Job-hunting help
by The CareerDiva
Next week we’ll be into September, and I know a lot of you have been waiting for the fall to arrive so you can really crank up your job search.
For some reason, no matter how old we get, we all seem to be on a school time clock. We sort of go into lazy mode in the summer, whether we have been in the work force for years or just graduated.
You shouldn’t kick yourself over this. The summer is typically a slow hiring season, and this summer was particularly crummy.
Since I won’t be blogging as much as usual this week, I didn’t want to leave you all in a lurch.
So, I figured I’d include a host of job-hunting article links here for you guys to look over in the meantime. Some stories are written by me and others are written by career folks I respect:
* Revamping your job search:
“Trying something new is a matter of being able to persevere and not give up, stick to the job search and keep active,” said Tim Schoonover, chairman of outplacement company OI Partners in Cincinnati. “It’s when the job search starts becoming inactive, and you begin to lose interest in it, that you need to try something different.”
* Resumes and cover letters:
Traditional is still where it’s at when it comes to job searching.
* Getting hired after long-term joblessness:
As time has passed, your job search may have gone from a targeted pursuit of relevant positions to an anything-goes, resume free-for-all, as you apply for pretty much anything within your commuting area.
* Using video to help your job search:
Videos can set some job hunters apart, especially in a tight labor market. And a growing number of employers are actually turning to video to interview far-flung candidates.
* How to start your job search:
One of the best ways to start searching for a job is to take one step at a time.
* Social media is not the be all and end all for college grads:
Social networking sites have been hailed as the ultimate Gen Y job-hunting tool. But don’t fret if you don’t have hundreds of connections. As it turns out, you can still snag most jobs the old-fashioned way.
* Sometimes social media can help:
Twitter is basically about exposure folks, plain and simple.
* Searching for jobs online:
In a tight job market, building and maintaining an online presence is critical to networking and job hunting.
* Want your old job back?:
The odds of getting an old job back are good if you were let go simply for budgetary reasons and the company outlook has been improving.
* Don’t let networking freak you out:
It’s time to get on the phone or go out to lunch. In other words, it’s time to network, still the best way to land a job.
Good hunting!!
Eve Tahmincioglu has been writing about business for nearly two decades and her stories have appeared in a host of publications including the New York Times, Time, Salon.com, and BusinessWeek. She is also a columnist for MSNBC.com where she writes the weekly “Your Career” column. From labor strife in the auto industry to buying funerals online, you never know what topic she’ll tackle next. Her specialties include workplace issues, the small business and entrepreneurial world, and leadership, including interviews with some of the biggest names in Corporate America. She was named one of the top ten career tweeters on Twitter by CareerBuilder and CNN; and CareerBuilder named CareerDiva.net one of the 9 Job Blogs You Should Be Reading.
