How you behave in your job search often is seen by others as an indicator of how you will behave on the job.
For example, how someone deals with problems during unemployment or a job change might indicate how that person handles problems at work.
Of course, employers do not want to hire people who create problems. But what about people who may not create the problem, but make problems into bigger problems? Or people who dwell on the problem without offering any help in solving it?
Companies seek employees who minimize or eliminate problems. Problem solving is a highly valued skill in the work world.
How would you rate your problem solving skills?
Do you appreciate, maybe even seek out, problems or challenges as opportunities to apply your problem solving skills?
Do you approach problems as experiences to learn new ways of doing things?
If you get frustrated or angry with a problem, maybe even quit trying, is that how you are going to handle problems on the job?
Do you fixate, obsess about the problem without moving forward, without seeking a solution? Do you complain about the problem repeatedly to anyone and everyone you meet?
Does the problem become so much a part of you that others start to see you as the problem?
"We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems." John W. Gardner
If you show that you can deal with, can seek solutions to the problems that come with unemployment and job change, you send a message to prospective employers about how you will handle problems on the job before you make them the employer's problems.
And that's a good thing.
We at JVS can help you with your problems.
Check us out at www.jvsdet.org.
And you can email me with your problems, questions, concerns and needs at wtarrow@jvsdet.org.
Walt
Monday, August 15, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
What Kind of a Job Getter Are You?
Are you a Job Seeker?
Or a Job Hunter?
How about a Job Developer?
Or are you a Job Settler, maybe even homebound?
If you are a Job Hunter, do you know your target? Know how to find your target, know how it thinks, and how to capture it. Are you properly equipped? Know how to attract your target, how to lure it to you. Is your resume, your application, your bait, appealing? And when your target is in range, are you equipped to spring the trap? Do you have a winning interview as one of your primary weapons? Are you prepared to camp out as long as it takes to make the capture?
If you are a Job Seeker, are you making contact with the right guides, those who can help you find your way? Are you setting up your scouts who are familiar with the natives within the uncharted territory of the companies where you want to work? Are you asking for directions? Are you open to exploring companies and opportunities without necessarily arriving at your job destination? Keep your eyes, ears and mind open to possibilities along the way to reveal new hidden treasure.
If you are a Job Developer, have you created mutually beneficial relationships with others? Are you making contacts first and foremost to offer your assets, your talents, your resources, your time and effort to be of help? Take care of your relationships to develop opportunities. Make it all about how you can be seen as a creator and connector. Plant seeds, nurture the relationships you have with others and tend to their growth. Your harvest will be much more fruitful.
Or are you a Job Settler waiting for the phone to ring with an offer for a job, any job? Are you willing to settle for whatever comes your way? Unfortunately, for Job Settlers, there is no home delivery for job offers. You have to go outside to get your next job. Once you get your job is the time for settling in. First you need to locate your employer and build your office home before you can settle in.
If you need help to be prepared for the job hunt, information about how and where to search for jobs, connections to develop job opportunities, contact us at JVS.
And you can always email me, call me or find me on LinkedIn.
Don't just settle, make it happen!
Walt
Or a Job Hunter?
How about a Job Developer?
Or are you a Job Settler, maybe even homebound?
If you are a Job Hunter, do you know your target? Know how to find your target, know how it thinks, and how to capture it. Are you properly equipped? Know how to attract your target, how to lure it to you. Is your resume, your application, your bait, appealing? And when your target is in range, are you equipped to spring the trap? Do you have a winning interview as one of your primary weapons? Are you prepared to camp out as long as it takes to make the capture?
If you are a Job Seeker, are you making contact with the right guides, those who can help you find your way? Are you setting up your scouts who are familiar with the natives within the uncharted territory of the companies where you want to work? Are you asking for directions? Are you open to exploring companies and opportunities without necessarily arriving at your job destination? Keep your eyes, ears and mind open to possibilities along the way to reveal new hidden treasure.
