New Year Time to take stock

New Year Time to take stock I’ve never managed to make any resolutions much less stick to them but I do think theres real value in taking stock. As 2013 fades into collective memory and we look ahead to 2014, its worth hitting pause before rushing headlong into the New Year. Too often people reproach themselves for their failures, missed opportunities and wrong turns without taking time to acknowledge the good bits along the way. Success often comes from incremental, small steps, not giant leaps. Hit pause, not  the panic button! If you’re a final year student and haven’t really thought much about your career until now, try not to panic!  Its better to defer your job search for a while and concentrate on getting that 2:1. Without a good degree, you will find it hard(er) to compete for a graduate level job, much less the highly prized graduate schemes. I am not giving you a free pass to neglect your career development, but you do need to be honest with yourself and decide what is realistic and achievable over the coming months. Try not to deal in should. Should offers nothing but a one-way guilt trip and can make you a hostage to fortune. Yes, you might like to have your job offer in the bag by the time you graduate, but what if this doesnt happen? Success at this point is not necessarily a comment on your ability or efforts. Set goals but be flexible. Being too rigid in approach is often counter-productive. Make a checklist of the positive steps youve already taken towards career success, whether thats getting a 2:1 in your second year exams, developing your communication skills or building a professional online presence. Take small, practical steps Finding a job is a pretty time consuming process: dont take the path of least resistance by applying for any and everything. Firing off hundreds of CVs may feel productive, but its little more than application spammingand employers can tell! Secondly, you might just strike it lucky and get a job offer but find this sets you on the wrong career path.  Dont be tempted to skip the most important stage of your job search: research. Until you know whats out there and how to get it, youll simply repeat the same mistakes or see your efforts wasted. Dont cut corners and apply for something that isn’t right for you.  Take small practical steps instead that will give you a firm anchor until you have the time and motivation to fully commit to your job search. Talk to a  careers consultant.  They can help you make sense of where you are now and offer reassurance that youre not alone. You may think that everyone else is sorted but theyre really not! I think its a great idea to bounce ideas off someone as vocalising your thoughts, dreams and aspirations can help them take shape or force you to consider more realistic alternatives. Get your  CV  and  LinkedIn  profile up to scratch. This is something tangible you can do now, and it’s also a good way to see how ‘job ready’ you are. Pretending you don’t have gaps in your skills or experience won’t make them disappear. Its much better to know and take action, than ignore them and hope for the best. Start working on examples for competency based application forms. Students often invest a lot of time drafting and polishing their CV and neglect this aspect of the application process. Most recruiters will use some competency based criteria whether at application or interview stage so cover the groundwork now and there will be less work to do later on when you come to apply. If you haven’t got any work experience, make plans to find some. Fitting a work placement around your studies (and revision) might be a tall order, but its not impossible.  Come and talk to our Placement Learning Unit and make the most of our Get experience week in week 5 of the spring term (details coming soon!) Try to plug any skills gaps. If youre not quite sure what graduate employers are looking for then check out this post from TARGETjobs on skills and competencies for graduates   theyve even included handy tips to help you develop and evidence these skills. I also really like this blog which takes a more creative approach to  workplace skills for young professionals. If youre short on ideas then have a look at What Warwick graduates do? to help broaden your horizons. You never know it might just spark interest in something youve never previously considered. Build your resilience If you  have  been on the job search treadmill and simply feel like you’re standing still, now is the time to dig deep.  Small changes in behaviour and outlook can yield surprising results. I know its not easy to maintain a positive, resilient attitude but its one of the building blocks for career success. Avoid repeating the same mistakes. If you’ve fired off 200 applications and not received a positive response, its pretty clear your strategy isnt working. There could be myriad reasons for your failure but dont just sit in your room and speculate. Swallow your pride and ask for help. Be flexible. The culture of instant gratification has made us all rather impatient, but its worth remembering that career spans a lifetime, not just a few years. Dont lose sight of the long game: you may need to take a few detours along the way, but the road less travelled can be just as fulfilling sometimes more so. Ask for feedback. Self-perception is not the most reliable barometer of personal ‘worth’. What do your friends, family and colleagues think about you? Be prepared to take the positive comments with the constructive criticism. Successful people know their limits and play to their strengths. And they dont give up at the first sign of rejection! Start as you mean to go on this year by joining our Twitter chat from 6th January to do #1thingin2014. Whether its getting your applications checked, booking yourself onto an Excel course or developing your presentation skills. Remember: small steps can lead to big changes.

