College Graduate Job Seeker Toolkit 10 Job Seeker Tools

College Graduate Job Seeker Toolkit 10 Job Seeker Tools I recently got an email for Ford Myers book titled Get the Job You Want Even When No Ones Hiring he listed 10 things every new college graduate should have as part of their job search toolkit. I tried to find the list posted on his website but I couldnt find it perhaps hell make it a blog post I can link to later (I didnt look too hard). Since he doesnt have it published Im going to assume that he doesnt want it to be public knowledge yet. However, Ill share his 9th point right now: 9. Tracking System. Keep a detailed record of your job search activities, including phone calls, meeting notes and correspondence. This is essential to keeping your process organized and productive. What is a job search tracking system?  Is it important?  Is it critical?  What does it track, and how does it work? Ford says it is to keep a DETAILED RECORD ouch.  That is tough.  How many of you keep a detailed record of your checking account, or detailed records of any other important stuff?  Im bad at that, and switching into DETAILED RECORD mode for my job search was not easy. Ford says you keep this record of phone calls, meeting notes and correspondence.  This is TEDIOUS.  Do you record everything? No youll get a sense for whats important to record as your job search goes on but when in doubt, record it.  You dont want to regret it later. Ford says a job search tracking system is ESSENTIAL to keeping your process organized and productive.  In my experience, its also essential to give you peace of mind in your job search, make you more competitive and effective as a job seeker, etc. What he doesnt mention is this: in your job search you will come across and create immense amounts of data.  Networking contacts, target companies and jobs you apply to; dates; contact info; follow-up notes, notes of commucations with contacts. there is SO MUCH to keep track of. You arent keeping track of it because you are all-of-the-sudden obsessive-compulsive and like to record everything you can.  You are keeping track of it because if you dont youll find yourself drowning within weeks of starting your job search.  Youll miss appointments, youll be unprepared for conversations (interview, networking, etc.), and youll miss opportunities. This job search tracking system idea is essential and critical. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE YOUR JOB SEARCH? With JibberJobber, of course!  There are three levels: Free for life the idea is to have an account forever this free account allows you to do this (you can bounce up and down from free to premium to free anytime you need). Silver same features but increases the amount of contacts and companies in your system. Premium unlimited contacts and companies and LOTS of cool features! Choose what works best for you, but keep your JibberJobber account for life you never know when youll need it next! College Graduate Job Seeker Toolkit 10 Job Seeker Tools I recently got an email for Ford Myers book titled Get the Job You Want Even When No Ones Hiring he listed 10 things every new college graduate should have as part of their job search toolkit. I tried to find the list posted on his website but I couldnt find it perhaps hell make it a blog post I can link to later (I didnt look too hard). Since he doesnt have it published Im going to assume that he doesnt want it to be public knowledge yet. However, Ill share his 9th point right now: 9. Tracking System. Keep a detailed record of your job search activities, including phone calls, meeting notes and correspondence. This is essential to keeping your process organized and productive. What is a job search tracking system?  Is it important?  Is it critical?  What does it track, and how does it work? Ford says it is to keep a DETAILED RECORD ouch.  That is tough.  How many of you keep a detailed record of your checking account, or detailed records of any other important stuff?  Im bad at that, and switching into DETAILED RECORD mode for my job search was not easy. Ford says you keep this record of phone calls, meeting notes and correspondence.  This is TEDIOUS.  Do you record everything? No youll get a sense for whats important to record as your job search goes on but when in doubt, record it.  You dont want to regret it later. Ford says a job search tracking system is ESSENTIAL to keeping your process organized and productive.  In my experience, its also essential to give you peace of mind in your job search, make you more competitive and effective as a job seeker, etc. What he doesnt mention is this: in your job search you will come across and create immense amounts of data.  Networking contacts, target companies and jobs you apply to; dates; contact info; follow-up notes, notes of commucations with contacts. there is SO MUCH to keep track of. You arent keeping track of it because you are all-of-the-sudden obsessive-compulsive and like to record everything you can.  You are keeping track of it because if you dont youll find yourself drowning within weeks of starting your job search.  Youll miss appointments, youll be unprepared for conversations (interview, networking, etc.), and youll miss opportunities. This job search tracking system idea is essential and critical. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE YOUR JOB SEARCH? With JibberJobber, of course!  There are three levels: Free for life the idea is to have an account forever this free account allows you to do this (you can bounce up and down from free to premium to free anytime you need). Silver same features but increases the amount of contacts and companies in your system. Premium unlimited contacts and companies and LOTS of cool features! Choose what works best for you, but keep your JibberJobber account for life you never know when youll need it next!

