What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like

What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like This is a seven post series describing what a job search strategy looks like. What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like Job Search Strategy: Assessment (1) Job Search Strategy: Research (2) Job Search Strategy: Presenting Yourself (3) Job Search Strategy: Project Management (4) Job Search Strategy: Interview Strategies (5) Job Search Strategy: Project Update (6) When Im on the road (and in my JibberJobber Video Library) I talk about lot about purposeful and strategic.  For example, make sure your personal branding is purposeful, and to have a strategic job search Recently Hannah Morgan, aka the Career Sherpa, included me in her how to use the best job sites post (again).  Thank you, Hannah, for including JibberJobber!  When I heard about this, I went to the page listing the best job sites and checked to see where JibberJobber was, and what the other websites were (I like to see what kind of company I keep in these lists :p).  I made a big mistake by skimming through the page and looking for JibberJobber. I totally missed a terrific, important part of her post, right at the top. Below is the image I glanced over.  I saw it as just one more infographic that had too much information but I was mistaken. Yesterday I spent time going through it and realized THIS IS A STRATEGIC JOB SEARCH! Now, when people ask what does a job search strategy look like? I can point them to this image.  It is brilliant. You might think its simple, or common sense / obvious, but I think its brilliant. The reason its in her post is because it should frame, or put into context, all of the tools.  Instead of just another list of a whole bunch of job sites, that seem to be duplicates of one another, Hannah put sites in here that fill a purpose each site should address at least one box or section in this strategy: I want to break down each of these, but for now lets talk about her six steps. Assessment: who are you? What do you have to offer? What should your brand messaging be? Preliminary thinking on companies and industries this stage is fundamental (I skipped over it in my job search, which might be a big reason why I failed to find a job). Research: The last stage was an exercise in introspection and honesty, this stage is will take you through Google, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and more. Here we are looking for evidence, reported facts, etc. Presenting Yourself: By this stage, you have thought about you, and what good matches would be now its time to figure out how to position yourself.  Up to this point, we have done things that most job seekers do mentally (and erroneously) in about three minutes. Project Management: Its go-time. This is what most people think a job search looks like. Interview Strategies: This whole step will help you own the interview. That doesnt mean you take it over. Youll win some and lose some, and youll figure out that you dont want to work at some companies, or for some people (because of the work you did in the first two steps). Project Update: I dont know what Hannah has in mind here, but this could apply to an active job search as well after you land a weekly check-up to proactively manage your career (which will help you be prepared for your next job search). I love these six steps. You might have some tweaking to do for yourself, but at least you have a great template to work from. Like I said, I skipped most of the foundational steps and went straight to job search action.  Dont make that same mistake. I have seen many people land their jobs and ignore the check-ins after dont make that mistake! What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like This is a seven post series describing what a job search strategy looks like. What a Job Search Strategy Looks Like Job Search Strategy: Assessment (1) Job Search Strategy: Research (2) Job Search Strategy: Presenting Yourself (3) Job Search Strategy: Project Management (4) Job Search Strategy: Interview Strategies (5) Job Search Strategy: Project Update (6) When Im on the road (and in my JibberJobber Video Library) I talk about lot about purposeful and strategic.  For example, make sure your personal branding is purposeful, and to have a strategic job search Recently Hannah Morgan, aka the Career Sherpa, included me in her how to use the best job sites post (again).  Thank you, Hannah, for including JibberJobber!  When I heard about this, I went to the page listing the best job sites and checked to see where JibberJobber was, and what the other websites were (I like to see what kind of company I keep in these lists :p).  I made a big mistake by skimming through the page and looking for JibberJobber. I totally missed a terrific, important part of her post, right at the top. Below is the image I glanced over.  I saw it as just one more infographic that had too much information but I was mistaken. Yesterday I spent time going through it and realized THIS IS A STRATEGIC JOB SEARCH! Now, when people ask what does a job search strategy look like? I can point them to this image.  It is brilliant. You might think its simple, or common sense / obvious, but I think its brilliant. The reason its in her post is because it should frame, or put into context, all of the tools.  