If you are a Job Developer, have you created mutually beneficial relationships with others? Are you making contacts first and foremost to offer your assets, your talents, your resources, your time and effort to be of help? Take care of your relationships to develop opportunities. Make it all about how you can be seen as a creator and connector. Plant seeds, nurture the relationships you have with others and tend to their growth. Your harvest will be much more fruitful.
Or are you a Job Settler waiting for the phone to ring with an offer for a job, any job? Are you willing to settle for whatever comes your way? Unfortunately, for Job Settlers, there is no home delivery for job offers. You have to go outside to get your next job. Once you get your job is the time for settling in. First you need to locate your employer and build your office home before you can settle in.
If you need help to be prepared for the job hunt, information about how and where to search for jobs, connections to develop job opportunities, contact us at JVS.
And you can always email me, call me or find me on LinkedIn.
Don't just settle, make it happen!
Walt
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Why You Do Not Get Responses to Your Applications
There are numerous factors that affect whether or not you get a response to your application/resume.
The most likely affecting factors, by far, are which filter keywords the screener uses and the number of applications/resumes submitted.
When dealing with large numbers of applications/resumes, savvy screeners will load the filters with numerous distinguishing and unique keywords to limit the results.
At the very least, applicants must have core keywords in their resumes or they will surely be passed over and get no responses to their applications.
On average, even with the right keywords and in the best of circumstances, you have less than a 20% chance of getting a response.
That means, if you do nothing other than submit an application/resume to a posted job opening, the very best response rate you can expect is one response out of five applications.
Usually, the response rate is more like 1% or 2%, one or two out of a hundred!
And response means nothing more than an overture, a request, for next contact or more information, not necessarily an offer for an interview.
Considering the odds, it is in your best interest to include as many of the right keywords as possible in your application/resume.
The first indication of which keywords are the right keywords is in the wording of the posting.
Identify words in the ad that are descriptors like job titles, equipment, specialized knowledge like software, credentials such as college degree or certifications, and particular industry or product or service experience. Try to include as many of those exact words in your application/resume.
So if they are asking for a Special Events Coordinator and you performed those duties under the title of Operations and Registration Manager, you do not have to change your previous job title. However, do make certain you put the words “special events” and “coordinator” somewhere in your application/resume, such as an objective or summary at the beginning of your information.
Secondly, you can discover keywords by browsing www.Indeed.com for the job titles and keywords of postings which you have already found to uncover additional like openings. Try putting those keywords into the Indeed search field without specifying a job location. That will open up the possibilities and give you many more keyword choices.
Also, you can visit www.careerinfonet.org, click on Occupation Information, then select Occupation Profile, and using your job title create a profile which includes knowledge, skills, abilities, job tasks, equipment used and more. Again, more keyword possibilities.
A list of 25 keywords usually is sufficient to penetrate the screen and get a response.
All this relates to the “automated” process of screening applications/resumes. And “automated” does mean a computer scan, but can also mean human eyes very quickly scanning for keywords.
Those responses you receive from a one step application process mean you got through the screen and usually little else.
Once you get a response, you should have feedback and more information about your chances for the interview, but before that it is nothing more than keywords.
If you are being told that you are over-qualified for the job, in their minds, you are. And over-qualified means you feel entitled to lots of money. And if you do not get lots of money, you will leave the first chance you get. And it does not matter if you argue this, their minds are made up. By the way, they are right most of the time.
Regarding openings for which you might be perceived as over-qualified, one tactic might be to state your qualifications and experience in terms that are more in line, a better fit, with the requirements of the job. If they require three to five years of experience, report just five years of those ten years of experience you have and nothing more. If they require a coordinator, do not present that you were an Operations and Registration Manager, but simply Operations and Registration without the Manager.
But, above all, make certain you are including the keywords that they are presenting in the posting.
Again, this is all about getting to the interview. Once you are in the interview, you may be directed, or elect, to open up more about specific experiences that would work to your advantage. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Let us help you find your keywords. Visit us at www.ParnossahWorksDetroit.org, click on Seminars/Events and sign up for one of our weekly meetings.
As always, you can reach me at wtarrow@jvsdet.org or 248.233.4231.
The most likely affecting factors, by far, are which filter keywords the screener uses and the number of applications/resumes submitted.
