One place where many people fail at work is in maintaining a professional distance between them and colleagues.This is primarily a problem for young and inexperienced workers because they are not used to being in a business environment. This can be especially problematic for those looking for a new job. It’s normal to look to those you work with for friendship. By working at the same company you already have many common interests and expectations. You know the same people and likely work on the same projects. The problem is that very often your coworkers are also competing with you for promotions, bonuses, and even a job in the event of layoffs or cutbacks. There is a natural competition that goes on in a work environment to be the best and to be the one that gets the promotions. If you have been overly liberal in complaints, for example, the person you were speaking with just might use that as a means to get ahead at work. It’s better to save your complaints for non-work friends. It’s especially advisable to maintain a professional distance when you are looking for a new job. More than one person has made the mistake of letting those at work know he was looking for something better only to find out that the boss was not happy to hear about it. Worst case scenario is that this can cause you to lose the job you already have before you find a new one. While networking is important in your job search, keep those you work with, even your friends, in the dark about this.
You Prepared for the Interview…Did you Prepare your References?
A great resume and fantastic cover letter will get you an interview. What happens from there has a lot to do with you, and if you nail the interview, then you need to be sure that the final factor in the job search process – your references – are prepared to help you seal the deal.
It used to be standard to put “references on request” on your resume. This had essentially become the norm, but because most employers aren’t really interested in your references until after they’ve met you, you no longer need that line on your resume. But…you do need to ensure your reference list is prepared and ready to hand over to a potential employer during the interview. .
Here is how hiring generally works: The company goes through and picks out a handful of candidates to interview. This is where your outstanding resume and cover letter are so important because it’s all they have to work with at this point. Once your resume is selected, you are scheduled for an interview. It’s after the initial interview that employers begin to check references. What happens here can be the difference between a second interview (or if you really blew them away, an offer) and being removed from consideration.
You not only want to have a list of references ready, but you want the right kind of people on that list. Exclude your mother, doctor, and 3rd grade teacher. What the employer wants are past professional contacts. People who know your work ethic and can speak professionally about your skills and expertise. If you are a recent graduate, you might need to look at the supervisor of your internship or volunteer work. In a pinch, if you have nothing else, check and see if a professor will consent to be a reference.
Always ask the person for permission before using them as a reference. You are not generally required to request the permission of your last boss or supervisor, but it’s a classy touch that can help when they get the call. If possible, let your references know the job you’ve interviewed for, the name of the personal who will be contacting them, and any other significant information. The more prepared your professional references are, the better they will be able to speak on your behalf.
5 Ways Your Online Lifestyle Can Ruin A Career Opportunity
Many people want to keep their “work lives” and their “personal lives” separate. However, with social media it has become more and more difficult to keep the two worlds from colliding. Today’s employers will look through social profiles in order to help them decide who would be a good candidate for a job position. The amount of information your publish on social media sites makes it easy for potential employers to have access to your personal life, which could turn out to be bad for you if they happen to spot some things that will turn them off, and ruin your opportunity to get the job.
Vulgarity and Obscenity: People generally speak on the internet the way they speak in real life. Or at least that’s the way employers think. If you use vulgar language in your profiles, then employers will assume you lead a lifestyle where you speak publicly the same way, and they will not want to hire someone who they cannot trust to communicate in a professional manner.
Negativity: Employers want to hire people who will keep a positive atmosphere in their company. If you are a negative person, don’t show it. Don’t post negative comments or qoutes on your online profiles, and when you are at work try, your hardest to be positive and upbeat. People have actually been terminated because of posting negative comments and/or making negative or derogatory remarks in the workplace.
Gossip: If you gossip at work or gossip about co-workers or supervisors outside of the office, you can jeopardize your current job, your chance at a promotion, and your potential for new jobs. It may be hard, but try to avoid gossiping on the internet and everywhere else. Things you say on the internet travel fast and they stay there forever, even if you think you have gotten rid of them, once your post has been seen by someone else, the damage is already done.
Overly Outspoken: If you have an extremely outspoken personality, it can cause problems. Now you don’t have to ignore your beliefs or not express them, but try to avoid “screaming” your beliefs over the internet or getting into arguments about them at work. While employers shouldn’t decide who to hire based on a candidate’s beliefs, they may have a negative feeling towards you if you are loud and obnoxious about those beliefs.
Hygiene and Appearance: Once again, employers cannot keep a job from you simply for how you look, but it can affect how they think about you. If you look unprofessional or you don’t appear to be clean in pictures that you have posted online, potential employers will not want to hire you because you may show up to work looking unprofessional and unclean.
Be smart with your social networking and think twice before posting controversial or negative information on your personal sites-don’t hurt your chances of getting a great new job before the employer even has a chance to speak to you in person.
Are Your Social Media Profiles Speaking For You or Against You?
Social media is a great tool for your job search and job application process because it allows you to get your name out to the entire world. Employers are starting to utilize social media sites to not only find prospective applicants, but also to investigate current applicants. This means that you need to make sure that your online profiles are showing off your best attributes and give the impressiona that you would be a great employee.
Here are some things that you should be aware of so you don’t lose opportunities due to what is on your profile.
Vulgarity or Obscenities: Refrain from including vulgar or obscene words in your profile or your posts. These could be offensive to employers and could give them a bad impression of you. You also need to watch what your “friends” post on your profile. While you may not have posted the information yourself, the content still reflects on you.
