From Cubical to Corner Office

Top 100 Niche Sites

yourcareercoach — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:04:08 +0000

Another long sabbatical, to be honest, I nearly abandoned the blog because I got so bogged down with the day to day hustle and bustle. Its been tough, but I’ve had so many people question me about finding a job, resume writing, that I am finding my self back here. I’m an advocate of utilizing technology as an equalizer, so I must be the change that I want to see in the world. I have info and its my responsibility to share. So enough of the excuses, here I am.

I came across a really good article from the creator of a number of niche job boards, Eric Shanaon of LatPro. The Monsters and Career Builders of the world are great, but sometimes just not enough. As a job seeker, you usually have to waid through a significant amount of trash to find a viable position. The niche boards are good because

The focus is very specific – hence the title “niche” boards. This should help to save time in a job search, in theory. Now there still could be positions that aren’t identical to your resume, but at least the positions are in the ballpark.
Employers are serious – they usually have to pay more to access these boards, as well as post on them, in comparison to the general boards

Take a look at the list and let me know your thoughts on the boards listed, especially the relevance of the positions.

Posted in Uncategorized

Don’t Ignore The Fundamentals

yourcareercoach — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:20:13 +0000

Whether you are a small business owner or still working a 9 to 5, there are certain things that are required for success. You may have read or heard this advice from other people, and there is a reason why you will keep hearing it. BECAUSE IT HELPS. You can either heed the advice or ignore it and later wish you would have.

The fundamentals that are important:

HAVE A PLAN
KNOW THE RULES
HAVE A MENTOR

HAVE A PLAN – For a business owner, that plan is a business plan. For the worker, that plan is not as straight forward. Either way, these plans outline the actions. If you have no idea on how to create a plan, visit your local Small Business Development Center, Career Counselor or business coach. Yeah, it takes time to complete a plan. Yep, its tedious work. But the benefit of having a plan isn’t just for the sake of the outlined approach. An even bigger benefit of the plan is the THINKING required to go it to it. Also, in writing the plan, you now have something tangible. You have a tangible guide of your goals. It makes it that much more real.

KNOW THE RULES – Some of the rules of the game are changing, both in corporate America and in small business, however there are fundamental things that wont. The problems that we are facing as a nation, from the issuance of credit, to the collapse of the lenders, are because people ignored the rules. I’m not saying to follow all the rules (most successful people I know have broken some rules), but know them so you can make an informed decision whether to adhere to them or to break them. Ignorance is not an excuse and can cause you a lot of money and heartache.

HAVE A MENTOR – Everyone needs a mentor. This doesn’t have to be a formal relationship, but someone that you have identified as being “mentor worthy.” I have a few mentors, some whom I have relationships with and some who are mentors from a far. Some of the activities include someone to bounce ideas off of, getting feedback for major decisions, or just studying decisions and strategic actions. This relationship will impact you more than you can know. You will gain advise from someone who may have gone through some of the things you have, as well as help you to avoid some pitfalls that they encountered. In essence, you should be able to live vicariously through this person, in order to avoid mistakes and duplicate success. Pay attention to the leaders in your proposed industry or just the movers and shakers in general. Remember this: A good idea is transferable and the success is a process.

If you need more insight about how to do any of the above, please message me directly.

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: advice, mentor, plan, rules

Wordle???

yourcareercoach — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 03:09:52 +0000

I was on someone else’s blog when they were talking about a new thing called Wordle

It creates word clouds from your resume. The funny thing is, that job boards like Career Builder utilize a similar feature for the recruiters who are seeking candidates. We can upload a job description and from the description, a word cloud is created. This is a feature that I loved, because you can remove the words that you didnt want, and it would also show you how well the job description was written. If it was well written, the suggested candidates would be a fit for the position.

Most often, they were not fits. Sometimes due to the fact the description was poorly written. Other times, people’s resumes were. Use this tool and see how it can help improve your resume.

Posted in resume Tagged: format, resume, wordle

Aim and follow through

yourcareercoach — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:07:43 +0000

Did you miss me? Sorry Ive been AWOL for a bit, but trying to help small businesses stay in business is tough. I’ve seen a lot and learned even more. The recession has impacted everyone in every way imaginable. I am seeking it effect the small business extremely, which in turn is having a negative effect on employment.