Instead of just another list of a whole bunch of job sites, that seem to be duplicates of one another, Hannah put sites in here that fill a purpose each site should address at least one box or section in this strategy: I want to break down each of these, but for now lets talk about her six steps. Assessment: who are you? What do you have to offer? What should your brand messaging be? Preliminary thinking on companies and industries this stage is fundamental (I skipped over it in my job search, which might be a big reason why I failed to find a job). Research: The last stage was an exercise in introspection and honesty, this stage is will take you through Google, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and more. Here we are looking for evidence, reported facts, etc. Presenting Yourself: By this stage, you have thought about you, and what good matches would be now its time to figure out how to position yourself.  Up to this point, we have done things that most job seekers do mentally (and erroneously) in about three minutes. Project Management: Its go-time. This is what most people think a job search looks like. Interview Strategies: This whole step will help you own the interview. That doesnt mean you take it over. Youll win some and lose some, and youll figure out that you dont want to work at some companies, or for some people (because of the work you did in the first two steps). Project Update: I dont know what Hannah has in mind here, but this could apply to an active job search as well after you land a weekly check-up to proactively manage your career (which will help you be prepared for your next job search). I love these six steps. You might have some tweaking to do for yourself, but at least you have a great template to work from. Like I said, I skipped most of the foundational steps and went straight to job search action.  Dont make that same mistake. I have seen many people land their jobs and ignore the check-ins after dont make that mistake!

Top Five Telephone Interview Tips

Top Five Telephone Interview Tips Top Five Telephone Interview Tips You have created your resume and written your cover letter. You have replied to the job application within plenty of time of the deadline. You have had confirmation of your submission and are now anxiously awaiting news of a possible interview. But wait a minute! You have gone back to check out the job advert only to realize that the company will be contacting successful candidates via telephone for a screening interview before being invited in for a personal interview. Panic starts to set in.. An increasing amount of companies are now using telephone interviews as part of their screening process for job applicants. Those who successfully make it through a telephone interview will then go on to be invited in for a more formal job interview with the company HR officer or interview panel. It is an efficient way for larger companies to sift through job applicants to find the ones that best fit their needs without having to schedule weeks of lengthy personal interviews.Aside from trea ting telephone interviews in exactly the same way as you would a personal interview, just how can you make sure you are properly prepared should you receive a call?Just like with regular interviews, there are some common phone interview questions that companies tend to use quite often. Here we offer up some tips about how to answer common phone interview questions as well as how to prepare yourself for that call.Tip 1: PreparationWhether you get a phone call or not, you should always do some preparation in anticipation of a call. Do your research so that you will never be caught off guard should you get that telephone interview when you least expect it.Just like when preparing for a face-to-face interview, do some background research on the company so you can familiarize yourself with their history as well as their future objectives. Look at the size of the company and their infrastructure. Familiarize yourself with their products and services as well as the business sector or marke tplace they work within. Look at who their main competition is and how they differ in a positive way. Read press-releases and news articles from their website.Tip 2: Prepare some questionsRemember that your telephone interview is a two-way system. You are allowed to ask questions and doing so can make you stand out in the mind of the interviewer. By asking questions you are demonstrating your interest in the job and it also opens up a two-way dialogue with your interviewer that helps to break the ice and also gets across your personality more effectively. Write down some questions on a pad and keep it within handy reach so that you can grab it when the phone rings. Keep a pen handy so you can note down the answers as they are covered. You could ask for more information about the position as well as the opportunities open for career growth, company culture and future plans.Tip 3: Have your resume to handAlways have a copy of your resume close by in an easy to reach place. You can pretty much guarantee that your telephone interviewer will be looking at a copy when they call you, so it makes sense to have a copy handy should they want to discuss it in more detail. It can help to have something to focus on during your interview. Normally you would be looking at your interviewer eye-to-eye, but with telephone interviews you will have no particular focus, so use your resume as your main focal point while you are talking or listening to your interviewer.Tip 4: Smile while you chatYes, you read that right! Smile while you chat. While it may seem a little odd for use to suggest that you smile during your telephone interview, it actually works really well! OK, your telephone interviewer cannot actually see you smiling at the end of the telephone line, but by smiling your way through your interview it can really help you to feel better and less nervous about your call. Smiling can also