When dealing with large numbers of applications/resumes, savvy screeners will load the filters with numerous distinguishing and unique keywords to limit the results.
At the very least, applicants must have core keywords in their resumes or they will surely be passed over and get no responses to their applications.
On average, even with the right keywords and in the best of circumstances, you have less than a 20% chance of getting a response.
That means, if you do nothing other than submit an application/resume to a posted job opening, the very best response rate you can expect is one response out of five applications.
Usually, the response rate is more like 1% or 2%, one or two out of a hundred!
And response means nothing more than an overture, a request, for next contact or more information, not necessarily an offer for an interview.
Considering the odds, it is in your best interest to include as many of the right keywords as possible in your application/resume.
The first indication of which keywords are the right keywords is in the wording of the posting.
Identify words in the ad that are descriptors like job titles, equipment, specialized knowledge like software, credentials such as college degree or certifications, and particular industry or product or service experience. Try to include as many of those exact words in your application/resume.
So if they are asking for a Special Events Coordinator and you performed those duties under the title of Operations and Registration Manager, you do not have to change your previous job title. However, do make certain you put the words “special events” and “coordinator” somewhere in your application/resume, such as an objective or summary at the beginning of your information.
Secondly, you can discover keywords by browsing www.Indeed.com for the job titles and keywords of postings which you have already found to uncover additional like openings. Try putting those keywords into the Indeed search field without specifying a job location. That will open up the possibilities and give you many more keyword choices.
Also, you can visit www.careerinfonet.org, click on Occupation Information, then select Occupation Profile, and using your job title create a profile which includes knowledge, skills, abilities, job tasks, equipment used and more. Again, more keyword possibilities.
A list of 25 keywords usually is sufficient to penetrate the screen and get a response.
All this relates to the “automated” process of screening applications/resumes. And “automated” does mean a computer scan, but can also mean human eyes very quickly scanning for keywords.
Those responses you receive from a one step application process mean you got through the screen and usually little else.
Once you get a response, you should have feedback and more information about your chances for the interview, but before that it is nothing more than keywords.
If you are being told that you are over-qualified for the job, in their minds, you are. And over-qualified means you feel entitled to lots of money. And if you do not get lots of money, you will leave the first chance you get. And it does not matter if you argue this, their minds are made up. By the way, they are right most of the time.
Regarding openings for which you might be perceived as over-qualified, one tactic might be to state your qualifications and experience in terms that are more in line, a better fit, with the requirements of the job. If they require three to five years of experience, report just five years of those ten years of experience you have and nothing more. If they require a coordinator, do not present that you were an Operations and Registration Manager, but simply Operations and Registration without the Manager.
But, above all, make certain you are including the keywords that they are presenting in the posting.
Again, this is all about getting to the interview. Once you are in the interview, you may be directed, or elect, to open up more about specific experiences that would work to your advantage. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Let us help you find your keywords. Visit us at www.ParnossahWorksDetroit.org, click on Seminars/Events and sign up for one of our weekly meetings.
As always, you can reach me at wtarrow@jvsdet.org or 248.233.4231.
Friday, July 8, 2011
A Rule
Make it easy for others to help you.
Yep, that's it.
Nothing more.
If you are unemployed and need to find another job, you need other people to help you in a countless variety of ways.
Searching for your next employer is a team sport.
So you need to assemble your team. But your team needs to know what to do and have the right equipment, knowledge and skills to help you succeed.
You have to give others direction, the more precise, the more detailed, the better.
You have to share your goal, your objectives, your plan, your progress with your team. Share with them what you have done and what you plan on doing on a regular basis. Let them know where you have applied, where you plan to apply and with whom you would like to connect.
All these pieces are what will equip your team to be able to help you. And your activity, your efforts and your initiative will motivate them to keep on helping until you reach your goal.
If you wait for something to happen, you will keep your team waiting and they will not wait for very long, if at all.
If you depend entirely on your team to make it happen, then you are showing them that you are not ready, not willing or even able to help them help you.
When you do not share with others what you have been doing in your job search, to them it is the same as doing nothing.
