Common Mistakes To Avoid In A Job Search
Job Search
Today’s reality is that a large part of the population are looking for jobs— not just “a job” but also jobs that have better benefits, jobs that pay more, or jobs that have a chance for advancement. As a recent article pointed out, a lot of job-hunting even happens ON the job! That means that there’s a lot of potential for making some common job search mistakes:
- If you are currently employed, do your job well. You want to keep in mind that your boss and co-workers are the people who will be contacted by potential employers for references, so as much as you can, make those references positive.
- If you are currently employed, don’t waste your employer’s time or resources. You are not being paid to hunt for another job, you are being paid to do your current job! Use your breaks — and your own equipment — to do any job searching. Not only is using your work computer kind of rude, it also is kind of dangerous because your employer owns the history and any files on that machine. (By the way, where is your resume stored? I hope not only on your work computer!) If you need to use the company fax or printer, get permission and don’t abuse the privilege.
- If you are currently employed but hoping to change, be tactfully honest about your goals. The impression you want to give is, “I want to keep up with the trends in my field” not, “this job stinks so I’m bailing.” Keeping your resume updated, continuing pertinent training, and networking maintenance are common sense ways to accomplish this. There are good reasons why you should always be hunting for a new job. But there are equally good reasons that job hunt should be one that doesn’t jeopardize your current position.
How To Stretch Your Salary When You're Stuck
Salary
Sometimes your salary isn’t paying quite enough to cover all you wish it could. Maybe you got promoted to an exempt position that looks good on your resume but now that lucrative overtime bonus is gone. You could have been offered benefits that you truly need (medical insurance, for instance), and on paper it all looks good, but in your wallet there’s not enough cash.
This is where that “B” word — Budget — comes in to help.
All the experts start with an honest assessment of where your money is currently going. If you don’t know where your money is currently going, how can you control its flow? Write down all the ugly reality on paper so you can look it in the face and deal with it.
The problem isn’t automatically solved by a higher salary; it is solved by controlling the way you spend what you earn.
You can see this in the sad tale of many lottery winners whose huge chunks of money are gone in a few years or the way even high earners go bankrupt. This means that you have hope because you can control your cash flow by choosing to work with the real numbers instead of the dream numbers.
Look at the real numbers and come up with a real plan and follow it.
- Do some research on money management. There is so much wisdom and free advice or seminars out there that your head will spin, but the reality is you have to make it work for your situation.
- What are you willing to sacrifice to keep that steady salary or those benefits?
- When you make the choice NOT to spend, remind yourself that you are saying “no” to this thing and “yes” to controlling your cash flow. You are the boss of your spending.
- Pay the minimum on your bills if you have to, but add a little when you can. Somehow, that extra gives you a sense of power.
- Allow yourself some “mad money” that you can spend on whatever you like, but when it’s gone, it’s gone until you get paid again.
- Somehow, keep saving for emergencies. Even a little bit adds up!
- Sell some stuff and put the money on the biggest bills.
- Come up with ways to reward yourself that don’t cost money.
Keep a reminder of your plan, and your goals, in view. You aren’t “stuck” with that salary, you have chosen to stay in the position for a reason. Is your reason still valid? Can you ask for a review and a raise? Are you utilizing all the benefits you have? You may need to sit down and crunch numbers with others who are involved with your money decisions, but it will be worth the time and effort that takes to get everyone on the same team in this!
Have you ever considered the ways your work comes home — and your home comes to work? One writer recently shared her thoughts in this article titled, “4 Things Business Taught Me About Parenting — and Vice Versa” and I am sure, if you thought about it, you could come up with more things you have learned as you balance career and family.
The reality is that we aren’t compartmentalized into two separate persons who are exclusively at home or exclusively at work. If you are having problems at home, it is easy to bring that stress into the workplace, and the same tendency applies from work to home. But there are good things that overlap, too!
- “Treat others the way you’d like to be treated” is a basic childhood lesson that never stops being the right thing to do.
- “Be responsible for your behavior” applies pretty much everywhere I can think of.
