Monday, October 31, 2011

Fear of Rejection

In the movie Alexander, he proclaimed "Conquer your fears and you conquer death."

Well, we need not be so melodramatic, although it is Halloween Day after all.

But successful job seekers do overcome their fears and do what needs to be done.

Repeatedly I have been told that rejection is the greatest fear when applying for jobs.

Do not make the mistake of premature rejection.

Are you not applying for jobs because you are afraid your application or resume will be rejected?

Have you repeatedly had no responses and assumed your resume, your cover letter, your application was not good enough -- that you were rejected because you were not good enough?

Really?

The truth, the reality, is that your application, your resume, is under water in the overwhelming tsunami of applications flooding employers every day.

The odds that some person has seen your application/resume even just to do a ten second quick screen is less than 2%.

This is the first myth of rejection. You have not been rejected because no one has seen your stuff.

Here is another myth of rejection.

You did not get a response because you are too old, too young, too educated, not educated enough, bad attitude, too much information, not enough information, or you have bad hair.

Please pay attention to the first myth again. NO ONE HAS READ YOUR RESUME!

You do not get rejected by total strangers. You may be ignored, but that is not the same as rejection.

Rejection implies a yes or no choice. How can there be a choice when someone does not know about you?

If you think you have been rejected, most likely one or more of the following have occurred.

You are in contact with the wrong person.

They had a bad day.

Your timing was off.

They did not have a choice.

They have insufficient information about you.

They do not see clearly the value in moving forward with your application. And whose responsibility is it to help them see clearly?

Let us at JVS help you get more acceptance.

Visit us at www.jvsdet.org

Walt

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Lucky 13 -- Websites for Job Finders

Here is a quick list of helpful websites for job search and job acquisition. Actually, you really do not need to do much more on the Internet outside of these Lucky 13.

1. www.google.com – Search the Internet and much more

2. www.YouTube.com - the most widely used search engine where one video is worth a billion words

3. www.jvsdet.org – main website for JVS where you click on Find a Job to see what jobs we know about personally. Also, click on Seminars & Events to find and register for upcoming job seeker activities.

4. www.mitalent.org – Pure Michigan Talent Connect; the State of Michigan online job and resume banks; also explore the site to access much more career and job resources

5. www.careerinfonet.org – the CareerOneStop for the US; anything and everything related to jobs, careers, employment

6. www.indeed.com – a gatherer of job leads from other job boards and company websites. Gathers job leads and ideas for other companies to contact from just about everywhere on the Internet which frees you up from wasting countless hours online applying over and over and over again when you should be making those leads into personal contacts using resources like

7. www.linkedin.com – social media for business and jobs; create your online profile and more, connect with others in your target areas and with companies of interest, find the right people and, in turn, be found by them

8. www.facebook.com – the world’s largest online social community

9. www.twitter.com – texting the world, listening in on what other people and companies of interest to you are saying including available jobs

10. www.socialnomics.net – the wellspring of all things social media

11. www.wikipedia.org – encyclopedia of the Internet

12. www.jobhuntersbible.com – a relaxing place to learn about job search, resources, etc.; the website of Richard Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?

Lucky 13. Use your local library website to access ReferenceUSA to learn more about companies and find key people within. One way to find the website of your local library in Southeast Michigan is through The Library Network at www.tln.lib.mi.us.

Consider limiting your online hours to less than four per day.

Every online contact represents the potential for real life connections that need to be forged.

Get out there! Jobs have never gone door to door. You have to do that.

And we at JVS can help you get it done. Visit our websites listed above for more information and to connect.

And you can always contact me at wtarrow@jvsdet.org.

Let's get started!

Walt