Some people never really leave high school. Even as adults you will still find them hanging out and spreading the latest gossip. The problem is that no matter how they go about it, a workplace gossip is killing their own career. It’s one thing to spend a few minutes chatting about the latest ball scores or last night’s, “Castle” episode, or to discuss the co-worker who has just returned from maternity leave, in a positive manner. It’s quite another to be dishing the dirt on anyone or anything at work. No one really trusts a gossip. If you pay attention, you will see that their careers are going nowhere fast. What does this have to do with you as you are hunting for a new job? The best resume and cover letter in the world isn’t going to change what your boss has to say about you when he or she is called. If you think that your boss either doesn’t know you are a gossip or isn’t going to say anything about it, you’re wrong. Your boss will mention it and it will hurt your chances at a new company. Gossips are rarely liked and it’s even more rare that they are trusted with sensitive material. More importantly, being a workplace gossip means you have two character traits that employers loathe; you have the potential to cause discord and you waste time. Gossip often harms people and relationships. This is bad for the work environment. An employer needs people who work well together and a gossip can often bring out the worst in people, not the best. The wasting time issue is self-explanatory. You are being hired to do a job, not talk about people. So what do you do if you have been the go-to person for the latest dirt? Knock it off now. A few weeks and people will forget all about your past as the ultimate gossip.
There is an old joke of sorts that defines recession asan economic periodwhen your neighbor is out of work, and a depression as an economic period when you are out of work. The point of that is that for someone looking for a job the economy is never great. This is why persistence is so important for your job search. Without it, even in a great economy, you aren’t going to have much luck. As an example; a young woman I know was looking for a job. She had been an intern at a company that wasn’t hiring, but she sent them a copy of her resume anyway and requested that it be kept on file. She called and checked on new positions every other week but the company had tightened up due to the economy. After 6 months of this, she went and placed her updated resume on file. The head of the department remembered her and they were chatting about some of the changes that had taken place in the year since she had been an intern. The young woman drove the three hours home. Guess what? There was a job offer from the company waiting for her on her answering machine. The head of the department admired her persistence in keeping after what she wanted. This is a real world example of getting what you want by going after it. When a company isn’t hiring, politely request that they keep your resume on file and be sure to ask how long it will be kept. Then send another one. Visit the company, network with those who work there. Because many companies prefer to hire from within, consider taking any position that opens up with that business. Persistence is often the difference between a job and a career. It’s also often the difference between being employed and being unemployed.
One of the first things people do during a slow economy is consider hiding out in the academic world. Of course they don’t consider it hiding out. They apply to and are accepted to work on a graduate degree in the hopes that the additional degree will give them better career opportunities and that by the time they complete the degree the economy will have turned around. Graduate degrees are not always the answer. Sometimes they are a poor financial investment. There are some occupations, psychology is one, that without an advanced degree, you can’t really work in the field in the manner you want. To be a licensed psychologist, for example, you have to have a doctorate. Even to be a licensed counselor will require a master’s degree. Careers like this, those that require a terminal degree, are not the ones in question. The careers in question are often technology and business careers. A bachelor’s degree in computers, and then hands on, real world, experience is far more valuable than a master’s degree with no work history. Business degrees have a similar problem. One of the biggest financial mistakes you can make is to set your business career aside and work full time towards your M.B.A. Business careers cannot be successfully put on hold. While an M.B.A. is certainly desirable, get it while you are working. This allows you to continue adding to your real world knowledge and keep up your networking while furthering your academic credentials.
Before setting aside the time and placing yourself into debt for a graduate degree, make sure that it’s worth it in the long run.
The job market is competitive. And it is even more competitive today than ever before. This means that you need to up your game and quit playing around. You can’t just put skills or experience on your resume haphazardly. If you do that you are writing your resume as though you are the only person applying for the job. That is the farthest thing from the truth. You are competing against many applicants who are just as qualified as you are. So what do you do? You compete. You show that you are the best candidate for the job. How do you do that? You make your resume speak for you and make you look impressive. Just follow the tips below to help you create an impressive resume that will compete against the other applicants.
Organization: The way you organize your resume may seem like a simple thing, but it can change the impression that your potential employers get when they read your resume. Organize your skills by listing the most applicable skills to the job first. If you are not sure what skills will be most applicable, then list your strongest skills first. Do the same with your experiences. List the most applicable or the most impressive experiences first. This will put stronger focus on the most important skills and experiences in your resume.
Keywords: Use keywords throughout your resume to put emphasis on the skills or ideas that you want your potential employers to remember about you when they are deciding about interviews and the job. Don’t overdo them though. If you use keywords too repetitively, then it will turn off employers and possibly annoy them. Keep a good balance. If you are unsure, then have someone read over your resume to see if you have used to many keywords.
These are just two very simple ways that you can make your resume more competitiveand more impressive to potential employers, which will lead you to getting an interview and hopefully getting that job.
The most popular misconception when the economy is less than outstanding is that no one is hiring.It’s actually almost never true that no one is hiring. What is true is that companies tend to streamline when times are tough and while they may not officially be hiring, there is always room for someone with a proven track record. Most job seekers are fully aware that it’s easier to get another job when you already have one and that is never more true than when the economy is down. The problem is that when you suddenly find yourself without a job it can be tough to both deal with the emotional shock and hit the ground running to find another job as quickly as possible. There is where your previous networking skills as well as an updated resume come into play. You can immediately start looking and contacting people letting them know that you are looking for a job change (think: networking & LinkedIn). It’s also important to remember that you have a proven record of success and you have been in the business world for a number of years. This immediately places you ahead of many candidates that are recent graduates with no real-world experience. Unfortunately, many young people today do not have the appropriate business skills, and as a result many hiring managers are reluctant to interview them. They have a large pool of seasoned applicants to choose from so they opt for experience. This works in your favor if you have practical experience. The best way to get a job when no one is hiring is to remember that there is always room for someone who is energetic, driven and has a resume that shows them to be an asset to their employer.
