Why the Holidays Are the Best Time to Look for a Job - On Careers (usnews.com)

By Marty Nemko

December 17, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Marty Nemko

Most people stop their job search between now and the new year. They're swamped with holiday hoohah and figure most employers are focusing more on Ho Ho Ho than Hire Hire Hire.

But here are six ring-a-ling reasons why you should replace some of your holiday-shopping time with job-search time:

1. Many employers are finalizing their 2013 budgets. Indeed, they may be under pressure to get fully staffed-up for the new year.

2. Many employers, especially in government, have use-it-or-lose-it funds. If they don't spend it by year-end, the money goes back to the general fund and the agency is criticized. (Of course, that's one of the many causes of government waste. Instead of an agency being rewarded for thriftiness, it gets punished.)

3. Most job seekers stop job-searching during the holidays. That means you're facing less competition.

4. Employers are less busy and thus more likely to answer their phones and to be in good spirits.

5. Even though holiday-temp hiring (by retailers and delivery services, for example) has long been done, such temps are notoriously unreliable—after all, they want time to prepare for the holidays—and so if eager you shows up now, you may be manna from heaven and get hired on the spot. Do a great job and you may even get kept on in January.

6. The holidays provide bountiful networking opportunities:

• All those holiday fundraisers and parties. Should you throw one?
• Bell-ringing, soup-serving holiday volunteer stints.
• Your Christmas letter/e-letter. Don't forget your Facebook "Friends," LinkedIn connections and all the friends and recruiters that already have tried to help you land a job.
• Your real friends may, at the holidays, have more time to get together for those bonding one-on-ones.

Just be low-key about it. Hard-selling yourself amid the holiday merriment is unseemly and makes you look desperate.

Accelerate your job search now and, come the new year, you may land a job while your fellow job seekers are making a resolution to start looking.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian called Dr. Nemko "The Bay Area's Best Career Coach" and he was Contributing Editor for Careers at U.S. News. His sixth and seventh books were published in 2012: How to Do Life: What They Didn't Teach You in School and What's the Big Idea? 39 Disruptive Proposals for a Better America. More than 1,000 of his published writings are free on www.martynemko.com. He posts here every Monday.

via money.usnews.com

Confession of a Networking Pro - Jodi Glickman - Harvard Business Review

On a nondescript evening this fall, I walked into a 50th floor conference room hosting a networking-event-disguised-as-a-cocktail-party for Today's Chicago Woman "100 Women to Watch List," of which I happened to be one. And instead of being excited and ready to mingle, I found myself filled with dread.

Admittedly, being filled with dread at a networking event is nothing new for most people. But for me it's a veritable occupational hazard. I bill myself as a communication expert — this is my thing. I teach communication skills and I'm known for being able to schmooze and hobnob with the best of them. Yet, when I walked into that so-called "party," it took every ounce of self-control I had to not pull out my iPhone and pretend I had very important business matters to attend to ASAP.

As I seriously considered making a run for the door and leaving before speaking with a single soul, I stopped myself. If I couldn't pull it together and make this event a good use of my time, I definitely wasn't worth my salt as a communication and career expert.

Here's what I did. I decided on the spot that it wasn't about me. I was not going to try to meet a single person of interest to me professionally. I wasn't going to think about advancing my own cause for even a moment (even though there were likely potential new clients in the crowd). I was going to try to refrain as best I could from telling anyone about my own business or area of expertise.

Instead, I was going to take a page from the Great on the Job playbook and simply focus on one thing — being generous. How could I help others in the room? I have a vast network. I'm great at connecting interesting people with one another. I know lots of smart, talented women in corporate America who are looking for business leads, new jobs, mentors, agents, clients, etc. I love being a power broker of interesting people and ideas.

And so I walked over to a group of women, introduced myself and immediately asked about them — who they were, why they were there, and what they were looking to achieve that evening. And I listened intently — not with feigned interest, or quick glances over my shoulder to see whom the camera crews were interviewing. I listened and thought, who do I know who could help Jillian out? Who can I introduce Lisa to? Who do I know who would love Andrea's product or Taylor's service?

