Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach
There is a church down the road from my house with a marquee. It says, “Don’t count the new year. Make the new year count!” That message really rings true for me. So, how to make the most of the new year? Count on yourself! [Read more…] about Help for job seekers in a rut
Dr. Martin Luther King offered many inspiring messages. As we honor him, it seems fitting to remember his message of hope. His “I Have A Dream†address was delivered in a time when most of his “dreams†really seemed to be just that.
It’s important to recognize that having dreams isn’t enough. Dr. King and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement recognized that hard work and sacrifice was key to success. Thinking outside of the box, organizing peaceful marches…Civil disobedience. All of these at a great cost, but prepared and enacted with great hope.
Every job seeker can take something away from these optimistic messages. Maybe the message is as simple as a reminder that hope is important, even when it is hard to muster. Maybe the more important take-away is that nothing worthwhile comes without hard work and effort.
No matter the message, as the nation pauses to honor Dr. King, this is a good time for job seekers to stop and think about how to harness hope with hard work to move forward with an optimistic job hunt. Or, take another lesson from King and turn this day into a day of service and volunteer. It’s a great way to spend the holiday, with added benefits for job seekers.
If YOU have a dream, but need help getting there, I can help with every part of your job hunt! Need a great resume? Tips to use social networking? Interview coaching? If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, don’t forget those social networks! Be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community! Since we’re on the subject of doing something new…Are you on Twitter? Jump on and touch base with me @keppie_careers.
Can you believe it is already August? Before you know it, you’ll blink and it’ll be Labor Day, and the summer will really be over.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news in the employment sector. Rough waters continue to prevail, and many may be feeling lost at sea in a turbulent economy. Careerbuilder.com summarized the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released its monthly summary of job data for July 2008:
What does all of this mean to you?
It depends. If you work in one of the harder-hit sectors, it could very well mean that your job is in jeopardy, and you need to start thinking about what you will do if you are out of work.
I’ve written a lot about job seeking in a recession. Some links that might be useful:
You are still feeling lost in a tailspin of negative jobs data? You can’t focus on what to do next? Here is some advice from my friend and colleague, Walter Akana, Certified Personal Branding Strategist at Threshold Consulting:
Stop everything! Evaluate where you have been, what you most want to do and think about where you can do it. Walter suggests answering the following questions from the book Zen and the Art of Making a Living:
To help evaluate alternatives and focus, Walter recommends creating a personal career alternatives matrix. List your ideal job criteria, interests and capabilities in the first column, and then three or four alternatives in successive columns. This exercise is designed to help you focus on getting on a track that suits you, which might be a very different track from the one you’ve been on most recently!
Take the plunge and look for a job! Still need a great resume? Some help to write the perfect cover letter? I’m here to help! Write to me.
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Photo by Irish Sheep
And you thought that e-mail inviting you to be paid to interview for jobs was spam, didn’t you?ÂÂ
In what could be the ultimate acknowledgement that it is easier to find a job when you have a job, a startup called notchup.com arranges for “passive” job seekers (employed workers who are not seeking opportunities) to be paid for interviews.  Job seekers (who aren’t really passive if they sign up, are they?) register, set a price for an interview (the site calculates a suggested fee) and wait for an invitation. Payment relies upon the employer agreeing that the interviewee was active and engaged in the process.
If you are happy at your current job, good at what you do and NOT looking for a new job, you are notchup.com’s target audience.
How can companies afford to pay for interviews? Founders Jim Ambras and Rob Ellis explain on their site that a candidate who would earn $100,000 annually could cost $20,000 to hire using a recruiter. If that same organization selected a hire from a pool of 10 people paid $500 each to interview, the company can save $15,000.
The AP reports that founder Ambras, former vice president of engineering at the search engine AltaVista said,
”In every job I’ve had, I’ve had to, under time pressure, build a team of engineers. I learned years ago that the best people you want to hire are the people who aren’t in the job market.”
The over 10,000 registrants and potential notchup.com candidates may be interested in reading about potential privacy issues they may encounter using the site. Others may prefer to dive in with wild abandon!
Keppie Careers helps active and passive job seekers! Your resume should always be up-to-date and ready to use at a moment’s notice. We also offer mock intervews. Prepare for the job hunt: www.keppiecareers.com
I’ve written about jobs predicted to have a rosy future in 2008 and offered suggestions of what to do if you think that your job is in jeopardy. But, what approach should you take if you have lost your job and you (and many, many others) are now seeking work in a flat economy?
The first thing to do is stop and get a handle on your job search materials. Do you have a resume that represents you and all you have to offer? Have you brushed up your job seeking skills (networking, cover letter writing, interviewing)? It’s not like riding a bike – you CAN forget how to look for a job. Worse, you may never have really known how to job search in the first place. Keppie Careers offers an array of services to help get you prepared.
Sarah Needleman addresses the topic of job searching in a recession in the Wall Street Journal Online.  Gary Rich, president of Rich Leadership, an executive advisory firm in Pound Ridge, NY, believes that selling and servicing jobs are more resilient, as they impact the bottom line. He says:
Less durable jobs are those in human resources, public relations, finance, strategic planning and other non-vital business functions.
Needleman’s article also suggests that if you don’t work in a promising sector, focus on your transferable skills  and consider switching industries. Plan your transition. Network and research organizations and industries and learn how you can best use your skills to benefit them. Consider volunteering with organizations on special projects to demonstrate your added value.
Keppie Careers can help tailor a transition resume to highlight what you have to offer. We recommend focusing on your skills and accomplishments rather than “what” you have done in your jobs to help potential employers envision you working for them.
Don’t forget that, even in a recessionary economy, some jobs and skills are still invaluable and sought out. So, just because you may work in an industry that is experiencing a lull, if you have prepared and positioned yourself to have the skills and training needed to fill management gaps, you’re in good shape!
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www.keppiecareers.com
We advise, encourage and enlighten job seekers. We offer resume writing, mock interviews, coaching and more to position you for your future.