Tips for Discouraged Job Seekers

Tips for Discouraged Job SeekersTips for Discouraged Job SeekersTired, discouraged, feeling like youll never find a job? Need a job, but nothing you do seems to be working? When youre having a tough time finding a job, or even finding jobs to apply for, its important to expand your job search. Dont limit yourself to applying for the jobs you find posted online. Companies may be hiring that dont post job listings other than internally, on their company website. Sometimes, they may also collect an ongoing pool of applicants who they may approach should they find they need an employee with particular expertise in the future. Expanding your job search will help you find unadvertised openings and enable you to proactively seek employment at companies of interest. Make a Target List of Companies If you dont have a target list of companies yet a short list of employers you would be thrilled to work for its worthwhile taking the time to research company information and create a list of companies to target in your job search. All the information you need is available on the web, and its easy to find detailed information about potential employers online (a particularly useful website is Glassdoor, which allows you to learn mora about a companys positions, salaries, and corporate climate). Once you have a list, the next step is to reach out to contacts at the company. Use LinkedIns companies section as a tool to find company information. Youll be able to see your contacts at the company, new hires, jobs posted, and company statistics. Check the company website and Google the company to find more contacts at the employer who could potentially be interested in hiring you. Work Your Company List Then start actively working those contacts to help get a foot in the door. Fred Whelan, coach, recruiter, and author of GOAL Your 30 Day Game Plan for Business and Career Success, suggests that If you have a plan for each day, the new sense of purpose helps fight the discou ragement that comes from feeling that there is nothing out there for me. Fred has graciously shared his tips for creating a contact action plan you can use to connect and follow up with potential employers. Send an Email Send an email (or a LinkedIn message) to the individual you would potentially be reporting to. The email should be company specific, mention the issues they are facing and how your background can help them. As an example, if you are a salesperson I was able in my previous position as sales manager to grow sales at a higher rate than the industry average. I know that your company is trying to aggressively outpace the category, and given my experience I can help you accomplish that. Keep the email short. Intro and More is a good Subject for your message or InMail. Follow Up By Phone Follow up by phone with three companies that you have already emailed. Call the person you emailed the previous week. The follow-up call should state why you are interested in wor king at that company and how your background can add value now. Meet with One Person in Your Network This should be over coffee either in their schreibstube or at a Starbucks. People will tell you things in person that they would never say in an email or over the phone. Let them know what you are doing and what you are looking for. Offer to help them with something they may need. This will help you stay top of mind with them. Also, ask them for the name of at least one other person you can be introduced to. This will significantly expand your network. Network with Likeminded People and Share Ideas Find someone who is blogging for a company you want to work for and make comments on their blog. People who blog really appreciate comments and this will raise your profile with that person. Finally, meet with people who are, like you, out of work and exchange ideas on what is working and not working in your job search.

Career Accomplishments to Put on Your Resume

Career Accomplishments to Put on Your ResumeCareer Accomplishments to Put on Your ResumeToo many of the resumes we see focus solely on job duties, sometimes copying them verbatim from corporate job descriptions, say greyzones founder Tami Palmer and resume writer Beth Kujawski. Instead, aim to frame duties as accomplishments.Ready to demonstrate that youre an achiever? Take these actions to create a resume that showcases career accomplishments1. BrainstormWrite down every professional achievement that comes to mind, large or small. Dont be judgmental about usability at this stage. (As a side note consider starting a success journal if you dont already maintain one. Jotting accomplishments as they happen will ensure they dont get overlooked. Plus, youll have a ready source at your disposal when you need a morale boost or want to state your case for a raise.)Look at past performance reviews and letters of recommendation for inspiration. Linda Matias, president of CareerStrides.com, sug gests also pondering these three questionsHow is the department better off today than when you joined the team?What personal characteristic are you most proud of and how has it played a role in your achievements?Have you ever recommended a process improvement the company implemented?2. RefineNext, weed through your list. Evaluate which successes best demonstrate how youve helped your employer or most clearly reflect the type of worker you are. Matias recommends honing in on specific core competencies that are important to your line of work. For example, an IT professional can focus on process improvement, people management, and hardware/software implementation. A customer service representative can address relationship building, reduced call times, and quality of service. Read through job postings to uncover core competencies in your field.3. FrameNow youre ready to present your best self. Choose high-impact verbs such as improved, increased, and achieved over lackluster ones like d id or made. Include quantities if possible Wrote 50 articles for Client X packs a great punch than Wrote many articles.Companies care most about how you managed costs and increased revenue, Kujawski and Palmer say. Data is powerful. Use statistics, name drop Fortune 500 clients, illustrate the unique stamp you left on a company.But dont eliminate significant triumphs simply because they arent quantifiable. As Matias notes, Receiving positive performance reviews and being selected for top projects are all accomplishments, even though a number cant be attached.Consider pulling excerpts from what others have said about you. Their words of praise regarding specific accomplishments can add a layer of believability to your resume and get across the message that youre a candidate worthy of attentionFind more resume tips hereReaders, do you focus on your career accomplishments or job duties on your resume? Will you make adjustments to focus on career accomplishments? Share with us below

