Saturday, May 30, 2020
The Job Search Plateau
The Job Search Plateau Im doing Body for Life, again. Basically, its a program that combines eating (6 small meals a day, with high protein, low fat, and healthy carbs) with specific workouts. It is the best program that Ive ever tried, and I hope to do it for a few more twelve-week cycles. Yesterday, I was taking a personal inventory and I felt like I was plateauing. I was eating well (for five or six days, lol), and I have been working out diligently, and honoring the rest that my muscles need to rebuild. Ive seen progress here and there, but yesterday I felt like I was doing the stuff, but not making the progress. Ive been here before, mentally. Back in high school I remember getting to a point where, no matter what I did, I didnt move up to the next level in the gym. I was plateauing then, and I didnt know what to do about it. I just suffered through it for a few months without great mentoring, and it sucked. When I plateau now Im inclined to add a cheat meal. It (my diligence, the system, the process) isnt making a difference, anyway, so why not have a burger or three. Thats my little Shoulder Devil talking. I know whats really happening. Somewhere, somehow, what Im doing is good, and there is something happening in my body, even though I cant see it. But Ive done Body for Life a few times and when I push through what feels like a plateau, I get to a point where I see results again, and then other people see results (!!). In other words, even though it didnt seem like anything was happening, something big was happening. I just needed to stay disciplined, keep with the system, and keep doing the RIGHT things. No matter how much gabbing that dumb Shoulder Devil does. As I was contemplating all of this yesterday it made me think about how this applies to the job search. I know that I mostly felt like I wasnt making progress in the job search I was on a plateau. No matter what I did, no matter how many things I did right, I just wasnt making progress. Unfortunately, I was doing more things wrong than right, I just didnt realize it. But heres what I know, because Ive seen it many times over the last eleven years with my JibberJobber users: Doing more of the right things, and less of the wrong things, consistently, over time, gets you closer to landing the job. Even if you feel like you are plateauing, and many job seekers do, keep doing the right things, day after day, consistently. Get advice from people in-the-know who can help make sure you arent doing the wrong things. Keep doing the right things, and youll work through the plateaus. I know I will. The Job Search Plateau Im doing Body for Life, again. Basically, its a program that combines eating (6 small meals a day, with high protein, low fat, and healthy carbs) with specific workouts. It is the best program that Ive ever tried, and I hope to do it for a few more twelve-week cycles. Yesterday, I was taking a personal inventory and I felt like I was plateauing. I was eating well (for five or six days, lol), and I have been working out diligently, and honoring the rest that my muscles need to rebuild. Ive seen progress here and there, but yesterday I felt like I was doing the stuff, but not making the progress. Ive been here before, mentally. Back in high school I remember getting to a point where, no matter what I did, I didnt move up to the next level in the gym. I was plateauing then, and I didnt know what to do about it. I just suffered through it for a few months without great mentoring, and it sucked. When I plateau now Im inclined to add a cheat meal. It (my diligence, the system, the process) isnt making a difference, anyway, so why not have a burger or three. Thats my little Shoulder Devil talking. I know whats really happening. Somewhere, somehow, what Im doing is good, and there is something happening in my body, even though I cant see it. But Ive done Body for Life a few times and when I push through what feels like a plateau, I get to a point where I see results again, and then other people see results (!!). In other words, even though it didnt seem like anything was happening, something big was happening. I just needed to stay disciplined, keep with the system, and keep doing the RIGHT things. No matter how much gabbing that dumb Shoulder Devil does. As I was contemplating all of this yesterday it made me think about how this applies to the job search. I know that I mostly felt like I wasnt making progress in the job search I was on a plateau. No matter what I did, no matter how many things I did right, I just wasnt making progress. Unfortunately, I was doing more things wrong than right, I just didnt realize it. But heres what I know, because Ive seen it many times over the last eleven years with my JibberJobber users: Doing more of the right things, and less of the wrong things, consistently, over time, gets you closer to landing the job. Even if you feel like you are plateauing, and many job seekers do, keep doing the right things, day after day, consistently. Get advice from people in-the-know who can help make sure you arent doing the wrong things. Keep doing the right things, and youll work through the plateaus. I know I will.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
A Simple LinkedIn Strategy For Career Change Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career
