Why I Walked Away From A Job Opportunity

Original Post:Why I Walked Away From A Job Opportunity

This is the first year in a few that I do not have a job for the school year, and am not involved in any way in Welcome Week (McMaster’s orientation/frosh week). But I happen to have McMaster’s campus events co-ordinator on Facebook, and in my news feed it showed up that a company she knows of was hiring a promotion team for a few days during Welcome Week.

It also turns out that I somehow managed to get both Thursdays and Fridays off for first semester this year (long weekend every weekend woohoo!). In my head, I thought “Hey, this could be a good way to make some extra money before school, and maybe turn into something a bit more permanent during the year.” So I emailed the contact person asking what sort of information they wanted from me, hoping for a quick response.

Shortly afterwards, I got a reply. They told me to send the sort of things I was expecting:

• Resumé
• Contact info
• Time available for a phone interview
• Availability during the school year

But there was another item on the list that really threw me off. I was required to submit a head shot. But I didn’t feel comfortable applying for a job where part of the basis for me being hired was my physical appearance.

This position instantly reminded me of the scantily-clad girls at sporting events and concerts handing out swag, samples or coupons. That is something I could never see myself doing. I do not ever want to feel like I’m using my body to sell a product – it would make me feel I had abandoned my values.

I’m not necessarily insulting my physical appearance here, but I feel that my ability to work for an organization should have nothing to do with what I look like, but the skills I possess. I have developed lots of skills that would be useful for doing promotions because I’ve previously done some niche marketing work.

Now, I’m not saying that the people who do this kind of work are knowingly using their physical appearance to sell products. Money is money and sometimes jobs in your field of interest can be hard to get, especially without a degree to back it up. I’m just saying it’s not for me because I feel it compromises my values.

Part of me still wonders if I should have gone through the application process. Maybe I’m making everything seem worse off than it is. I don’t know how likely it would have been for me to be walking around campus in booty shorts and a halter top hawking a product – as well as part of myself – to passers-by.

What I do know, however, is that having a bit more extra spending money right now would be useful.

13 More Weeks Of Unemployment Benefits For Some Americans

Original Post: 13 More Weeks Of Unemployment Benefits For Some Americans [Unemployment]

On Tuesday, the House voted to extend unemployment benefits for Americans who live in states where the unemployment rate is greater than 8.5 percent. 400,000 people were set to run out of benefits at the end of September, and will now continue to receive them until the end of the year if the bill passes.

The new federal extension applies to 27 states, and will be funded, to the tune of $1.4 billion, with a tax on employers.

As Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke stated earlier this month, while the recession may be over and the economy is growing, that isn't doing anything to reduce the jobless rate. In fact, many experts expect it to go higher.

The House action reflects the continuing depressed state of the job market despite some signs that the economy is recovering. The unemployment rate now is 9.7 percent and economists see it topping 10 percent in 2010.Some 5 million people, about one-third of those unemployed, have been without a job for six months, the highest number since data was first collected in 1948. There are nearly six unemployed for every available job.

''The job-finding situation is still dire,'' said Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the research and advocacy group National Employment Law Project. ''Until we figure out how to create jobs there is so much collateral damage'' from neglecting to help the jobless, including people losing their homes and facing food insecurity and mental depression, he said.

Here, according to the AP, is the list of states where the extension will apply, if passed.

Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

House Votes to Extend Jobless Benefits [AP]
Meltdown 101: How extended jobless benefits work [AP]

(Photo: clementine gallot)

Strategies to Enhance Your Job Application

Strategies to Enhance Your Job Application

Recently, I attended a career fair at one of our local universities with many of the career development educators and industry representatives sharing some interesting and critical information that all graduates and current students should be aware of.

Employers are now more than ever placing greater emphasis on a candidate’s employability skills than they are on a candidate’s grades in the selection process. While Australian employers have been following this principle for some time - interestingly international employers (who were, up until some time ago, focused primarily on grades) now too are far more interested in a candidate’s employability skills than just their grades alone. So students beware – if you think top grades alone are going to guarantee you a role, you could be sadly mistaken.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics early this year stated that youth unemployment levels had risen to 24%. This means that all students should be implementing sound career management strategies whilst studying to ensure they are able to differentiate themselves within a competitive market.

And, according to the feedback I’ve been receiving, being able to demonstrate employability and transferable skills is critical and will allow a graduate to have the upper hand in the job market.

So what are employability skills and how can you develop these?

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) have developed the following list of employability skills, which can also be referred to as ’soft skills’:

• Initiative
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Technology
• Problem Solving
• Self Management
• Planning
• Learning

While studying it is important to continue developing your employability skills. Here is a list of activities you can consider to increase these important skills:

• Voluntary work – even if the work is not necessarily in your field of study.
• Part time/casual work – again, either in your field of study or any other environment that will allow you to demonstrate development and growth of the above-mentioned skills.
• Join school groups, societies, committees and any extracurricular activities and ensure you are an active participant in their events.

