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It's 2012, and with the new year comes a revitalized spirit, gusto and determination to enact your plans and make your dreams happen. With the evolution of career search over the past few years, it's good to take stock of what will make the biggest impact in landing a job this year.
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When a hiring manager is trying to decide among candidates, the words of someone familiar with the applicant may tip the scale one way or the other. Are your references providing maximum advantage? Here are a few considerations:
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You dry cleaned your suit. You've got a dozen copies of your résumé, just in case. You arrived early -- but not too early. You silenced your cell phone... Now, you're about to confidently head into an interview for a job you're dying to land. Don't ruin it all by saying any of the following to your interviewer...
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Did you hear the one about the woman who couldn't go to work because her chickens' feet were frozen to the driveway? It's not a joke - it's an actual excuse given to a boss. Gone are the days when an employee called in sick and coughed a little to make the story believable...
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Used right, LinkedIn can be a job seeker's golden ticket. Savvy job hunters can use the site to gain all kinds of advantages: information on the types of people a company hires, the name of the hiring manager for a particular job (and if they're really lucky, an email address) and even the ultimate "in," a personal connection at a company of interest.
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Instead of being another candidate professing to be a "hard worker," revitalize your application with a little seek-and-replace exercise. Scan your résumé for empty, overused words
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"There are many myths about what a degree can do for you," says John Murphy, author of "Success Without a College Degree." "Too many college grads depend on the promise that their degree is a 'golden ticket.' Employers know that vague degrees, such as English literature, humanities, sociology and liberal arts have little to do with the practical world. The things that get jobs have more to do with attitude, first impressions and experience than a diploma."
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From résumés accompanied by shoes to get candidates' "feet in the door," to candidates sending cakes designed as business cards, hiring managers have seen it all when it comes to memorable job-seeker tactics.
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While we can all recite quotes about how persistence is the key to success - "If at first you don't succeed ...", "Nothing good comes easy" - they're easier said than acted upon when we feel instead like we're "banging our head against a wall" or "beating a dead horse."
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Almost every time you hear about mistakes to avoid in your resume or cover letter, you see the same things: lying about your experience, providing too much information or using the same generic resume for every application. We also preach about spelling.
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While Facebook can sometimes seem like a way to simply post a few photos or let your friends know about your birthday -- there are ways it can come in handy in your professional career. Facebook lets job seekers tap an informal network of friends or friends of friends who can be instrumental in creating success.
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Christine Durst, co-author of "Work at Home Now: The No-Nonsense Guide to Finding Your Perfect Home-Based Job, Avoiding Scams and Making a Great Living," has found that there are 60 scams out there for every one legitimate opportunity. How can job seekers separate the good from the garbage?
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...The next step is creating a positive first impression when you meet face-to-face. This is a crucial step that can be won or lost in the first few minutes. But what's the best way to sell yourself, especially if the "real you" is a little bit laid-back for corporate America?
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You don't understand. You updated your resume, you're applying to jobs every day, you've cleaned up your digital dirt and you network every day. Yet here you still are on the unemployment list. What is wrong with employers? Unfortunately, many job seekers don't stop to consider that the problem might not be employers but themselves.
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Job fairs are a great way to shop for new job opportunities, network and make personal contacts with recruiters at various organizations. Here are some techniques recommended by experts to ensure that your performance at the fair doesn't turn into a circus...
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found there was a 33 percent increase in the amount of age discrimination complaints processed in the past two fiscal years combined, but many potential victims do not want to pursue the legal route. Instead, what they really want is a fair shot at finding employment. Take a look at what some people are doing to strengthen candidacy.
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You can always depend on a young child to tell you exactly what they think, or precisely how they feel on any given topic. Want to know if your breath smells bad, if you should wear a different tie, or if you really look fat in that outfit? Find a five-year-old. They will give you an uncensored, honest answer. Needless to say, we expect more from adults. Especially adults who are interviewing for a job.
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Imagine you are an advertising executive assigned the task of getting people to try a new soft drink. Before you pitched the product to consumers, chances are you'd examine the item carefully. How does it taste? Is it lower in calories than other beverages? What features distinguish it from other drinks? The process is much the same for job seekers - only this time you are both the marketer and the product being peddled.
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Job searches, much like first dates, are about giving the other party, in this case the employer, a once-over and presenting yourself in the best possible way. Also similar to first dates, job searches give you several opportunities to make a single mistake that is a real turnoff.
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Whether you're out of work for five days, five weeks, five months or five years, any period of unexpected unemployment can be frustrating - especially when it seems to go on forever. Although the economy seems to be showing signs of recovery, any job seeker who has been out of work for a long time will tell you: It's still not easy to find a job.
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Ah, sibling rivalry. Relentless competitions, name-calling, hair pulling and blame shifting plague households with two or more children everywhere. Can't we all just get along?
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It may not be listed in the official job description, but some positions definitely involve being able to deal with smells. While in many cases the aroma can actually be seen as a job perk (fresh soup simmering from your restaurant's kitchen, anyone?), other occupations can leave workers wanting to hold their noses.