In these trying times, make it as easy for yourself and the hiring manager. Here are a couple of easy tips to make your job search a little less frustrating and more fruitful. I can sum it up in a few words: AIM and FOLLOW THROUGH. Very simple concepts, but a little harder to enact because they may seem counter intuitive.

Target your resume submission

While its good to apply to as many positions as possible, in order to increase your chances, only apply to those positions that you are truly qualified for.

Many of you may be tired of hearing “you are over qualified.” How can that be? Im sure you think, f I have more than enough skills to do the job, I should be able to do the job just fine? Right? Well…in a perfect world, yes. But we all know that sooner or later (more likely sooner), the over qualified worker soon becomes the bored worker. That leaves the employer having to fill a position again.

Follow Directions

If the employer says, no phone calls please, then PLEASE, no phone calls. Well, I am trying to distinguish myself from the pack, you say. I just want to follow up on my resume. Nine times out of Ten, you are bothering the hiring manager more than you are helping them. NO, really you are. Think about this….you are sitting down to dinner, after a long day at work. Your husband or wife, brings your dinner plate, lights a candle and just when you are about to sit down at the table RRRRRRRIIIINNGGG!! Its your phone. And guess who’s on the other end, some telemarketer. Yep, you are just like that telemarketer. You are an unsolicited caller who is interrupting someone else’s day. Also, you probably are not the only person calling the hiring manager. Now, you may be on the tail end of misguided frustration. What a great first impression!

Follow the directions explicitly and it will take you that much further. If you really are 100% qualified for the job, the hiring personnel would be calling YOU!

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: directions, hiring manager, job, recruiter, resume, search, submit

Job Search 2009

yourcareercoach — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:02:11 +0000

I was motivated to write this post in response to a Post from Milt Haynes, creator of Blacks Gone Greek, www.blackgonegeek.org an information hub promoting African Americans in Technology. The article posted was in reference to hundreds of thousands of people being laid off from technology companies. As I read the article, it made me think about all the people that I had been hearing about being laid off from permanent positions, or contracts being eliminated due to hiring freezes. To make things easier, I felt compelled to share some insight abOne of the hardest things for people to do in their job search is to do a proper resume and diversify their application methods.

In an economy that is on the decline, open positions are becoming more and more scarce. At every turn companies are trying to “trim the fat” by decreasing the work force. Despite this fact, companies will still need to hire people, especially in the technology sector. Given the problems facing the financial industry, there will be new compliance standards that companies will have to adhere to (similar to the Sarbanes Oxley standards enforced after the Enron scandal).

Now is a time to make sure that your resume is up to par and that you utilize various resources in your job search. Even if you are just getting feelers out in the market. You will have to be even more competitive in your search, because of the limited job supply.

Please take it from someone who has a background in technical recruitment. There are a few things you need to take into consideration when searching for a new position.

Your Resume

The importance of a resume is that it is the first impression that a prospective employer gets of you, the job seeker. Think of job hunting like dating, your resume is the equivalent of the first date. You want to make sure everything is perfect, because you only get one chance to make a first impression. You make sure your breath is fresh, you smell nice and your slacks pressed, hair primped. That’s the same thing with a resume. You don’t want your resume to stink and it should have a pleasing appearance. That could be the difference between getting an interview or a “Thank you for applying, but…” letter.

By following the advice below, you will have a pretty good chance of getting called for a second date:

1) Take time to tailor your resume to the particular position that you are applying for. If the company uses specific terms but your resume reflects the synonyms, CHANGE YOUR RESUME.

2) Use the objective area of a resume for a “Professional Summary,” instead. This section should highlight requested skills from the job description.

3) Requested technological experience should not only be in the “Skills” section of the resume, but multiple times throughout the body of the resume.

4) Quantify your results or accomplishments as much as possible. It makes the accomplishment more believable and applicable to the hiring manager.

5)I know its very basic, but please not only spell check, but have another person review the resume to ensure that their are no missing words, grammatical errors, etc. Its gives the hiring manager a bad impressing of the resume riter if they canot spel right or has gramaticl errors.

