Career Management Alliance Blog

Over the past 13 years I’ve been observing the development of my son and watching how he interacts with people. One of his most endearing qualities is his giving and supportive nature which for years I just interpreted as sweet but now I see as having the potential to be so much more. He seems to be a natural at networking and here’s why:

• Give to give, not to get-As a toddler my son sought out kids to share his snacks with and he never expected anything in return. He really enjoyed the happiness he brought to others through pretzels, goldfish, carrot sticks, cookies etc.
• Help others-In grade school my son helped his friends who needed to complete their schoolwork before they could play. He knew that it was a win-win to help the friend because the sooner the homework was done, the sooner they could play.
• Be an advocate for others-As a middle schooler, my son frequently compliments others. “Richard is the fastest runner, Adam can really act, my sister is a great singer, my mom makes the best brownies”…he really likes to spread the word about what others can do.
• Be humble-My son is a pretty amazing artist and his specialties are cartooning and computer animation. But he doesn’t go around boasting about it…he just sees it as something he likes to do. He lets others spread the word about what he can do and he prefers it that way. He uploads his work on YouTube and Facebook and lets the community chime in on his prowess.

I’m hoping that as an adult my son can take these skills to the next level to work collaboratively with others, mentor staff, share job leads, make introductions, and promote his talents. He seems to have a natural predisposition towards networking, but certainly there is a lot to learn. What about you? Chances are good that you have a similar predisposition towards helping others and sharing information, but perhaps you’ve never thought of it strategically or reflected on how your nature can be leveraged to build quality relationships and a stronger network during a job search. Take some time to think about it. New connections and even job leads may be closer than you think.

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The first paragraph of a cover letter should fill in the blank in this sentence, says Deborah Brown-Volkman in an article on Quintessential Careers: “I am writing to you today because…” “In this section, state why you are writing to the employer,” Brown-Volkman says. “Where did you see the ad for the position, or who recommended you?”

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This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD: Laura writes: Since moving to Daytona Beach 5 years ago, I have worked for 10 employers and also tried self-employment. (Four of the jobs were temporary.) Only one of those employers was a good match for me, but unfortunately, they went out of business nine months after I started working for them. I am a highly qualified accountant/bookkeeper, but it seems this town is unwilling to pay a decent salary to someone with my skills and more than 25 years of experience. My age (over 50) may also have something to do with my inability to get a good job offer. I have been on several interviews, but I seem to come in second or third choice.

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The Career Doctor responds: I think now is the time to reinforce the whole concept of a job search as a marketing campaign. Your cover letter and resume are the key marketing promotion documents and the job interview is the critical sales call. If you then look at yourself as a product, it puts job-hunting in a much different light. You have a number of issues/problems/concerns that need to be addressed. First, I let me preface the rest of this answer with the depressing news that the Central Florida job market is one of the weakest and low-paying that I have ever researched. So, as you’ve discovered, job-seekers need to keep their expectations tempered. Your resume. There are a number of issues you need to deal with here. First, you need to remove older job experience and take older dates off your experience and education so that employers can’t easily guess your age. Next, you need to do something with all the jobs; 10 jobs in five years is a huge red flag. I would consider lumping all your temporary work into one grouping in a traditional resume — or consider experimenting with some sort of chrono-functional resume, in which skills are emphasized and employment history is secondary. Next, are you current with your training/technology skills — and if so, does it come across on your resume? So much of accounting and bookkeeping practices have changed, even in the last 10 years, that employers may assume older job-seekers still do it the “old” way and may be resistant to change. Your task is to not let them assume that! In the interview. Your resume can only do so much for you — which is basically get you to the interview. Now you need to sell yourself to the employer. Don’t go into interviews, as some older workers do, with anything but a positive attitude — focused on how you can make an immediate contribution to the company (rather than relying on all your years of solid experience). Attitude, especially with older workers, is critical. I strongly recommend that you read some of the articles and other resources in this section of Quintessential Careers: Job Resources for Mature and Older Jobseekers.

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Source: PRWEB Search any of the major search engines for “Jobs in New York” and you’ll notice a new face among the crowd of established job boards that have dominated the New York job board market in recent times. Jobs-in-New-York.com is the first job board launched by The Omni Job Board Network Inc. in a bid to shift the paradigm of online recruitment for the New York job market. The Omni network has been created by a team of former recruiters, web developers, human resources and marketing professionals “who had become disillusioned by the high cost and inconsistent results they experienced with traditional job boards.” According to the website, their research revealed that the vast majority of internet job-seekers had little loyalty to major job board brands, instead relying primarily on search engines to deliver relevant and up-to-date job listings in their area. In other words, multi-million dollar advertising campaigns designed to promote brand awareness and loyalty –- and passed on to the customer in the high cost of job listings -– were futile in the medium to long term. They set out to create a rich media job board with a host of features for job-seekers and recruiters offering unprecedented value for money to recruiters and employers. Omni’s suite of New York job boards also includes Accounting-Jobs-In-New-York.com, Legal-Jobs-In-New-York.com and IT-Jobs-In-New-York.com.