This information is extremely valuable when developing your personal marketing document – your résumé. The fact that you will probably have limited experience in your field of study, including the information from your extracurricular and other involvements as detailed above, will allow you to create a document of substance, while demonstrating key employability and transferable skills to a potential employer.

Consider including these sections when developing your résumé:

• Extracurricular involvements: memberships and sporting involvements are always a great way to highlight employability skills;
• Volunteer work;
• Work Experience, completed either through your tertiary or secondary schooling years;
• Awards and other areas which have recognised you for your contributions and achievements;
• Technologies and understanding of computer applications, specifically if they relate to the industry/role you are targeting;
• Special projects and assignments that you received impressive marks for to demonstrate your understanding of the information. Include information about the projects, your specific involvement (especially if this was a team-based assignment) and the outcome of the project;
• Academic achievements, including the subjects you have successfully completed, especially the subjects you received top marks in to demonstrate a solid grasp of the information.

As you can see, the list is quite extensive and should provide you with some impressive information to include in your résumé, in order to highlight your transferable and employability skills to a potential employer.

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Author:

Annemarie Cross is a Radio Host on CareerCommuniqueRadio.com, a Career Coach, Personal Branding Strategist, a triple certified multi award-winning Professional Resume Writer and Author of ’10 key steps to Ace that Interview'.

Who Has Your Dream Job And Why Haven't You Emailed Him/Her/Them Yet?

Original Post: Who Has Your Dream Job And Why Haven't You Emailed Him/Her/Them Yet?

When most people think about career moves, they consider what is immediately available or achievable. However, if the goal is to build a career that is energizing and enjoyable, people should think in terms of what they want, regardless of immediate accessibility.

Instead of building your career path based upon what's available now, why not start with your dream job and work backwards?

With that in mind, who has your dream job and why haven't you emailed them yet?

(note: I (jakegreene1) initially posted this as a question on Linkedin)

Is My Career Specialty Too Specific?

Is My Career Specialty Too Specific?

I've been reading a lot that having a specialty or a niche is very important. The idea is to be an expert or the top candidate in your field so you become the 'go to' person. The last thing you should want is to be good at everything because then you aren't really good at any one thing.

My first job after college was working for a Chairman/CEO. And then I got laid off in a merger. However, even after the first CEO I was pegged as 'the assistant to CEOs.' So be warned - often unfairly, the first job you take out of college becomes your specialty.

After I was laid off I of course had to go look for another job. I was called in for an interview at an agency and it was the assistant that did all the vetting of the candidates. The executive basically yelled at me for showing up for the interview because he wasn't a CEO and he thought it was absurd that I would even show up for a non-CEO executive assistant position. It was a horrible experience because I waited for an hour to see him and the entire 'interview' lasted about 5 minutes.

Originally, my logic to becoming an executive assistant was it was a great job, there are tons of assistants so I should always have a job, and I enjoyed the work. In hindsight, there was fault in my thinking.

1) I wanted to work in the entertainment industry which really only exists in Los Angeles or New York. I already lived in New York and it wasn't for me. So that leaves Los Angeles.

2) Now that I'm job hunting again my biggest obstacle is HR or executives see not working for a CEO is a step down for me even though I don't see it that way. I didn't choose to be an assistant to CEOs. My first two jobs found me and I went on to work for a 3rd CEO. It's been a great resume booster to work for 3 CEOs but that also meant there are only so many CEOs that I could work for, especially in the entertainment industry. All my jobs have been with major corporations or conglomerates which also means only so many exist in the world and also in Los Angeles/entertainment industry.

3) By nature, being a good executive assistant means you're good at admin work. But admin work is very vague - phones, travel, calendar, expense reports, etc. So really, being a good executive assistant translates to being good with people and having great soft skills which is also not specific. So that really comes down to, I'm good at being what you need me to be, which isn't a specialty at all.

So, I kinda fell into what I did and went with it, for better or for worse. However, I am noticing a trend in all the people who headhunt me.

- I can work for any C-level executive or an executive who has very high-profile clients.

- Despite having zero experience in other fields, I've been offered other jobs as I've proven I can hit the ground running and learn as I go.

- Hiring managers know I can work with anyone and deal with anyone because CEOs interact with all levels of seniority, various professions, and a wide array of personalities.

- They also know I understand office politics, have basic business acumen, and keep things confidential because I wasn't a personal assistant or an assistant working out of someone's house.

- If I can handle the fast pace, urgent deadlines, and ever-changing priorities of the entertainment industry, I can probably handle anything.

I've never regretted any of the career decisions I've made. I'll also be able to transition to other industries if I choose to or explore other positions. Nothing is set in stone so don't worry if you may feel your specialty might be too specific as well.

