16 Jun 12 Where are you stuck in your search?
Cover via Amazon
If you’re in a job search right now and haven’t yet landed, why is that? Do you feel stuck?
I know I’ve felt stuck at different times when I’ve been in a job search. I’ve found myself asking these types of questions:
- What kind of work do I really want to do?
- Are my skills are really marketable?
- Do I have enough experience for the jobs I could be applying for?
- How can I make myself stand out from among the tens or hundreds of other applicants?
- Where do I even get started?
Next month I will have been writing this blog for 10 years. The reason why I got started was because I wanted to share useful advice I’d found online in my own search with others like you. That still remains the main mission.
I’m all about connecting others and helping tell amazing stories — that’s why I believe I’m alive and here on this planet. It’s my mission, WHY I do what I do. Everyone has a reason for being here. Being in a job search or in the pursuit of truly meaningful work means you have found yourself on that path for finding out what you’re here for.
Have you heard of Steven Pressfield? He’s written a number of books, but one of the favorites is called The War of Art. I have yet to read it myself, but I’ve heard a number of interviews where he’s talked about it. One thing I’ve gotten from these interviews is something I’ll leave you with here.
Everyone has been given a unique set of talents to offer the world around us. When we do not use them, we’re not just hurting ourselves – we’re also hurting those who could benefit from what we have to offer.
Do you see that? By not sharing your talents and offering them to the world, those who could benefit from them are being hurt.
Find out what your talents are. Then find those who are looking for that expertise you have to offer.
It may mean you work for someone else.
It may mean you volunteer to get the experience you need.
It may mean you freelance.
It may mean you start your own company or partner with others in a new venture.
Please. We need your expertise. We need what you have to offer.
Get unstuck and move forward.
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Tags: Business and Economy, job search, Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
24 Feb 12 Are business cards and resumes disappearing?
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Before long we might not need business cards or resumes any more. Or at least in their current forms.
Bye bye, business cards?
Are you carrying any business cards on you right now? When I look back at the past 3-6 months, I think I’ve left my business cards at home more than I have had them with me. Lately, when someone hands me a business card, I enter it directly into my phone, which gets synced to my email account, and hand the card back to them.
Smartphone apps like Bump, Evernote, and Google Goggles can help with this, too. I’ve tried each of them and have had some success. I still like being able to enter the information directly, but that’s my personal preference.
I’ve had a Virtual Business Card on my website for years.
Resume retirement?
Could the resume become a thing of the past? (more…)
Tags: about.me, Bump Technologies, Business, Business card, Business Insider, CardMunch, Evernote, Google, Google Goggles, IPhone, Jim Edwards, Jonathan Lister, linkedin, online profiles, personal branding, resumes, Smartphone, trends, virtual business card
08 Feb 12 Brian Williams shares how he got his big break
Chances are you’ve seen Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News. Yet, like many of us in job search, he, too, had to face some tremendous obstacles, both financial and in career. At one time he had maxed out his credit cards, and he, like many of us, experienced periods of underemployment. More after the jump.
Tags: Brian Williams, Employment, interview, job search success, mediabistro, My First Big Break, NBC Nightly News
09 Nov 11 What you’re looking for
Image via Wikipedia
Most of you coming to visit the site in the past month are here by searching for something specific.
SCOTI
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has not done much to help explain what SCOTI is or how Ohio citizens should use it. A significant number of you find this blog because it’s one of the few (maybe the only) places that mentions it.
I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I’m not an expert on SCOTI. I wrote this post contrasting SCOTI and an Indeed Salary Search, and it remains one of the most popular articles people read. I get emails from readers, asking how to sign up for it, and I reply with all that I know:
It’s been ages since I tried to use SCOTI myself. I’ve heard the ODJFS recommends checking out http://ohiomeansjobs.com
How to Answer Interview Questions
Many readers come here looking for ways to answer job interview questions. I know I need to be reminded of these myself. In November 2009 I participated in something called NaPodPoMo, which stands for National Podcasters Post Month. Every day in November that year, I posted a video where I took a stab at a typical job interview question. You can find that series of videos here: Job Interview Questions: NaPodPoMo 2009 Video Series
Some of your particular favorites have been:
- Persuade me that you have strong analytical skills.
- Show me how you adapt to various people, situations, and environments.
- What did you dislike about your last job?
- When have you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision?
- When have you missed an obvious solution to a problem?
- When have you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done?
