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Archive for August, 2010

Get to Work Finding a Job – Concentrated Career Efforts Pay Off

Anyone who says the current economy has drastically impacted the job market is just wrong. For those who are willing to put in the sincere effort to find a job, providing they sincerely like to work, there’s always gainful employment to be had.

If it takes you longer than two weeks to land a truly great job, you’re doing something wrong.

Heed this handful of helpful tips and you’re sure to get your career swiftly back on track.

Think that being unemployed means you don’t have a job? Guess again. Finding work IS your job. Forget sleeping in and setting a leisurely pace. Get up early and immediately attack the job search. Devote at least eight hours a day to the process.

Have a plan. For example (and this is simply one course of action; you can certainly plot out a strategy that may be even more effective for you);

Day 1.
Get up by 6 a.m. Get online. Search your state’s Internet employment bank and job-search sites such as Career Builder and Monster.com. Make a point of applying for at least ten jobs. Take a break for lunch. Get in your car or on a bus or head out on foot and note the names of at least a dozen (hopefully more) major businesses. Not everyone is going to advertise on the web with an external service. When you get back home look up the company websites and see what positions they are hiring for. Plan to apply for at least 5 more jobs to finish out your day.

Day 2.
Perform a new online search and note the top six opportunities that look most appealing to you. Now call those businesses and get the name of the hiring party and their email address and phone number. Create a more comprehensive cover letter, something that essentially sells your expertise, and email it to the person in charge. Follow up with phone calls later in the afternoon, unless the job ad specially stated “No phone calls.”

Day 3.
Make sure you have a quality, up to date and error-free one page resume at the ready. Get nice looking copies on a professional grade paper stock and take them, door to door, to established companies that appeal to you. Make a concerted effort to get past the receptionist and at least introduce yourself to the HR director or any variety of hiring manager.

Day 4.
Follow up and follow through. Make calls or send out second emails to the top ten companies that you prefer to focus on at this time.

Day 5.
You’re likely to have at least a few interviews arranged at this point, possibly more. Make sure you schedule your appointments with significant time in between. You NEVER want to be late for an interview.

A few more points to keep in mind;

Don’t jump on the first offer. Think about the fit, your goals, the corporate structure and culture. There are many more considerations than wage in the long run. Job hopping is a waste of your time (as well as your interim employers) and ultimately it will have a negative impact on your future ability to progress effectively in your career. Make sure that the position you accept is something you’ll want to stick with for a long time, given the opportunity.

Be realistic about your worth. Don’t demand a salary that’s higher than your expertise and education would warrant, but don’t sell yourself short either. Make sure that your new salary is at least as much, preferably more, than the amount you were most recently earning.

Be honest about your needs. If you’re really uncomfortable about leaving your kids home alone past 5:30 and a job calls for service until 6, getting you home by 6:30 or even later, don’t take it. You’ll only end up resenting it and in the long run that negativity will detract from your work and create an unpleasant scenario at the office. Good companies care about the well being of their workers and will, within reason, make minor concessions to accommodate your personal needs.

Put real effort into your performance once you do accept employment. Do your best to abide by the adage that “a job worth doing is worth doing well.” Don’t be a prima donna; help out where you’re needed and drop the “it’s not my job” attitude. If you’re being paid, anything legal and reasonably moral can be your job. Get busy.

When you’re on the job, remember that the workplace is for work. If you have time to gossip, take frequent breaks, surf the net or text friends, you obviously need more to do. Let your boss know that you’d like to have more assignments. If your work is done early, offer to help with someone else’s. It’s a business, not a playground. Be a good worker bee.

There’s plenty of work to be had and a terrific supply of top-rate employers who are on the hunt for capable, conscientious professionals. If you’re the type who is enthusiastic about rolling up your shirt sleeves and getting things done, it’s likely that getting a good job won’t be too tough. Put in a good amount of effort and you’ll see some great results.

S. L. Robertson is an experienced mountain-region writer. The Northwest transplant has published hundreds of articles offering business advice as well as horse-training tips and suggestions for affordable professional fashion, just to name a few of Robertson’s areas of expertise. You can find her writing on the new blog site http://avonladyslc.blogspot.com/ as well as on the Promo.Utah business blog site ( http://promoutah.blogspot.com ).

The Internet is a great place to learn about attitude in assisting you to get that job. There are many clips on You Tube showing great examples of determined people.

These people, when faced with a challenging situation, can choose to react in many different ways. One of my favorite examples on YouTube is of a guy by the name of Donald Braswell, who entered America’s Got Talent. Donald walked onto the stage to face grumpy judges and an angry crowd. Immediately after he opened his mouth to start singing the audience rejected him. Basically the crowd was unreasonable and began to boo him, although they hadn’t given him a chance to show his singing talent.

In the face of this challenge Donald continued singing with self-belief. He’s in the moment. He knows and feels what he has practiced for. He knows this is his time and he has two choices. Give it all or give up. Donald gave his all and even managed to turn the hostile audience into fans. He didn’t give up and continued with his performance. The end result is that he impressed both the judges and the audience and made it through to the next stage of the competition.