A Simple LinkedIn Strategy For Career Change Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Ten years ago during the infancy of LinkedIn, I created my profile and waited to see what happened. You can guess, right? Nothing happened! At some point I realized that the system wasnt producing any useful results for me. I was at a crossroads and had to make a decision. Should I give up and ignore it, or roll up my sleeves and learn how to use the system better? I made the decision that I would invest more effort into learning how to grow my network in a strategic manner and better use the overall functionality. So, here I am ten years later. Because I made the investment of time and energy over the past few years, I am now in a position to leverage my extensive network when I need it. As mentioned in the Social Media chapter of my job search book Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!), LinkedIn is my primary tool for business networking. LinkedIn can be used for a wide range of purposes. To help you leverage the value of LinkedIn, I want to share one simple success strategy for making changes during your career. Leveraging LinkedIn to Make the Right Connections One of them most important factors in making career changes is connecting with the right people. Whether you want to engage a person who can give you critical information, a recruiter, or a hiring manager, this simple process will help you achieve your goals: Do your LinkedIn research to determine the targets you would like to engage in a conversation. Use the Advanced Search page to identify people by employer name, title, and most importantly for only your second level connections. For every second level contact that looks promising, on the line below the name click on the link titled x shared connections to see all your first level contacts who are directly connected to your targets. Review all these first level connections and decide which one is your first choice for requesting an introduction to your target. If you have the email or phone number of the first level contact who can connect you to the second level you want, rather than using the internal LinkedIn function of Get introduced or firing off an InMail, email or call your first level contact directly. Ask your contact for an introduction to your target. If possible, offer to provide them a script for making the introduction and let them know that you are OK if they want to modify it to their liking. Monitor the situation to insure the introduction is made in a timely manner. If it isnt, follow up to request a status. Once you have connected with the target, circle back to the introducer and thank them again for their effort. While there are many additional ways to leverage LinkedIn for introductions, I have found this process to be the simplest. It tends to produce relatively good results assuming you have a good relationship with your first level contact and they have a good relationship with your second level target. (If you find that these two relationships are not in place, it may be best to ditch this process in the beginning and try a different approach.) If you have not tried something similar to this, I recommend you give it a chance. Done well, it is possible you can be talking to key people you want in less than 24 hours.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
The Grad fair is coming and this is why you should go! University of Manchester Careers Blog
The Grad fair is coming and this is why you should go! University of Manchester Careers Blog The Grad Fair 2018 is on Wednesday 9 May 2018 10:30am 3:30pm At The Armitage Centre in Fallowfield (yes right behind Owens Park) This is the big mop up of graduate recruitment for large to medium size employers for this year. Why do I need to go? If you havent got a job lined up for after you graduate. Whether you missed out on some other opportunities or havent started looking yet its a great way to see whats available in the market place and get some insider intel to help you write a great application. If you havent started thinking about career options. Chat to different companies about the opportunities they offer many will be open to graduates with any degree. If you match the skills and personality they are looking for why not make an application? Its just 1 day out of your life. You can probably get what you need in just a couple of hours rather than spending weeks looking at this and that and having questions you cant get the answers to. Careers staff will be there to help you. So if you have questions or need some tips on what to say or who to speak to we will be there to support you. How do I prepare? The list of exhibitors will be available online about 2 weeks before the fair. This is your chance to see what opportunities companies are offering and make a list of the ones you would like to find out more about. If there are companies you are really interested in and you want to make sure your application is as good as it can be then its really worth while asking some questions about the core values skills they are looking for. Can you tell me more about the role of a XXX in your company? What do they do on a daily basis? What would an ideal candidate look like for ( insert role here) When there are some similar roles available and you are trying to decide where you fit best? What would you say the main differences are between candidates for tax and audit? What would you say the biggest challenges are for a new graduate in ( insert company name) You can ask anything that helps you decide which companies are the right fit for you, which roles match your skills and anything that will help you make a great application. Should I take my CV? Not every recruiter will want your CV on the day, they will all have formal application procedures that may be an online form or CV