I met a jewelry designer whose upcoming trunk show I sent out to all my girlfriends. I met an executive director of a nonprofit and offered to speak to her organization pro-bono. I met several women in real estate whom I connected to my husband; and others in PR who I could do nothing for in the moment, but whom I've kept on file for the next person who asks me for a PR referral.

I wound up having fun. I met some fabulous women and felt good about the fact that I could provide leads, contacts, or at the very least, enthusiasm about other people's businesses.

So as the holiday season nears and you gear up for those obligatory cocktail parties and professional soirees, remember to make it about others, not about you. Be generous — open up your virtual Rolodex, share your contacts, offer to make introductions, try out a new product or check out someone's service.

You'll have more fun that way, you'll learn about new people and ideas, and you might just get something out of it in return. The laws of Karma are no less relevant in the world of networking than anywhere else. At some point down the road, chances are you'll meet someone at the bar or over canapés who knows the perfect person to introduce you to, or has just the lead you've been looking for. Or someone will go out of his or her way to repay your favor or random act of kindness. If there's one thing we know for sure, it's that life is a virtuous cycle — when you keep on giving, eventually you get.

via blogs.hbr.org

LinkedIn Blog » Top 10 Overused Professional Buzzwords 2012 [INFOGRAPHIC]

As we approach 2013, it is time again for the LinkedIn team to refresh our popular buzzwords analysis from previous years. Do members still describe themselves as “creative” and “effective” professionals with “extensive experience” or did the most overused words in LinkedIn Profiles change from last year’s analysis?

When we ran the analysis in 2011, we had 135 million members around the globe. Now we have more than 187 million. Even though we added more than 50 million new members since we did the last ranking, the data tells us that the number one buzzword globally is “creative” once again.

Taking a look at more than 187 million profiles members have worldwide [1], these are the top buzzwords for a selection of countries:

• Analytical: Switzerland

• Creative: Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore,     Sweden, U.S.

• Effective: India

• Experimental: Brazil

• Motivated: Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United     Kingdom

• Multinational: Egypt, Indonesia

• Responsible: France, Italy

• Specialized: Spain

Here are the top 10 buzzwords used in the United States in 2012:

As was the case last year, “creative”, “organizational”, “effective” are in the top three. This year though, more members this year described themselves as “responsible” and “analytical”, which made an appearance on our ranking for the first time. As a result, “dynamic” and “communication skills” got knocked off the list. “Motivated” is now ranked higher than “extensive experience” which was the top buzzword in 2010.

Your LinkedIn Profile is an opportunity to define your professional identity. Set yourself apart in the new year by wiping your profile clean of buzzwords!

Update your LinkedIn profile today

[1] Methodological details: We followed the same methodology as last year, we included non-English profiles in the analysis after translating them. We aggregated the adjectives in the summary section of our member’s public profiles and removed some overused nouns (e.g., “mobile”) and other irrelevant words. From that list we sorted words by frequency and took the top 10 for each country.

via blog.linkedin.com

A Better Way to Plan Your Career - Robert C. Pozen - HBS Faculty - Harvard Business Review

A Better Way to Plan Your Career

by Robert C. Pozen | 11:00 AM November 29, 2012

My students frequently ask me how I planned out my career to become president of Fidelity Investments. I always tell them, "There was no grand plan; I backed into my career one step at a time."

In the years after I graduated from law school, I had no idea that I would ultimately become the president of a financial services giant. I held positions as a law professor, a senior official at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a partner in a law firm.

But during these early steps in my career, I learned a great deal about myself: I found that I really liked doing deals and managing people, rather than drafting regulations and writing articles. So I accepted a job offer at Fidelity Investments in 1987, when it was still relatively young. I spent the next decade climbing the corporate ladder; in 1997, for a complex set of reasons, I was chosen to be president of the company.

What does my history suggest about career planning? That you can't control the trajectory of your career. There are just too many factors beyond your control that will shape your job options--global economic trends, political elections, and technological changes, just to name a few. So don't commit the hubris of thinking that you can determine your professional glide path.

