less time interviewing candidates who are not qualified for the post and you avoid wasting their time, too!
3. Have good communication skills. This includes being positive, polite and approachable to your staff, candidates and clients. You must also be an expert at salary negotiations and not giving up until the battle is won. There are candidates who might settle for a lower rate provided they fit perfectly into the culture. Therefore, it is important that your interview process allows you to carefully understand your candidate's personality. Your process should not be superficial. Move on to the next level and you will be surprised at how much the candidate is willing to compromise.
4. Pay attention to details. You must pay attention to minute details for this is where the recruitment business thrives. Organizing and knowing which tasks to prioritize are factors of success. Coach your staff to be keen to details as well. Teach them to analyze these details so that they can do detailed tasks for you.
5. Practice flexibility for it is the key. You shouldn't only be good with negotiations and interviews. A good recruiter must be flexible enough to do menial tasks when circumstances call for it.
6. Exert effort to be honest. Being honest means you should not misrepresent your clients to individuals nor misrepresent your candidates to your clients. This should not only avoid you legal cases but it also spares you from wasting time.
7. Exhibit a strong work ethic. When you have it, there is no problem in instilling it in your staff as well. A good leader should always be a good example.
8. Show a great deal of motivation and energy. Do you often procrastinate? When recruiters are always after a deadline to be able to close a candidate on a job offer, there is less room for delays. You should always be on the lookout for the best time to contact your candidates. It could be at an hour when bed looks comfortable or during the wee hours.
9. Understand that this business is a team effort. You have to grasp a good concept of a team. Thank God you do not work alone! Coach and organize your staff and split responsibilities. Know their strengths and bank on them. Guide them with their goals. Set objectives and define targets clearly.
10. Build a good reputation for yourself. That is: “Recruiter X always forwards his best candidates, let's take a look at his suggestion.”

 By C.O

How To Find the Best Candidates for that Job

Looking for talent? Or do you have problems looking for the perfect candidate who could help you close that job offer? As a recruiter, you should never run out of brilliant candidates…..

 Countless untapped talents are everywhere. It is all in how much effort you put and the strategies you utilize into pooling not just 'good' candidates but the candidates that are job-worthy.

Try to check your database again and see if there are resumes that do not tell you a lot. Or is your staff still retrieving the same scrap? As much as possible, you would like a database that stores only the cream of the crop. So, how you separate the wheat from the chaff depends on the skills of you and your staff.

1. Source candidates like a pro and build long-term relationships with them. Be creative! That's the best advice I could give you now. There are various ways to look for candidates. It's not just subscribing to major job sites. There is actually more relationship built when you tap candidates you trust and ask for referrals. Also, allow your staff to tap their own networks. Expand and use your affiliates and organizations. You do not only aggregate more resumes into your database but you are actually building a personal, long-term connection with them.
2. Familiarize yourself with the industry's buzzwords. It is only by knowing and understanding the keywords that you will be able to competently assess a candidate for a job. By knowing what it means to truly qualify a candidate, you spend less time interviewing candidates who are not qualified for the post and you avoid wasting their time, too!
3. Have good communication skills. This includes being positive, polite and approachable to your staff, candidates and clients. You must also be an expert at salary negotiations and not giving up until the battle is won. There are candidates who might settle for a lower rate provided they fit perfectly into the culture. Therefore, it is important that your interview process allows you to carefully understand your candidate's personality. Your process should not be superficial. Move on to the next level and you will be surprised at how much the candidate is willing to compromise.
4. Pay attention to details. You must pay attention to minute details for this is where the recruitment business thrives. Organizing and knowing which tasks to prioritize are factors of success. Coach your staff to be keen to details as well. Teach them to analyze these details so that they can do detailed tasks for you.
5. Practice flexibility for it is the key. You shouldn't only be good with negotiations and interviews. A good recruiter must be flexible enough to do menial tasks when circumstances call for it.
6. Exert effort to be honest. Being honest means you should not misrepresent your clients to individuals nor misrepresent your candidates to your clients. This should not only avoid you legal cases but it also spares you from wasting time.
7. Exhibit a strong work ethic. When you have it, there is no problem in instilling it in your staff as well. A good leader should always be a good example.
8. Show a great deal of motivation and energy. Do you often procrastinate? When recruiters are always after a deadline to be able to close a candidate on a job offer, there is less room for delays. You should always be on the lookout for the best time to contact your candidates. It could be at an hour when bed looks comfortable or during the wee hours.
9. Understand that this business is a team effort. You have to grasp a good concept of a team. Thank God you do not work alone! Coach and organize your staff and split responsibilities. Know their strengths and bank on them. Guide them with their goals. Set objectives and define targets clearly.
10. Build a good reputation for yourself. That is: “Recruiter X always forwards his best candidates, let's take a look at his suggestion.”