Cover letter uploaded or emailed to a specific person. BUT If you have a good conversation with someone and they want to know more about you its handy to have. It acts a bit like a giant business card, so they can remember who you are. It is possible that you could be contacted as a result a CV handed in at this fair, recruiters will be looking for people to start in summer/autumn so they may want to be quick off the mark! You do need to tailor your CV to a specific role, no one wants to see a retail CV for a marketing job. Use our applications advice service to help you prepare. If you are looking at several career options then its best to have several CVs just dont get them mixed up! Remember when you make your actual application after the fair you will need to tailor your CV specifically for the job at that company using the job description plus the intel you have gained at the fair! Applications and interviews Careers advice Events and fairs Graduate Graduate jobs Undergraduate Undergraduate-highlighted Careers fair grad fair Graduate jobs graduate schemes jobs
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
How To Structure Your Job Searching Activities
How To Structure Your Job Searching Activities How To Structure Your Job Searching Activities When you first start out looking for work, it can be very easy to let your enthusiasm take over. This can often result in you falling into the trap of applying for every single job that comes across your path â" sometimes not even being in an industry or job sector that you have any real interest in! While your family and friends may be full of praise for your efforts and want to encourage you to spur you on further, doing so may actually be a complete waste of your time. You could end up suffering from burnout or job-seekers fatigue.Instead, it helps to take some time to structure your job search activities to make them more focused and meaningful. This can give you better quality results, and job offers coming from an industry that is right for you.The downside to applying for everythingApart from wasting a lot of your valuable time, searching for jobs that will never inspire you or keep you motivated may also put the recruiter on his guard. If you have been applying for lots o f different jobs, each requiring a very different skill-set, it can lead the potential employer to believe that you have no real direction or passion for a particular line of work.You could make yourself look desperate rather than focused and driven. Essentially, you are sabotaging yourself and your job prospects by doing this.Finding the right job for you will usually involve a great deal of research and study. Simply applying for every job going can show a recruiter a lack of dedication. It can also show that you may not stick around for long should the opportunity of another job come along. Employing a new staff member is an investment of time, energy and money for an employer. They would hate to see that investment wasted on someone that wasnt bothered about the job in the first place.Structuring your job seeking for successThe truth is that to land your perfect job, you will need to get yourself organized. You need to be methodical in your research and use a structured plan tha t narrows down the field to only those jobs that you are truly suited for. This will help to keep you motivated and able to spend more time researching potential opportunities to make sure you are the right fit for the job. If you are approaching the job market as an unemployed person, then you can structure your day to make your job search your full-time job. Treat your search as a full-time job with lunch breaks and coffee breaks. Allow yourself time to research different companies to check their history, company ethos, company culture and future ambitions.Finding a company that shares or aligns with a lot of your own beliefs and viewpoints can be all the incentive you need to focus your job searching activities towards landing a job with them.Beginning your searchYou need to ask yourself some target questions to enable you to focus your search on the industry or job sector that most suits your career goals, beliefs and personality. Here are some questions you need to ask yours elf:What am I looking for from my next job?Are there any skills or training I need to develop further?What career prospects do I want in the future?When you know the answer to these questions, it can help you to better spot jobs or companies to target that offer what you are looking for.Structuring your dayMake sure you set your alarm to wake you each morning, just as you would for a job in the real world. Keep your usual morning routine together, so walk the dog, make breakfast, do the washing up, etc. Then get dressed for work.Dressing for work can help focus the mind and make you feel more professional in your approach to your job searching.Work out a job search strategy that you can follow each day. This may involve searching online job listings, visiting recruiting websites, checking LinkedIn for new listings, etc.Briefly scan each job opportunity or listing that appears and skip past those that dont meet with your search criteria. Shortlist those vacancies that do tick all of your boxes, and then dedicate some time towards researching the roles.Look at the company history and get a feel for the working environment they operate. Would you feel comfortable working there? If yes, then this can go onto your shortlist of jobs to apply for. If not, then you can either discard the job and continue your search, or place it into your maybe list to think about for