I’d also recommend checking out the broader Interviewing category, which includes posts that are not part of the NaPodPoMo 2009 series.
Counter Offer Letters
Two posts I wrote about counter offer letters don’t contain much information. I still point people to the Google search results for “sample counter offer letters.”
What else is important?
I’d love to know what you’d like to see more of. I’ve got some ideas that still need to be fleshed out, but I’d love to keep this as a valuable resource for you. Let me know if there’s something you’d like to see more of. Also, let me know if you come across a bad link; i.e., one that no longer works. I’d also like to know what’s working for you? I provide no guarantee that anything I write over here will work, but maybe something has worked for you.
Contact me. And, if you’d like, check out what else I’m up to here
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Tags: counter offer letters, interviewing, job interviewing, NaPodPoMo, Ohio Means Jobs, SCOTI
15 Jul 11 The Pursuit of Happyness
Image via Wikipedia
Few movies have moved me on such a visceral level like “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith. The movie is based on real-life events of Chris Gardner.
I recommend seeing it. Again. (more…)
Tags: achievement, attitude, interviewing, job search, movies, Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith
19 Apr 11 How to Find a Job You Love and Where You Excel
Authenticity is key in looking for work. Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you like the content here, please use them when purchasing.
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Tags: attitude, authenticity, branding, communication, Employment, interviewing, Job interview, Simon Sinek, video
05 Apr 11 TweetMyJobs – Using Twitter in the job search
Image via CrunchBase
As I’ve talked with people where I live, many of them have wondered how Twitter could be used in the job search. Aside from building and communicating a personal brand presence, I’m now recommending TweetMyJobs.com.
I only recently started looking at it, and I really like the benefits for job seekers, as seen via the TweetMyJobs Job Seeker Intro:
- Have access to thousands targeted JobChannels™, so you only get the jobs that match your profile in your feed
- Receive INSTANT notification of new jobs in your Twitter feed or on your mobile device
- Learn of new posting from thousands of leading companies
- Post (and tweet) your resume and custom profile to thousands of recruiters and hiring managers
- Forward jobs to friends
- Receive daily job updates via email or RSS
- Be able to search for jobs using our TweetMap, a Google Maps enabled job tool
Up to now I’ve had some of this on my own, through my own tinkering around. I like that this interface has been developed in such a way that anyone can use it.
Related articles
- Using Twitter in Your Job Search (psychologytoday.com)
- Facebook-Infused Job Search Site Finds Listings From Your Social Graph (mashable.com)
- How to Use Twitter to Help You Find a New Job [Jobs] (lifehacker.com)
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Tags: job hunt, Job hunting, job search, TweetMyJOBS, twitter
28 Dec 10 LinkedIn power tip: your headline
There are plenty of things you can do to optimize your LinkedIn profile as someone looking for work. We could do a whole series on LinkedIn profile optimization probably (maybe we will!). I’ve included some other great posts in the Related Links section, but here’s one simple power move you can make. (more…)
Tags: Amybeth Hale, branding, Cincinnati, linkedin, Marketing, optimization
12 Jul 10 Clarifying expectations
- Image by farmerchris via Flickr
Having been around the blogging community for eight years now, this blog (and the Blogspot-hosted one that preceded it) have enough content that makes it stand out in search results for certain keywords. I also have made myself accessible through this blog.
Since I have been getting more emails lately from individuals asking for advice, I feel that it’s important that I help clarify what it is that I’m doing over here so you know what to expect from me. (more…)
Tags: SCOTI
07 Jul 10 Can Steve Jobs help you get hired?
Last night I attended the $timulus Book/Networking Group in West Chester, Ohio. Monte Washburn led the discussion about Carmine Gallo’s book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
The context of these discussions is always around how the principles within can help people in their job searches and careers.
Check out Monte’s blog post.
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- 17 Examples of Great Presentation Design (hubspot.com)
- Steve Jobs’ Strategies for Overcoming Presentation Glitches [Presentations] (lifehacker.com)
- Business Analyst – Daniel Johnson, Jr. (howigotmyjob.com)
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Tags: branding, Carmine Gallo, interviewing, presentation, Steve Jobs
27 May 10 Marketing lessons for your job search
I have a confession to make.
I became fascinated with marketing as a result of being in a job search. I saw myself as that product/service/brand, and that it was my job to tell intriguing stories that would inspire people, especially hiring managers, to want to know more.
My journey has taken me to a place where I not only see this in myself, but I’m also looking at every marketing communication now as just that. I’m seeing the stories being told and identifying the targets for those stories.