help you to sound more upbeat and helps you to choose words or phrases that are mor e positive. Dont believe it? According to research, it is true people can actually hear you smile!Tip 5: Listen carefullyOK, this may seem obvious because you are on the telephone, but many people having telephone interviews make the mistake of not listening properly. They do this because they allow their minds to race ahead of themselves and think up questions or things to say without actually paying full attention to what the interviewer is actually saying. It helps here to make some notes about what is being said. This not only makes you focus on what the interviewer is saying, but also allows you to note down important things that they may refer back to later in your conversation. It can also help you a lot to make notes as you go because most interviews will end with the inevitable do you have any other questions script at the end of your interview. You can look back at your notes and ask more targeted questions, which will make you look like you were really paying close a ttention to your interviewer. previous article Fancy Resume Template for Free | Rubicund Headliner next article Perspective â€" Conceptual Resume Template Giveaway you might also likeWhy Do You Want to Work Here? Best Answers to This Interview Question

Interview with David Meerman Scott About All Things Social Media - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Interview with David Meerman Scott About All Things Social Media - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today I interview David Meerman Scott, who gives us insight on why we all have to be content creators and actually listen to our audience before we take action. I hope you have enjoyed this interview series and feel free to leave a comment or email me if you are interested in a particular personal brand that you want me to interview. David Meerman Scott is an award-winning online thought leadership strategist. He is the best seller author of The New Rules of Marketing PR and has just released another book called Tuned In. He is the king of publishing content, with hundreds of articles, videos and training seminars behind him. He is one of the top marketing bloggers and a Twitter user. The marketing programs he has developed are responsible for selling over one billion dollars in products and services worldwide. He has presented at industry conferences and events in more than twenty countries on four continents. David, you give away a lot of free goodies on your website, such as eBooks, blog entries and case studies. What is the purpose of this? How does free translate into new business opportunities? It comes down to goals. The goal with giving things away is to spread ideas as far and wide as possible. All my online content is totally free with no registration. And yes, I recommend to people in my speeches and seminars that everyone consider making their content totally free with no registration required. The other way to offer content is to make people pay or make people fill out a form. The goals here are different â€" to earn revenue or to build a list. However, the number of people who download free content is many times more than people who will fill out a form. My evidence is 50 to 1 ratio. A company I know called MailerMailer says its 20 to 1. Another thing I’ve noticed is that bloggers are MUCH more likely to blog about a free ebook or other free content than something that requires a registration. Once people consume some valuable free content, they know what to do. You dont have to coerce them to contact you. If they like what the see, they will reach out and WANT to do business with you and your organization. I just read Debbie Weils interview with you about your career and enjoyed it. Can you tell my readers how you progressed from your early days as a writer, to a best-selling author and now the co-author of Tuned In? I didn’t plan on becoming an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist on purpose. I came upon it accidentally. At the height of the dot-com boom, I was vice president of marketing at NewsEdge Corporation, a NASDAQ-traded online news distributor with $70 million in revenue. My multi-million dollar marketing budget included tens of thousands of dollars a month for a public relations agency, hundreds of thousands a year for print advertising and glossy collateral materials, and expensive participation at a dozen trade shows a year. My team put these things on our marketing to-do list, worked like hell to execute, and paid the big bucks because, well, that’s what one did as marketing and PR people. These efforts made us feel good because we were doing something but the programs were not producing significant, measurable results. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JdbV8jGAqo] At the same time, drawing on publishing experience I had gained in my prior position as Asia marketing director for the online division of Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the largest newspaper companies in the world, I quietly created content-based, “thought leadership” marketing and PR programs on the Web. Against the advice of the PR agency professionals we had on retainer (who insisted that news releases were only for journalists), we wrote and sent dozens of releases ourselves. Each time we sent a release, it appeared on dozens of online services such as Yahoo!, resulting in hundreds of sales leads. Even though our advertising agency told us not to put the valuable information “somewhere where competitors could steal it,” we created a monthly thought leadership newsletter, with articles about the exploding