- “Apologize when you are wrong” gets everybody on the same side, and the same team, and frees you to deal with the problem.
- “Time out” gives a chance to regroup and respond instead of react. You don’t put a co-worker in the corner, but you could suggest a break and set up a meeting to discuss solutions.
- “Nap time/Snack time” acknowledges the physical limitations of a child. But grownups, too, have physical limitations and repeatedly working through lunch or excessive overtime will reveal that fact.
- “Respect each other’s boundaries and differences” goes past teaching kids to get along and into the working world with people from many backgrounds and perspectives.
- “Do your chores”, or your to-do list, because sometimes you just have to get it done regardless of how you feel about it.
What are some things you have learned from work and applied to home, or vice-versa? I’d love to hear from you!
Privacy Tips For Your Online Job Search
Job Search
When you are searching for a job, remember that your privacy is still a concern. Instead of blasting your information on every site out there, be particular about which sites you choose to use and go with job search resources recommended by experts. In addition, there are a few basic online rules to remember:
- Read the privacy policy BEFORE you post. That might sound too simple, but you’d be surprised at how many people get in trouble because they assumed the policy was in line with their preference.
- Don’t give all your personal contact information: Use a dedicated email for contacts and protect yourself (and your family). This has the additional benefit of making you look intelligent about security risk.
- Understand and use cyber-safe resumes. Utilize the levels of visibility that site allows and understand the differences between “searchable by employers only,” “private,” “semi-private,” and “open.” Again, you have to read that site’s definitions in order to use it correctly.
- Keep track of when and where you posted your resume. Keep a spreadsheet, or use a career management tool like JibberJobber to keep track of your online job search.
- Your Social Security Number, bank account number, and mother’s maiden name do not belong with your resume. Period. That’s like giving a hacker the easiest target in the world for identity theft. That information can be given at the job site after you are hired.
As one security expert said, the safest place for information is on a piece of paper in your pocket. But you can’t find a job when your resume is hiding so you have to take steps to balance the real need for security with the equally real need for exposure. Demonstrating your understanding of cyber security standards during your job search is an asset to potential employers.
How often are you told you need a LinkedIn Profile that is keyword rich, then you read an article on LinkedIn that tells you, “Stop Using These 16 Terms To Describe Yourself“? The main thrust of the article is that the keywords generally are cliches and should be left out of your branding vocabulary. However, keywords are very necessary in terms of being found on LinkedIn. Whenever I read an article like that, I try to take the time to read all the comments because there will generally be a debate! This particular article, though, has over 3,000 comments so that is probably not going to happen this time.
One common reality that many readers mention in this debate is the fact they won’t even make it to the interview without the keywords/cliches in the resume so the search engine brings it up to the person who decides on the viability of the candidate.
Words are tools. Tools can be poorly made and fall apart the first time used, or finely crafted and used by generations to build things. The goal isn’t the tool, although tools can be very beautiful. The goal of a tool is its usefulness in helping the user achieve their goal, what ever it is. But even the best tool cannot do anything without the user’s skill.
When you look at our LinkedIn Profile Development service you see how an expert views this debate: you need both the keywords/cliches and the humanizing factor. The keywords often are cliches, but an experienced wordsmith knows how to use them to get past the computers to the people. If all you have is cliched keywords, the resume stops here. It’s that human factor, the individuality brought out by a skillful resume/profile writer, that connects with the person reading about you.
There are too many profiles out there for a person to read all of them. That’s what search engines are for! And search engines are computers looking for keywords. The words are tools we use to get you to the person’s notice and to bring your “brand” to the front, where all that makes you unique can shine. That’s the “humanizing” factor and the other leg your online branding stands on.
Use the words that make up your online brand/presence wisely. Remember that you need both the keyword/cliche AND the individual spark that makes you recognizable.
When you sit down for that job interview, the last thing you want to be worried about is what you are wearing. That choice should have been made a few days beforehand, if possible, to give you time to put together an “interview outfit” that gives confidence.