Even if you are very active, without keeping your team informed, naturally they will assume you are doing nothing. And then they will do nothing in return.
And do not ask of others what you can do yourself. The more you do yourself, along with the more detailed direction you can provide, the easier you can make it for others to help and the more likely you will get the help you need.
And do not forget to offer and give help to those who help you.
By the way, if you limit the information you give to employers about your qualifications, experience and education to just applications and resumes, then you make it harder for employers to learn about you. And chances are they will be in contact with other applicants -- not you.
Make it easier for them to select you for the interview. Make other and more direct contacts like in person visits and referrals from your connections. LinkedIn and Facebook are used by 95% of employers because those sources are quick and easy ways for companies to learn more about applicants of interest.
If you are not using these online resources, what else are you doing to help the employer learn more about you?
Make it easy for others to help you.
Make it easy for JVS to help and take the first step.
Visit our website, www.jvsdet.org for more information.
And you can always contact me, Walt Tarrow, via email, wtarrow@jvsdet.org, on LinkedIn, and by phone at 248.233.4231.
Yep, that's it.
Nothing more.
If you are unemployed and need to find another job, you need other people to help you in a countless variety of ways.
Searching for your next employer is a team sport.
So you need to assemble your team. But your team needs to know what to do and have the right equipment, knowledge and skills to help you succeed.
You have to give others direction, the more precise, the more detailed, the better.
You have to share your goal, your objectives, your plan, your progress with your team. Share with them what you have done and what you plan on doing on a regular basis. Let them know where you have applied, where you plan to apply and with whom you would like to connect.
All these pieces are what will equip your team to be able to help you. And your activity, your efforts and your initiative will motivate them to keep on helping until you reach your goal.
If you wait for something to happen, you will keep your team waiting and they will not wait for very long, if at all.
If you depend entirely on your team to make it happen, then you are showing them that you are not ready, not willing or even able to help them help you.
When you do not share with others what you have been doing in your job search, to them it is the same as doing nothing.
Even if you are very active, without keeping your team informed, naturally they will assume you are doing nothing. And then they will do nothing in return.
And do not ask of others what you can do yourself. The more you do yourself, along with the more detailed direction you can provide, the easier you can make it for others to help and the more likely you will get the help you need.
And do not forget to offer and give help to those who help you.
By the way, if you limit the information you give to employers about your qualifications, experience and education to just applications and resumes, then you make it harder for employers to learn about you. And chances are they will be in contact with other applicants -- not you.
Make it easier for them to select you for the interview. Make other and more direct contacts like in person visits and referrals from your connections. LinkedIn and Facebook are used by 95% of employers because those sources are quick and easy ways for companies to learn more about applicants of interest.
If you are not using these online resources, what else are you doing to help the employer learn more about you?
Make it easy for others to help you.
Make it easy for JVS to help and take the first step.
Visit our website, www.jvsdet.org for more information.
And you can always contact me, Walt Tarrow, via email, wtarrow@jvsdet.org, on LinkedIn, and by phone at 248.233.4231.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Storms Make Oaks Take Deeper Root
So says George Herbert...
Leaving a job is often a very traumatic experience even when the choice to leave is yours.
After years of being a member of a work group, being an important and accepted part of a work family, you are leaving home.
If you have been told to leave, the hurt can go very deep. No matter how unavoidable the layoff, no matter if the company had to close its doors, or no matter how generous and gentle the severance package, it still is painful.
BUT just because you have left a job, it does not mean you have lost all, or even any, of what you have gained, of what you have become.
You acquired experience, knowledge, skills and more in the time you spent with the company. You changed and developed talents and gifts that will be yours to keep forever.
You may have left a company, but you have not lost who you are and what value you can add to another company. You now have the opportunity to find your next workplace home -- a workplace that will appreciate what you have to offer and reward you with new relationships, new opportunities and greater possibilities for your new future.
First and foremost, you have not become just another job seeker.
To many employers, you are a highly valued resource provider.
Start with identifying the talents, the special gifts, you have that represent high value to the employer market. What can you do, and do well, that is most desired?