Resume Writing Tutorial - How to Use YouTube to Market Your Resume

Resume Writing Tutorial - How to Use YouTube to Market Your ResumeYouTube is one of the most effective ways to market your resume. While you are applying for jobs, you will have to find a way to get noticed by potential employers and make a positive impression on them. Here are some tips to help you create a resume that will stand out among the crowd.Start off with a good video. Try to create a quality video that gets the job done. You should capture people's attention by telling them what your strengths are. If you can do this effectively, your resume will be seen in a new light.Your skills should be relevant to the position you are applying for. You should try to ensure that your videos show an example of what you have been doing recently. That way, you will come across as well rounded and someone who can do the job. Be prepared to talk about the skills you have and the work experience you have had, if necessary.Your cover letter should be well written and very professional. A well -written cover letter is a big plus. Make sure you know what the prospective employer wants to know. They want to know why you would be a good fit for the job and you should be able to provide it.Tell them about any new skills you have acquired or experiences you have had that help in your new career. Describe these in your cover letter. You want to use your resume as a chance to sell yourself. It is also important to show how you have grown as a person over the years.Take your resume and write an objective about the company you are looking to work for and how your new skills could be beneficial to the company. Keep it brief and clear. The objective should not go beyond what the employer needs to know. It should put your ability to perform the job as a positive thing.Make sure you add something about the future for the company. They want to know how you can help them grow. They want to know how their business will be helped and how they can do so.Your resume should be made up of a r esume and video presentation. Videos are a powerful way to attract the attention of your potential employer. Try to make your resume stand out in a crowd of resumes by using a quality video.

History Statistics of Job Boards [Infographic] - CareerEnlightenment.com

How Your Email Address Can Torpedo A Job Search - Pathfinder Careers

How Your Email Address Can Torpedo A Job Search - Pathfinder Careers How Your Email Address Can Torpedo A Job Search Have you done an audit on your email address lately? I don’t mean opening up your account and looking for messages.   I mean taking a closer look at the actual email address that you are using. I have received a number of emails from some very interesting address names lately.   That being said, if you were to ask me if these names sounded professional, I would have to say absolutely not! Sometimes, we get so acclimated to that personal address that we simply forget about how others might perceive it. Add in the close scrutiny of a prospective employer, and your résumé containing that social email address COULD be destined for the round file. Dead-giveaways unwittingly revealed in your email address name can lift the curtain about the ‘personal’ you… and absolutely need to be tightened up, or even replaced in favor of more ‘sanitized’ versions.   I’m not saying you need to ‘ditch’ your  personal / social email; you need to bury it or at the very least, not volunteer it when presenting an otherwise professional document for consideration for a job. Think about this… what would you think “[emailprotected]” might convey? Or “[emailprotected]?”   Don’t laugh. I’ve seen similar email addresses like these on résumés more often than you would guess.   A surprising number of people continue to send out résumés that have what I call ‘goofy’ email addresses.   Even if it isn’t goofy, an email address could potentially torpedo your job search before you even get it off the ground because the one that you are using doesn’t project a professional image.   If you have to create a new ‘professional’ email, then do so, but don’t forget to check it.   Sometimes, candidates get so caught up checking their social email accounts that they forget to open up their business one… only to find a message from an employer dated 3 weeks ago waiting for them. Oops.   Game over.   You can pretty much bet that opportunity has already passed and is now a dead end. Lack of response means the employer is moving on to the next candidate. It’s now up to you to conduct a quick review and see if your email address needs triage help, stat. Here are some key email address-naming tips to help you in maintaining your professionalism on your résumé: 1)           Stay away from things that might tip off your age.  Avoid year of birth, graduation, or age references. Oh, and mentioning that you are a member of the AARP.   It’s illegal, downright despicable, but yet difficult to prove â€" employers are discriminating against people because of their age, so you should make sure to remove age references completely. 2)           Avoid political, gender, or religious references.  You may be very passionate about a particular belief, cause, or affiliation, but you don’t need to be in an employer’s face about it. After all, they aren’t hiring you for what you believe… they are hiring you for what you can DO. 3)           Be careful about health references too.   Being a cancer survivor is great, but if you let an employer know that before you get to the interview, their concern about health care costs might cause them to lose your application if you know what I mean.   Seriously. It can and does happen. 4)          Keep It Simple, Stupid. If you have an email address that looks like some kind of code and doesn’t make any kind of logical sense, create an easy one to type into a message.   No one likes peering at their keyboard to hunt and peck out a random assortment of letters and numbers. 5)           Safest bet? Your name.   Your name as the email address is your best bet. If you have a common name, then add some random number or variation that still makes it clear that this is your name. Make sure to remove any and all objections an employer might find in your career materials and documents when making an application.   Your future could depend on it!