a while and do more research for later.Document everything!Make sure you document every action that you do. Note down what jobs you have shortlisted or applied for that day. Record those that need further consideration or more research. List the names and contact details for everyone that you emailed or contacted through social media. It can help you greatly should you need to go back and remember who you were talking to about a particular job a few days later when your memory isnt quite so fresh.Take names and business cards at any job fairs or networking meetings that you attend. Record who you met, wh en and where. You never know who may call you out of the blue with a potential job offer, so you dont want to appear vague or forgetful when answering their call and cannot quite pinpoint when you ever met them.ConclusionHopefully, by adopting a more structured approach to your job searching activities, you will see much better result for your efforts and land a job that is the right fit for you. Good luck! previous article Free Newspaper Theme Resume Template next article Glamour, The Free Resume Template of The Week you might also likeThe Best Way to Explain Your Sabbatical To a New Employer
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Resume Writing For Retirees - Tips For Writing a Resume For Seniors
Resume Writing For Retirees - Tips For Writing a Resume For SeniorsWriting a resume for retirees is important. If you are one of the many retired people in your community, chances are you'll want to get the word out about how much you enjoy life and how much you are looking forward to starting over again. To get you started, here are a few pointers that you can use when you're creating your new resume.The first thing you want to do is decide what you want to write about. Since the number of people who are retired has increased in recent years, a lot of retired people want to use the skills and knowledge they have gained during their career. Therefore, there are plenty of 'resume' topics you can use in your document.If you're in health care, you may want to talk about your professional background. If you have been an administrator at a local nursing home, you may be the person who has helped plan all of the nurses' shifts and everything else that's required. In addition, this could in clude things like serving as the clerk to the nurse's board. If you are also familiar with other aspects of medicine, talk about any research and publications you've done that are relevant to your field.Specialties may be a good idea if you are well-versed in something. For example, if you are in the business world, talk about any jobs you've held in a wide range of industries. If you enjoy cooking, then talk about recipes you might have made and any special diets you have followed. If you work with animals, then talk about any volunteer work you have done with animals in a specific field. Also, if you've had any particular training in nursing, you may want to talk about this as well.As far as learning experiences go, you might want to use a topic that relates to one that you already have an interest in. For example, if you're a history buff, you might want to talk about things like how many books you have read or how many historical courses you have taken. You could also mention ho w many times you attended an event on the subject.If you're a college graduate, you might want to include a section that mentions your own educational degrees. This may include, if you received a degree in computer programming, electrical engineering, or management. You might also want to talk about any internships you have attended while you were in school. Again, these are all skills and knowledge that will be beneficial to you once you are no longer in school.Finally, think about how much of a challenge you have had to overcome while you were in school. If you weren't able to finish in the required time frame, then write about what you did in order to finish. Other things you can include in your resume that relate to your schooling include essays you wrote, papers you have written, as well as internships you attended and any papers you wrote for competitions you won in school.Writing a resume for retirees is actually quite easy. Once you know the type of information you want to i nclude, you just need to find the way to put it into words.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Managing a Mobile Workforce
Managing a Mobile Workforce Today, more and more people are working from home or out in the field, as employees, whilst many business owners today are managing their business on the go, perhaps embracing the remote working lifestyle sipping a cocktail whilst swaying in their hammock on some tropical island⦠yet, whilst this lifestyle sounds idyllic, there are plenty of challenges to managing a mobile workforce. In this article weâre going to look at a number of tools, technologies and strategies that can make life a lot easier in terms of managing a mobile workforce. COMMUNICATION IS KEY As a manager or business owner itâs your job to keep employees in the loop, and whilst in an office environment itâs very easy to schedule meetings or just have a brief and informal chat by the photocopier, when you have a mobile workforce, life can be made a lot more challenging; particularly if youâre dealing with an international workforce where people are all working in different time zones. If youâre team are working âdesklessâ then thereâs a fear on both ends of the employment equation that things become âout of sight, out of mindâ in the sense that you donât always