world of digital news. We made it freely available on the home page of our Web site because it generated interest from qualified buyers. Way back in the 1990s when Web marketing and PR was in its infancy, I ignored the old rules, drawing instead on my experience working at publishing companies, and created thought leadership strategies to reach buyers directly on the Web. Guess what? The homegrown, do-it-yourself programs we created at virtually no cost consistently generated more interest from qualified buyers than the big bucks programs that the “professionals” were running for usâ€"and resulted in millions of dollars in sales. People we never heard of were finding us through search engines. Wow. I had stumbled on a better way to reach buyers. In 2001, NewsEdge was told to information giant Thomson Corporation and in 2002 I was given my walking papers. Instead of taking another corporate gig, I started writing books, giving speeches, running seminars, and giving away content on my new blog. What have you learned from speaking to various audiences about social media and marketing? What challenges are they facing and how can they capitalize by using your strategies? I deliver about 50 keynotes a year and run about 20 full day seminars a year. The most common questionh (and sometimes argument) I get is about the value of online marketing and especially the “Return on Investment” (ROI) of social media marketing. Many people cite a bunch of polls and research reports that ask people questions such as Do you read blogs? or Do you use social media? or Do you go to video sharing sites? Often the resulting data show rather small use compared to those who, say, use search engines or email. From the perspective of the value of social media in an organizations overall marketing and PR efforts, this data is misleading and dangerous. Why? Because the data is used by social-media-resistant executives to justify sticking exclusively to the methods that worked decades ago like image advertising, direct mail, and the yellow pages. I frequently hear CEOs, CFOs, and VPs of marketing say things like: See, social media is not important, so we wont do it here. It is a waste of time. Other people say: I dont read blogs, so how important are they? This data misses two tremendously important points for marketing and PR people to understand: 1) When asked do you read blogs? or do you use social media? many people answer no. However, practically everyone uses Google and other search engines regularly and the search results frequently include blog posts or YouTube videos or other social media content high in the search results. So even though people may report no when asked if they use social media, nearly everyone has been to a blog or other social media content through search. IMPORTANT: Many people who reach blogs via search dont even know they are on a blog! 2) When people who are not regular users of social media ask their network for advice, they often do it via email. Frequently the answer that comes back includes URLs to companies and products. And those links from friends, colleagues of family members often include blog posts. Frequently people ask their friends questions like: What’s the best baby stroller to buy? The answer may include a link to a blog post or a site with an embedded video. Again, the person asking for advice probably didnt even know they were on a blog or used a video-sharing site. Use social media data with caution. Dont let your bosses diminish the hidden value of social media as search engine fodder and as a valuable type of information that people share with their network. In Tuned In what are some methods to find out about your audience, whats important to them and how to build a business to become the solution? What has been your main personal branding strategy from day 1? What does your future hold? Simple. To find out about your potential customers, you must listen to them. Don’t just make stuff up. Don’t focus on your own egocentric view of the world. Don’t speak to people in your own gobbledygook, or your own jargon, or your view of your company through inane “mission statements.” Instead speak to your buyers using their language. I use the strategies we outline in Tuned In. My audience tells me what direction to take my writing and speaking. Now I am working on a new book about viral marketing which is a terribly misunderstood topic. My new book, coming in March 2009 will be called World Wide Rave: Creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories. In The New Rules of Marketing PR what are the top 3 strategies a business or personal should use to get started today? How has the landscape changed from years ago? What is the significance in speaking with your customers directly? A) All marketers need to realize that nobody cares about you, your company, or your products and services. Instead marketers need to know that people care about themselves and their own problems. You need to focus on your buyers, not your own ego. B) You need to forget everything you know about marketing in an offline world. Marketing on the web is not about you and your products. We’ve been liberated! Before the Web came along, there were only two ways to get noticed: buy expensive advertising or beg the mainstream media to tell your story for you. Now we have a better option: publishing interesting content on the Web that your buyers want to consume. The tools of the marketing and PR trade have changed. C) The skills that worked offline to help you buy or beg your way in are the skills of interruption and coercion. Success online comes from thinking like a journalist and a thought leader.