Learn how to communicate and present yourself as a value proposition to your next workplace home. How can you act best to send the right messages? Who do you know that can help you get out those words about you?
We can help with that at JVS.
Go to www.jvsdet.org for more info or contact me.
Walt Tarrow
wtarrow@jvsdet.org
248.233.4231
Leaving a job is often a very traumatic experience even when the choice to leave is yours.
After years of being a member of a work group, being an important and accepted part of a work family, you are leaving home.
If you have been told to leave, the hurt can go very deep. No matter how unavoidable the layoff, no matter if the company had to close its doors, or no matter how generous and gentle the severance package, it still is painful.
BUT just because you have left a job, it does not mean you have lost all, or even any, of what you have gained, of what you have become.
You acquired experience, knowledge, skills and more in the time you spent with the company. You changed and developed talents and gifts that will be yours to keep forever.
You may have left a company, but you have not lost who you are and what value you can add to another company. You now have the opportunity to find your next workplace home -- a workplace that will appreciate what you have to offer and reward you with new relationships, new opportunities and greater possibilities for your new future.
First and foremost, you have not become just another job seeker.
To many employers, you are a highly valued resource provider.
Start with identifying the talents, the special gifts, you have that represent high value to the employer market. What can you do, and do well, that is most desired?
Learn how to communicate and present yourself as a value proposition to your next workplace home. How can you act best to send the right messages? Who do you know that can help you get out those words about you?
We can help with that at JVS.
Go to www.jvsdet.org for more info or contact me.
Walt Tarrow
wtarrow@jvsdet.org
248.233.4231
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Lonely Resume
Is your resume without any friends?
Do you send out or post resume after resume and get no responses?
When employers are having their hiring party, is your resume, your application, standing all alone in the corner? Or maybe you could not even get in the door...
Take a closer look at your resume.
Better yet, take a really close look at the people at the hiring party.
What did they ask for on the invitation? What types of people did they invite to the party?
What type of person did they describe in the job posting?
Does your RSVP to the party, your response to the posting, your resume, your application, read like, sound like, look like the kind of person they described in the invitation, the posting?
Or are you just anybody, just anybody looking for a party, any party, to crash?
If you do not present, communicate, that you are one of the invitees, one of the persons who meets their basic qualifications for a welcome party goer, why would they let you in, let alone want to party with you, or even talk to you?
Anyone who is looking for anything, any type of job, is a party crasher. Even if you have the potential to be a productive, successful and valuable employee, without making that clear up front, you are likely to be ignored. Employers will not spend the time with a stranger outside the door trying to figure out if it is okay to let you in.
If you think you would spend the time with that stranger, keep that in mind the next time a door to door salesman visits your home. At least that salesman has a pitch that might be of interest. Do you have anything of interest to say to anyone at the employer's hiring party?
At the least, match your resume as much as possible with the same keywords and related experience and education as stated in the job posting. If you don't show even that much interest in, that much consideration for, the employer, your resume will always be kept outside and never allowed into the party.
A resume in search of anything, any job, is a lonely resume.
Don't let your resume be that resume.
Get in touch and stay in touch with us at JVS and let us help you join the party.
Our main website is www.jvsdet.org.
Our job posting site is www.parnossahworksdetroit.org.
And you can reach me by email at wtarrow@jvsdet.org
Get Real and Get Noticed!
Do you send out or post resume after resume and get no responses?
When employers are having their hiring party, is your resume, your application, standing all alone in the corner? Or maybe you could not even get in the door...
Take a closer look at your resume.
Better yet, take a really close look at the people at the hiring party.
What did they ask for on the invitation? What types of people did they invite to the party?
What type of person did they describe in the job posting?
Does your RSVP to the party, your response to the posting, your resume, your application, read like, sound like, look like the kind of person they described in the invitation, the posting?
Or are you just anybody, just anybody looking for a party, any party, to crash?
If you do not present, communicate, that you are one of the invitees, one of the persons who meets their basic qualifications for a welcome party goer, why would they let you in, let alone want to party with you, or even talk to you?