Jobsket hopes to mix up the job search market

Original Post: Jobsket hopes to mix up the job search market

With today’s job market, even if there are countless job search alternatives to go around, there’s still opportunity to stand out. Jobsket, a small bostrapped startup operating and Spain and Ireland is jumping on the bandwagon in an attempt to solve a number of job search challenges with their platform.

It’s difficult to find an online tool that equally takes into account both the candidate and the hiring parties.  Jobvite, for the companies. Risesmart, VisualCV, are both for the candidate. According to Jobsket, they’re setting out to address both sides of the coin. For now, it appears that they cater more to the candidate.

With social media networking becoming a key factor in landing a new job, you need an effective way to distribute your CV. With Jobsket, candidates can upload their current text/word version or import their LinkedIn or Xing profile, while Jobsket takes care of processing it and make it social. Once processed, you can promote and distribute your uploaded CV on social networks, embed it into your website or spread via email.

Not only that, but Jobsket boasts that the core of their platform–intelligent, automated semantic search technology will evaluate the content of a CV and match a candidate with relevant job opportunities. A time-saver for candidates and hiring managers. They also try to evaluate how much a CV is worth, by comparing it against job openings and average matching salaries. I can only speak for myself–can’t say the results were realistic–not yet anyway. Perhaps Jobsket needs more time and data. In the meantime, it’s an attractive vanity feature. Unless of course your undervalued.

What’s in it for hiring companies? With intelligent matching, they can discover the right candidates, if the candidate marks off the privacy setting making their CV public in Jobsket or even more public, allowing his CV to be indexed. Much like LinkedIn, this opens up the door to passive candidates.  Martín Perez, one of  Jobsket’s founders, tells me that to meet the needs of hiring managers/companies they´re working on a feature set similar to that of Jobvite, wherein jobs can be promoted on social networks in order to attract most suitable talent.

Some downsides worth mentioning: While allowing users to upload their current version of their CV certainly saves them a lot of time, I don’t see where they can edit the uploaded version, making it very inflexible. Companies like Ceevee for example, recently covered on TechCrunch Europe, or VisualCV allow you to build and hence edit your CV any time. That’s not to say that Ceevee has the better slant. If Jobsket can remedy this particular downside, get enough volume, and IF their semantic matching of CVs with jobs can actually work precisely enough to stray job seekers away from traditional time consuming job search portals, they may have something going for them. Otherwise, they may just become a very good CV distribution tool. They plan on a subscription based billing model, so falling into CV processing and distribution alone, will not be enough to attract mass numbers willing to pay.

Layoff Survival Guide: Back to work!

Original Post:Layoff Survival Guide: Back to work!

So, let’s say you’ve gotten a job offer. Congratulations! But now you may be wondering what to do about all those changes you had to deal with when you got laid off. What do you do about your health insurance coverage now? And how do you stop collecting unemployment? What are all the things you have to deal with when you’re starting a new job?

A friend of mine asked me to write about this subject. Well, one friend complained that my Layoff Survival Guide was too depressing, so my other friend (who is still looking for a new job) suggested this would be a happy twist to the posts.

So, with my first post, I talked about 401(k)s. At your new job, you’ll likely be given the option to enroll in their 401(k) program (or similar program for non-profits, government jobs, and the like). Sometimes you’ll have to wait to enroll, or wait for them to match or somehow contribute to your account. I recommend signing up for a 401(k). If they provide a matching contribution, I would strongly encourage you to sign up. There are usually a few different options for funds you can invest in. Don’t let that part intimidate you! If you’re not sure, there’s often someone you can call at the company running your 401(k) (or even in you HR department) that can give you some general guidance. And while I’m not a certified financial adviser, I would suggest you look into a “life cycle fund”, one that invests in funds that are more aggressive if you’re not retiring for many decades, and become more conservative as you get closer to retirement. That’s what I’m doing with my IRAs. For my 401(k), I’ve tried to make a diversified portfolio with assorted styles of funds, and only looking at the funds with low or no expense ratio.

Next I told you about COBRA and transitioning your healthcare coverage. Now that you’re at a new job, you’ll likely have access to a discounted (or free) health insurance program (depending on what your company offers). If the new insurance available is, in your opinion, better (cost-wise, or cover-wise, or other factors important to you) than what you’d been on while unemployed, you should sign up! Confirm that your new health insurance is officially started, then get in touch with your former company’s HR person in charge of health insurance, and/or your previous insurance company, and let them know that you’re on a new plan.

Finally, I discussed collecting unemployment. At least for me, in Massachusetts, I didn’t have to call to cancel. I just stopped filing claims. Hopefully, that’s what I was supposed to do! I had asked a friend what she did when she got a new job, and she said she did the same thing. It may differ from state to state, so check in with your state’s Office of Labor to confirm.

Hopefully this has given you a good idea of what you can look forward to once you get a new job. As always, feel free to comment or email me(graduated learning) if you have any questions.