You SHOULD be trying to find a job -

You SHOULD be trying to find a job - GL Hoffman, author of the highly regarded blog, What Would Dad Say, contacted me to invite a reply to Seth Godins guest post on WWDS. In the post, Seth (the author of the most popular marketing blog in the world and 12 best-selling books) says that you shouldnt try to get a job. His rationale: There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the act of trying to get a job corrupts you. It pushes you to be average, to fit in and to do what youre told. The second is that this act moves the responsibility from you to that guy who didnt hire you. Its his fault. As soon as you start spending your day trying to please the guy, youve blown it. The third is that the economy is terrible and the best jobs youre going to get are lousy. What does Seth suggest instead? Bon bons and a cruise on the Riviera? No. He says: Start a business. A tiny one. Well, then. This isnt the first time Ive disagreed with Seth. He caused a stir when he claimed that, if you are “remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular,” you don’t even need a resume. Certainly, there is a small percentage of the population who do not need a resume to land a job. You can probably come up with a set of names, the uber-business people and celebrities for whom opportunities come knocking. (I do agree that we should all aspire to develop a persona that will draw opportunities, but most people will still need a form of a resume for a job, even if it is a formality.) For the same reason that you dont need a resume, you need to be remarkable is advice that is suitable for a small percentage of the population, admonishing careerists that there are no good jobs and the only admirable thing to do is start a business similarly is good advice for a small percentage of the population. The fact is, not everyone is well suited to being an entrepreneur. Brian OKane, author of Could You Be Your Own Boss says that research shows that successful entrepreneurs have: Strong needs for control and independence Drive and energy Self-confidence A point of view of money as a measure of performance A tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty A sense of social responsibility and that they are good at: Problem-solving Setting (and achieving) goals and targets Calculated risk-taking Committing themselves for the long term Dealing with failure Using feedback Taking the initiative Seeking personal responsibility Tapping and using resources Competing against self-imposed standards. Personality type also comes into play. Small Business Entrepreneurs suggests that the ideal Myers-Briggs type indicator for an entrepreneur is ENTJ, but having that uncommon type is no guarantee of business success and happiness. All of this by way of suggesting that some people, even if they are remarkable, may not be well suited to running their own businesses. I dont think that someone who would prefer to let someone else manage the big picture (and, lets be honest the headaches that come from running a business) are corrupt or average far from it. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is key to success in business and in life. If you know you are not suited to running a business, its the last thing you should try to do. Finally, I must address Seths suggestion that there are no good jobs available and that being an employee is about spending your day trying to please someone else. Provocative, but preposterous! There ARE organizations who value their employees and encourage independent thinking. Read profiles of this type of company HERE and read about GreatPlaceJobs to learn how to easily search for jobs with award-winning employers. Do I think that some job seekers should pull out all the stops to start a small business? Absolutely. I have advised a number of my clients to pursue that path. Its not for everyone, though, and if its not for you, consider yourself self-aware and astute, not average and corrupt! Convinced that finding a job is for you? I can help! Even if you are ready to start a new business, you still need a strong resume and online presence. Contact me to learn how to achieve your dreams! photo by crazyunclejoe

