26 Feb 10 The hardest part of your job search

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

07 Jan 10 Overcoming the dread of resume writing (BOOK REVIEW)

I made a confession on Twitter and Facebook yesterday: I hate writing resumes and cover letters and sending them off to people. I realize it’s a necessary part of the hiring process, but I’ve found it tedious and in some ways overwhelming.

I think the reason for this has to do with changing a career. I have a resume that somewhat worked for what I did at my last job, but, since I’m now moving in a different direction, I have to come up with a different resume. In my mind that often seems to be like an insurmountable task.

Last week I went to the library and browsed the books in the job hunting section for inspiration. I noticed this thin, tall book by fellow Cincinnatian Andrea Kay, entitled Resumes That Will Get You the Job You Want (affiliate link). This book was first written in 1997, and it contains a lot of things that are helping me overcome my dread of writing a resume.

Andrea writes in a real, down-to-earth style, and I love the approach that the book takes. She starts from having us inventory our strengths, expertise, and experience. Then she helps us get to the core of what we want to do and how we can make a difference, combining this into a thesis statement and objective. Once we do that, we’re able to put the accomplishment statements that support the thesis on the resume.

I’m still reading the book, but I wanted to let you know about it right now, because it’s actually given me hope that I can overcome my dread of writing a resume. I also have no problem recommending you check it out and use my affiliate link. Check it out at the library, or get it here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Resume Help for Job Seekers (halliecrawford.typepad.com)
• Good Cover Letter Techniques To Writing An Awesome One (slideshare.net)
• Jumpstart your job search using the best online and offline strategies! (halliecrawford.typepad.com)
• Using Social Networking Sites for Job Searching (timesunion.com)

Tags: Andrea Kay, book review, Cover letter, Resumes and Portfolios, Writing

13 Mar 07 How to Write a Better Resume

Jason at the JibberJobber blog is doing an experiment. He has asked some experts in the field to weigh-in with comments about a certain resume. Follow and join the conversation, starting here: > Blog Archive >> The Resume Experiment: Day 1 of 5″ target=”_blank”>JibberJobber Blog >> Blog Archive >> The Resume Experiment: Day 1 of 5

Related posts: Get That Job!: resumes

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking resume jibberjobber

01 Mar 07 How To Write A Resume Cover Letter

From the One Minute How-To podcast, hosted by George Smyth, Patrick Fogarty explains how you can maximize the chances of getting that interview with a properly written cover letter.

Related tags: cover+letter job+search advice patrick+fogarty george+smyth one+minute+how-to odeo

17 Feb 07 Job-hunting success story – right out of college

I am very proud of how I landed my first job out of college. I had spent lots of time at the library, researching the hidden job market and looking for leads. I had posted a resume at the University of Cincinnati’s Career Development and Placement office, and I guess they made a database available to recruiters.

My sister had recommended a book entitled “300 New Ways to Get a Better Job”, and, for the life of me right now, I cannot remember the author’s name. Nevertheless, I found that very useful.

One summer day in 1994, Mark, the Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager for a company that manufactured decorative items for homes, called me. What was meant as an initial screening call turned into a full-fledged telephone interview. When I hung up, I had made an appointment for an in-person interview. Not having a car of my own, I was able to borrow a friend’s. I spent the next days before the interview at the library, researching all I could on the company.

At the interview my enthusiasm for the position as an Environmental Engineer was strengthened, especially as I convinced Mark to take me on a quick tour of the plant. I made sure to share some of the information I had found from my own research, which seemed to impress Mark and Jim, the HR Manager who also attended the interview. At the end of the interview, I asked what more I could do to qualify for the job, conveying my strong interest.

Immediately when I returned home, I typed up a thank you note to both Mark and the HR Manager who also interviewed me. Then I both faxed and mailed it.

Within a week Mark called me to offer me the job. I accepted it and wound up moving an hour north to Dayton, Ohio, where I lived for ten years.