Our attitude is our reaction to any given situation or circumstance. How would you have reacted if the crowd began to boo you? Would you have given up when it got a little difficult, or would you have found that little extra something inside of you that gets you to rise to the top? Donald’s triumph reminds me of the story about some potato farmers and it goes like this…

An Idaho potato farmer went up to North Dakota to grow potatoes. The North Dakota farmers had an agreement with the co-op to separate the potatoes into small, medium and large bins when they were sold.

The local potato farmers would hand sort their potatoes in the field and place them in separate bins so they would get top dollar for them. They sorted the small potatoes into the small bin, the medium potatoes into the medium bin and the large potatoes into the large bin.

The Idaho farmer, however, put all of his potatoes in one wagon without sorting them and headed to the co-op. The locals thought he was either lazy or stupid and they knew he wouldn’t get top dollar for his potatoes. However, to their surprise they found out that he got the same price as everyone else.

When the Idaho farmer delivered his potatoes, they were sorted like everyone else’s. But how? The difference was that while everyone else took the smooth road to the co-op, the Idaho farmer took the rough road. He took the road that no-one else was willing to take.

As his wagon traveled over the bumps and holes, the small potatoes went to the bottom of the trailer; the medium in the middle; and the large potatoes rose to the top. When he arrived at the co-op, all he had to do was unload the potatoes in the appropriate bins.

“Big potatoes always rise to the top on rough roads.”

Our attitude is our evaluation of any given situation and the reaction we take. We have the ability to choose our attitude and put new meaning to any circumstance or event.

As with the example of Donald Braswell entering America’s Got Talent, he chose the attitude of determination. Donald could have quit and blamed everything and everyone around him for his poor performance. He could have used grumpy judges as an excuse or complained about how unfair the audience had treated him.

Instead he dug deep, continued on the rough road that was presented to him and became a big potato because of it. It’s this same determination that we need when going after the job we really want. Get that job you want by first setting your attitude to self belief, then back that up with determination and action.

Do you want to learn more about how to get the job you want, first time, every time, then visit http://www.GetThatJobNow.com.au for my new ebook out now.

Vicki Thiel is known as Australia’s number one job search coach and is the author of “Get That Job Now”. Vicki teaches strategies and techniques on how to position yourself to get the job first time, every time in any economy. http://www.GetThatJobNow.com.au

Get That Job – Seven Steps to Getting the Job You Deserve

What job do you want? When you don’t know what you want out of life, how can you expect to get it? How will you know when you have gotten what you want if you don’t decide on an outcome?

And worse, if you don’t make a decision on what job you want, someone else may make that decision for you and you may not like that decision, or that job.

Here’s some questions to ask yourself: Do you want to make plenty of money? Do you want to be respected for the work that you do? Do you want recognition of your ideas and accomplishments? Do you want to be the first person in that job to get the award or promotion? Do you want to get in first and not miss out on opportunities?

Here’s what to do:

1. Decide EXACTLY what kind of job you want
2. Choose the company or individual that you would ideally like to work for and set a plan to target that company for a job
3. Research and study your potential employer
4. Analyse what you can offer your potential employer – give to get
5. Prepare a plan. Don’t wait for the job to be advertised. Go and get it
6. Get assistance in writing your application. You may only get one chance
7. Position yourself as the best candidate and be confident. Present your application and your offer to your potential employer. If you don’t ask, you don’t get

You see, you don’t get in life what you deserve. You get in life what you negotiate. Life doesn’t care if you are a nice person, or the best worker, or if you have qualifications or experience. You must be prepared to take action today and go and get the job you want. Ask and keep asking and never, ever give up.

For my tactics, techniques and secrets on how to get the job, visit http://www.GetThatJobNow.com.au

Vicki Thiel is known as Australia’s number one job search coach and is the author of “Get That Job Now”. Vicki teaches strategies and techniques on how to position yourself to get the job first time, every time in any economy.

http://www.GetThatJobNow.com.au

When you dont have all of the training and education you need to perform your
perfect job, you want to find out where you can go in order to get the training you
need. If you already have a degree but need some additional courses, you might
want to think about taking some online courses. Depending on the field in which
you are interested, you may have to combine online and local courses or training in
order to obtain everything you need. Medical fields, for example, still require clinical
time, so you will need to arrange that in your local area.
If you are not interested in online classes, you will need to check in your local area
to discover where you can obtain the training you need for the type of job you wish
to find. For some people the perfect job is not based as much on the type of work
as on other factors such as salary and benefits. If you are one of those people it will
be easier for you to obtain the training you need than for someone who is more
interested in the position itself. Of course, if you have been working in a factor and
concluding, you want something working in an office, you will have to obtain some
training in order to do that.

If you are just beginning your career finding out the where you need to go to learn
to perform your job of choice is easier than it is for someone who has been in the
workforce and is now looking to change careers. Although career changes are not
usually that difficult, the transition is more difficult for those who have been
working for many years doing the same job. It is not impossible by any means, and
there are resources for those who are making a career change later in life.
Sometimes career changes are necessary not because you no longer feel you have
the perfect job but because of changes within your company.
If you find your job is being downsized and you must begin a new career, most
companies offer outsource training. If this does not fit into your scope of the perfect
job, you can certainly ask for more information about obtaining the training you
need to move into a new field in order to obtain the job that is perfect for you.