Professional Resume Writing in Austin TX

Professional Resume Writing in Austin TXIf you are serious about developing your career in an IT industry in Texas then you need to take advantage of the career services offered by Texas career and recruitment services. In other words, if you are interested in working in a specific industry here in Texas then Texas recruiting services can help you find the right industry and the right employment. Here is some professional resume writing in Austin Texas for a thought of coming to the world of IT.As of today the country of technology is all about the specialties that the companies involved are in. For instance one specialty might be mechanical engineering. Of course in the field of IT some industries here in Texas fall under the mechanical engineering field.That is why there is a powerful career service that has a lot of advantages to offer. If you have been looking for this kind of professional resume writing in Austin Texas then you have come to the right place.This kind of professio nal resume writing is provided by the department of human resources for companies in Texas. There are several advantages to choosing this kind of resume writing. First of all the company can be able to find the kind of person that they are looking for and can be able to pick the right person to fill the position.There is a unique approach that can be used by the company when looking for the right person. Of course the resume that is submitted to these companies must be as complete as possible and able to supply all the details that need to be supplied.The resume writing is a complicated procedure and requires a lot of skills. The company will often make sure that the person is aware of all the details that need to be filled in and that the person can fully understand it.A professional resume writing in Austin Texas should not be taken lightly. In other words a lot of work has to be done by the person in order to get the right professional resume writing in Austin Texas.

Top Choices of Resume Writing for Homemakers

Top Choices of Resume Writing for Homemakers The education section is of utmost importance in case you have nil experience. There are 3 steps involved with writing the expert experience section. If you've got many abilities, the previous skill paragraph may be called Additional Skills. There's a technical skill involved with every function. Your letter permits you to clearly demonstrate the industry relevant skills you possess and is ultimately the main resource in showing employers you're ready to immediately start the job. The important issue is to identify how you have continued to utilize your business skills in the moment you have been out of the workforce. Don't be too proud to undertake a job which you feel is beneath you. Discuss what you learned and the way that it applies to the job which you seek. What Is So Fascinating About Resume Writing for Homemakers? If you're a mother of two for five decades, write you have assisted with the rise and development of two children for two decades. For numerous reasons, homemakers might also want to visit work-either to earn more money for the family, to escape from the house, to try new things or because the kids or other family members have the capability to fend for themselves for a little while and the homemaker wishes to come back to the job or begin work. If you are aware of how to benefit from the education part of your stay-at-home mom resume, you will help it become matter! For most people, however, it's most effective to refrain from including parenting as a true job on the resume. Let's assume you're searching for something you might do remotely. Or, perhaps you're considering hiring a professional resume writer to assist you write your resume. The homemaker job posting indicates you are searching for a caring individual to help provide live-in care for seniors who want a tiny additional help with their everyday routines. Nowadays you tell the remainder of the best of your story. Consulting the expert homemaker cover letter sample is able to help you begin. Your resume can continue to be riveting. When you've reviewed resumes in your field, peruse resumes across fields to know how to vary using action verbs and receive a feel for what makes a potent accomplishment statement. By carefully targeting resumes for particular jobs and situations, you are able to greatly enhance your odds of getting noticed in the work market. As you are competing with job seekers who've been on steady career tracks, do what's vital to compete successfully. Internships and trial-basis jobs to start your career again can get the job done. It's imperative that you don't simply apply these resumes verbatim.