4 Best Tips for Getting a Temporary Christmas Job

4 Best Tips for Getting a Temporary Christmas Job 4 Best Tips for Getting a Temporary Christmas Job Christmas is usually a time for gathering together with family and friends to celebrate the festive season. However, for some people it can be a golden opportunity to work a temporary job to help build up your bank balance, boost your Christmas present buying funds, or for students to stash some useful savings away for their next term at college or university.For most people, working can be the last thing on their minds, but this can play to your advantage if you would rather work over the holidays and earn money instead of spending it. A lot of students and young people struggle to make their money stretch so it can place even more pressure on them at Christmas time when faced with the prospect of paying out extra money for gifts. This is why seeking out some temporary seasonal work is such a good idea. It can give you some extra money to spend but also dont forget that your Christmas job will count as valuable work experience that you can list on your resume.So, if you are a stu dent and would rather spend your time earning money over the festive period, you can boost your chances of employment upon graduation, PLUS have some money left over in the New Year!Take advantage of flexible contractsTaking a job over Christmas doesnt mean that you will be missing out on celebrating the season with your family and friends. Most employers offer part-time jobs with flexible contracts for the Christmas season so you can choose exactly how many hours you want to work. If you have some important family occasions happening that you dont want to miss, you may work around that day so you dont miss out on the fun.Look for retail and hospitality job openingsAt this time of year business owners in the retail, catering and hospitality sectors will be looking to hire in extra staff. These are the main industries where employment opportunities significantly increase at this time and will most likely have some temporary work on offer. These could involve late nights or shift work , so you need to be prepared to work some unsociable hours, but the rates of pay offered very often make up for this.Look around shopping centers and town centers for jobs being advertised in shop or restaurant windows. Christmas is a boom time for the retail industry and is the busiest time of year for shopping and dining out, so shop and restaurant owners are usually happy for a bit of extra help at this time of year.While it makes sense to focus your job search on the larger shops and chains stores online for Christmas vacancies, it still pays you to walk around your local neighborhood to take a look at some of your smaller independent shops.Quite often local shops are being run alone by their owners, so they can often struggle to keep the shelves stocked, serve customers and re-order stock all at the same time. You could call in and ask nicely if they have a Christmas job going. The shop owner may be feeling very frazzled, so your inquiry could offer them the welcome relief they need.Check onlineBy far the easiest way of finding a temporary retail job is to look online with some of the big High Street chain stores. Most will have their own job boards on their website where they will post seasonal vacancies. These stores will have more vacancies on offer this time of year, and you will stand a much higher chance of finding a suitable job with them.Set yourself a routine where you can do at least an hour of job searching per day to make sure you dont miss out on any last-minute job offers that get posted!Have your resume ready to goAs with most large companies, you will be expected to apply online for a job. This is why you need to make sure that you have your resume primed and ready to go. It can be easy to let your resume upkeep slip while you are busy with your education, but it does pay to keep reviewing it and updating it with fresh information every so often.Set some time aside to update your resume on a regular basis, so lets say you set yourself a ta sk of checking your resume on the first Saturday of every month. You can update it with fresh qualifications earned, courses studied and details of work experience gained. By doing this, your resume will be ready to send instantly when you see a golden job opportunity and you want to act quickly to try and land it.There can be nothing worse to face than having to sit and completely overhaul your resume to enable you to apply for a job online. Updating your resume needs time and care, so it is something that cannot be rushed. If you see a Christmas job opportunity that is perfect for you, but the deadline for applications is today â€" you need to be able to act immediately and apply with a perfectly composed resume.If you dont have a resume, you can make creating one very easy by using one of our professionally designed resume templates. You can choose from a wide variety of styles so you will be able to find one that is suited to your personal taste. You can easily download and edit your template in Word. Your finished document will look impressive and will help your application to stand out from the crowd. previous article On Point, a Free Resume Template to Help You Stand Out next article Desaturate, a Simple Yet Efficient Resume Template Freebie you might also likeThe Best Way to Explain Your Sabbatical To a New Employer