You may have already made the jump to match what I’m writing here as to how it applies to your job search. Let me encourage you to watch this video with pen and paper, so you can take notes on what Rory Sutherland has to say. (more…)
28 Apr 10 Passion and audacity in the job search
If you’re passionate in your job search, it shows. If you have a goal, a targeted opportunity you’re zealously pursuing, it’s obvious. You cannot hide it.
Like this guy, who wants to work for U2. (more…)
25 Mar 10 What is unemployment teaching you?
- Image by George Eastman House via Flickr
Carla, a longtime blogging friend, posted this on my Facebook wall yesterday:
I want to pose this question, Dan, to you and some of your readers of your blog. I am pondering the answering to this in my own life because I need some perspective in my own family’s situation, and would like some thoughts from others on this too. “What is unemployment teaching you”–about how you see life, family, Faith etc. It’ll be interesting to hear answers to this question!
When I think about the times I’ve been unemployed (and even underemployed), they have been defining moments for me.
I think I’ve been able to see my life as more than just a job. Unemployment forced me to separate work from my identity. With so many other people unemployed, and with the “wounded animal” demeanor that often accompanies the announcement that one is unemployed, I resolved to not let it be the most interesting thing about me.
It has naturally been a huge strain on my family financially. Unemployment benefits are certainly better than nothing, but they are barely enough to live on. So it forced us to really consider what is important. As one friend told me, when it’s really boiled down, all we really need is food, shelter, and clothing. This friend has been seriously reconsidering the direction his life is taking and is making some changes.
Managing the emotional side of job search has been one of the key things I really went after this time around. I resolved at the beginning of 2010 to be an incurably tough-minded optimist. It’s been hard, but that resolve has helped me focus on protecting my mind from negativity and disappointment.
I’ve read so much more during this period because I knew I needed to continue growing and changing, and I look forward to continuing this habit.
Having emotional support, not only from my family, but also from my church community and local job search support groups, has been very important this most recent time around.
Now it’s your turn…
What do you think about what Carla has asked? What is unemployment teaching you?
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Tags: emotional support, job search, Underemployment, unemployment, Unemployment benefits
26 Feb 10 The hardest part of your job search
- Image by brixton via Flickr
What is the hardest part of your job search?
Is it finding contacts to one of your target companies? Is it building a list of companies you’re targeting? How about preparing for interviews?
For me, the hardest part of my job search is also the most important part. What I’m about to say is echoed time and again from people I’ve interviewed for the How I Got My Job job search success stories podcast. I believe it’s the most important part and most often the hardest. Because it requires so much work up front. (more…)
Tags: 48 Days to the Work You Love, Employment, job hunt, Marketing, Seth Godin
19 Feb 10 On not hearing back after applying online
Ever felt snubbed by an HR department when you’ve sent in your application, having dotted all the i’s and crossed the t’s?
Here’s an interesting article shared on a LinkedIn group I’m a part of that might make you feel better:
Complaint Box | The E-Snub – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com
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05 Feb 10 A pink slip or a blank page?
Getting laid off and losing a job doesn’t have to be the end of the world. It can be the best time to reinvent yourself. As one person in Lemonade: The Movie said, it’s not a pink slip – it’s a blank page.
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Tags: attitude, laid off, lemonade, multiple careers, reinvent, video
16 Jan 10 Dealing with down days
- Image by _mandrew_ via Flickr
crossposted to danieljohnsonjr.com/main
Yesterday was a down day. I don’t think I’ve felt so down like this in quite a long time. It was quite an emotional day of dealing with insecurity, anxiety, stress, and self-doubt.
As I think back to what contributed to this, I can definitely see that, among many things, I was very tired from having overextended myself earlier in the week. In addition, I haven’t been as active physically lately. I’ve loved taking our dog for long walks and using that time to relieve stress and haven’t been doing that as much.
I think down days are good for us, and I’m grateful that I saw it as only temporary. When we’re in those down periods, it’s good to explore why we’re feeling what we’re feeling to see what we can do to get back up. For me, it was taking a long nap and getting out of the home and going for that long walk with the dog.
I’m grateful to have great emotional support from my family. I’m glad my wife encourages me the way she does, and that I have a daughter who thinks I’m the greatest Dad ever. Because it’s so easy for me to look in the mirror, or be told on the phone or in an interview or a rejection letter that I don’t measure up to expectations.
