29 December, 2011
Interview Red Flags
I have heard many career specialists in the academic setting advising students that the interview is a two way process. I have also read many career advice pieces about how you the job candidate are interviewing the organization as much as they are interviewing you. This is just the latest example of such a piece about Interview Red Flags. The posts author, Joe Hardenbrook, is an academic librarian so the piece is written for librarians during their career search. I feel however that it is relevant advice for anyone interviewing. Just replace library with the type of company/business you may be interviewing with and you should find the advice relevant.
23 December, 2011
company research
At my last full time job as an academic librarian I visited about forty classes per semester. These were usually 20 - 30 minute lectures on performing some aspect of company research and which of the library's electronic resources would be the best fits for the assignment. We usually focused on what we termed the business triangle (see image below) and how the information they needed would most often come from three distinct sources.
About a year after I started this job, we began exploring collaboration with the career service office on campus. It turns out that the skills we were teaching the business students for performing their academic research was very similar to the skills that the students were not properly employing to prepare for job searching and interview prep. We began working with the staff in the career services office to teach these same skills to students both before and after career fairs, in hopes that they would be better prepared for the interviews. Going to a company's website is important, but should not be the only source of information to help prep you for your interview.
All of this was happening at a larger university with a very large collection of electronic resources for the students and faculty... but much of it can be duplicated by people who may not have access to such institutions. It is my intent to spend the next few weeks blogging about ways to gain access to this quality information from resources that are freely available to many through other means.
Most public libraries purchase electronic resources for the use of the residents of their community. While the number of resources would not compare, the variety of information is typically comparable. Additionally I have identified 20 states so far that make a suite of resources available to all residents of that state. When I have finished complying the list I will share it with additional tips.
States identified so far:
BTW if you live in a state not listed that you know has a similar suite of resources please send me a comment.
All of this was happening at a larger university with a very large collection of electronic resources for the students and faculty... but much of it can be duplicated by people who may not have access to such institutions. It is my intent to spend the next few weeks blogging about ways to gain access to this quality information from resources that are freely available to many through other means.
Most public libraries purchase electronic resources for the use of the residents of their community. While the number of resources would not compare, the variety of information is typically comparable. Additionally I have identified 20 states so far that make a suite of resources available to all residents of that state. When I have finished complying the list I will share it with additional tips.
States identified so far:
AR | IN | MT | PA |
CA | KS | ND | TX |
GA | MA | NJ | UT |
HI | MI | NM | VA |
IL | MS | OH | WA |
BTW if you live in a state not listed that you know has a similar suite of resources please send me a comment.
16 December, 2011
"CrossRoads - Stop Being Creative in Your Job Search" - are you serious?
A little over a month ago a message was posted to one of the LinkedIn groups I follow. It directed us to this article(Stop Being Creative in Your Job Search) at CrossRoads, a blog on the NetTemps site. The article is written by Kevin Donlin, the Co-Director of Guerrilla Job Search International.
I both agree and disagree with many points in this article. First he is correct that if you have been searching for a long period of time you need to evaluate what you have been doing and begin to tweak this process. My biggest caution to job seekers would be that in his step 2, he mentions that if emailing the resume is not working then mail, fax, hand deliver. I would just remind the searcher that following the posted instructions of the employer is possible the most important of the job search.
With most employers receiving hundreds (if not thousands) of applications for each opening, they will use any reason possible to weed out these applications. Remember that the number of unemployed Americans, 13.9 million, for a very narrow definition of unemployed is far higher that the number of job openings: 3.1 million. While these numbers are also about a month old, the trend has been holding for the better part of a year. For the employer a legal and easy way to reduce the amount of work of reviewing these applications is to throw out any that don't meet all the requirements or who didn't follow the directions.
Moral: Be innovative, and review your search process for ways to improve your job search. Just don't break a cardinal rule and let that innovation cause you to skip or ignore instructions of the employer.
I both agree and disagree with many points in this article. First he is correct that if you have been searching for a long period of time you need to evaluate what you have been doing and begin to tweak this process. My biggest caution to job seekers would be that in his step 2, he mentions that if emailing the resume is not working then mail, fax, hand deliver. I would just remind the searcher that following the posted instructions of the employer is possible the most important of the job search.