On the other hand, you can increase your probability of success by approaching your career with the right mind-set--one that recognizes that career planning is a continuous process that has to be actively managed. At each step in your career, you need to ask yourself: What can I do next that will maximize my options in the future?

Gain Transferable Knowledge

This process begins with the choices you make at school. You want your education to provide you with the necessary skills and expertise to succeed in a wide variety of jobs. This means that you need to make smart choice about the courses you will follow. I favor those that involve extensive writing, rigorous analysis, or quantitative skills.

Once you have finished your formal education, search for jobs that will allow you to further expand your transferable knowledge — to help you find your next job. Let's say you take a job putting together airplane leases. Within a few years, you could become the world's expert on the subject; however, this narrow expertise probably won't help you in any other line of work. By contrast, if you take a job that will expand your computer programming skills, you can greatly boost your options for later steps in your career.

Gaining experience outside your home country is another way to develop transferable knowledge. I lived for almost two years in Africa and have spent considerable time in England, Japan, and China. Through those experiences, I learned to deal with different economic, cultural, and political environments — which later helped me evaluate or start business units throughout the world.

Similarly, you can make yourself more attractive to more employers by working in different types of organizations during your career. For-profit companies may be concerned about hiring you if you have spent your entire career in government, for instance. At the top levels of management, publically traded companies often fear that a senior executive at a private company won't be able to adjust to the unique pressures of public shareholders and SEC mandates.

Grow Your Network

As you gain transferable knowledge, remember that that is only one piece of the puzzle: your next step should also help you expand your web of personal relationships with peers. To paraphrase a slogan, "Organizations don't hire people. People hire people." The more people you know, the more people will think of you when a job pops open — even when it is not publicly advertised.

Of course, you can build your network to some degree without changing jobs: you can attend conferences or participate in committees at trade associations. But this sort of event-driven networking pales in comparison with the deep bonds you can develop with your colleagues by working, conversing, and traveling with them.

As you ponder your next career step, then, think about the networking advantages you might gain from it. If you're ambitious, you can expand your network by moving to a new company, or even a new industry; obviously, that would be a momentous decision. More modestly, you can grow your network by accepting a job in another unit of the same firm or by heading an interdisciplinary project staffed by people from multiple units.

In this tough economy and ever-changing world, it is more important than ever to smartly evaluate each step in your career. To prepare for whatever surprises lie ahead, try to make choices today that will maximize your options in the future. Gain transferable expertise — in the classroom or at work — and form close bonds with your peers and colleagues.

via blogs.hbr.org

The Holidays Can Be a Good Time to Find a Job

By DENNIS NISHI

It was the end of the year and Diana Tigani needed to fill several jobs for three new offices that were opening in South Florida.

At any other time, the area director for Regus—a company based in Luxembourg that provides virtual offices for home-based businesses—might have received more than 50 résumés from online job ads. Ms. Tigani had only 12 résumés by mid-November. So she tapped her network for leads and found a strong candidate that she ended up screening over the phone on Thanksgiving eve.

"Some people do take time off during the holidays. We're a growing company that's always looking for people. When we need to hire somebody for a new center opening in the first quarter, it's still business as usual for us," says Ms. Tigani, who ended up hiring the candidate two weeks later.

Close

Dennis Nishi

Many job hunters will skip over the holidays when looking for full-time work. But career experts say December is a great time to reach out to hiring managers—especially during that slow gulf of time after Christmas and before the new year.

Workplaces that are open will typically be quieter, which is an ideal time to make that connection by phone, email or even setting up a lunch meeting, says Laurie Ruettimann, a human-resources consultant from Raleigh, N.C. "You're not competing with the regular rush of business. Just remember that many people work half days during the holidays or may work from home."

Holidays also are a good time to do something productive while making enduring face-to-face connections with people at personal and professional events or through volunteerism.

Ideally, you'd end up working in soup kitchens alongside chatty employees who are in festive moods, says Ms. Ruettimann. "You wouldn't ask for a job right there, but employees might offer some insight into what it's like to work for their company. And you can follow up with a call."

Search for networking opportunities at websites such as EventBrite.com or MeetUp.com or company websites, social-media feeds by employees and in your local newspaper.