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Let's face it: Even when you're on top of the world, chances are good that the idea of networking sounds like a big, fat drag. You can probably think of 100 other things you'd rather do - like cleaning the blades of your ceiling fan. But if you're one of the 14.9 million people who are competing for what seems to be a handful of jobs, your confidence has probably taken a hit.
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Do you remember the feeling you had when report card time rolled around in grade school? If you were a good student or had a particularly good semester, you didn't dread it. You might have even been excited because you'd get kudos and possibly a reward from your parents. On the other hand, if your grades for the past few months looked more like football scores than basketball scores, you probably had some butterflies in your stomach.
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As 2009 winds down, you can't help but realize what a roller coaster of a year it's been. No one knew what to expect coming into this year, and we constantly looked for signs that the economy would turn around.
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Salaries are always a hot topic in the office -- most often, as an area of complaint. In today's economy, most are simply grateful to earn a salary of any size, but you still hear things like, "I don't earn enough to survive or pay the bills" or "So-and-so is making X amount, I should be, too." Or -- my personal favorite -- "I deserve more."
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I don't know anyone who goes a day without feeling a tinge of stress, but rarely do we all pull our hair out for the same reasons. I'm panicking that my DVR failed to record my favorite TV show; a friend is celebrating her birthday and realizes she hasn't achieved any of her personal goals; another friend is worrying about his sick child.
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Is there any worse confidence killer than rejection? I think it goes back to childhood, when you want a new bike for your birthday but you end up getting a pack of tube socks instead. You immediately wonder if you did something wrong and that's why you didn't get what you wanted.
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We asked hiring managers to share the craziest things they've heard from applicants in an interview. Some are laugh-out-loud hysterical, others are jaw dropping -- the majority are both. To be sure, they will relieve anyone who has ever said something unfortunate at a job interview -- and simply amuse the rest of you.
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If you worry about every possible way you can blow a job interview - from mispronouncing the boss's name to babbling incessantly when you don't know what else to say - you're going to walk in there feeling like you're destined to fail. True, job interviews are rife with opportunities for you to embarrass yourself, but hiring managers are more forgiving than you might think.
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It's been 26 years since Rick Hingst, 54, has looked for work. Kama Linden, 39, hasn't job hunted for 10 years. And Diana Macfee, 40, has been out of the work force for 12 years. Now they are joining the millions of people looking for work after a several-year hiatus.
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Unless you're in complete denial of what's happening in the world around you, by now you're well aware that layoffs are rampant in today's economy.
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Do you ever find yourself using a fancy word when you talk just because you like the way it rolls off your tongue? When I'm teasing a co-worker, for example, I like to say, "I'm just being facetious," instead of, "I'm only joking." Or, when my little sister is picky about food, it's more fun to say, "You're so persnickety," than, "Stop being difficult." Almost always, there's a simpler way to say something; but sometimes, for whatever reason, we just can't find the words.
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Though the U.S. economy has softened this year - headlines warn of mortgage woes, layoffs and escalating gas prices - there are still jobs out there... you just have to know where to look.
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Ryan Saale was in a bind. He was planning to move back to St. Louis from Santiago, Chile earlier this year but, with the job market taking a downturn, it wasn't an ideal to start a job search - much less from 5,000 miles away.
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Do you ever wish finding the perfect job could be as easy as 1, 2, 3? According to new research, it might be as easy as red, yellow or blue. That's right; by determining which primary, secondary and achromatic colors you prefer most and least, you can figure out a successful career path based on how you approach work, the types of workplaces where you work best and how you handle work tasks.
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Resumes are a critical part of any job search. They are the most effective marketing tool any of us have about who we are and what we can do. And all of us want our resume to be the best possible representation of our work.
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Once summer is in sight, students everywhere spend less time outlining their research papers and more time planning their summer vacations. The annual exception is, of course, the class of graduating seniors, whose commencement pushes them into the mythic "real world." They spend the last few weeks of the semester ensuring they can walk across the stage and deciding what they will do that next day.
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Though it's difficult to predict exactly how the year will pan out, weak job growth, a slowing economy and troubled housing markets all point to signs of an economic recession. The good news for job seekers is that employers are still hiring and certain industries will survive (even thrive) during hard times.
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Hiring managers don't want to hear a lot of things during an interview - confessions of a violent past, a cell phone ring, a toilet flush. Yet job seekers have committed these interview gaffes and worse, according to CareerBuilder.com's annual survey of the worst interview mistakes.
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Resumes are tricky: If done well, they can put you in the running for a job; if done poorly, they end up in the hiring manager's recycling bin. They should be easy since you're just talking about yourself. No one knows your work history, qualifications and skills better than you. Unfortunately, they are hard work.
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Today's gadget lovers are so over their granddaddies' widgets. Instead, they seek the granddaddies of all gadgets: From plug-in hybrid cars to solar-powered ski suits to next-generation Blu-Rays. As high-tech becomes hi-relevance, so do the professionals who bring them to life and on store shelves.
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You talk too fast. You avoid eye contact. You ask too many questions. You wear too much perfume. You lie about your work history. You show up late to interviews. You don't do your research. And you wonder why you haven't gotten a job yet?
