Job Leads 4-26-10

The following are job leads that were sent to me to share with each of you.   I have no relationship/affiliation with any of these companies.   If you are interested in any of the positions please contact the person listed on the job or apply online.  As I mention in my articles, your highest chance of success with any of these positions is to network your way into these companies and talk to the person responsible for doing the hiring.  That is the most important step in the process even if it means cold calling.

  If you would like to be added to the distribution list for either the articles or the job leads, send me an email with “ADD ME TO YOUR DISTRIBUTION LIST” as the subject line.

  Is your resume getting lost in the black hole?  Are you networking but not seeing any results?  In my 15 years of experience recruiting for both Fortune 500 Companies as well as executive search firms, I have reviewed over 40,000 resumes, conducted 5000+ interviews, and negotiated over 700 offers.  My name is Steve Gray with Career Search Strategies, ask me how to put that experience to work for you by helping you develop a plan to jump start your job search.
Thanks,

Steve Gray

 Career Search Strategies

  www.careersearchstrategies.net

Rate Your Networking Skills – Self Test

It is time to be honest with yourself and own up to your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to networking.  Take the test below and DON’T CHEAT!  This will help you objectively review what you are doing, what tasks you need to implement, and what habits you want to develop.

Why You Wont Get Hired This Year – An Insiders Perspective

I have recently interacted with large groups of unemployed people at various events.  Their networking activities typically involve talking to other unemployed people and they are afraid to make direct contact with companies and call people they don’t know.  I am going to say this as plainly as possible; if the above describes your job search you will be unemployed through at least the end of this year.  The economy has undergone dramatic changes and your job search tactics need to keep up or you will get left behind.

Talk to your target market – You need to spend 75%+ of your time speaking with those people that can either hire you or refer you to someone that can hire you.  I speak to many job seekers that are afraid to call people they don’t know for fear of what may happen.  It is time for you to realize that you are unemployed and you need to do what it

Interviewing – What NOT To Do

The interview process is filled with obstacles that will prevent even the most qualified candidate from getting the job.  I am going to discuss what I consider to be the most common mistakes based on 5000+ phone and face to face interviews that I have conducted over the years.

Research – Never go into an interview or conversation without previously having done some research on the individual and the company you are speaking with.  That could be as simple as looking at their LinkedIn profile or doing a Google search.  Use that research to help develop five strong questions that convey your knowledge of your profession while also providing you with valuable insight to how the company operates and issues that they are currently experiencing.

Networking – What Not To Do

Networking is defined as a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest.  Why should you network?  Studies have shown that 50% of all job openings are never posted anywhere online and upwards of 70% of all openings are filled by networking.  Now that I have your attention, let’s look at how to avoid the common networking errors.

Job Boards Don’t Work – Using Monster, CareerBuilder and the other major job boards is a waste of your time if all you do is apply online.  Applying is the first step but must be followed up by calling into a company and finding out who the hiring manager is for the role. You need to get them on the phone to present them with your 30 second or elevator speech.  Recent statistics I have heard are that 2-5% of the people that apply via the major job boards get a call.  That means 95% of you are wasting your time if all you do is apply online.

Resumes – What Not To Do

There are hundreds of articles to tell what your resume should look like or what you need to do in order to improve your resume.  I decided to take a slightly different twist with this article and talk about what not to do.

Summary/Objective Statement – This is the most cliché ridden part of the resume.  I have never heard anyone tell me they are a poor communicator, non goal oriented, boring self centered person.  Recruiters think of the summary as fluff with little to no supporting evidence to back it up.  I suggest eliminating the summary or objective and in its place putting a key word table, as shown below, to highlight the key skills required in the position.

LinkedIn- Optimize Your Job Search

This is part two in a series on how to effectively use LinkedIn to maximize the effectiveness of your job search.  Make sure to read part one, LinkedIn – Developing Your Profile.

In this challenging economy, LinkedIn can give you the information you need to get the edge over your competition and succeed in your job search.  The combination of job postings, access to contacts, and information about those contacts and their companies makes it an invaluable resource.  The key to achieving success with LinkedIn involves making contact with others in your field to actively network.

Searching for Jobs

LinkedIn – Developing your Profile

This is such a large topic that it will be a two part series.  The first part will focus on maximizing your profile and how to add contacts.  The second will focus on utilizing LinkedIn to look for jobs and targeted networking.

LinkedIn is one of the most important resources you can use in your job search.  Start by developing a profile that appears professional and maintains the same consistent brand and image as your resume.  Developing a strong network of contacts in your industry will allow you to significantly expedite your job search and stay abreast of what is going on in your profession.

What content do you include in your profile?

Interviewing Is Not My Favorite Activity

Many people find interviewing to be very stressful.  Typically it is because they don’t know what to expect or understand how to give the interviewer the information they are looking for in the format that is desired.  Most companies have moved to a behavioral style of interviewing that focuses on understanding how you have handled specific situations.  The implication being that the best indicator of how you will handle a specific situation in the future is how you have handled them in the past.  So how do you convey all of this information about you in a format that makes sense?

The first step in preparing for an interview, whether in person or over the phone is writing out your top 5-7 accomplishments.  Each should cover at least a half page. Anything less and you are not thoroughly considering all of the appropriate details to the accomplishment.  I tell my clients that all companies, regardless of industry, have the same problems.  If you can describe how you have solved those problems at one company, the implication is that you will be able to do the same thing for the company you are interviewing with.  This seemingly small, but significant step of preparation will differentiate you from the other candidates.

The first step in the interview process is typically a phone interview.  The phone interview is now a way for employers to avoid the time and expense of bringing in additional candidates.  The added emphasis on screening requires better preparation in the form of researching the company and the interviewer.  Make sure to ask enough detailed questions so that you have a very good understanding of the issues you would face in the position.  Selling to those needs will significantly set you apart from the rest of your competition.

Network, Network, Network

I am sure you have heard this numerous times and here comes one more, success in the job search is all about networking.  Many people tell me they are networking and do not understand why they are not getting any results.  The reason is they are not networking EFFECTIVELY.

So what is effective networking?  To have a successful and effective job search you need to employ a variety of different types of networking, each with their own focus.  Certain things may work great for others and not as well for you and vice versa.  Find the things that are producing results for you and focus on them.

From a broad perspective you want to allocate your time among networking events based on the return they provide in the form of jobs leads.  For example, you are not likely to get more than 10-15% of your job leads from networking groups so devote no more than 15% of your time to them.  As I wrote in ‘Finding the Hidden Job Market’, direct calls to your target companies is the most effective use of your time and should take up the largest portion of your week.