Nonprofits also will list their corporate partners when advertising for holiday events. Just don't crash any office parties unless you are invited. Over the past few years, companies have been scaling back on the attendance at employee events. The human-resources staff may be forced to ask you to leave.

Always have your interview answers memorized as well as a short pitch about yourself in case you are questioned by interested parties. Hiring managers will interview you on the spot if you fit a hard-to-place job that they really need, says Ms. Tigani.

Make sure all of your social-media profiles, not just on LinkedIn, are updated and scrubbed since even hidden profiles may come up in online searches.

And here's a seasonal tip: Don't send a fruitcake with your résumé since that will put hiring managers in the awkward position of responding to your gesture. They would probably just pass on your application, says Ms. Ruettimann.

—Email: sjdnishi@gmail.com

via online.wsj.com

How to Generate More Interviews with Your Resume

Anish Majumdar

It's a situation pretty much everyone finds themselves in at some point during their careers: sending your resume out to scores of recruiters and/or hiring agents...and not hearing anything back. Before you consider giving up on your ideal job, here are three powerful tweaks you can execute that will immediately increase the amount of attention your resume receives.

Develop a Clear Job Target

Specificity is one of the keys to a successful search in today's job market. Instead of going the "one size fits all" route with regards to your resume, research open jobs using sites like Monster and Indeed and start developing a database of positions that interest you. While you should ideally end up with a single job target, it's perfectly fine to conduct a job search across multiple targets. Just be sure to develop a separate resume version for each.

Insert the EXACT TITLE of the position you're applying for right at the start of the resume. This will minimize the chances of your document being mis-categorized or lost in digital limbo during the submission process.

Develop an opening paragraph that highlights why you'd be a great fit. Key experience at a previous job, a recently acquired degree or training certification, even soft skills such as team building/leadership or managing multiple client priorities are all examples of what might work within this section. Keep it brief, no more than 3-4 lines, and make sure it comes across as genuine.

Create a "Core Competencies" section. Look through the job postings you've gathered and make a list of skills that are frequently requested (that you actually possess). Now create a section beneath the opening paragraph that lists these skills. For example, a Marketing specialist could have terms like Marketing Plans, Corporate Branding/Rebranding, and Trend Tracking & Analysis within this section. Utilize bullets to differentiate between terms and keep things tidy.

Structure Your Work History to Support Career Goals

At its core, a resume is a personal marketing document. While most jobseekers know to leave off negative information such as why they were let go at a particular job or other workplace conflicts, it's the savvy ones that understand the importance of emphasizing and de-emphasizing positions within the "Professional Experience" section to support their career goals. Ask yourself the following questions to determine the optimal layout of this section:

Is the position directly relevant to the job I'm after? If so, begin the position with a few lines describing unique responsibilities, followed by a "Key Accomplishments" or similar section offering bulleted accomplishments. This approach provides the necessary context and really makes an impact visually.

Can I use the position to highlight soft skills or a unique aspect of my background? Many jobs that aren't directly related to what you're presently after can still hold value in these 2 areas. Use the same approach as above but make sure these positions take up less space within the document.

Is the position a liability? If you took on a role that was a significant step down in terms of responsibilities, salary, etc. or simply didn't work out, then it's worth considering leaving off entirely. As long as it doesn't create a major time gap within the resume, then simply skip to the next position. If it does, then briefly encapsulate the position within 1-2 lines and move on.

Eliminate Red Flags

One of the most frequent reasons resumes get rejected is due to "red flags" that pop up during the evaluation process. Here's the thing: being upfront about a potential vulnerability gives you the opportunity to control it, whereas ignoring it basically guarantees that it's going to be perceived as a negative. Here are the major causes of red flags and how you can keep them from becoming a barrier to your candidacy:

Lack of a clear link between stated career goal and work history. It's important to use the opening paragraph you developed in step #1 as a kind of running theme within your resume. Make sure that the skills and attributes mentioned here are expanded upon throughout your work history, particularly with regards to recent jobs you've held. Don't be afraid to be a little redundant if necessary. A clear link is crucial to establishing credibility during the hiring process.