6) Keep your skills current. If you are out of work for a substantial amount of time, find some academic program or educational course that will allow you to keep your skills fresh.

Recruiters

7)Work with recruiters. I’m not just saying that because I was a recruiter. Think about it: Companies may be laying off internal staff, but they are still working with contingency recruiters because these firms don’t get paid unless they place someone. A word of caution: due to the fact no one gets paid until the position is filled, there may be multiple recruiters working on the same open job. Due diligence goes a LONG way here. Get requisition numbers (or job identification numbers) to ensure that you are not being “double submitted.” Use your intuition, feel the recruiter out. Also, realize that when working with recruiting firms like this, there is often a deadline associated with submitted a resume. You may get a feeling that you are being “rushed” but understand it is for a purpose.

In my technical recruiting experience, many of the Top Chicago land companies in healthcare, banking, finance and food service require the last 4 digits of your social security and/or your birth month and day (not the year). No one is trying to scam you. It is required by the major company to ensure that contingency technical recruitment firms did get permission to submit the job seeker‘s resume for consideration.

Happy Hunting

Posted in job search, resume Tagged: job search, recruiters, resumes

10 Things I hate about your resume (Part 1)

yourcareercoach — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:23:58 +0000

OK, here are my personal pet peeves about resumes, but I promise you any recruiter that has been doing this for a bit, will have some of the same peeves. Be forewarned, names have been changed to protect the innocent (as well as the not so well informed). If any of these apply to you, please take note that the HR associate who is reviewing your resume may feel the same way I do. So below are the first 5 things I hate about your resume

1) Your email address – Please keep in mind that in most instances, this is the first impression that a hiring manager will get from you. Email is the equivalent of identification. Unlike a phone number, which is completely random, you choose your email. I will never forget the resume of a girl whose email address was dirtysanchez@abc.com. Now her last name was really Sanchez, but she should have kept that email for personal use. I can appreciate a laugh, but it also makes me wonder about her judgment, not to mention her personal life.

2) Objectives – Now, these are not inherently bad, its just that people make them bad. Very few resumes have been able to properly tell the audience what they really are looking for, because most job seekers don’t know what they are looking for. Lets not waste anymore time with crappy objectives. I personally prefer “professional summary” sections that highlight your skills and accomplishments. Shameless plug warning: if you need assistance creating a professional summary section of your resume, please contact me at yourcareercoach@ymail.com

3) Inappropriate Information – In the age of Twittering and MySpace and (ahem) blogging, people often loose site of the line between personal and professional. All information is not good information. When you first meet someone, do you share your life story with them? Do you tell them your sob story about how your man left you and you have no money to pay your bills? No, you don’t, so please don’t share that information on a resume or cover letter. No one wants to know about your personal life, but if you give HR that opening, best believe that information like that will be used in making hiring decisions. And that leads to my next point….

4) Content – You should look at your resume for what it really is: a brief introduction to your professional life; a first impression, of sorts. If your resume is sucks, your have left a sucky first impression with employers. Really answer questions like: What do I do on a day to day basis? How do I know when I do a good job? What kind of positions do I want to be considered for?

5) Dear Hiring Manager – Ok, this isn’t something that I hate, but it irks me for obvious reasons. When I post positions, my name is at the bottom of the posting. If you cant take the time to read my name, how can you take the time to do your job?

Consider yourself informed. And yes, some of these may seem obvious, but please believe, in the past 5 years, I have seen all of the above multiple times. Like they say, common sense is not that common….

Posted in Uncategorized

In memoriam…

yourcareercoach — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:38:35 +0000

Today is a day of reflection, given the events that have impacted the world as we all know it, especially those of my generation. Aside from the lives lost, September 11^th impacted global society in a way that will never be forgotten.

Ironically enough, this is the day that I have decided to post my blog. I have been planning to do this, but never got around ot it. 9/11 is day that reminds many of us, on a personal level, just how fragile life is and how things can change in an split second. The foundation of everything that one knows was shook to the core with the collapse of the Twin Towers.

My prayers go out to all who have been impacted by this day.