I’m grateful for a network of friends who think very highly of me and let me know. I need to be reminded of my accomplishments, to be encouraged, just as much as I encourage others.
So I spend time in prayer and meditation. I find that music to help me with my mind and listen. I watch funny movies. I check out these 37 Videos That Will Blow Your Mind (thanks again, Chris Ryan, for pointing me to the link!).
And I blog.
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Tags: Add new tag, Anxiety, Emotion, Health, Meditation, Mental Health, stress
30 Dec 09 Top 10 Get That Job! posts you liked from 2009
I recently put together a composite, highly-subjective list of some of my favorite posts across all my blogs. It’s still interesting to see what you’ve enjoyed reading as well. Based on Google Analytics data, here are the top 10 Get That Job! posts from this year:
10. National Podcast Post Month series: job interview questions answered
9. How to prepare for your first job fair
8. Workshops, HARO, and Lowball Job Offers
7. Pursuing your passion
6. It’s time to move on
5. Overcoming rejection
4. Using social media for a job search | Rachel Levy – Boston marketing pro (social networking, Twitter)
3. How to find freelance and consulting jobs
2. I have a document like this and so should you
1. Promise Me Something
Hat-tip goes to Chris and John from Marketing Over Coffee for the idea.
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Tags: zeitgeist
18 Apr 13 Your new resume in 140 characters or less
Image via CrunchBase
Twitter has long been useful to job seekers for a number of reasons:
- Tweets are publicly searchable.
- Hashtags make it easy to find updates around specific tags.
- Tweetchats, like #HireFriday and others more industry-specific, happen regularly.
- Target companies, organizations, and businesses provide regular updates for interested job seekers to know more about what is going on.
It’s also a great tool for personal branding. With each update, you can provide expertise, ask questions, share information, and interact with others. It’s a great place to show that you’re human, 140 characters at a time.
According to an April 9, 2013 article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “The New Résumé: It’s 140 Characters,” recruiters are using Twitter more and more to source candidates for potential jobs. Many of them are abandoning traditional recruiting sites and floods of irrelevant résumés and looking for candidates who can get straight to the point.
If ever you wanted to get your point across and have it be memorable, according to Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, simplicity is important. Distilling your résumé down to 140 characters is a useful exercise for anyone. As the article shows, it may even draw the attention of the right prospective employer. Here’s an example of something I might include for my 140-character resume:
@danieljohnsonjr: Connecting others and helping tell amazing stories. Sales, marketing, behind-the-scenes perspective. Looking in #cincy #hireme #twesume
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Tags: communication, job search, recruiters, trends, twitter
06 Jan 11 How’s Your Job Search Going?
If you ask, most people in a job search probably hate getting asked this question.
I’m currently reading a book called Breakthrough!
Job seekers are not alone in their dislike of the question. Paul and Steve say that question is one of the most feared questions people in business hear all the time as well. Without sounding like a complete advertisement for the book, I think there are some great things they share that can transfer to those in a job search. (Note: I originally came up with the idea for this post in the spring of 2010 before I’d even heard about the book.)
It should be easy, they say. After all there are only 5 choices, which I’ve adapted for the purpose of this post:
- “Terrible.” If your job search isn’t what it could be or your career outlook isn’t what it used to be, what are you doing about it? Take stock of what you already have to offer. Then figure out a new game plan and transition into something else.
- “Could be better.” This is probably what most of us would say. Whose fault is it that our search is the way that it is? The only one who can change it is you. Time to make a plan to make it better.
- “Same old, same old.” What?! It sounds like rear-view mirror thinking. This is a dangerous spot to be in, because you could soon find yourself thinking that things will be okay in the future because they have been in the past.
- “Great! Couldn’t be better!” Maybe things are going well for you in your search. Maybe you feel that everything is falling into place and you can just coast along. The truth is that, just as consumer brands need to develop and grow to stay at the top in their respective industries, so we ourselves as brands need to develop and grow to stay at the top in our respective industries.
- “It’s great, but it could be better.” You should always be actively involved in creating what Matthew Kelly, author of The Dream Manager (affiliate link), calls “the best version of yourself.”
So, how’s your job search going?
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- Shake Up a Job Search Success Cocktail This Holiday (personalbrandingblog.com)
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Tags: big idea, Breakthrough! (book), career development, Dream Manager (book), innovation, job hunt, Job hunting, job search, Matthew Kelly, Paul Kurnit, Steve Lance
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