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You've made up your mind. You're going to stop procrastinating, update that resume and (finally) look for a new job. So what should you expect? Smooth sailing and a fast and easy job search? Or long months of applying to countless jobs and waiting for just an interview?
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Your mother told you to do it, and now a new survey shows she was right: Sending a thank-you note not only displays impeccable manners but also may give job hopefuls an edge over other applicants.
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When it comes to meeting the qualifications for a job, is there any flexibility? That depends on the employer, but in most cases, the answer is yes. Certainly, it helps to understand how your own experience and needs match up to what the employer wants and is willing to offer, which isn't always an easy task, thanks to the obscure language typical of many job listings.
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Ever think there's shady stuff goin' down in your office? Be thankful you don't work the Scranton, Penn., branch of Dunder-Mifflin. Jim Halpert kissing his co-worker, Pam Beesly, on Casino Night. Meredith Palmer downing numerous vodka-based drinks at work. Michael Scott spreading rumors (even though they were true) about Oscar Martinez's sexuality.
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For those who believe that internships are synonymous with summer break, think again. According to recent surveys, fall internship hiring is on the rise and the opportunities are paving the way for full-time positions for those hired to do the job.
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Counting down the minutes to payday? You're not alone. Four-in-ten workers (41 percent) say they often or always live paycheck to paycheck, according to CareerBuilder.com's latest survey.
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You formatted your résumé ingeniously. You bolded your name and sized it just enough so it will stand out from the masses. You've proofread, spell-checked and edited it to death. You've even included creative (and of course, vital) information about why you're the best candidate for the job -- but have you gone too far?
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Wouldn't you just love to roll out of bed, grab a cup of Joe and head to the office in your pajamas? According to a variety of sources, there are anywhere from 2 million to as many as 40 million workers who telecommute for at least part of their work week.
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You thought you were prepared for that interview. But sometimes even the best laid plans can't ward off unexpected disaster. Besides having a getaway car waiting to quickly whisk you away from an awkward situation, there are ways to overcome even the most embarrassing interview situations.
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When you need a random day off of work, what do you do? Do you schedule a vacation day with your boss, or call in with some overblown cover story? And just how long does it take you to come up with that excuse? With one-in-four workers considering sick days equivalent to vacation time, it's no wonder workers are so crafty at calling in sick.
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Is finding a new job on your list of New Year's resolutions? The market may be in your favor. Recent reports from the U.S. Labor Department indicate that while the expansion of the U.S. economy is slowing, it is doing so at a reasonable pace, and inflation has steadied. A moderated, yet stable, job market is expected to carry over into 2007 with gains that will remain strong enough to keep the unemployment rate in check.
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As the world continues to advance and change technologically, we are living longer, retiring later and pursuing higher education at a higher rate than generations before us, and the employment market is changing right alongside us.
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 16 percent of today's workforce is age 55 and older, and that number is expected to reach 21 percent by 2014 -- an increase of more than 11 million workers. As the American population ages, companies are realizing older Americans are a vital part of their workforce, and are starting to put programs into place to attract and retain these workers.
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In the past few decades, American lawmakers, citizens and businesses are exploring various ways to "go green," with hopes of preserving the earth's natural resources and our standard of living. Consumers are increasingly choosing organic produce.
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A fatter paycheck is something every employee loves. But for some workers, their bank accounts aren't the only things expanding.
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A popular comment that I hear on a regular basis is: "I don't like to brag about myself. I let my work speak for itself. I am very uncomfortable talking about myself."
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According to CareerBuilder.com's 2006 college survey, one-in-four hiring managers say relevant experience is the top thing they look for in a new graduate.
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It can take four to 14 months to find the right job... and fewer than 90 days to lose it. According to executive coach Linda Seale, most professional and managerial dismissals are due to failure to understand and fit into a company's culture.
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Here's the situation. So you went to the ball game last night. Your team won and you stayed out a little bit later than you should have. Fast-forward six or seven hours and you're still poking along nowhere near being ready to leave for work. What do you do?
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Graduation is right around the corner for many college students and once the ceremonies end with the last graduate receiving a diploma and exiting the stage, the true journey begins. Now the focus shifts from class schedules to scheduling interviews.
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Julia Roberts may not have starred in a movie in 2005 - her last film appearances were in 2004's "Ocean's Twelve" and "Closer" - but she remains the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, commanding $20 million a film, according to the Hollywood Reporter's annual list of top-earning actresses.
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Infamous co-workers and their idiosyncrasies - from Michael Scott, the bumbling boss in "The Office," to Milton, that dude with the Swingline stapler obsession, in "Office Space" - are a constant source of amusement.
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About 80% of the audience that had crammed into the sweltering auditorium raised their hand. I looked at the woman on my right who was in her early twenties with her hand raised. Then I glanced at the man on my left who looked as old as my father. Both had their hands raised and had a similar look on their faces: a mixture of fear and hopelessness.
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Losing your job is tough. If you're a parent, it can take on a whole new dimension as you worry: How will I pay for their music lessons and hockey equipment? Will the stress cause their grades to slip? Have I failed as a role model?
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