How Candidates Should Act During the Hiring Process

How Candidates Should Act During the Hiring Process The recruiter/candidate relationship can sometimes be a tricky one. You both need to be on the same page in order to get to the ultimate goal: a successful hire. If everyone isn’t working towards the same goal, success won’t always be found. Etiquette plays a very important role in that relationship. Sometimes a candidate does not want to answer a question truthfully in an effort to not hurt their chances at prospective employment. Unfortunately lying, or omitting the truth, can only hurt you as a candidate more than help. A recruiter wears many hats from sourcing, to interviewing, to negotiating offers and more. One of the most important roles of a recruiter is ensuring that the hiring process is run smoothly. At any point the hiring process can get stalled, and the more information the recruiter has collected about what both sides want (candidate and hiring manager) the better they can be at making sure a successful hire is made. This is where the relationship between the recruiter and candidate comes into play and why it is so vital to be on the same page. If you as a candidate do not take the process seriously you are hurting the process. Below I highlight some of the main reasons of how a candidate can hurt or slow down the process by not acting with the right etiquette: 1) Salary expectations: This is usually the make or break for any deal. I don’t have exact numbers on me, but ask a majority of recruiters and they will tell you most deals do not go through because of a disagreement on a salary. As a candidate it is your responsibility to know what you are worth. It is also important to know what is realistic. We all want six figure salaries, but if you aren’t there yet, don’t decide you won’t settle for anything less, it will only hurt you. At the same time when you get the offer letter, now is not the time to demand more money. Yes things can change throughout the hiring process and as you learn more about the job your salary expectations can change. But getting the offer letter and deciding you want 10K higher than you originally discussed with the recruiter is bad form. Decide what you are worth, tell the team hiring you and go from there! READ MORE: How to Answer Salary Questions in Your Interview 2) Schedule flexibility: As a recruiter I realize you work, so scheduling interviews may not be easy. However as a candidate you must be flexible and deciding you will only interview after hours or the weekends is just unrealistic. Just as you are working from 9-5 so is the person interviewing you! Do not take time from a hiring manager outside of work just because you can’t handle an interview during normal working hours. You are one of hundreds of viable candidates and if the hiring team agreed to every candidate demands like that they would never have time to themselves. Normally interviews done out of normal working hours are reserved for candidates who are close to an offer letter. 3) Communication: Unfortunately the hiring process can get a bad reputation for dragging on and this sadly can be true. But the term “strike while the iron is hot” is completely applicable in hiring. When a team is ready to make a move, all parties must be prepared. As a candidate you must be ready to respond quickly. Of course if you are working it is understandable that you may not get back to a recruiter until the end of the day, or only over email. But regardless it is proper etiquette to respond back to the recruiter within the same day unless something drastic has come up. Deciding to not call your recruiter back for whatever reason is improper and unprofessional. 4) Honesty: There are a lot of items that can be covered under the umbrella. Ultimately you must have complete transparency with the recruiter. One part of honesty is informing the recruiter of interviews with other companies. Believe me you will not hurt a recruiter’s feelings by telling them you are interviewing elsewhere. Any good recruiter realizes this. If you are as good of a candidate as you say you are you should be in demand. And honestly, companies competing over your services will only benefit you when it comes time for an offer. It makes companies act quicker when they know they could lose you to a competitor and could drive up your asking price so they can get you. It only is a benefit for you by being honest, so don’t hold anything back. 5) Declining offers: This point really could be labeled as 4B, because it again has to do with honesty. If an offer does come your way and you just ultimately decide against it, declining the offer is not the worst thing in the world. These things happen, and as disappointing as it may be for the company who you declined, they will move on. And they ultimately will probably not hold it against you. However if you decide not to inform the recruiter of this and leave them hanging this will present problems. Recruiters put a lot of effort into working with you for this position, the least you could do is call this person and have an open and honest discussion on why the offer is being declined. 6) Commitment: An offer letter is a contract and contracts are made not to be broken. So when you officially sign an offer letter you are signing a contract of employment. In most cases there are no financial or career threatening repercussions of breaking an offer letter, so this is why candidates can feel so comfortable with doing it. But this is very bad form. A company has made the decision to bring you on board and told every other candidate they have not been chosen. If you sign an offer letter, all other offers from other companies or a potential counter offer from your current employer should have already been discussed. Signing the offer letter and then deciding that you will accept that counter offer or possibly another offer is unprofessional. And by now the company has spent a lot of money interviewing you and performing the necessary pre-employment checks, which is now essentially money wasted. After reading all this I can see how a candidate would say “so what?” because really there are no financial or professional ramifications on you as a candidate if you break any, or all of these points. However I can tell you this much, the recruiting industry is a very tight nit community. The society we live in is all about connections and networks. From LinkedIn to Twitter to Facebook and every other form of social media our networks are wide and they are well connected. I can tell countless stories where a candidate’s name has come up and someone in the hiring group knew of a story of that candidate in question that made them not want to move forward with an interview. All because a candidate made a decision in their past that is now impacting their present day chances at a potential position. You are not the only candidate being considered for this position. So while you feel your technical abilities may be the strongest and therefore making you the best candidate that is not all that matters. Equally important is your ability to interact with the company in a professional manner. Companies put a high value of emphasis on hiring for ethics and etiquette as they do on technical skills. As a candidate it is just as important for you to be able to perform the job at hand as it is for you to be a person of good morals. If you decide that is not the case than at some point in your career this can come back to impact you in a negative way. Disclaimer:  Yes this article is written from a recruiters perspective. However I can assure you this author has been on the candidate side of the table. Everything written in this article is advice that I myself would comply with, no questions asked. This article was written with ideas and experiences of a close business contact of mine, John Creeden.  He is a well respected  Talent Acquisition professional in the NY/NJ area.

