Blog entries August 2009
08/31/2009If I Were A Job Hunter I Would...
Join Us for a Webinar on Tuesday, September 29th
CareerBoard and Janice Worthington, Certified Job & Career Coach, continue in the series of webinars on the various professionals who determine a hire...the external recruiter, human resource manager and hiring decision-maker.
Joining Janice will be Terry Martin, a senior corporate Human Resources executive who recently retired from Emerson Network Power/ Liebert Corporation in HR. Terry has 38 years experience in corporate HR working for Liebert and other manufacturing companies. Janice and Terry will discuss what candidates can do to really stand out from the crowd and land their dream jobs!
Title: Who You Have to Impress to Get Hired-Part Two
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM- 2:00 PM EDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements PC-based attendees
Required: Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh- based attendees
Required: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer
Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/469288008______________________________________________________________________
- Immediately make sure my voicemail delivered a professional message. Featuring MY voice I would mention MY name and welcome the caller indicating that I would return all calls.
- Stop the privacy manager function on my phone allowing restricted calls in. Many recruiters use restricted caller ID because those who call at work cannot put a candidate's job in jeopardy.
- Conduct all phone interviews on a land line. I wouldn't want to risk a break in communications during such an important conversation. I would find a telephone booth (yep that's what I said!) if all else failed!
- Attend job fairs. I would submit my resume to every single company present if they employ people like me. I would chat with company representatives and request names of hiring managers in my field.
- Attend live events in my field so I could meet people who do what I do. I would learn who in my area hires people with my background, I would find out as much as possible about who they are and I would approach them.
- Always at least go Dress Casual to every event. I would not wear T Shirts to networking events and I would not wear shorts and flip-flops to a job fair! Employers see me before they hear me.
-Develop a business card that identified not just who I was but what I had to offer. Using both sides, I would include my skill sets and functional areas expertise.
- Never pre-judge a job or company before I had the opportunity to see for myself... The next guy can't determine what I want or what I'm willing to do to get ahead.
- Be well trained to job hunt. I would become a strong hunter and I would never give up.
- On the days when I was ready to give up I would play this video
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513
Janice Worthington
08/14/2009A Tale of Pete, Leo, Jaime, Debbie
Last week we saw unemployment drop from 9.5% to 9.4%. For those who think this is no big deal let me assure you that career experts are the first to see the difference!
And so we have Pete, Leo, Jaime and Debbie our most recent clients to accept job offers. Here are their stories.
Pete, Regional Vice President - With a strong sales management background, Pete came from the telecommunications industry. A strong business developer he waged a job search with the same veracity that he made sales calls in his early days. As with most 6-figure executives it took several months but then Pete went on to secure two job offers. We'll get back to Pete in a moment.
Leo, District Manager - He used to work for Pete before they both were down-sized. Remember those two job offers Pete received? Regretfully he couldn't accept them both so he recommended Leo. On the recommendation of a candidate who turned a job down, the second company interviewed and hired Pete's colleague. A good lesson in not burning bridges.
Jamie, Project Manager. She worked for a company for enough years that when she was down-sized her technology has become obsolete. She networked extensively and was advised by a technology leader to find an internship in the specific technology she lacked. She did and recently revisited that technology executive with her time in and her expertise in tact. He hired her!
Debbie, Administrative Assistant- Sadly she didn't get the job. But knowing for a fact that the company had a 90 day probationary period she kept in touch. The company had since found out that one admin wasn't enough. Debbie starts Monday.
So as the job market begins to improve... and it is improving... stick to the basics, don't burn bridges and go back to those who provided wisdom and assistance. There's a Pete, Leo, Jamie and Debbie waiting to help you!
Janice Worthington
08/04/2009Letter From A Real Job Seeker
*Join us for a Webinar on Wednesday, August 19th*Janice Worthington, Certified Job & Career Coach and CareerBoard present the first in a series of webinars on the various professionals who determine a hire....the external recruiter, human resource manager and hiring decision-maker.
Joining Janice will be Tina Rieder, Managing Partner of Atrium Personnel, Columbus, Ohio. Tina will discuss the role of the executive recruiter during a job search. Job seekers will learn what they can do to help the recruiter help them!
Title: Getting Back to Work - Who to Impress
Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements:PC-based attendeesRequired: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendeesRequired: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
Space is limited.Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/284909040_______________________________________________________________________
Dear Janice:
I have read many articles telling me to "sell myself" but I am having a hard time figuring out what this really means. One of my concerns is that I may come across as egotistical and another stems from the fact that I really can't identify what I have to sell! Help!
Ron in Detroit
Dear Ron:
In this case believe those articles! A candidate is much like a product for purchase that has the ability to talk about why the shopper (interviewer) should buy! Pity the loaves of bread and boxes of cereal that have to count on strictly visual appeal to end up in the buyer's shopping cart. Your resume must merchandise you visually and informationally much like the inventory on the store shelves but then you actually a bigger and better opportunity...the interview!
To learn what you have to sell you must identify several things. First of all what are your skill sets, transferable skills and functional areas of expertise? In what are you experienced? And perhaps most important, where and on what occasions have you made the greatest contributions? So the first step is to take an inventory of what you have to offer. The second step is conduct a bit of research or intelligence regarding what the company needs. Where is a company's area of need? Where are the problem areas? The way to best sell yourself is to connect what you've done with what a company needs done. You can't be much more persuasive when giving an employer a reason to "buy" than by specific examples as to how you can assist in their areas of weakness.
Now on to the psychological roadblocks. We have all been taught that humility is a golden quality and pride is a mortal sin. We become very uncomfortable when it's time to discuss our good points using our communication skills. In order to outcompete others when there is a glut of candidates it is critical that we put our best war stories and adventures on the table in the form of contributions and achievements.
I offer the following solution, which should be very encouraging. Try to think more in terms in how much good all your expertise could do and how many good people may very well need you. See yourself as a potential contributor, not a braggart. If your motives are sincere this should be the case anyway! If you have solutions that could help customers or workers in a struggling economic time, you owe it to that prospective employer to offer your gifts! Good luck!
Janice
Janice Worthington