 By C.O

Job Hunting Online Gets Trickier

New federal guidelines meant to standardize how employers track data on the diversity of their job-applicant pool are taking effect starting today for jobs at federal contractors -- and similar rules will kick in later this year at U.S. companies with more than 50 employees. And resumes and search approaches that worked perfectly well before may no longer do the trick…

In the new system, federal regulators will be checking to see that companies are keeping diversity data on all applicants, according to a new, more uniform definition of "applicant."

According to this definition, an applicant must "express interest" in the job, whether by sending in a resume, applying on the company's site, or whatever other means the company requests, says Gerry Crispin, founder and principal of CareerXRoads and a long-time Internet job hunting expert.

That "expression of interest" must show that he or she has all the qualifications for the job listed in the company's job description (not just some or most of them) -- and those qualifications must be specific and measurable.

The applicant must be considered for a specific current or future position, and "never remove himself from consideration for the job," says Crispin. For example, "if I have a job opening in Boston, for example, and you've specified that you want to work in Chicago, I can infer that you've removed yourself," he says.

To comply with these new rules and get the most diversity, employers will have an incentive to keep the pool of applicants for each job relatively small and as random as possible. To make sure you're considered now, you'll have to:

Follow the company's instructions. "If an employer says that, to apply for a given job, you must go to their web site and enter a certain code number, then do that," says Crispin. "Otherwise your resume will never be seen."

Spell out your qualifications clearly. "Pay very close attention to the specific qualifications an employer lists for a particular job, and make sure your resume contains those exact words," Crispin says.

For instance, if a job description includes the words "three years of credit accounting experience," put "three years of credit accounting experience" on your resume. "Don't just list a credit-accounting position with the dates you had it and assume someone will figure it out," Crispin advises. This may mean you have to rewrite your resume for each job opening you apply for.

Keep your resume up-to-the-minute current. "The rules allow companies to pick a random pool of applicants by searching the job boards for 'most recent' qualified applicants," Crispin notes. "In those cases, no one will even look at a resume that is more than two or three weeks old." Yikes.

Target specific companies and visit their web sites often. "The first announcement of a job opening very often appears on a company's own site before it is posted anywhere else," says Crispin. If enough applicants turn up on the site, the employer is unlikely to look any further. "Companies really do not want 500 or 1,000 applicants for each job," Crispin says. "If they get 30 who are qualified, that's a reasonable number for a hiring manager to consider and select from."

If someone is referring you for a job, make sure you -- and they -- understand how to do it. About one-third of all new hires now come through employee-referral programs, and companies are still permitted to run these however they like, as long as they follow a consistent policy. So if your pal at Ostrich Corp. wants to refer you for a job, know what Ostrich's policy is (whether via the company web site, having your friend submit your resume for you in a particular way, or what-have-you) and follow it to the letter.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the new rules will actually increase diversity in companies or just create extra work for everybody. Either way, if you're looking for a new job, you can't afford to ignore them.

BY J.B

Looking for a Fresh Start?

You've decided you're ready for a change. You want to move to another part of the country and find a new job. So, where do you go from here?...

Research:

You really can't have too much information. Look for the websites of the community you want to live in and see what they have to offer. Check out the unemployment rate for the region. Make sure you have opportunties for advancement in your field. Find the major employers of the region and check out their websites too. You probably have a good idea of the work you would like to do and this helps narrow down the companies you could potentially work for. Make up a short list, check out their job openings and start applying.

Budget:

If you want to move first, then find work at your new location, you will need to make sure you have enough money set aside. Budget for how long you think it might take you to find work, then double or triple it. Remember to include damage deposits for your new apartment or money for a hotel if you are looking to purchase a home. Remember too that it might take up to a month before you get paid by your new employer, and that's after you get hired. Add in the moving costs, utility hook-up charges, and new furnishings and you can see it adds up quickly.

Get Help:

When you arrive at your new town or city, consider contacting an employment or placement agency. They operate without charging you fees and will try to find you work. They also know who is hiring and what they are looking for. Make sure you have an updated resume with your most current employment listed. Also, be prepared to answer why you've decided to move and what brings you to your new location. Be honest, but make sure it sheds the best possible light on your situation. If you have friends in the area, make sure they know you are looking for work. Network!

Making a move to a new community is sometimes exactly what is needed. A fresh start, a new outlook, and new opportunities can make a world of difference. With a little research and preparation, you can make it a smooth transition.

By C.j.com Staff

Should I stop my job search during the holidays?

As the calendar year comes to a close, job seekers may be tempted to put their hunt on hold. After all, companies are too busy trying to get work done amid office parties and days off to have time for new hires, right?...

Wrong, many experts say. Slack off during November and December and you might miss one of the best times of the year to find a job.