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Julie writes: I have been unemployed for a little over a year, but I have been doing all the paper work for my husband’s business he has on the side. I also live on a farm. So I really haven’t been employed. How would I add this in my resume? If I leave it off they will think I haven’t been working.

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The Career Doctor responds: You have to remember, Julie, that you determine how you frame your experience — both on your resume and in job interviews. The employer is not a mind-reader, so unless you showcase your experience, skills, and accomplishments, you are not going to get many interviews. So many job-seekers are in a similar situations as yours. Perhaps they worked for a family business, perhaps it was volunteer work, or perhaps it was taking a year off to go back to school…But what you and all these other job-seekers don’t understand is that all these things add up to your specific mix of skills and abilities. Employers are more interested in job-seekers that have been doing something during a hiatus from full-time, paid employment than job-seekers who appear to have been doing nothing, What’s the answer? Don’t discount any of the year that you’ve been working on the farm and helping your husband’s business. Instead, embrace that experience. Find experience, skills, and accomplishments that you can pull from the past year’s work. If you find the experience doesn’t quite fit into a neat career path, then consider experimenting by supplementing your conventional chronological resume with a chrono-functional style. What’s the difference? Chronological resumes focus on your job history while chrono-functional resumes focus on specific (transferable) skills sets you’ve mastered. Read more in these articles published on Quintessential Careers: Should You Consider a Functional Resume? and Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job-search Technique. You can also find many more resume-related articles and tutorials in the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.

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If you have a gap in your employment history, you may have concerns about how to explain this on your resume. Keep in mind that many people step away from the workplace each year to raise children, care for ill/aging family members, return to school, recover from an illness/accident, or for some other reason. So the good news is that there is less of a stigma attached to this than there used to be. It’s possible that you may not even need to explain the gap. For example, if you were away from the workforce from February 2006 to October 2007, you can de-emphasize the 20-month gap by listing years of employment (vs. months and years). But if the gap spans multiple years, and especially if the gap has occurred within the last five years, then it may need to be addressed on either the resume or the cover letter. Employers like to see the work chronology, and may wonder what you were doing if large gaps are present. Serving as the primary caregiver for a family member or taking a sabbatical to pursue a degree are valid explanations for a gap. You can also fill this time period by showcasing any volunteerism, consulting, or self-study you completed. Treat this experience just as you would a paid, full-time position, and try to include examples of key contributions you made. For example, if you helped with a school fundraising drive, mention how your efforts were instrumental in meeting or exceeding the giving goal. Be sure to emphasize skills and accomplishments that are relevant to your current career objective. Best wishes for job search success! Karen Hofferber Senior Resume Writer, ResumePower.com

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Source: PRWEB President Barack Obama’s proposed Stimulus Plan is expected to create over four million new jobs in the United States if passed by Congress, and that’s good news for people who want to move into the construction industry in 2009. According to The New York Times, the Obama proposal states that nearly 400,000 jobs could be created by building and repairing roads, schools and bridges. That means there will be a demand for heavy equipment operators and Heavy Equipment Training, creating a need for training programs such as those offered by the National Heavy Equipment Operators School. Florida-based National Heavy Equipment Operators School provides an extensive two-part Heavy Equipment Training Program. Once participants complete training, they are immediately qualified to work as heavy equipment operators in the construction industry. National’s heavy equipment operator training is accredited with the Distance Education Training Counsel (DETC), giving graduates an edge when applying for jobs as heavy equipment operators.

“President Obama has hinted that the entire USA infrastructure will be rebuilt. This will cause a tremendous demand for heavy equipment careers,” said David Rose, spokesman for National Training Schools.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, about three out of four heavy equipment operators worked in the construction industry. Many equipment operators worked in heavy construction, building highways, bridges, or railroads in every section of the United States. About National Heavy Equipment Operators School National Heavy Equipment Operators School is based in Orange Park, Florida, and provides an extensive, two-part training program for those interested in working as heavy equipment operators in the construction industry. National Training Heavy Equipment Operators School is accredited with the Distance Education Training Counsel (DETC).

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This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD: Ben writes: I have a question concerning submitting my cover page and resume via email. The question is that most companies will not accept attachments so I must submit my resume within the message body of my email vs. attachments. How do I maintain the same appearance as the original written in MS Word?

