by Joshua Waldman
I just got back from a great conference in Boston and met over 50 people. Check out fast way I can stay on top of this new network and provide some value to them.
What Would Dad Say » Is Monster the 8 Track Tape of 2010?
When I was about 22 or so, I had a car with an 8-track tape player. I had a mini-suitcase full of 8 track tapes that held about 20 tapes. It rested on the console, all that music, pre-cassettes and certainly pre-CD’s. Steve Jobs was in high school and ITunes was decades away. Still, in the early 1970’s, my 8 track tapes were pretty cool.
Monster is selling 8 track tapes and hoping people don’t find about iTunes. In this case, LinkUp is iTunes.
Let me explain.
Monster came on the scene and converted all those Help Wanted newspaper ads to the internet ads. They spent zillions on TV advertising so that countless HR professionals and their bosses “made the jump” to Monster. The reasoning was simple, now everyone could find your job openings online, via Monster.
Instead of paying $300 per week for a paper ad, you now paid about the same amount for your internet ad. It was simple, fast, quick and easy.
Too much success spoils a good thing. Soon there was an online job board for every city, state and industry niche. I joke that there is even a site for Left Handed X-Ray technicians located at www.lefthandedtraytechnicians.com. Someone wrote me and said that the link must be bad. Can’t take a joke, I guess.
Soon everyone was going to the job boards and applying for jobs no matter what just because they can. “Can you tell me what a RN does again?” a hospital HR person was asked by a applicant. It is so easy to apply and to resume blast that Monster has resorted to other sexier revenue ideas. Bigger companies do this: they don’t fix core ideas, they add features and services, adding complexity, cost and commitment to the old model simply because they cannot do otherwise. It is a cultural thing, baked in deep and hard. Plus we all know what the Monster brand means, really.
Here is what is happening. The biggest growth area for advertising is pay per click. This is where companies pay only when a visitor or, in this case, the job seeker, clicks on your ad. Now, with LinkUp, this has the recruitment advertising business model going through a serious transformation. Recruitment agencies are fast converting their clients to this new method. And why not, companies only pay per click on a specific job. They do not pay for all those un-interested and un-qualified readers. It is a much more efficient model.
The company simply pays out of their account, much like Google Adwords, when the job is clicked. The job searcher is taken directly to the company’s own website and ATS. This is where the selling should take place, where the company can control its own branding. At LinkUp, we do not capture any job searcher information. We do not want any security breaches or issues, like Monster has had every few months.
But HR people are still using Monster. My prediction is that within a year or so, they will convert their help wanted advertising plans to LinkUp. After all, no one uses 8 track tapes any more.
via blogs.jobdig.com
The Best Time to Write a Resume » Blog | Great Resumes Fast
Imagine for a moment that you’ve just heard the dreaded words, “We’re going to have to let you go.” A lot of people have heard this phrase over the last several years, and most have probably reacted with some degree of panic: How am I going to pay my bills? Where am I going to go? What am I going to do?
Obviously, this frame of mind is not a great launching point for your next job. Writing an effective resume and cover letter requires analytical thinking and confidence in your abilities. So let me tell you a little secret: the best time to write your resume is when you’re perfectly happy at your job!
I’m not saying that you should have a perfectly marketable document ready to go every moment of your life, although that’s not a bad idea. I am suggesting that it’s smart to keep a running list for yourself of all your different jobs and what you’ve accomplished at each. There are several reasons for this. First, it’s easy to forget three years later that you wrote the proposal that won your company a $500,000 project. Second, quite often your company doesn’t publish or share numbers that reflect your contribution to their success. For instance, while you may be well aware that your efforts expanded a new store from just yourself to a staff of 25 employees, that information will probably never make it onto the company’s Web site.
Perhaps the best reason to keep a running career document for yourself is that if you do unexpectedly find yourself out of work, you won’t have to rack your brain to remember details from your professional past. It can be particularly hard to ascertain measurable results when you no longer have access to a company’s documents. By keeping track of your work accomplishments on an ongoing basis, you have the ability to go through your list and pull out the key highlights anytime you need them—like when you’re frantically searching for a new job.
For a free resume analysis submit your resume via e-mail to info@greatresumesfast.com. To view samples of professionally-written resumes or to read other career articles visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com.