Its Your Career, Invest in Yourself 5 Ways to Build Your Ideal Career CareerMetis.com

It’s Your Career, Invest in Yourself 5 Ways to Build Your Ideal Career â€" CareerMetis.com The notion of career is often distinct from the notion of happiness. Over years of separating jobs and free time, and establishing a work-life balance, we tend to split our lives into two: the life where we work, and the life where we do what we want and are happy.But shouldn’t every aspect of your life be fulfilling? Shouldn’t your career be built around you and what you want out of life? Easier said than done, but possible. But where exactly do we start?evalIn this post, we’ll talk about 5 ways you can invest in yourself to help you live a better life and become a stronger asset to your company.1) Get A Certification or Invest in LearningevalOur access to learning has never been higher, and we can use this to create and build our skill base.Certifications are a great way to add value to your career while making you more attractive to employers. They generally boost you into the rank of an elite professional in your field, and open doors to a variety of different career paths. However, before investing in a certification On the other hand, a coach helps you develop skills and create milestones or tasks to achieve on your journey. They generally come from outside your organization and look to build your career as a whole as opposed to within your current role.Career groups are more informal and focus on specific areas of your career, such as women leaders or entrepreneurs. They can also be found within your organization, and are based on career field, age or outside interests.If you’re more interested in meeting people and networking or feel more comfortable in a group setting, a career group will help you develop skills, share stories, and learn from others.3) Evaluate Your Values and Integrate them into Your WorkOne area people tend to skip over in a career is aligning values with work. What issues are important to you? What gets you fired up? What can you consistently learn about and never get bored? Think about what’s important to you, and where yo u want to make an impact.evalAfter you’ve realized your core values, your next step is to integrate them into your work. Now, this doesn’t have to be a full-fledged career change. If you care about cleaning up the environment, start by requesting volunteer time off to help clean up local waterways.If you want people to be healthier, then you might develop a monthly newsletter focused on the health of your organization. These are small steps you can take to integrate your values into your work and feel fulfilled during your career.4) Build A Support NetworkWe talked about mentors and support groups, but what about your relationships outside of work?There are mountains of evidence showing that strong, trusting, supportive relationships are an essential element to happiness. Humans are social beings, and having meaningful relationships with friends and family will make you feel more fulfilled in every aspect of your life, including your career.If you’ve been feeling down and out in your relationships, there are tools to help you build more connections and overcome that slump.Try Meetup.com or Facebook and search in your local area for groups that share your interests. Then, commit to showing up to these meetups as often as possible. Over time, you’ll develop connections with people who share your interests, and you’ll cultivate a greater sense of fulfillment in your life.eval5) Find a Disconnected Activity that Makes You Live in the MomentAs we become more technologically advanced, the line between work and free time becomes more and more blurred. We can continuously feel on call and checking our work email before bed can become a nasty habit. This constant pull can lead to feeling like we are being strangled by work. Luckily, there is a cure.Research shows that activities that help us live and appreciate being in the present will make us feel more fulfilled. Try to develop a mindset where you’re living in the present moment and not always worrying ab out your job. In the long run, it will be an essential step to having a career you love.If you’re desperately searching for an activity to help you live more at the moment, here are a few ideas:Meditation â€" this one takes practice, but there are classes and apps out there to help.Exercise â€" This one is tricky because some exercises are monotonous and can lead to excessive thinking. Try taking classes where there’s a constant variation of movement or pick an activity that requires “now” thought. Believe me, when you’re hanging off a 40-foot rock wall, you’re not going to be thinking about how many emails you have in your inbox.Go for A Walk â€" This is a good one for mid-work days. Go for a short walk, preferably in a natural place, and try to focus on your steps and your breathing.Get Out in Nature â€" Go hiking, go mountain biking, go skiing, go running, roll around in the grass, climb a tree, swim in a lake. Nature has this uncanny ability to bring out the child in each of us, and your childself wasmore interested in splashing around in puddles than answering emails.evalIt’s easy to get caught up in the details of each of our days and forget to invest in the big picture of our life. But this is your one life to live; use these tools to actively and consistently invest in yourself to live your absolute best life.