Companies' need for workers does not take vacation

"I would say taking time off from your job search is never wise, regardless of the time of year or season," says Frank Dadah, general manager at Winter, Wyman -- one of the largest staffing organizations in the Northeast. "Oftentimes, year end is the busiest time of the year for companies, not only because they are getting ready for the year-end close but because they are gearing up for a quick start to the new year. It may be a bit more challenging to schedule interviews during the holidays, but that doesn't mean companies aren't hiring."

Elaine Varelas, managing partner at Keystone Partners, a career management and transition servicesconsulting firm headquartered in Boston, agrees. "When there is a need, a candidate needs to be there. The idea that a candidate should suspend her job search during the holidays or that employers stop recruiting during this time is very dated."

Take for instance The Knowland Group, a company headquartered in McLean, Va., that offers business development services for the hospitality industry. According to communications manager Tom Crosson, the company is hiring 200 workers to staff a new call center that will open by year's end.

Likewise, Josh Jones, CEO of DreamHost Web Hosting, a Los Angeles-based Web hosting provider and domain name registrar, says his company is planning a late 2010 hiring "spree" for about 20 full-time positions. "We're trying to gear up for what we expect to be faster growth starting in early 2011, and we want to have people on board and situated already by the time that comes."

Potential advantages for applicants

Dadah and Varelas both note that one of the foremost reasons to pursue employment during the final months of the year is a reduction in competition. By keeping your search going at a time when others have slowed down or stopped, you have a greater chance of being noticed. Also, job seeking during the holidays can show prospective employers your seriousness about landing a position.

Catherine Jewell, author of "New Résumé New Career: Get the Job You Want With the Skills and Experience You Already Have," says that job seekers who keep at it are even more likely to be hired during the holiday season than at other times.

"Human resource managers have year-end deadlines," Jewell says. "The new year brings a new budget. Toward the end of the fiscal year, hiring managers may have a number of new positions to fill. They will be evaluated on whether they get the job done."

Other reasons why Jewell suggests keeping your job search going full-throttle during the holiday season:

• Holiday activities often put managers in a more receptive mood. When people are focused on family and fun through the holidays, they often are more open and receptive to conversation -- even from job seekers.

• Holiday events are a natural networking environment. Professional associations often have free holiday events. Job seekers should take advantage of parties given by associations, chambers and clubs that are of interest.

• Holiday greetings by mail, e-mail and telephone keep you connected. People searching for jobs should harness the spirit of the season to amp up gratitude. Thank former clients, vendors and co-workers. Thank bosses and mentors. Thank everyone who has helped.  

By C.B

5 Creative Ways To Get A Job

Okay, you might have replied to nearly every job in the paper and applied for each job on Monster, CareerBuilder, and HotJobs. You have made all the necessary calls and networked until you were exhausted and speechless….

 Apart from that, every single Sunday you take the newspaper and apply for almost every job inside your particular field with small to no results. So why not consider attempting a few special approaches to find a job?

Send out One half of your Cv
Choose a company you want to do the job for. Compose a fantastic cover letter on why you happen to be an exceptional fit, referring to the attached resume. However, make certain that you do not seal the envelope and do not enclose the resume. They are going to assume that the cv somehow fell out in the mail. Consequently, they are going to call and engage in a conversation. Everything you really need to do then is sell yourself shamelessly.

Send A Prospecting Letter
Make full use of the power of direct mail. Track down five to ten organizations. Post a letter to one of your social networks and ask them if they happen to know anyone who works at any of the organizations on your list. The instant your contact says they realise they know a person on your list, give them your resume and ask them to pass it on to their contact or ask permission to send it out yourself.

Use A Massive amount of Letter
Generate a record of twenty firms you plan to work in and send an e-mail to every person you know in order to determine if by any chance they know anybody who works for one of these corporations. Ask them to get in touch with you if they do so you can ask for a referral. As a final point, get them to send your e-mail to ten more people. Nevertheless you should not do this if you are presently employed!

Give out A Pamphlet
Produce a booklet with facts associated with your market and give it away. Everyone takes pleasure in totally free data and this indicates your experience. Send the booklet away as a computer file and publicize it to newsgroups exactly where selecting directors will see it.

Phone Recruitment Department
Seems ridiculous? It is accurate though. Phone the HR team. Question them what outside company or third-party hiring firm or firms they employ. They are going to ask you why do you intend to know this. Tell them that their business is not looking for somebody with your experience right this moment but there is a chance that the agency may be dealing with other firms and consequently, you happen to be seeking a recommendation. They could invite you for an interview. If not at the very least you do get a lead. This single tactic worked magic for me personally the last instance I was hunting for a job. In addition getting recommended guarantees you specific attention. Write them a thank you note.

These are typically guerrilla tactics that could provide you with much better outcomes. Ensure to stay tuned for another five inventive tips that should help individuals looking for innovative approaches to increase their job hunting results.