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The Career Doctor responds: The short answer is you can’t. And while appearances are important for traditional cover letters, the most important element is the content. The same holds true for resumes; appearances are important for traditional resumes, but content is the most critical element — regardless of the format. So, how are emailed cover letters different than traditional cover letters? Let me walk you through some of the key issues, but before I do, let me emphasize that you should always go to each employer’s career center site and examine the guidelines for submitting electronic documents, if they list them. Here are the five critical email cover letter issues. First, know the rules of writing a cover letter. If you are still writing “vanilla” cover letters, you won’t get any employer response — no matter how you send it. Second, keep it short. Email cover letters need to be more concise and shorter in length than traditional cover letters. Third, take advantage of keywords. Be sure to use all the keywords from the employment listing — and any other important jargon or keywords from your industry — without making the letter a string of sentences full of jargon. Fourth, watch your line length. Some email software automatically perform line returns for you, but I would make sure the lines of your email are no longer than 60 characters. Fifth, take the time to send the email cover letter to yourself first — so you can see what it looks like after transmission. Finally, as you know, don’t even bother with attachments. Most employers don’t want them. Instead, consider developing Web versions of your resume and providing the URL to the employer (in addition to providing a text-based version). Find more information and guidelines in my article, Tips for a Dynamic Email Cover Letter, published on Quintessential Careers. You can also find more information about types of resumes in the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.

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Since last Monday I’ve been giving presentations on using tools for job search and career management (and even social marketing). I’m amazed at the percentage of people who are really, really new to this stuff.  A lot of people have known about tools, and even the tactics and strategies, for managing their own career, being CEO of Me, Inc., and proactively creating their own “job security” (which I’ll refer to as “income security“). But “knowing about” and “implementing” are two different things.  Like when I “knew about” my lawnmower problem, but sat on it for years, and one day I pulled the pliers out and fixed an uber-frustrating issue in just five minutes that made mowing my lawn a much better experience. Or “knowing about” a problem with the door knob on my front door which frustrated just about everyone who ever touched it.  After years, I finally had that fixed. Or “knowing about” my intense dislike for my dress shoes, which were either uncomfortable or scuffed to the point of embarrassing (and not professional).  I finally made myself do one of the things I loathe, which is shop for shoes for myself.  I found a brand and style that I’m in love with and doubt I’ll ever (EVER) buy another brand. The fixes for our little problems are usually quick, easy and affordable.  But for some reason we put them off for years, living with the frustration.  Is it because we like the pain and anguish? I have no idea. My coach taught me something simple: I have the answers, I know what should be done, but I was just waiting around for someone to give me permission to do it.  How silly is that? So today, I give you permission.

I give you permission to get on LinkedIn, and have a career management strategy.  If you want to figure out what a LinkedIn Strategy is, come on over to the LinkedIn blog. I give you permission to go to a face-to-face networking event this month. I never did because I thought I would be cheating on my company (the very same company that pink-slipped me). I give you permission to take a few hours and update your resume. I give you permission to read a networking book that will change your life (The first book I recommend is Never Eat Alone). I give you permission to _____________________________.  I’m not sure what it is for you, but I bet you know.

Finally, I give you permission to give yourself permission… for all of those little things that need to be resolved.  You are an adult - you don’t need to wait for someone else to come along and say it’s okay to make the necessary change. Do it.  Be empowered. I give you permission!

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Saurabh writes: I am an 20-year-old graduate, wanting to take up real estate as my career. I am really interested in this field but lack the primary information in real estate. I need information like:-

1. Pre-requisites.
2. Future scope.
3. Legalities.
4. Needed knowledge or skills.

I would appreciate if you would reply me with some sites that explain such basic information.

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The Career Doctor responds: According to several sources, there are more than five million people in the United States employed in identifiable real-estate fields such as title insurance, construction, mortgage banking, property management, real estate appraisals, brokerage and leasing, and real-estate development. Where should all job-seekers begin their quests for information about specific careers? Your immediate answer should be the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. (You can search it directly from this page on Quintessential Careers.) The Handbook provides lots of information (job descriptions, nature of work, training/education required, salaries, future demand, etc.) for “Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents” and “Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers” — depending on your specific interests within the real estate field. Another great source for you as you begin your quest is from the College of Business at Ohio State University. Go to their Careers in Real Estate: Is Real Estate for You? This site has an amazing collection of information and resources, including skills and requirements, key job areas, facts and trends, salaries, and offline and online resources. Another interesting site, more from a personal perspective of someone in the real-estate brokerage business is Real Estate Careers, from Prudential Properties Northwest.

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