Keep Technology Within Reach! Why Your Business Must Be Tech Savvy

Keep Technology Within Reach! Why Your Business Must Be Tech Savvy Technological innovations are unavoidable. They penetrate each and every component of business. The most important detail for any business to keep in mind is that the field of technology does not wait around for them. Making sure your company is up-to-date technologically must be engrained in the lifeline of the enterprise. You can easily anticipate being forgotten and overshadowed by the competition if you do not stay in the know. From a business standpoint, however, this means more than simply updating software and purchasing the latest trends developed to make your job easier. It means actively  consulting tech news daily and watching business reports specific to your field. Software and program updates or the implementation of new gadgets will only skim the surface. With over three billion individuals on the web nowadays, it is vital that a company stay up-to-date on technological know-how. With so many consumers surfing the web and new buyers arriving online each day, trying to keep in front of technology is essential. A successful company, however, will know how to be tech savvy. Keeping Up With Current Trends Ending up trivial is a death sentence by just about every company’s benchmarks. To remain germane, particularly regarding technological innovation, usually, means keeping an eye on what exactly is trending about technology in your field. It is worthwhile to identify the scope of your customer’s tech savviness so you can keep up with them. Should your potential consumers not be able to discover your products and services as a consequence of tech inadequacies, your company will likely go under. Knowing how to launch your business’ new venture  so that it taps into the current market’s trends is how good business becomes a great business. Without the appropriate technology, there exists the chance that your business will have missed an opportunity to connect and communicate with potential customers. Technological innovations enable clients and companies to interact with one another in so many ways. Avoiding Missed Opportunities Whether it is as a result of a text, sending an email, instant message, or using social media, there are so many new ways to connect with your customers. Whenever a company is not keeping an eye on tech developments, they run the risk of missing out on a whole host of additional opportunities. Correctly using the most recent and efficient technological innovations will help to lower the price of conducting business drastically. By utilizing the appropriate technology, not merely will you improve efficiency, but you will additionally reduce transaction expenses as well as other considerable overhead costs. Cutting-edge office systems, communication operations, and secure cloud servers are standard as a way of assisting companies to remain properly organized while also safeguarding a client’s private data. Keeping apprised of technological upgrades is crucial for businesses to consolidate operations. Adopting evolving technological improvements is essential for a company wanting to compete on par with competitors. Technical knowledge continually progresses. Shoppers will discover entirely new and lively methods for using tech so any time a business does not investigate and implement a tech advancement they are uninformed. Being uninformed is to be out of touch. Being out of touch will put you out of business. Keep technology within reach by keeping your business tech savvy. . Image credits. Main.  Technology.

