Job Interviews: what they are and are not

This post from the Metropolitan New York Library Council describes job interviews and does a great job of reminding us what they are and are not. The advice is applicable for all, and stresses early on the importance of preparing (i.e. doing the research as I have described many times.)

I can certainly attest to how I knew the things written here, but also have fallen into the traps they describe many times. I encourage anyone who is getting stressed out and/or burned out with interviewing to read this article then take a moment to reset. Getting interviews are great, but it is only a step in the process.

Good luck!

Jobs outlook for 2013

CNN and Money Magazine have a this wonderful piece about the jobs outlook for 2013, which is in their series about Making More in 2013. While predictions like this are never guaranteed it looks like things will be improving for hiring and working conditions in 2013.

I encourage those both looking for employment and looking to improve their employment situation to read this piece. Then keep in mind both my advice and the advice of those I direct you to on employment trends to be aware of and preparing for the job search/interview.

I would love to hear from those who have good experiences in late  2012 and 2013.
Good Luck!

Job applicant experience can effect business!

Alice Diamond is a career counselor at an academic institution. Her piece for Career Convergence Magazine discusses how the applicant experience can effect a business. She uses some generalities that I think we can all identify with. Interviewing and not hearing for weeks if ever are unfortunately things that many if not all job searchers can understand.

I have tried to avoid boring you the reader with too many personal stories of my job searches, so I'll just say that all of the situations she used as examples are ones that I have experienced or were experienced by someone I know closely.

What I wanted to talk about in more depth were the things she shared about how these experiences can effect the hiring company, and more importantly what we as job seekers can do about it.

First if the situation was really bad, vote with your wallet. Tell family and friends about the bad experience and if the company provides services that you consume then consume accordingly. But if the experience was not so egregious that you must take to the streets so to speak... her tips offer some interesting options.

As I have discussed in several of my posts about employment trends, the job search process is changing. The nature of work is changing as well. In this new environment providing feedback either directly or indirectly is a vital piece of business. Keep that in mind during your next interview.

Age of the Freelancer

Gary Stern writing last week for Fortune Magazine talked about the Age of the Freelancer. As he notes this is not a new phenomena, but it is seeing a resurgence of late. In September a survey taken of over 300 freelance workers found that 57% saw an increase in income during 2012.

I have talked about the changing landscape of work in past posts. As Mr. Stern points out this is not a new trend. What it signals is the end of the traditional career of staying put for 30+ years. The benefits for the employer are just too great for them to continue to hire primarily full time salaried employees and remain competitive globally.

I see this as a sad trend, but one that may be impossible to avoid. My greatest concern is that even if employers raise salaries enough to equate to what a worker was receiving in salary and benefits in the past (health, disability, retirement, etc.) will employees remain disciplined enough to go out into the free market and invest those extra dollars wisely? For most the health coverage will remain essential and as the nation settles into life with the Affordable Care Act it should become easier and more affordable to purchase this coverage as an individual. The bigger concern will be retirement. Currently the trend that is seeing modest positive gains is to automatically enroll an employee into a 401K or similar plan offered through the employer.

As Social Security and Medicare begin to loose footing, and more workers are not seeing these benefits from employers will we be self-disciplined enough? I hope for the best and fear for the worst.

Thoughts?

Are you shooting yourself in the foot?

About two weeks ago J.T. O'Donnell wrote this piece for LinkedIn about job seekers taking advice from the wrong person.  Ms. O'Donnell is the CEO of CAREEREALISM a career coaching site on the web. In this article she sites a study by the non-profit Career Advisory Board that found that 58% of job seekers are not seeking professional advice, instead they are looknig for work on their own. She then links to a story she wrote about her own experience when she did this as well.

Now as the CEO of CAREEREALISM she has a vested interest in all of us job seekers using professional services for help in our searches. If we all did her company would get some portion of that business, a.k.a. her bottom line would improve. But I don't want to sound too negative, the advice is still sound... just consider all the professionals out there.

1) The workforce development office in your community (or whatever the name may be)
2) The career services at any college you attended
3) Professionals companies like the one MS. O'Donnell founded.
4) Librarians

Now the first three will make sense to all of us, but the last may take a bit of explaining... I have worked with the career service units at several colleges I have worked at. In every case I have heard the anecdotal evidence that they receive from employers: '...the students are academically smart/qualified, but they don't know about my company/industry...'

I have paraphrased here, but the sentiment has been expressed to me and others I have worked with many times. This is actually one of the reasons I started this blog, to try and write about ways the average job seeker can improve their research skills to improve their knowledge about the companies/industries they want to work for/in. With this increased knowledge it is easier to tailor your resume and cover letter to the job. This then increases the chances of getting the interview. Once you have the interview you can conduct additional research to find more information that will strengthen your answers to the interview questions.

For all these reasons I believe that most librarians can be a valuable source for helping the job seeker understand how to conduct quality research. My posts about research tips are a great place to start, but actually seeing them in action and having someone to walk you through the use of the tools can be invaluable.

Almost everybody in should live near a public library, and as I pointed out here 49 of 50 states have programs to either purchase these tools for all their citizens or help the libraries purchase the tools. My biggest caveat is that depending on the public library they may not make the connections I have made in my career. If you go in asking for job related help you may get pointed to job ads, or local resources for finding jobs. But if you ask them to teach you how to effectively search their databases to find information you can then apply that skill for any need, career related or otherwise.

Good luck, and let me know how it turns out.

Does your career Zig or Zag?

This piece (Does your Career Zig or Zag?) by Caroline Dowd-Higgins discusses the trend of more frequent career and/or company changes. She dubs this trend as becoming a zig zagger. It describes a phenomena I have highlighted before of the changing employment landscape. That is that the days of hiring into a company young and working for that company for a 30+ year career are over.  Several of the tips Ms. Dowd-Higgins suggests fall in line with the mantra of this blog: you need to be prepared with knowledge of the company before interviewing to help present yourself and your skills in the best light.

Even though we are moving away from the era where several jobs in several years is a red-flag, companies will still be looking for the potential to benefit from hiring you. Therefore you need to know as much about them as possible to help present your skills. This is especially true if you are coming from another industry. It is then up to you to present the skills you have acquired as transferable to their industry/business.

Dealing with long term unemployment

The Employable is an online community that seeks to fill the void for job seekers. This piece offers advice for dealing with long term unemployment. For the most part the advice in this piece are not radical, and things I have linked to in the past provide similar advice. My primary motivation to highlight this piece was the community itself. I like the idea on an online community with such a positive focus on this particular problem.

Hopefully it will be helpful for anyone out there that was unaware of it, and in this situation.