Why You Shouldnt Judge Your Younger Co-Workers - The Muse

Why You Shouldnt Judge Your Younger Co-Workers - The MuseWhy You Shouldnt Judge Your Younger Co-Workers Im turning 30 in two months. And aside from getting nostalgic about the video games that I used to play when I welches younger, Ive done a lot of thinking lately about what this means for me at this point in my career. That thinking has led me back to a lot of memories of older colleagues Ive worked with in the past who went out of their way to remind me that I was younger than they were. And what they were implying was twofold. Not only were they trying to tell me I was less experienced than they were, but they were also trying to drive home the idea that I was also less qualified. Ive resolved never to be that person, no matter my age. And to make sure youre never that person either, Ive laid out a few symptoms in hopes you can catch yourself before its too late.1. You Make Fun of Their Lingo (Even Though You Also Use it Regularly)OK, I get it. There are plenty of popular smartph one apps I dont understand and even more, acronyms that make me feel like Im 100 years old. Its entirely reasonable if you just arent up to speed with what your younger co-workers like to do and how they prefer communicating. That doesnt give you license to make fun of them for it, though. What makes you an even bigger jerk is purposely mispronouncing these things, just to get under their skin. While it might be funny the first time you refer to Snapchat as SnortChip, it gets pretty tired if you keep up the charade, especially if your colleagues have taken the time to fill you in on whats going on. You know that feeling of frustration you get when your parents ask you (for the 100th time) how to attach a file to an schmelzglas and then blame their lack of knowledge on being old- thats how you might be making your colleagues feel when you make these comments. 2. You Interrogate Them When They Dont Get One of Your ReferencesI love a good joke just as much as anyone when Im at work. Bu t sometimes, they just dont land like you initially thought they would. When your joke or story flops because the references you make are a little bit dated, that can be a huge blow to your ego. And while youre totally allowed to be sad (and feel a little bit closer to death), that doesnt mean you can spend endless amounts of time and energy interrogating your colleagues about how they possibly didnt get what you were saying. Gosh, dont they know how much better my nostalgic childhood shows are than their nostalgic shows? Even if youre just trying to communicate that youre sad that nobody else got the reference, odds are high youre instead coming off as condescending because of the way youre expressing your point. Lets all accept that our childhood shows, toys, and music will always hold a special place in our individual hearts- and no one elses.3. You Always Talk About How Things Were Harder in Your DayHeres another one Im totally empathetic about. Its easy to look at your current office space, your equipment, and even the snacks in your kitchen and think about what you didnt have when you were starting your career. My first work computer weighed about 50 pounds, had monitors that hurt my eyes if I stared at them for longer than 20 minutes at a time, and emails I needed to get out ASAP that would occasionally decide, Nope, I dont feel like being sent to your client. And Ill admit, its fun to reminisce about those times, especially with my former colleagues. But what Ive learned is that talking to younger co-workers about how good they have it with their organic milk and their ergonomic chair, is a quick way to make people look at you and think, Whats wrong with that guy? Does he believe he was born in the 1920s? Its perfectly fine (and recommended) to offer nuggets of wisdom when your younger colleagues ask for them. However, if youre just pointing this out in some kind of misguided attempt to make your co-workers feel grateful, its probably time to rethink y our lunchtime fodder.I can empathize with anyone whos feeling like theyre the elder statesman or woman of their team. Its not always easy looking around and feeling like youre way behind the times and will simply never catch up. However, dont lose sight of the fact that youre the one doing this to yourself. Unless you work with the meanest people on the face of the earth, the odds are that youre the reason you feel so old. And because of that, its important to deal with your insecurities in the right way. The right way being either accepting the fact that youre no longer in your twenties or (and) acknowledging what you dont know and working to fill in any vital gaps. Photo of co-workers talking courtesy of Hero Images/Getty Images.