Rocking 2018 - The Habits of Highly Successful Women

Rocking 2018 - The Habits of Highly Successful Women As we head into 2018, there is hope that this year is a watershed moment for women in business.   Between #MeToo and hopeful gains on equal pay for equal work, it is high time that women get treated fairly in the workplace.   We saw a record 56 women on the list of the world’s billionaires.   And fifteen new women were added to the list last year.   A new study from YouGov found that the number one New Year’s resolution for women this year is to improve finances. Unfortunately, New Year’s resolutions are hard to keep.   To help women who are either seeking to grow a business or just help improve family finances in 2018, the team at Businesstudent.com created  The Habits of Highly Successful Women Infographic. Successful Women Role Models Improving your finances and career will not happen magically.   Doing so over a long period of time requires commitment, strategy and perhaps most of all, the ability to learn from others who have successfully done it. From Sheryl Sandberg and Arianna Huffington to Tyra Banks and Lucille Ball, the infographic outlines how more than a dozen of America’s richest women achieved their success. The habits can help your readers succeed in 2018 and beyond. Below are few highlights from the infographic and to view it in its entirety,   you can scroll down. Sheryl Sandberg, Dolly Parton and Simone Biles Handwrite Yearly Goals  Sandberg believes hand writing is more effective than using a digital calendar.   Parton writes her goals and visualizes them as if they were true.    Biles starts each year by writing down her goals for the next 12 months in a notebook. Arianna Huffington and Ellen DeGeneres Believe in Rest  Huffington sleeps eight hours a day and wrote a book called  The Sleep Revolution.   DeGeneres credits meditation. J.K. Rowling and Lucille Ball credit overcoming failures and adversity    Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers (now she is worth $1.2B).   And Ball was considered a failed actress before her show hit it big. What better way to start the new year than adopting the habits of the worlds most successful women? Highly Successful Women

Resume Writing Tips For Office Managers

Resume Writing Tips For Office ManagersYou may not know this but there are plenty of resume writing tips for office managers that you should be aware of before you go about writing your own. If you do not take the time to learn about what will make a good resume, it can be very frustrating to receive an offer that you have spent months working on. There are a number of different tips that you should keep in mind when creating your own resume, and these will help you get through the experience without any regrets.First of all, there are some basic rules that you should follow when writing a resume. First, make sure that the resume is well organized. There are a number of different methods for organizing a resume, and it is best to stick with these if you cannot do better.You should always begin your resume with a proper keyword, even if the word doesn't apply to your job. A common mistake among the younger generation is to just throw in any keywords they can think of, but remember tha t this is only going to show that you lack the ability to organize your resume properly. If you do this, it will show that you don't have a very organized mind, and people are not going to be impressed with this at all.Once you have your keywords, it is important to begin on the resume by describing your accomplishments. Don't forget to mention your previous positions and awards you have received during this process, because this will go a long way toward showing them that you were able to do the things that you do now. After you describe the accomplishments you have listed, you should then move onto your educational background.This section of the resume usually addresses how you went about obtaining your education, but this is also where you should include any other sources of information. For example, if you went to college, you should list the schools and other institutions you attended. If you didnot attend school but you have a degree, you should list that here as well.It is al so a good idea to mention anything you have done with industry professionals while at your current job. This includes any volunteer work, community activities, and anything else that show that you are outgoing and have a positive attitude.Make sure that you list the dates of your last three or four job interviews as well, as this is usually an indicator of the type of job you have. The dates are usually indicated in terms of weeks, and most companies have a format that they use in filling job openings. In this case, you will be more likely to get an interview if you have been at your current job for a number of weeks or months.After this, you should list any business partnerships that you have had in the past, and any affiliations that you may have with organizations such as NGOs or political parties. If you are in an organization, listing this on your resume will show that you are interested in community service and philanthropy, and you should definitely do this as well.