5 Strategies for More Job Offers

5 Strategies for More Job Offers 5 Strategies for More Job Offers 5 Strategies for More Job Offers August 27, 2011 by Career Coach Sherri Thomas Leave a Comment Its scary out there.   In a world of constant career turmoil there seems to be a tsunami of lay-offs, re-orgs and career setbacks happening across the globe.   So how can  you turn the tides  so that youre  in a position of more control, confidence,  and just plain happiness?                     The answer is by investing in yourself so that you have more career  offers and  opportunities! A new client Ill call Jim recently called me and said that he had gone through a change in management which resulted in losing his 7-year position as the General Manager of a prestigious golf course. He told me that after one year of searching, he had taken the “only job he could get” which was working part-time in the golf pro shop at a different golf course. After talking for a few minutes, it became painfully clear why Jim wasnt able to get back on his career path. Invest in Yourself. Jim shared that the golf industry was changing and that companies were requiring a specific kind of training and certification to be a General Manager. But Jim wasn’t stepping up and getting the training. He’d rather fight the system (which he was losing) and not invest $2,000 for the training in the hopes of one day getting hired again as a General Manager. What Jim was actually doing was down sizing his career, his morale, and his paycheck by electing not to  invest in  himself. Never let your career sit on a shelf longer than 6-months. Never!   Keep the same drive and discipline that you had when you were employed. Get focused. Get a plan. Make it happen. Wallowing isnt allowed.   Create opportunities by using your in-between time to get any training or education you may need.   If you’re not working, then start freelancing or consulting. Join an association’s Board of Directors, or at minimum, a committee. These strategies will help keep you visible, boost your resume and expand your network.   Fish where the fish are. Another mistake Jim was making was not having a solid job search plan. Where are your potential employers? Find out by reading trade magazines, industry publications, company websites and classified ads in your local newspapers to learn which industries are hiring, which companies are hiring, and what the hot jobs are. Then, start attending industry conferences, trade shows, business networking events and   association meetings.   Also, join professional networking sites such as LinkedIn.com to get connected to industry leaders and company decision makers. Make it a priority to get connected, and stay connected, to people who can inspire you, hire you, or introduce you to potential employers.   Be a resource to others.         Never give the impression that youre hungry for a job.   Instead, you want to be seen as someone who drives initiatives, solves problems and leads teams.   This is one reason why you want to consult, freelance, or volunteer while youre in between jobs.   Get personal with your professional network.   Send out links to reports, case studies, press releases and websites that you think might interest them.   Invite them to business networking events, and introduce them to other movers and shakers.   Influencers are drawn to those who are resourceful.   Give your resume the “it” factor. When it comes to resumes looks are everything!   If you’ve been applying for jobs that you’re qualified for, but youre not getting the interviews, then you need a stronger resume. Hiring managers can have stacks and stacks of resumes piled high on their desk which means that if your resume doesnt have the it factor youre toast.   Don’t lose out on a great job because your resume doesn’t stand up against your competition.   Instead, invest in a professional resume critique. You’ll get specific strategies based on your goals, strengths and accomplishments to get the attention of hiring managers and put yourself in high demand!     Interview smart.   If you’re getting interviews, but not job offers â€" then you need stronger interviewing skills. Interviewing brings up a lot of anxiety mostly because it seems that the interviewer has so much power and you, the one being interviewed, has so little.   But there are things you can do to balance the scales of power.   Invest in a session with an interview coach before your next interview.   You’ll get crisp, solid strategies to learn how showcase your strengths, answer the tough questions and what to say to close the interview.   The point is that if you’ve been unemployed or at a lower level position for longer than six months, then you need to shake things up!   