Do you have a job-hunting success story you’d like to share? Please send it to me at danieljohnsonjr [at] gmail [dot] com.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search success+stories daniel+johnson+jr

12 Dec 06 Would You Apply for Jobs Beyond Your Expertise?

Question for you all out there…

Would you send in a resume to apply for a job, even though you know you’re not a good match for it, just to get in the door?

I was just browsing a job that requires skills that I don’t have, and I considered sending a resume in anyway. I’m presently thinking that’s not the best way to have my resume seen by someone.

Related tags:

getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development dan+johnson job+posting

06 Nov 06 Blog Carnival – Networking After Sudden Job Loss

Jason of the JibberJobber Blog, the current “host” of a blog carnival, asks:

Yikes! You just lost your job! You’ve been so busy at *work* that you don’t feel your network is as strong as you would like it to be! What are you going to do with (and to) your network in the next 6 weeks as you begin an aggresive job search campaign? And, outside of your network, what job search tactics will you employ? Or your best networking tips related to job searches.

I was placed in this situation at the end of August this year. I immediately went to my LinkedIn profile, updated it, and started sending emails to my contacts. Unfortunately, I have not been proactive in being my own career manager, and I haven’t kept in touch that well with the contacts in my network. So I mostly sent out “touching base” types of emails, mentioning the recent change in my circumstances where I could, and depending on the relationship with the contact.

I’ve began looking for other people to add to my network, based on the new relationships I’d formed since I’d last updated my network. I think I’m having to continue to explore different ways to find jobs. I hate having to post a resume blindly online and apply for specific job postings blindly. I much rather enjoy the interactivity from social networking. At the same time, I’m finding that I shouldn’t limit myself by not going about the traditional methods of networking.

The other thing I’ve found from recently finding myself back in the job market is that my skills are not as current as I’d like them to be. So I’m looking at ways to hone them.

I guess that’s all I have to say right now.

Related tags:

getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development dan+johnson blog+carnival jibberjobber

17 Oct 06 I Hate Cover Letters

Seriously. I do. All the effort taken to write one just for the slight chance that it might get into a hiring manager’s hands and convince him or her to read the resume just doesn’t seem worth it.

I’d rather just do what I just did. I sent my resume via email with something along the lines of the following (after the jump):

I’ve attached my resume for the _________ position, confident that I can help fill the need you have.

Please contact me at __________ so we can discuss further how I might be a match.

THANKS!

Dan Johnson

Resumes and cover letters only tell one side of the story, and I can understand that they have their purpose from a hiring perspective. I hate just blindly sending something into an unknown individual. It feels like I’m flushing it down the toilet.

Am I being too cynical?

05 Oct 06 Resume Tips for Teleworkers – Resume Writing Services & Free Resume Advice from Monster.com

I’ve been “teleworking” for over a year now, and I suppose it’s easy to take it for granted. This article from Monster reminds me that I might want to mention certain things in my resume or during the interview with respect to my success at “teleworking”.

Resume Tips for Teleworkers – Resume Writing Services & Free Resume Advice from Monster.com

30 Sep 06 Mind Change in the Job Search

Hi there. A little bit of personal sharing on this post.

I think it’s easy for me to have the paralysis of analysis when it comes to my job search. I think there’s something wrong with my train of thought here, and maybe you can help me out with it or share your experiences.

I think it has something to do with feeling like a drop in the ocean of job seekers for a particular job. My resume that I send in response to a job posting is just one of several. That phone call or email I send to a contact is the first impression he or she is going to get from me.

I think I can get myself caught up in the pressure of the situation, immediately thinking of how I’m going to blow it, or that there’s no way this person is going to be interested in me, my skills, or my experience.

Having typed all of this so far, I can see the fallacy of my thinking. I suppose it has to do with attitude and mindset. Perspective, too.

What if instead I see things from an abundance perspective? That there are so many jobs out there for me? How about instead feeling confident that I’m the one for the job, that the company should be selling themselves to me just as much as I’m trying to sell myself to them? Something like that.