Career Chat

Feeling stuck in your job search? Tori Johnson, founder of Women for Hire, has formed a free month-long virtual job club. The club is for anyone who has become frustrated with their job search, whether you’ve been searching for months or are just starting your career.

Club participants will be given a task each day, aimed at “rebooting and re-energizing” your job search. According to Tori, “while there’s no guarantee of employment, if you follow our advice and actively engage each day, you will get results.”

For more information and registration, check out “Join My Virtual Job Club.”

On the one hand, we hear of over 9% unemployment rate; on the other hand, we hear employers complain that they can’t fill their jobs. What’s going on?

According to Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed Columnist for the New York Times in his article “The Start-Up of You,” employers are all looking for the same kind of people with critical skills who can add value and have the ability to adapt quickly as the market changes.

Whatever you may be thinking when you apply for a job today, you can be sure the employer is asking this: Can this person add value every hour, every day — more than a worker in India, a robot or a computer? Can he or she help my company adapt by not only doing the job today but also reinventing the job for tomorrow? And can he or she adapt with all the change, so my company can adapt and export more into the fastest-growing global markets?

Read the article.

When we the last time you revised your resume? Proud of it now? Great! Now make sure to replace any old resumes you uploaded in jobsites.

One of my colleagues prepares for an appointment with a student by looking at their resume in RamblerLink. When the student presents a wonderful new version, she asks why their old resume is still in RamblerLink. More often than not, they have completely forgotten they uploaded their resume. Unfortunately, if they had selected to include their resume in a filtered or opt-in resume books, their old poorly-constructed resume may have already made a bad impression with those employers who have access to the books.

In addition to our own RamblerLink system (in which all Loyola students have accounts), lots of other websites ask you to upload your resume. It’s important to keep a record of these different websites so you can keep your information and resume current.

A favorite blogger of mine, Toni Bowers, just posted another winner – “Five Ways to Risk Failure and Improve Your Career.” She discusses ways to use failure to advance your career that seem like wonderful tips for job seekers in today’s difficult market.

I particularly love her closing paragraph:

Bottom line, the fastest way to succeed in your career is to allow yourself to fail — early and often. The more new avenues you try and the more often you try them, the more you’ll learn about your passions, talents, and ambitions

.

Read Toni’s entire blog, along with comments at blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=2685&tag=nl.e124

TechRepublic’s Career Blog has a rather interesting item “Techie seeks non-profit job: How to be a big, misunderstood fish in a small pond” about potential difficulties posed in switching from a for-profit corporate IT position to a non-profit. In her blog, Toni Bowers notes:

Trends in social entrepreneurship and skills-based volunteering, inspired by boomers who want more from work than wages and worry, are motivating greater numbers of corporate employees – even techies – to consider careers in the non-profit sector.

If you’re a techie who has bravely tuned into your wild inner longing for social change, no longer satisfied in hunting down bugs for dollars, you may be tempted to follow the scent to freedom. But making the transition from corporate to charity can be a rough one – akin to stepping back in time 20 years.

While this blog is aimed at people in IT switching from the corporate world to the world of non-profits, I’m sure others in different careers face some of the same types of issues and would benefit from Toni’s tips.
Take a look: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=2666&tag=content;leftCol

Career Development Center Director Darby Scism was quoted in the 12/19/10 Redeye article “How to Find Your Dream Job — and Keep it!”

Check out her advice at http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye/2010/12/for-hire-2011-job-forecastoptimistic.html

Ever wonder exactly what employers are looking for in the current tight job market? The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) polled employers and found that verbal communication skills topped the list of “soft” skills they are seeking in new college grads. Other “soft” skills rated highly by employers were strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills and initiative.

Interestingly, when asked how satisfied they were that new college graduates could deliver on key skills, employer response was mixed. They reported being “very satisfied” with the teamwork and analytical skills of new college graduates, but verbal communication skills, initiative, and a strong work ethic all fell below that level, with ratings hovering between “somewhat” and “very satisfied.”

In addition to these skills, surveyed employers also rated nine other skills/qualities as
“very important” to “extremely important”, with GPA requirements and internship or other work experience topping the list.

Other skills included strong work ethic, teeamwork skills, analytical skills and initiative.

We just had an information session from the Student Conservation Association (SCA) who has amazing expense-paid internships in a wide variety of fields.

As a history nut, I was particularly drawn to their “Cultural Interpreter” and “Historical Educator” internships, as those at archeological sites. Oh, and then there were ones for GIS and GPS…..and so on. Interns work with agencies such as the National Park Service, National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other state or local agencies.

And not only are the internships expense paid opportunities, they also offer a lot of other benefits. Check them out at thesca.org.

Social media is all the buzz and I imagine that most of you are probably already on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace…some of you may even have your own Blog by now.  But do you happen to have any questionable information or photos on these sites that you would want potential employers seeing of you?  Well, if you’re beginning your job search, it might be time to check your online presence especially since nearly half of employers use social networking sites to screen candidates for jobs.  The personal information you choose to put online could be used against you as first impressions may form long before the interview process begins!  So, some important things to keep in mind:

·        Start seeing what information is out there about you by searching your name on Google or Yahoo.  If you find some undesirable info, see about modifying that info or getting it removed.

·        Keep it clean or keep it private!  Make sure to clean up your online image before you begin your job search.  Remove inappropriate photos, content, and links that might work against you.  Adjust the security and privacy options on the sites you belong to. 

·        When blogging or posting comments, think before you type!  Monitor your own content as well as comments made by others.

Now, the upside of social media is that beyond being a great way for connecting to old friends, they can also be great tools for connecting to potential employers and other people who might offer career opportunities.  Not only can you make valuable connections with potential employers and colleagues on sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn, but openings are also posted there! 

Some things to think about:

·        Consider creating your own professional group on sites like Facebook to establish relationships with potential referrals. 

·        If you’re a fan of a company on Facebook or follow a hiring manager on Twitter, you might be the first to find out about job openings.

·        On Twitter, post content relevant to your search and your industry…keep your followers up-to-date on your job search!

·        Blogs can be a great way to engage in dialogue, demonstrate how you think, and improve your search engine visibility.  Find a topic you find interesting and relevant to your professional life and write about it.

In today’s economy, building an online presence can play a key role in your job search process.  Social media sites alone won’t necessarily get you the job, but they can go a long way to help out in the process!  So be mindful of the online presence you choose to build as you begin the job hunt.

Even when a job listing doesn’t specify “excellent written communication skills,” you can count on hiring employers expecting them of a Loyola graduate.

• You have to be able to communicate well in e-mail, in your cover letter, on your resume and other subsequent correspondence to get a job.
• Blogging and an online presence have become popular ways of getting your name out there as an “expert,” for networking, and for employers to research good candidates. Well-written blogs and websites will help you; poorly written ones will have the opposite effect.
• Once you get a job, you will need to be able to communicate well via e-mails, reports, and memos.

Learn more about the importance of writing skills in Toni Bowers’ excellent blog in TechRepublic “Tech pros: Don’t forget to develop writing skills” (January 11th, 2010 ) at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=1645&tag=content;leftCol