Don’t Send A Thank You Note After the Interview – Send an E-mail » Blog | Great Resumes Fast
We’ve recently heard a lot of talk about not sending thank you notes as hiring decisions are made quickly and notes take too long to be received. While our view is still that sending a handwritten thank you note communicates the sincerest interest and makes the best impression we also think an e-mail thank you may also be appropriate. Read this insightful article and decide for yourself.
The era of the thank you note after a job interview is over.
Well, not the actual “thank you,” just the delivery system.
It’s critically important that you thank the interviewer for the opportunity, but it’s also critically important that you get it to him within 24 hours. And a handwritten, snail-mailed note just won’t do that. Send an email.
Many people still extol the virtues of the handwritten thank you note as a way to demonstrate your good manners and set yourself apart in the interview process. But while that’s nice, it’s not necessarily effective. A well-written thank you note already demonstrates your good manners and excellent communications skills. You don’t need to put a stamp on it to do that.
But there’s something else that comes into play here: As a recruiter, I know that many hiring decisions are made quickly. You can’t wait to send your thank you just in case this window of opportunity is one that will close quickly.
What should you make sure you include in your message?
In your thank you email, you should talk about how much you appreciated the opportunity to meet with them, how much you enjoyed learning more about the organization, how you think your x, y, and z skills will really help their company with a, b, and c issues, and how you’re looking forward to talking with them further about this process.
If you meet with 4 people, you need to send 4 thank you emails.
But here’s one note of caution: While I’m all for sending your note quickly, don’t go too far and try to send it with a text from your phone. There are too many opportunities for mistakes-and they have been made. Stick with your email-and spell check it.
| Peggy McKee has over 15 years of experience in sales, sales management, sales recruiting, and career coaching. Her website, Career Confidential ( http://www.career-confidential.com ) is packed with job-landing tips and advice as well as the practical, powerful, innovative tools every job seeker needs to be successful. |
Help Wanted. Filling Out Applications | CareerAlley
Author Byline: Matthew Warzel
Author Website: http://www.mjwcareers.com
WHERE TO LOOK
- Look beyond newspaper ads!
- Take time to visit different areas and look for NOW HIRING signs in retail and service spots!
- Need to check community Web pages for community/local positions
- Check Craigslist and other “free advertisement” websites
WHAT TO DO DURING APPLICATION PROCESS
- Greet the initial person politely and ask to fill out an application
- Bring your resume with you
- Take your references and employment history (with dates), skill’s information, & education information with you to your potential application sites in a binder
- Apply for a specific position as opposed to writing “open to anything”
- List your most recent job/education first
- Fill it out patiently and neatly, with no errors or spelling mistakes!
- Don’t leave anything blank! Write “does not apply” or “N/A” (not applicable) if the question doesn’t pertain to you & FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!
- Be honest! The employer can come back and hold anything dishonest against you which can lead to you not getting the job
- Take your own pen! It will make you look more professional!
- Double check every section of the application
- Speak with a manager when you hand in your application. You can make your first impression a good one right away. If you’re lucky, you can even get an interview scheduled. Remain positive and personable.
- Do a follow-up with any application you turn in. Let the employer know that you are interested in the job and that you are persistent enough to follow through with the application.
via careeralley.com
Career Transition Help by Career Expert Ilona Vanderwoude : CAREEREALISM
Here’s something interesting: the way you respond to specific situations tends to be the way you respond across the board.
This is nothing mysterious; it simply reveals some of our character traits underlying our behavior.
The goal here is to be aware of your behavior patterns during your career transition.
For example: if some of your friends you frequently hang out with make plans to get together without you, what is your first reaction? Do you feel rejected, do you get angry, or do you simply wonder what they’re up to and assume they were just about to ask you?
Your reaction to this kind of situation is likely the same you’ll have when you don’t hear back after applying somewhere.
(And, as an aside: there are SO many reasons you may not hear back after sending in your resume – especially in response to a job posting – that have NOTHING to do with you. )
Another example – a personal one this time:
I tend to want to be prepared and have my ducks in a row. Not very convenient when you’re running a business. So I’m trying my best to unlearn this trait. It’s also not handy if you’re in career transition as it may prevent you from taking action until you are “ready” – which, if you’re like me, you’ll never be!
Perfection is unattainable. Progress, on the other hand, is a fantastic goal.
A few other examples:
Are you someone who is always late? If so, you probably have a hard time getting to your interviews on time as well. Make sure to figure in extra time to avoid this major faux-pas!
