Blog entries November 2009
11/20/2009Taking & Leaving a Job in Our Tough Economy
Why Take A Job - Smart professionals know that the only true job security lies in their accumulating those credentials and experiences that the greatest number of employers will desire in the future. The more diverse credentials portfolio will be assigned greater the value for the prospective employee who has wisely sought and accepted a job offer based on adding to his portfolio. Based on this portfolio each candidate actually has a blue book value. But unlike automobiles, we can strategically increase out blue book value by the choices we make.
Along with job satisfaction and compensation, each day we go to work should advance our ability to increase that blue book value in the next search, whether forced or by choice. My sales representatives offer classic examples. He who progresses from selling pharmaceuticals to biotech or medical devices stands to his triple earnings by changing nothing more than product areas. However, industrial product and equipment sales folks, who also perform the sales function, normally have no such opportunities unless they go into management. A mere differential in which business path a sales rep travels can be life and life-style determining. An equally valid point can be made in the fact that when the going gets tough the tough hang in because they know they took the job with that blue book in mind and see the value of sustaining another 24 months even if they don't like the new boss or their territory has been reduced.
Why Leave A Job - Not withstanding those who have been downsized or terminated, far too often the reasons for wanting to leave a job resemble those most mentioned when wanting to leave the playground, unfair play. While often valid, candidates need to remember that every company is a schoolyard and they really don't differ that much. They all come well-equipped with bullies, benevolent allies, ruthless competitors and even dirty fighters. Thus, the guy in the next cubicle should never be the reason to bail. In fact as a rule, logic is always sounder than emotional reaction when one makes the decision to sever employment. For example, leaving sooner than two years with a company invalidates whatever additional gems you are attempting to add to your portfolio and raises the question of short term job experience. Resigning before you have another job, the worst of all emotionally-based decisions, places you in the ranks of the unemployed which tends to lower a candidate's perceived appeal and allows a less-than-pleased employer to be called for a reference. And finally, if you have no rationale other than restlessness you have no basis upon which to judge the benefits of the next opportunity.
The more realistic we are in career planning the better decisions we will make. There is no dream job and thoughts of forever have been dashed by statistics. The more we know about why we take a job, the better we will be able to live with its imperfections. With that portfolio and blue book value in the forefront, we will then be better able to determine the boundaries within which we are willing to exist when it's time to make a move.
Janice Worthington
11/12/2009Join Us For a Webinar on Thursday, December 3rd!
You have been applying for months and have received little to no response from employers as to why you haven't been offered a position. Are you overqualified, under qualified; is it your resume or cover letter? Get your questions answered by Career Coach Janice Worthington in next month's webinar.
Title: Why Haven't You Been Hired Yet? - Mistakes made in 2009
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements PC-based attendees
Required: Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh-based attendees
Required: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/374864304
Janice Worthington
11/10/2009Recognizing Job Search Predators
Scammers prey on the unprepared and have always seen fertile prospects in the suddenly unemployed. Prior to the anonymity of the Internet there was a bit more transparency in the selection of a potential employer or employment service. Today panicked and uninformed job seekers, especially executives are depending on opportunities and services who offer no more than a PO Box.
Specifically here are some red flags:
Landing that federal job: The federal government job market is one of the few that offers significant opportunities in this market downturn. Web sites that promise, for a fee, to give you the inside scoop on how to get a Federal or Postal Service job can appear very official. They are likely to use a government-like name, such as the "U.S. Service for Careers" or the "Postal Employment Clearing House" with dated publications, they may not have access to the most current federal jobs and cannot monitor the ever-changing status' of opportunities in all geographic areas. Other red flags include making other false claims about "undisclosed" opportunities in the federal government or assurance that you will receive a high score on an entrance examination. All federal government positions are publicly announced and federal agencies never charge application fees or guarantee that an applicant will be hired.
Career Services - Plain and simple, conduct due diligence on any career professional you hire. Seek to hear the voices of past clients and find out where companies are based. Beware of exorbitant fees and question the credentials of individuals whose pricing is too good to be true. One practice actually charges over $10,000 just to call companies and make phone introductions for you. And credentialed writers spend hours rebuilding ineffective resumes from templates purchased online at bargain prices. You wouldn't order contact lenses without seeing a doc would you? Unless a practitioner is controlling your job search beware of guarantees beyond customer satisfaction. There is no hidden job market with special openings so don't be lured by bait, switch and an invoice! If you're market value is $90,000, hiring a career coach will not increase your value toward an $180,000 offer. If the resume is not getting in front of employers or you're not invited back for a second you are no where close to a job offer. A good coach can teach you to outcompete in all these categories. But even with a coach the journey is laborious but fruitful if conducted properly.
What can you do to avoid being scammed? The FBI recommends you practice safe surfing by taking the following steps:
NEVER provide a potential employer with your bank account or credit card information, a scan of your driver's license or other ID, or a detailed physical description of yourself. That's just asking for trouble.
NEVER pay upfront for a job offer (they're supposed to be paying you!) and never forward, transfer, or wire money to a prospective employer.
BE WARY of job listings with misspellings, grammatical mistakes, and terms such as "money transfers," "wiring funds," "package-forwarding," and "import/export specialist." Those are big clues that something is amiss.
Janice Worthington
11/03/2009Resume Remedies
No one needs to be reminded how little control we have over our lives...especially our work lives. Your career can be thrown totally off-track by a corporate merger, a new boss or brick and mortar relocation. In our small stature as individuals, we can't prevent war, we can't stop world hunger, we can't even influence our daughter's boyfriend selections. So how can we begin to control our job search? By assuring we have an out-performing resume. The impression we present to the world is actually within our control so why don't we control it and increase out odds of success? The reasons are intriguing.
We continue adopt a philosophy of entitlement. This is an amazing phenomenon that while we as Americans are often accused of I can testify that this is a global misconception. We qualify, therefore we are entitled. We paid the price of the MBA, we gave 20 years to the last employer, we traveled, we relocated, we learned Java Script and we increased sales. Therefore when we apply we are entitled to a job offer. It's absolute pure logic. With this thinking of entitlement how can we possibly be passed over without even an invitation to interview? Perhaps because we are among many others who are equally or more qualified? Perhaps we are unaware of the competitive climate due to the sheer numbers of available candidates? Without question!
We do not realize or we are in denial that because the economic climate has changed the job search game has changed. Every second person that comes into my office can barely look me in the eyes as they explain, "I've never needed a resume before." What they're really saying is they've never needed any help before. They expected their very presence to open doors much like they do at the mall with the touch of a toe on the black magnetic floor
matt. They are threatened with the reality that their value has diminished because the ease of entry into a company for a mere chat has seemingly become impossible. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We do not realize the importance of the resume. Some where in some classroom we were taught that if the employer wants to know more about you, he will invite you in to find out what your "sneak preview" didn't express. Resume practitioners know better, promise a competitive edge and tend to deliver. But the ability to successfully craft a resume that actually surpasses mere vocabulary, sharp graphics or elegant paper lies in one word...strategy. A strong resume has a well-thought out strategy, specifically based on the best message any one candidate can deliver to drive an employer to action. A good resume is not a list of where you worked, what you did or even what you did well. It is a document meant to send a message of strong future performance based on indicators of expertise and meaningful scenarios. Most candidates with whom I meet are failing because they either don't know or can't accept the fact that they have to outperform. One of the two biggest causes of job search failure is an inferior resume. I know superb executives who will never be granted interviews based on the poor resumes that precede them.
Janice Worthington