Anyone who is looking for anything, any type of job, is a party crasher. Even if you have the potential to be a productive, successful and valuable employee, without making that clear up front, you are likely to be ignored. Employers will not spend the time with a stranger outside the door trying to figure out if it is okay to let you in.
If you think you would spend the time with that stranger, keep that in mind the next time a door to door salesman visits your home. At least that salesman has a pitch that might be of interest. Do you have anything of interest to say to anyone at the employer's hiring party?
At the least, match your resume as much as possible with the same keywords and related experience and education as stated in the job posting. If you don't show even that much interest in, that much consideration for, the employer, your resume will always be kept outside and never allowed into the party.
A resume in search of anything, any job, is a lonely resume.
Don't let your resume be that resume.
Get in touch and stay in touch with us at JVS and let us help you join the party.
Our main website is www.jvsdet.org.
Our job posting site is www.parnossahworksdetroit.org.
And you can reach me by email at wtarrow@jvsdet.org
Get Real and Get Noticed!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Lookin' For a Job Ain't What It Used To Be
"Everybody is for progress, but nobody wants change." Will Rogers
It seems that looking for a job has become so very, very hard and so very, very discouraging.
This "tough economy" has high unemployment and fewer jobs.
But I just searched on Indeed.com for jobs near my office and came up with 2,680 job leads for the city of Southfield, MI alone.
No doubt the economy has affected job search; but what is really at work here and now?
First and, by far, foremost, the process and mechanics of the job search have changed ginormously.
The use of computers and the Internet as primary, if not exclusive, tools for employers and recruiters looking for qualified candidates has had the greatest impact on the job search of today.
And very often not in a good way.
It has become very quick and easy for job seekers to apply to many jobs. Just a click of the mouse and you can send out thousands of resumes. And all from the convenience of your home or your local library.
One study revealed that 97% of applicants to a variety of positions did not meet the minimum requirements for the job!
That means the employer has to dig through the haystack of all those applications and resumes to find the needle of 3%.
No wonder, on many occasions, employers will opt out of the resume mountain in favor of the personal, word of mouth, molehill.
More and more businesses are paying their employees bonuses for personal applicant referrals. In some cases, bonuses of several thousand dollars.
And that's the good news.
If you can make the personal connection with an insider or key person within the company, you increase your chances of a job offer immensely.
Maybe your job search starts in cyberspace, but it really works when you are face to face.
If you need help in making those up close and personal connections, get in touch with me and the employment services at JVS.
Walt Tarrow, wtarrow@jvsdet.org
www.jvsdet.org
JVS Job Posting Site at www.ParnossahWorksDetroit.org
It seems that looking for a job has become so very, very hard and so very, very discouraging.
This "tough economy" has high unemployment and fewer jobs.
But I just searched on Indeed.com for jobs near my office and came up with 2,680 job leads for the city of Southfield, MI alone.
No doubt the economy has affected job search; but what is really at work here and now?
First and, by far, foremost, the process and mechanics of the job search have changed ginormously.
The use of computers and the Internet as primary, if not exclusive, tools for employers and recruiters looking for qualified candidates has had the greatest impact on the job search of today.
And very often not in a good way.
It has become very quick and easy for job seekers to apply to many jobs. Just a click of the mouse and you can send out thousands of resumes. And all from the convenience of your home or your local library.
One study revealed that 97% of applicants to a variety of positions did not meet the minimum requirements for the job!
That means the employer has to dig through the haystack of all those applications and resumes to find the needle of 3%.
No wonder, on many occasions, employers will opt out of the resume mountain in favor of the personal, word of mouth, molehill.
More and more businesses are paying their employees bonuses for personal applicant referrals. In some cases, bonuses of several thousand dollars.
And that's the good news.
If you can make the personal connection with an insider or key person within the company, you increase your chances of a job offer immensely.
Maybe your job search starts in cyberspace, but it really works when you are face to face.
If you need help in making those up close and personal connections, get in touch with me and the employment services at JVS.
Walt Tarrow, wtarrow@jvsdet.org
www.jvsdet.org
JVS Job Posting Site at www.ParnossahWorksDetroit.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)