The idea that you must “dress for success” never goes out of style because people see your clothing as part of your initial impression. Here are a few tips to work on now, so you will be ready to go the morning of your all-important interview:
- Plan one or two “interview outfits” and keep them ready to wear (c’mon ladies, we have at least that many outfits ready for a night out!) That means they are clean, mended, and fit comfortably.
- Get dressed in the entire outfit and have a friend take your picture from the back, side and front. Look at those photos and decide what needs to change. (You can’t change your body in two days, but you can pick a better shirt or shoes.)
- Do your research and know what is appropriate for this interview. Go conservative if you have doubts.
- Figure out the entire outfit, from shoes, socks and underwear to tie and jewelry. Have it all laid out the night before so you know it’s ready.
- Have a backup in case you spill something on yourself. It’s been done!
- Shine your shoes, give yourself a manicure (and pedicure if you’re wearing peep-toe shoes) and plan your grooming schedule. This is not the place for that just-stepped-out-of-the-shower-wet look.
When you have planned your outfit and know you look your best, you have confidence. Preparing ahead of time helps you focus on the interview instead of that button that popped off your shirt before you left home. Part of your job search includes dressing for success, so get ready to shine!
If “networking” isn’t working for you, maybe you need to change your ideas about what networking actually is.
Networking means different things to different people. For some, networking is that mysterious executive function only done by the upper tiers of a corporation. For others, networking is connecting regularly with friends for lunch. Networking to the tech team involves software and hardware and creative solutions to computer glitches.
All the definitions of networking include the basic concept of interconnecting individual parts. That interconnection creates the larger unit we call a network…and your own definition of networking is influenced by what you see “the network” is in relation to you. Do you think that you have no place in a network? Think again:
- are you part of a family?
- do you see people during the week?
- do you communicate with anyone using some sort of technology?
Each one of those points is a networking opportunity. You are already part of some type of network, and you probably are part of several different networks. The workplace, job searches, religious affiliations, family, even regularly attended locations like a coffeeshop or online social media are networks. If you don’t recognize them as such, then the challenge is to change the way you interact with your networks so that you improve your part of the process.
Learn more about what you can do to improve your networking. This can mean everything from deliberately listening when folks talk to you to investing in professional coaching like The Job Search Success System. Subscribe to blogs like this one, as well as to those relating to your interests. Comment on those blogs; that back-and-forth interaction is the foundation of networking.
At its most basic level, networking is the acknowledgement that we do not function in isolation. We are part of networks in every area of our lives: from transportation and supply systems…to the way you are reading this post…with all the people your life touches in between. What you do within your networks makes a difference in your future and the future of those around you.
When you are looking for a job, there are different types of ads to which you will respond. Some will be Craigslist style where you send your resume to a recruiter via a randomized email address. Others will be ads with an Apply button that you click. This button may take you to a company or recruiting agency website where you will be prompted to set up an account. However you apply, most resumes are parsed into an applicant tracking system. The resume is parsed by extracting certain information such as name, contact information, work history and education, and this information is used to populate the fields of your applicant tracking system record. The good thing about submitting your resume this way is that you do not have to fill in long, repetitious forms for each position with information that is already on your resume. The bad thing about parsing resumes is that in order for the applicant tracking system to parse your resume correctly, your resume needs to be very plain in format and text.
Diacritics, such as those accent marks found over the e’s in the word “resume” may cause your resume to be parsed incorrectly. Common parsing mistakes include your name ending up in the incorrect fields, one phone number that is parsed into several different phone number fields, incomplete address and missing work history dates. Incorrect information in these fields may mean that your resume does not come up in a candidate search run by a hiring manager.
Improve your chances to be called for an interview by casting a critical eye over your resume. A plainer resume format that should parse easily uses bold and plain text only. We create “ASCII” or .txt (plain) versions of your resume for just this reason– applying online and working with recruiters. Leave out the unusual diacritics and the ampersand (&). An ampersand will cause havoc when a resume is parsed. Clearly demarcate resume sections by adding a couple of line spaces between each section. If you are uploading a resume to a company’s applicant tracking system, you may have to fill out some fields by hand, while others are populated by the system. Check all fields for accuracy before you hit Send.
