Blog entries December 2008
12/31/2008How Baby Boomers Get Hired - 4 Tips
- Have a state of the art resume reflecting your experience. Don't include information earlier than the very late 1980's unless it's phenomenal and then use a hybrid presentation as opposed to straight chronology. Have a sharp design and layout and you'll look contemporary.
- Get help with your interview clothes! Long before the handshake or the impressive tales of success, a pair of eyes will set upon you. What will they see? You don't need to be young or buff but you do have to be well put together. A sign of "old" is old-style clothes or those that no longer fit. Love at first sight applies to employers!
- Learn the tools! Learn to text, understand Facebook and read up on the I-Phone. And whatever you do be up on the appropriate computer technology to get the job and do the job. Probably the only real advantage Gen X and Gen Y have is the technology around which they grew up! Don't ever fear technology.
- Don't "do" old! Don't lack energy, don't discuss your cholesterol and don't resent Gen X and Gen Y believing they feel entitled to everything while you were forced to come up through the ranks. Enjoy the challenges of job search rather than complaining about the difficulties. Be the hero by demonstrating that you've overcome hardships before and they don't faze you.
- Be a leader! When we raised kids we were expected to lead and have answers. Today more than ever companies are looking to your leadership. Offer it!
Janice Worthington
12/23/2008We All Really Do Belong Somewhere!
Probably the most interesting part of job search coaching for three decades has been witnessing outcomes. I am there from the beginning, middle and end of a job search. The outcome of a job search is really easy to predict. Candidates either get hired with quality or give up and settle. Everyone ends up working somewhere, but the one factor that defines how well the search ends has much to do with perseverance and self-esteem, i.e., how good they feel about themselves.
I'll continue to spend my days on our blog warning that your resume may well be killing your opportunities or that if your interview is off just a bit, the next candidate will take for himself what, perhaps, you felt was meant to be your opportunity. But way beyond these mechanical exercises, remember that he who wins is many times he who endured the battle the longest. Boxing comes to mind.
Job search can really challenge your sense of identity, shake your confidence and make you question whether or not those achievements in your past were even valid. Anyone who denies they have ever felt this way, no matter how great they may appear, is not forthcoming.
The most important point? You are who you are and you are just as valuable on your first day of job search as you were the day before your layoff! No one can ever take away your qualifications, achievements or sense of self. Never allow anyone to invalidate you!
I'm a big fan of authors like Rick Warren and Max Lucado because they reinforce things I may lose sight of on a cold December day when I don't see the sun. Mr. Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life reminds me that I'm here on a specific mission. And in fewer but no less compelling words Max Lucado says,"
"You Were Knitted Together...You Weren't an Accident.
You Weren't Mass Produced...You Aren't an Assembly Line Product,
"You Are a Wonderful One of a Kind ..."
May we all win our competitions in 2009 and may we all be here to encourage each other to accept the mission. I know I will! See ya in a few!
Janice Worthington
12/17/2008When You Don't Get Hired & It's Not Your Fault!
Everyone understands disappointment but I don't believe anything causes a job candidate to lose confidence as much as submitting a great resume, sporting a good-looking interview outfit, holding a compelling interview, passing the drug test, learning that your references were called and then waiting...for the job offer that never comes.
This disappointment can be especially difficult if you developed a rapport with one or more of the hiring authorities. Knowing you impressed a decision-maker only to wait for a call that never comes is an all-too familiar job search killer. What did you do wrong? Perhaps nothing. Where could you have done better? Perhaps nowhere.
If you thought you were a "sure thing" and nothing happened the following scenarios might explain why:
The hiring authority may have assumed a different position or exited the company completely and thus created a communication gap in the hiring process on a long-term or permanent basis. I have always compared this phenomenon to a breakdown of a company's "hiring nervous system" because the left hand can no longer transmit a message to the right hand. What is unfortunate is that any sensitivity to your job offer has gone numb.
The company implemented a corporate-wide hiring freeze. When companies such as Disney announce a hiring freeze headlines are made. But when smaller corporations or privately-held companies suddenly "freeze," their own employees may never be told, much less the candidate who,s interview so impressed 24 hours before the announcement.
The CEO's nephew finally decided he wanted the job. While some companies have policies against hiring family members and relatives, just as many have open-door policies and are very likely to be faced with the potential inheritance of these folks due to their availability from layoffs. There is nothing a good candidate can do to outperform that nephew.
The current employee decided not to leave. This is another interesting situation that happens more often than we know, and while this revelation places that particular employee's future on the list of what bosses call "diminishing returns," the brakes have been applied to any candidates under consideration.