Negativity: If you have a lot of posts that are negative or if you are overly negative in your own posts, you can put off employers. Employers don’t want to work with people who are negative and will bring them down. So
Bad Talking About People: If you talk bad about people in your life currently, then what will keep you from talking bad about your potential coworkers or employers? Even though you may say, “I would never talk bad about my employers on the internet!” the potential employers looking at your profile will not know that. They will only know what they can see in your posts.
Social media can be a great tool for your job search. However, if not used properly, it can also be one of the biggest obstacles in your search. But make sure that you utilize it so you get the most desirable results and check to ensure that you don’t have anything on your profiles that could be harmful to your opportunities.
It can seem overwhelming to distribute your resume and get your name out there, but it doesn’t have to be.If you can slow down, think things through, and be confident in your search and distribution, then it will be much easier. Here are some things you should remember and be aware of when choosing where and how to distribute your resume.
Send your resume to more than one place: You will have a better chance at actually getting a job if you have your eggs in more than one basket.
Don’t give your resume to places you wouldn’t commute to: This seems like common sense, but it is something you should keep in mind the whole time you are distributing your resume. If you are not willing to commute daily to a company, then don’t bother wasting your time or theirs by giving them your resume.
Follow up: After spending hours giving your resume to dozens of companies, you want to be able to know what is happening and if your hard work is paying off. But be careful not to become annoying. Follow up after a week or two and be very polite and to the point.
Don’t become discouraged: Know right now that it will take a lot of time for you to get called in for an interview or get the job. You cannot let the long amount of time discourage you from distributing and re-distributing. You need to keep going and you will eventually get the job that you are looking for.
When you receive a gift, you send a thank you letter. So why wouldn’t you send a thank you letter during a job search? Sending a thank you letter is a particularly important part of your job search, so you need to take the time to write a nice letter. Because you don’t need to send a thank you for every job prospect you look into, we offer the following guidelines to help you decipher when you should send a thank you letter and when you don’t need to.
If you have already gotten the job, you do not need to send a letter. You will be seeing the employer in person and you will be able to thank them then, which will mean more to your employer than a letter.
If you have given the company your resume but never heard back (even after following up), then you do not need to send a thank you letter. If the employer didn’t bother to contact you, then why would you take time to thank them for something they didn’t even do?
If you have been contacted, but not given an interview, then you should definitely send a thank you letter. They made the effort to contact you even though you were not the right fit. You should thank them for their consideration.
If you have been given an interview but have not received a job offer, then you should absolutely send a thank you letter. They have put just as much effort in as you have at this point, and you should thank them for their consideration and effort.
Sending an appropriate thank you letter will help to ensure that employers remember you and hopefully think of you if future positions open up. There is nothing bad that can come from sending a sincere thank you letter.
You may think that if you search a recruiting agency’s job listings and there are only a few jobs, that a recruiter won’t be able to help you. That isn’t necessarily true. One of the actions a recruiter can take when he gets an exceptional resume, one with unique skill sets, is to skills market that job candidate. Skill marketing occurs when a recruiter contacts a company that does not necessarily have a job opening, but knows that the company may find a particular candidate to be a valuable asset regardless of not having open positions. Skill marketing can be a good tool to use to get noticed and hired by a company. However, you must be able to present your skill sets clearly on your resume, and keep up to date on trends in your field so that you know which skills may get your foot in the door. A good recruiter knows what those skills are, too, based on industry trends, but also on building relationships with companies. He/she often has a unique perspective on where a company is headed. For example, company Q may be known for digital printing, but the recruiter may know through conversations with hiring managers that company Q is moving towards other types of digital imaging as well. If you have skills working in digital imaging, the company may just create a position for you to spearhead their new ventures in digital imaging. So don’t just rely on job aggregators that list job postings from all over the internet. Feel free to use them. But also develop relationships with recruiters. Let them know what you are looking for in in you next job. If they don’t see any immediate openings for someone with your credentials, ask these recruiters to skill market you. You may just end up with a great job that didn’t even exist before you asked for their help.
If you want to highlight your best career achievements concisely, a professional biography is the perfect tool. Your bio’s goal is to give potential employers an overview of your career achievements while presenting a window into your personality. This means that you should keep your bio up to date so that it reflects the most recent you.
To create a great professional biography, just follow these easy steps:
Write in the third person. Instead of using the “I” word, use your full name on the first usage, then you can use only your first name after that. If you want your biography to be more formal, use your last name instead (e.g. “Mr. Martin”). Or, you can just use wording like, “Bill began his career taking on roles of …”
Highlight your most impressive professional achievements, and provide examples. This should include any awards you have won, key promotions, and other major achievements. If appropriate, mention client names, which will make your biography more credible. Be specific in presenting numerical data.
Define a personal brand. Differentiate yourself from other candidates by showcasing your unique professional and personal attributes. List publications for which you have written, articles authored, presentations you have given, speaking engagements, classes you have taught, seminars, and other achievements you are proud of. Be sure to include educational achievements. community service activities and organizational memberships may also be included.
Don’t forget to include contact information. Make it easy for your contacts to reach you. Make your contact information visible and easy to find. If it helps, include a small professional photo.
