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Careers, Jobs & Employment Information
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Reading the Want Ads--Not for Jobs--For Information What? Want ads are where job announcements are, not information! Assess Your Transferable Skills One of the most important parts of a job search is assessing your Transferable skills. These are skills which you can use in other jobs such as: Communication, Information Management, Human Services, Managerial, Manual/Physical Labour, Personal Attributes, Organization.Often when people have been working in the same job for a long time, they become so accustomed to performing their duties that they fail to recognize the skills they have. It is beneficial to sit down and write out a list of all the things you do in a work day and all the things you do at home as well. It is easy to forget that skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, and organization which you use at home and in volunteering are skills that you can transfer and use on a new job. A benefit to this recognition of your skills is that you can come up with a variety of Ideas for jobs or places that these skills may be used. If you are currently unemployed and are having a difficult time with this, talk to some friends or a career/employment counsellor.Once you have determined where your transferable skills may be best used, you can work on some Productive Strategies to market yourself. This may be using your networking skills to gain access to some new employers, or it may be revising your resume to highlight your skills instead of your work history. It may also involve doing some volunteer work to expand your network by putting you in touch with people who might have other contacts you can use in your job search. Five Fabulous Resume Tips for College Grads (or Anybody) Fluffy clouds. Chirping birds. Green trees. Colorful flowers. It's springtime! All of these things bring thoughts of joy and serenity to most people, but to you, dear college senior, it is usually a hectic time, full of final exams, decisions to be made, Graduation Day, and looking for a job. Sure, the job search is a major thing on your to-do list, but having fun, studying, and exams usually take the top spots as the months wind down and Graduation Day nears. Turning the Table: Questions for Your Interviewer (DES MOINES, Iowa ? January 26, 2005) The fateful final question of all interviewers may carry more weight than you would think. Upon hearing "Now, do you have any questions," you are given a chance to show the quality of your character and interest in the company. No matter how well the interview went, passively responding to this question with a shake of the head and a polite smile will only communicate to the employer that you are not interested in inquiring about the job, the company, and your place within their organization. Your approach to this Question & Answer time will directly impact the interviewer's assessment of you and the interview. Background Checks: How They Can Determine Whether You Get Hired or Not! Background checks are utilized by companies today to decide whether or not you will be permitted to work for them. Information in these reports can reveal many things about you to a prospective employer; it is critical that you be aware of what a company may uncover via a background check before one is conducted. You need to be aware of what steps you must take to protect yourself should negative information about you be uncovered. How to Change Careers and Still Pay the Bills - 5 Key Steps Studies show that more than 50% of people are unhappy in their jobs yet few will actually make a career change in 2005. Why? Most people let fear stop them yet successful career changers know that fear is simply a sign that you are headed in the right direction! Troubleshooting Your Job Search OK. You've posted your resume online. You've sent out a dozen copies answering classified ads. You've told everyone in your network that you're looking for a job. Energizing Synergy Would you like to have more energy and synergy in your job and career? If you are not enjoying work the way you used to and if you would like to contribute in a manner that produces more results with less effort, then Energizing Synergy is what you need to cultivate. Youre Fired! One-day you're minding your own business and your boss comes in and says "You're Fired", perhaps he was a bit more polite than that but the end result was the same, you're now out of work!! Tips for Building a Successful Career 1. Develop excellent work habits ? for example, meet deadlines and don't procrastinate. What Makes Americans Hate Their Jobs? This Advice Turns That Epidemic Around Here are the sobering facts: studies show that almost 70% of all employees dislike or downright hate their jobs. These dissatisfied, disillusioned people have no further career goals. Dreading the workday is a common heartache in millions of homes. Our job-hating crisis leads to lower productivity, adversely affects our economy, and -- worst of all -- causes strain on personal relationships. Tips on How to Write High Impact Letters of Recommendation Congratulations. You've been asked to write a letter of recommendation for an employee or colleague. This person values your opinion of him or her, and you'd be glad to help them advance. The problem is you're unsure of what to say or how to say it! Here are four tips to keep in mind when preparing your recommendation. Getting Started: 5 Things You Need to Decide When You Get Started with a Job Search There are few things more frustrating for a headhunter than asking a person basic questions that revolve around what you as a job hunter are looking for in a job and being given uncertain answers. I'm not talking about salary; that's a question where a wise person states a target objective and is flexible enough to let the market decide their value. Moving Without A Job: Should You Move to the Location of Your Dreams and THEN Look for a Job? Moving without a job will challenge your identity -- but for some people, it's the best way to go. Ebook Review: Winning a Job is Easier with Job Secrets Revealed Introduction Thank-You Notes: Your Thoughtfulness will be Rewarded I get asked these questions over and over: "Should I send separate thank-you notes to everyone who interviewed me? Can I just send one thank-you note to the hiring manager and ask him/her to thank others involved in the process?" How to Be Prepared for a Layoff If you are concerned that your company might be planning a layoff, your best course of action is to be prepared. Employees often see warning signs that their jobs may be at risk. Such signs could include poor company performance, earlier rounds of layoffs, conflicts with their manager, increased manager intervention and involvement, and poor performance reviews. Employees see the signs, but aren't as proactive as they should be in looking out for their future. Here are steps you can take to be prepared for a layoff. Career Advice: Are Resumes Obsolete As A Primary Job Search Tool? In a day of background checks, pre-employment drug screening and multiple interviews, where do resumes fit in? According to many successful job applicants, not very well. An ever-increasing number of new hires say that resumes were not crucial in landing them the job. Instead, they simply played a part in sealing the deal. If that's true, it means that mailing out resumes and waiting for the phone to ring is the last thing any recent grad or serious job seeker will want to do. Who Should Write Your Resume? This is a question we get a lot. It seems rather easy to do it yourself if you have access to a word processing program and printer and feel comfortable writing your job history. 15 Tips for Writing Winning Resumes The thought of writing a resume intimidates almost anyone. It's difficult to know where to start or what to include. It can seem like an insurmountable task. Here are 15 tips to help you not only tackle the task, but also write a winning resume.  1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull's-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.   2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.  3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don't need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.  4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.  5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.   6. Use #'s, $'s and %'s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples: Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000. Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory. 7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.  8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.  9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use "competitive analysis." For accounting types, use "reconciled accounts."  10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don't support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.  11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.   12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.  13. Construct your resume to read easily.  Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.  14. Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments.  Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.  15. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. That's how you grow -- by taking risks. Don't rule yourself out. Trust the process. Good luck in your job search!  Copyright 1999 - 2004 Quest Career Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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