Monday Tip Write your exit speech - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Monday Tip Write your exit speech - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Imagine that youve been with your current company for a few years, and now youre moving on to a new job. On your last day at the old company, your co-workers and friends get together to celebrate you or maybe just to make sure that youre actually leaving :) Anyway, at this reception one of them gives a short speech about you. About: What youve stood for in the company. The results youve created. The people youve helped out. What theyve appreciated about working with you. What theyre going to miss about you. Your mission this Monday is to write the speech you hope they will give you. Dont make it too long, just 3-5 paragraphs extolling your virtues based on the points above. Remember, at a reception, theyre not going to blame your for your mistakes or list all your faults theyll be nice. Of course, the real question here is: What do you want to be known for? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be? Then take a look at the speech youve written and ask yourself what you can do to live up to it. The Chief Happiness Officers Monday tips are simple, easy, fun things you can do to make yourself and others happy at work and get the work-week off to a great start. Something everyone can do in five minutes, tops. When you try it, write a comment here to tell me how it went. Previous monday tips. By the way: Do you have any ideas for future Monday Tips? How do you make yourself and others happy at work in fun, simple, easy ways? Id love to hear your suggestions, so write a comment if you have one. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Running Your Own Business Get out From Behind the Screen.

Running Your Own Business Get out From Behind the Screen. I recently met with an aspiring business woman. She had done her homework, knew the market, understood the need, built the model, and was ready to dive in and help a needed problem in her industry; business cards and website to boot! The problem?   No clients. In todays world its easy to get everything going in terms of building a website, printing off some business cards and putting a name on letterhead. I think its harder, for some, to sell and take action before you know the outcome or have all the details figured out.   The details will come. My advice?   Make an action plan. Lean towards what is uncomfortable because thats the largest part of the work is at the beginning. Let the business take a life of its own.  As the founder, take a step back and support, be flexible and allow it to grow at its own pace and originality. Business Action Plan Let me define what I mean by an action plan. Its true that creating a website is an action which takes, presumably, many hours and then, after that, youll need constant updates and content. Or spending time designing a catchy logo and name. Dont get me wrong, all important aspects of a business. However, thats not what I mean by action here. I call these behind the screen actions. The actions that get people in the door, is the personal one-on-one conversations to get others on board with your business. I wish it was that simple, to promote behind the screen and wed all have booming business. Perhaps some even will work that way. But for the majority, what is usually called sales (which is different then marketing) is vital to get the customers in the door.  You dont only need customers buy-in, but also colleagues so they can lead customers to your business as well.  Here are some ideas on what I mean by action: Talking to other businesses that could partner and refer more business to you Attend a meeting with a local professional organization to broaden your network Believing in your business first, really believing Arrange speaking engagements where you can  spread your idea One-on-one conversations with people who need your product Dont underestimate the value of each individual carrying your message. I recommend reading the book, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. He talks about how the little stuff matters. One can reach the masses one person at a time.   Also, keep in mind that there are personality types that are natural networkers, which is like glue for getting others on board. They can spread information like wild fire. Its just what they do. The key here is to have your story straight first. One-on-ones only work if you believe in what youre doing first. My encouragement to all who are brave enough to risk the market themselves, I say get out from behind the screen and meet people eye to eye! Good luck! By Dawn Shaw|2017-04-21T18:10:19+00:00February 3rd, 2016|Motivation, Networking|0 Comments