You eventually do get the job offer...just not within your preferred time parameters. There is a whole litany of unrelated reasons that can slow down a hire, or perhaps the time frame to hire actually complied with that particular company's norm all along...just not ours. When our priority is not the hiring authority's we lose patience and assume rejection.
The lesson here is twofold. It may not have been your fault so don't beat yourself up! You may have been the perfect candidate in a particular hiring event but because of outside forces, you still may not get the job! These things happen and companies are under no obligation to notify of you with any reasons as to the fact that the job has been filled or what happened to your promising prospects. If you have enough "irons in the fire" the realization that one isn't going to come through won't leave you quite so devastated and you will have other events for which to prepare. You'll also get hired sooner! Life's not always fair but getting hired is still a numbers game; the more you have happening the sooner someone will ask, "When can you start?"
Janice Worthington
12/08/2008Jobless in December? Advice from the Pros
Last year Paul, a 60 year-old controller was hired on December 23, two days before
Christmas. Our economy was already in the midst of turmoil but Paul got hired anyway. How?
Last month, Jenny, a 22 year-old young lady who really worked hard to build up her interview presentation muscle, accepted a smashing job offer from a company in San
Francisco. They paid her relocation, gave her a generous sign-on bonus and a solid salary.
Evidently, she wasn't paying attention that day in class when the professor lectured about
the severe restrictions on entry-level hiring during a challenged economy.
Last week, Mary, having been laid off from selling software and previously plumbing devices, received a starting date for her dream job in medical device sales, that now pays $3,000 more than the last time she interviewed with the same company in 1998. Second time was a charm. Of course the second time occurred in late November 2008.
Here's some advice from my recruiter alliances:
Tina Rieder, Managing Partner at Atrium Personnel reminds us that the largest employers in our area have been laying off people every year for many years, but now it is reported more frequently. She wonders why media doesn't feature those who start new jobs each week. According to Rieder, "Companies are still selling product and developing software applications to increase efficiencies. They are still replacing retirees, and companies are still creating marketing campaigns to boost sales. All the basic parts of businesses are still in place."
"Those individuals who set themselves apart from the pack through solid reputation, strong work ethic, positive attitude and professional image will get the offers. Others who decide to wallow in the quagmire of negativity, using a 'sagging economy' as a crutch will not get hired. Regardless of what is happening in the economy, no organization can afford negativity.
Jeff Hill, SPHR of Dawson Resources reinforces the fact that not only are companies hiring but they are wiling to invest in their searches. Hill states, "Employers are very much looking for specific skill sets that match up with the positions that are open. They want people that can hit the ground running because they don't have the budgets or the personnel to train, and in this economy, they have the option to demand a perfect match. IT and Engineering candidates continue to be sought after as companies still need to take care of the basic needs of their organizations, and as usual in any economic downturn there are some companies that continue to grow and prosper. Alternative energy is an example."
The message? There are still jobs and employers are still hiring. The solution? Stay tuned!
Janice Worthington
12/01/2008Resume Miscalculations & Just Plain Mistakes
1.
Lose the Personal Qualities & Fluff... Motivated, award-winning, results-oriented, trustworthy, enthusiastic, flexible, resourceful are great character traits but are meaningless when written about oneself in a resume. Today's employers want concrete definition. Summaries of Qualifications sections filled with platitudes such as "recognized for consistent dedication, hard work and reliability" and "effective communicator" cause employers to roll their eyes. Every resume book from the 1980's and 1990's featured these.
2.
Always Write Job Descriptions in First Person and Don't Be Caught With a Prounoun... Completed correctly, there is an implied "I" when you write in first person. Everyone knows pronouns ("I" "You" "Their" "Its") are unacceptable on a resume, "Develops, implements and presents training materials" is incorrect. This implies "he/she" and since we are writing our story the correct usage is "develop, implement and present."
3.
"Responsible For"...is a weak, over-used, old-school way of beginning a job description. Action words such as "directed, initiated, created, implemented, managed" are more proactive. Avoid words like "assisted" and "familiar with" if stronger terms can be used without misrepresenting.
4.
Be Sure To Include Achievements... Many resumes are nothing more than bullet after bullet of duties resembling the human resources job description from your employers. You know, "does this-does that." A resume without achievements is like a report card without grades and if you don't include the special contributions you've made someone else will include theirs.
5.
Describing Each Employer at the Beginning of Your Job Descriptions...before describing your job and specifying achievements. It's difficult to put your contributions into perspective if the reader isn't informed regarding the industries in which you’ve spent time.
Janice Worthington