know what your employees are getting up to, in the real world, and similarly your employees donât know whether their demands are being actioned back at head office⦠meaning, a lot of times people can feel quite isolated and unheard. Just like with anything in life, communication is key, and when it comes to communication with a mobile workforce, technology is required. A Zogby Analytics study demonstrated that remote workers stated a lack of information from management and the timeliness of said information to be the biggest obstacles in terms of working from home (39 percent and 38 percent respectively). In that vein, letâs look at two ways of improving communication in order to manage employee requirements. USE VIDEO There are companies such as Librestream that offer video enabled services for rapid response (see: http://librestream.com/solutions/video-enabled-service/) which are particularly useful for empowering your team out in the field, or even having live interaction with customers that can impact customer experience in a very positive way. Similarly, when it comes to training, itâs very simple to create an online hub of learning materials that are facilitated by on-demand video training. You could, of course, employ a professional company to take care of filming, but for the majority of use cases, a decent iPhone with a wireless microphone, a simple backdrop, and some decent lighting is enough to create professional quality educational videos that can be used by both your team and your employees. SCHEDULE 1:1 MENTORING SESSIONS Itâs important to touch base with your team, and therefore, scheduling consistent 1:1 mentoring sessions via video conferencing, or perhaps a phone call if technologically necessary, is a good idea. The technology is simple, as you can use services such as Zoom.us or Skype.com, both of which are free or very low cost and ubiquitous in terms of employee engagement. The consistency of contact is key, as if your team know that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11am, for instance, there will be a team call, it meets the emotional need for certainty and seriously helps people to feel more connected and nurtured.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Summary Sunday Continuous Improvement for Job Search
Summary Sunday Continuous Improvement for Job Search Have you adopted a mindset of continuous improvement for your job search? If your job search skills are a bit rusty and you arent getting results, then its time to add some new tricks! The methods and processes companies use to source and recruit candidates to fill jobs changes over time. Your job search strategies need to adjust too! This weeks summary featuring advice to help you embrace networking, especially if you are an introvert, how to interview better and enhance your LinkedIn profile. Plus youll find a list of top recruiting firms and assessments to help you find the perfect career! LINKEDIN Five Powerful LinkedIn Features That Will Help You Stand Out Online by William Arruda | Forbes Follow some or all of these suggestions for what you can do to set yourself apart from the millions of people on LinkedIn! NETWORKING How to Make Connections That Count â" Advice From a Silicon Valley Veteran (and Introvert) by FirstRound This article/interview features Karen Wickre, author of Taking the Work Out of Networking, and one of the most connected veterans of Silicon Valley. She provides 3 no-pressure networking strategies and tons of advice on how to comfortably network! RECRUITERS Americas Best Executive Recruiting Firms by Forbes This is a list of the top 200 executive search firms specialized in filling positions with salaries of at least $100,000. You can sort by state. Keep in mind, some recruiting firms specialize in industry or role. Always check the listings on the firms website to see what types of jobs they are recruiting for. And most importantly, remember that recruiting firms work on behalf of the company not you. They will be interested in you only if you have the skills/expertise that matches the jobs they are trying to fill. INTERVIEWING Is This the Reason You Keep Getting Interviews That Dont Turn Into Offers? by Lea McLeod | The Muse Stop making this mistake during your job interviews! By following these tips, youll win over the interviewer, not just answer their questions. SOCIAL MEDIA How To Do A Social Media Audit Before A Job Interview by Ashira Prossack | Forbes Its surprising how much damaging information is out on the internet about people. Whats even more surprising is that you arent checking or doing anything about it. Implement these three things and youll change the way you approach your next job interview. CAREER These 6 Career Quizzes Could Help You Find Your Dream Career by Ludmila Leiva | Refinery29 People often want to make a career change but dont know what career they should move into. Use one (or more) of these assessments to find your dream career. 4 Small Daily Habits Thatll Have a Big Impact on Your Career by Alyse Kalish | The Muse I know you are busy doing your jobbut these applying these 4 habits will make you smarter and more marketable! IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Heres How to Ask for a Raise Today | US News World Report On Careers My newest article provides tips on how to ask for an increase in salary. Milestone I hit a Twitter milestone this week! And I earned every single one of these followers organically. I never paid for followers. I just tweet great stuff about job search, careers and workforce trends!
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