With most employers receiving hundreds (if not thousands) of applications for each opening, they will use any reason possible to weed out these applications. Remember that the number of unemployed Americans, 13.9 million, for a very narrow definition of unemployed is far higher that the number of job openings: 3.1 million. While these numbers are also about a month old, the trend has been holding for the better part of a year. For the employer a legal and easy way to reduce the amount of work of reviewing these applications is to throw out any that don't meet all the requirements or who didn't follow the directions.
Moral: Be innovative, and review your search process for ways to improve your job search. Just don't break a cardinal rule and let that innovation cause you to skip or ignore instructions of the employer.
15 December, 2011
Career One Stop
Resource: Career One Stop
Type: This is a true portal site. With sections on exploring careers, writing resumes, preparing for interviews, salary and benefits and much more.
Review: Most of the data and information comes from governmental sources, both federal and state. The searching and browsing functions are good, and the depth of information is very good. If a new user did not know the type of career they are interested in, then it can be a bit overwhelming, but if you have already zeroed in on a career path this site is a great wealth of information about that career. If you are in the first group you should start with the Career Exploration section. If you are in the second group then you will want to start by looking in the upper right for the more resources link and the America's Career InfoNet. The main sponsor of this tool is the U.S. Department of Labor.
Type: This is a true portal site. With sections on exploring careers, writing resumes, preparing for interviews, salary and benefits and much more.
Review: Most of the data and information comes from governmental sources, both federal and state. The searching and browsing functions are good, and the depth of information is very good. If a new user did not know the type of career they are interested in, then it can be a bit overwhelming, but if you have already zeroed in on a career path this site is a great wealth of information about that career. If you are in the first group you should start with the Career Exploration section. If you are in the second group then you will want to start by looking in the upper right for the more resources link and the America's Career InfoNet. The main sponsor of this tool is the U.S. Department of Labor.
12 December, 2011
What to be when you grow up: QC
Resource: QuintessentialCareers.com
Type: A portal site organizing free career related web resources, including some exclusive content.
Review: This site claims to be the best, though it is hard to review everything and objectively compare it to The Riley Guide and others in this category. It does have some important categories that were missing from other sites. Namely career assessment tools and exploration resources. If you truly don't know what type of job you might be interested in, these can be very helpful.
Type: A portal site organizing free career related web resources, including some exclusive content.
Review: This site claims to be the best, though it is hard to review everything and objectively compare it to The Riley Guide and others in this category. It does have some important categories that were missing from other sites. Namely career assessment tools and exploration resources. If you truly don't know what type of job you might be interested in, these can be very helpful.
11 December, 2011
Career Guide to Industries (CGI)
Resource: Career Guide to Industries (CGI)
Type: The online version of a Bureau of Labor Statistics print resource. This resource provides detailed information about the various careers broader industries (Educational Services - teacher, counselor, administrator, etc.)
Review: This governmental resource has been in print for years, and enjoys a resurgence in the digital age. For dozens of different kinds of industries—such as educational services, healthcare, and motor vehicle and parts manufacturing—the Career Guide to Industries tells you about:
Type: The online version of a Bureau of Labor Statistics print resource. This resource provides detailed information about the various careers broader industries (Educational Services - teacher, counselor, administrator, etc.)
Review: This governmental resource has been in print for years, and enjoys a resurgence in the digital age. For dozens of different kinds of industries—such as educational services, healthcare, and motor vehicle and parts manufacturing—the Career Guide to Industries tells you about:
- Occupations in the industry
- Training and advancement
- Earnings
- Expected job prospects
- Working conditions
10 December, 2011
Money Stress and Health
In this article from DailyFinance, Bruce Watson details how Dr. Travis Stork of 'The Doctors' feels that money problems can affect health. It is not just a matter of putting off doctors visits and prescription drugs. Cutting back on healthy eating and the gym membership as well as increase stress levels can be issues as well. Have long periods of unemployment had a negative affect on your health?
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