Try different career strategies and start thinking outside the box. And never, ever give up your drive, ambition and courage that it takes to move your career forward. Your job is out there waiting for you. You just need to go get it! Your Assignment     Invest in yourself so that you have more career offers and opportunities! Make a plan right now to get any training or education you need to get your next job.  Think ahead to the career that you really want.   Read job postings to understand the qualifications and skills that  are required.   If you need training or education, then schedule time on your  calendar to research options, costs and time commitments.       If you need experience to make your next career move, then  invest your time in  freelancing or consulting. Join an association’s Board of Directors, or at minimum, a committee. These strategies will help keep you visible, boost your resume and expand your network. Make it a priority to get connected, and stay connected, to people who can inspire you, hire you, or introduce you to potential employers.   Schedule time in your calendar to attend industry conferences, trade shows, business networking events and   association meetings.   Also, join professional networking sites such as LinkedIn.com to get connected to industry leaders and company decision makers. If youre  feeling stuck and need some help reinventing your career, then consider hiring a career coach.    A career coach can give you the tools, support and the roadmap to help you advance your career.      Be prepared to come into a session with your toughest questions, biggest challenges, and an open mind to get new ideas, strategies and best practices to get your career on track! How are you going to invest in yourself?   Share your strategies with me in the comments section below   ??

What to Put on Your Resume to Get You Hired For Writing Jobs

What to Put on Your Resume to Get You Hired For Writing JobsWhat to put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs? What should it include? Well, there are actually quite a few things that you can put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs.The first thing you need to put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs is the education that you have acquired. You do not need to specifically state it, but most employers look for at least a BA in English or Creative Writing from an accredited college. It would be good to indicate this on your resume, though. Be sure to show proof of your educational achievement on your resume.The next thing that you need to put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs is a cover letter. You will want to keep your cover letter short and to the point, because employers typically want to read your resume before they read your cover letter. If you forget to write your cover letter or forget to include it with your resume, you need t o make sure to include it as part of your application, even if it's not on your resume.Another important thing that you need to put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs is a portfolio. This is where you demonstrate your writing skills through examples of your writing on a number of different topics. By showing an example of your best work, you will show the hiring manager that you are not only an excellent writer, but that you can also write on a variety of topics. This is one of the best ways to prove that you can write professionally without necessarily spending a ton of money on writers' fees.The next thing that you need to put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs is experience. If you have an experience that shows your ability to write professionally and doesn't contradict any of your other accomplishments, you should list it. However, if you have some experience that contradicts what you can write on your resume, then you need to mention that you've done work-experience instead. Working for example in a writing program, doing freelance work, or something similar should all count towards experience.One of the worst things that you can do is list something that doesn't relate to your specific job and your specific education and experience. You need to be as specific as possible when it comes to what you are applying for. You don't want to be giving the hiring manager false hope, you just want to be objective.What to put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs is essentially everything that you need to be able to prove that you are a professional writer. When you take all of your experience, educational attainment, and experience into account, you should be able to prove that you are someone who is worthy of a writing job. But what should you put on your resume to get you hired for writing jobs?Use these guidelines and you will be on your way to being hired for writing jobs! Good luck!