Significant time gaps in your work history. While a gap of a few months between jobs won't raise any eyebrows, anything over 6 months needs to be addressed. Create a "Career Note" of a few lines and place it directly within your work history, between the 2 positions in question. Examples of information to include here can range from managing family responsibilities and fulfilling a personal life goal to taking an advanced training course or exploring new career avenues. Just make it clear that you weren't sitting around doing nothing.

Lack of necessary education and/or training. If you're currently obtaining a degree or advanced training in a particular area, don't wait until graduation to leverage it within your resume! Simply add the words "In Progress" as well as the anticipated graduation/completion date when listing it within the "Education" section and you should be good to go.

Anish Majumdar is the founder of ResumeOrbit, a firm that helps jobseekers develop new resumes and cover letters, leverage social media, and capitalize on under-the-radar career opportunities. Send him a note if you're interested in learning more.

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

via lifehacker.com

10 Reasons You Should Stop Checking the News | Time Management Ninja

We have become a news addicted society.

Doubt it?

How many times did you read the news so far today?

How many more times will you check it before bedtime?

When All News is Breaking News

If you turn on the TV or check your favorite news website, chances are that there will be a banner that says “BREAKING NEWS.”

Like some disaster has just occurred.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately?) it is usually just some trivial event or topic that you could care less about.

News is meant to inform, educate, and discuss the important topics of the day. 

Unfortunately, most news these days is entertainment, sensationalism, and basically a waste of your time.

So, how much of your time do you spend reading the news?

For most individuals, the news takes up too much of their time each day.

We now get it on our TVs, computers, laptops, iPads, and smartphones. It’s everywhere.

In a world where you can get the answer to anything with the push of a button, do you really need to read it all?

Less News = More Productivity

What could you get done if you read less news?

Chances are that you could reclaim a good amount of time in your day.

So, instead of saying you don’t have time to do this or that… stop checking the news.

Here are 10 Reasons Your Should Stop Checking the News: 

1. It Doesn’t Change That Often – Really, it doesn’t. You don’t need to check it 17 times a day. Every day or even every other day is plenty.
2. Most of It Doesn’t Matter – Most of the news out there is not meaningful. You are better collecting the topics that are important to you via a news reader (RSS).
3. Much of it is Wrong – As the cliché goes, “If it was written on the Internet, it must be true.” Anyone can type on the Internet, and you shouldn’t read anything without questioning its truth. News curation in the future won’t just be about content… but accuracy.
4. Even More is Sensationalized - Many news sites have blurred the line between news and rumors. This is almost as dangerous as #3, in that made-up stories are portrayed as news.
5. Most of it is Trivia – Does what the The Kardashians are doing help your day? Does what car Justin Bieber is driving today matter to your work? Most of the news we read is the equivalent of junk food for our brains.
6. Much of the News Isn’t News at All - I just reviewed the front page of one of the top news websites and found 14 front-page headlines that end with a “?” This basically means that these news stories aren’t stories. Rather, they are questions, made up topics, and fluff material. Not worth your time.
7. Facebook Isn’t News Either – I see individuals that spend their entire work day with their Facebook stream open. Again, do you really need to know what your friends are doing minute-by-minute of the day?
8. Many News “Experts” Aren’t Experts – Don’t let the pundits and so-called experts convince you that they know any more than you do.
9. Watching/Surfing the News is Inefficient – Watching the news is not a great use of your time. Sitting through endless segments, commercials and more, when you could be doing more productive activities. Surfing the news is just as wasteful. Many news sites are covered in more ads than actual news. Again, you could get the same information in a fraction of the time via a new reader. (RSS)
10. Too Much of the News is Negative – The news loves a bad news story. Reading the front page is bound to bring your attitude down. Don’t let the news impact your attitude and thus your productivity.

All the News That Is Fit To Read

If you want to get more done in your day, stop reading the news.

Or at least cut back on your daily excess.

The news will be there when you are ready for it.

And don’t worry, if it is that important… the news will come find you.

Reclaim some of your news time each day and you will be able to get to the things that matter.

So, stop reading the news… and instead go do something newsworthy.

Question: How many times a day do you read the news?

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