Do you get curt with service staff in restaurants and other places? When going on interviews; be mindful of how you treat receptionists and assistants at these companies as they are often asked about their impressions of the candidates! (And what were you thinking in the first place; show some respect for your fellow citizens; regardless of their socio-economic position!)
Are you used to outsourcing everything but your sleep and your love life? If so, chances are you think you can outsource your job transition to professionals and assistants. As much as I am a believer in – and practitioner of – outsourcing, I need to tell you that there’s a place and a time for everything. Your career transition needs hands-on involvement from you.
Do you like to “stick with what works?” Are you someone who keeps buying the same brand products forever, who goes to the same vacation place year after year, and lives by “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke?” Great! But listen up: the past few years have seen more changes in the arena of recruitment, hiring, and job searching than in the all the years prior since the introduction of the electronic typewriter. So ditch the 2 spaces after periods (a left-over thing from the typewriter days), and, more importantly, get up to speed with career transitions a la 2010. It’s truly a different world out there!
So if you got some great career management advice in the 90s or even the early 2000s that made sense to you and that worked back then; realize that what ain’t updated may very well cost you opportunities today.
Are you a proud person who doesn’t need anyone and who likes to “make it on your own?” Respect! You probably don’t ask for help easily (or at all!) and you love to help others. Just make sure not to translate this too rigidly to the careers arena. There are people – and I have a dear friend in particular who is very stubborn about this; you know who you are! – who won’t even accept connections to get more information and possibly leads. I’m not talking about insider information that can land you in jail. I’m talking about plain and simple networking. The stuff that lands about 80% of the people their next jobs. Vital in today’s economy and job market.
It reminds me of that joke about some guy sitting at his roof trying to survive a flood. A boat with rescuers comes to get him, but he sends them away, because “god will rescue him.” Yeah…god just sent that boat with rescuers his way – but he turned it down…same principle applies here.
There are plenty other examples but I’d love to hear yours! How does your “MO” affect your job or career transition?
Did you enjoy this article? You can read more articles by this expert here. Better yet, you could get the best career advice daily by subscribing to us via e-mail!
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The bottom line is that she shows her clients how to branch out and live the life they didn’t think was possible for them. Connect with Ilona via LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.
The photo for this article is provided by Shutterstock.
via careerealism.com
Get it Right the First Time - Interviews | CareerAlley
You know how it is. You put in all this work to get to “The Interview”. You spend countless hours updating your resume, calling contacts, browsing job search engines and dealing with recruiters. Finally the big day, all of your work pays off and you get your interview. Are you ready? Unless you are interviewing for an entry level job (and sometimes not even then), hiring managers just don’t have the patience to sit through a “bad” interview with someone who is not prepared. Of course, there are degrees of “bad”. Like the time that I was interviewing someone and they could not stay awake. Every time I started talking, he started nodding off. Now I know I’m not the most interesting guy, but sleeping? So what’s the point? You need to put in lots of time before interviewing. Know the company, try to find out as much as you can about the interviewer, make sure you’ve studied the job description and can easily compare it to your experience. Today’s post is about getting the information you need to “ace” the interview.
- How To Master Telephone Interviews – Telephone interviews have become more popular over the last few years and have almost become a standard “first” before the “in person” interview. The skills required for a telephone interview certainly overlap with the “in person” interview, but there are a number of things you may need to do differently. This article, provided by Worktree.com, provides important points on the What, When and How of telephone interviews. There are advantages to a telephone interview, you can have materials available that would not be possible in an “in person” interview. This article covers what to have and what to do.
- Preparing for a Job Interview (like your future depends on it) – Another great article, Top-sales-jobs.com does and excellent job of listing the important aspects of a job interview – questions, mock interviews, interview answers, attire and more. The best part of the post (in addition to the content) is that each sub-topic title has an additional link to more in depth information on that particular topic (just click the subtitle).
- About.com Interview Answers - Another great article from About.com. An interesting set of potential interview questions and the answers they recommend.
- MSN Careers – Interview Tips – MSN, in conjunction with Careerbuilder, have compiled a very impressive list of interview questions, what to do, what not to do and the list goes on. Definitely worth a review, although leave yourself plenty of time.
- Monster Career Advice – Interviews - Another good article (rated 4.5 stars out of 5). The article gives advice on how to approach the interview. A very interesting read and approach.
Good luck in your search.
via careeralley.com
