In the Business of You

Tough question…but, it shouldn't be. Although there is no “one and only” expert when it comes to the nuts and bolts of putting together a strong and effective job search strategy, there are a whole lot of folks out there giving advice that ranges from “not really accurate” to horribly wrong. The frustrating part for job seekers is that they often hear presentations by or have one-on-one discussions with people (describing themselves as career experts) who may speak about similar topics, but provide sometimes wildly different advice. Unfortunately, this wide range of advice/opinions not only confuses the job seeker, but often adds significantly to their already high levels of confusion, frustration, anxiety, and diminishing feeling of self-confidence and self-worth. For example, during a recent networking event co-sponsored by my company, one of the attendees (who has been in transition for several months) told me that she had attended a presentation at a local job seekers g

If a company tells you that they brew the best beer in the world, but have minimal sales and no awards to show for their efforts, how believable is their claim of having an outstanding product? We can all say whatever we wish about our abilities and achievements, but, as the saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”. And thus is the challenge for today’s job seekers…making believers out of skeptical hiring managers. This is actually not that difficult to accomplish, but it does take a significant investment of a candidate’s time, which is something that the vast majority of job seekers are still NOT willing to do. This means that those candidates who do elect to put in the time and effort necessary to develop a truly “killer” resume and memorable interview discussions, can very quickly distance themselves from a large percentage of those competing for the same job opening. Here are some tips that should help your actions (accomplishments) speak for themselves: • Telling me wh

Sometime over the next couple of weeks, I will be a first-time grandfather. Can’t wait, as I hear from other “new” grandparents how wonderful is the experience and how different it is than when we were new parents (way back when). I remember when we brought our first child home from the hospital. My bride put him into a bassinet in the family room of our small house and we looked at each other and said, “Well, what do we do now?” The two of us realized that we must have left the “What to do With Your First Baby” manual at the hospital. As my parents have often reminded me about my first born, “he survived, despite you two”. Pretty funny, Mom & Dad..! But, I readily admit that I’m a believer in the “it takes a village to raise a child” concept. Looking at the job search process, there are a lot of similarities. When I was laid off in early 2001, after 25 years with the same company, I felt some of that same, “what do I do now” nervousness and sense of being a bit lost.

My last post discussed what I felt were a number of good indicators over the last several months that the employment picture was looking better…not nearly great yet, but much improved when compared to even just a year ago. The turnover experienced by job seekers groups has increased (this is one situation in which turnover is a good thing!) with the time period between separation to landing a new job significantly decreasing. Yet, I continue to speak with people who are very frustrated with the lack of activity/success in their respective job searches. I know one of the main reasons why that is…but most folks don’t want to hear it or become exasperated when I tell them that: Their resumes are boring. Over the last month, I’ve done resume reviews at the networking events our company sponsors and a “resume clinic” sponsored by a local corporate outplacement firm along with making presentations at a Career Transition Camp, three job seekers’ groups, a corporate outplacement firm

Over the last few months I’ve made presentations at area job seeker’s groups and corporate outplacement companies to nearly 1,000 people in transition. The bad news is that there were nearly 1,000 people at the presentations (this is one of those situations where I would have welcomed a smaller audience!). The good news (which never seems to make it to the various news media), is that virtually all of the leaders/directors of these groups and the employees at the outplacement firms report that people are landing new positions in nearly half of the time that it was taking just a year ago..! Over the last twelve months, our company has co-sponsored a networking event with a local restaurant. The average number of attendees has remained somewhat the same, but that is because many who have landed new jobs come back to help those still in transition…they’re “paying it forward”. I’ve heard the following statement dozens of times from people who find new employment after being in tr