The 24-Hour Job Search: who needs it?

Many job seekers suffer from guilt that they are not looking all day every day – and evenings, too.  Not to be reading, exploring, tweaking your resume, writing thank-you notes, shining your shoes for the next interview  - it feels decadent and self-indulgent.

Stop!  Let’s be reasonable about this.  I would like you to ask yourself when your most productive time of day/night occurs.  Your peak hours are those in which much can be accomplished.  It’s a wonderful piece of information to have about yourself.

When you were in school, there were peak times for you to attend class, take notes, participate, and learn without much effort.  Likewise, there were those times when attending was an effort, never mind being on time, when you struggled to take notes (which didn’t always make sense later).

Why not apply that knowledge to your job search activities?  If you’re not a morning person, then don’t do the most important stuff then.  Get the laundry done, do some cleaning, and slowly, as the fog lifts and mid-day approaches, get into your search.  Maybe you’re meeting someone for lunch.  Maybe you’re following up on email.  Maybe you’re hand-delivering a resume to a contact you met at a job fair.

Don’t struggle against yourself.  Go with your flow, working with your 24-hour cycle of peaks and valleys. This is especially important when setting up interviews.  You don’t have to explain your reason, but try hard to schedule that meeting during your best time.  You’ll need that sparkle in your eyes to make a great impression.

Do you have any experience relating to your peak/off hours?  Other readers would love to hear how you handle this.

Memberships on your Resume

I’m a believer in listing affiliations on your resume.  Your local  college alumni chapter, a sports league, a public speaking group – all are worthy organizations.

On the resumes of some people, these are good things.  They spark lively conversations.  Someone might read them and say:

• Oh, I used to go to that.  What’s going on these days?
• You went to _______?  My brother went there.
• I see you are interested in foreign travel. Where have you been?

The same list can also eliminate you from the competition.  Like anything else on your resume, make sure you can say something positive about each item. For the listing of an alumni group, which  of the following statements does an employer want to hear?

• Yes, we interview prospective students each year.  I’m on a committee that does the scheduling.
• Well, I send a check, but am not really active.  They never seem to do anything that interests me.

For a professional organization, which keeps you in the competition?

• I’m on the program committee.  We’re beginning to plan our spring continuing education event.  The topic will be….
• Is that still on the resume? I haven’t attended anything for several years. I meant to remove it.

It is commonly known that one should not list affiliations that may be distasteful or alienating to employers, such as political or religious groups.  It is not so well-known that your own inertia can also work against you when listing organizations.  If your list is out-of-date, it is time to purge the list and replace it with activities that you can discuss proudly.  Be your own best sales rep.  Show your enthusiasm for every item on this document.

Job Postings a la française: quelle surprise!

On a recent trip to France, I was reading one of those employment sections of the regional newspaper Ouest, Very similar to our supplements that seem to come out so often with our own papers, this one had pictures of long lines of job hunters, photos of earnest-looking people being interviewed, and those alarming statistics about so many people applying for so few jobs.

The thing that most caught my attention, though, was the content of classified ads.  I noted several job openings for front desk jobs in hotels in medium-sized towns, each one stating h/f, or hommes/femmes (men or women).  And they said to send a resume, letter of intention, and photo.

Male?  Female?  Send photo?  I was amazed at what felt like a step backward.  Many of us well remember the help wanted – male, help wanted-female ads.  Our laws, customs, and expectations have changed.  Seeing these details in the employment section of the newspaper made me grateful for all the legal struggles that have brought us into a more open world of employment.

The truth about the truth on resumes

Tonight on the evening news, I learned that there is an increase in the frequency of lies on resumes currently in circulation.  I also learned that 96% of employers are checking facts on resumes of candidates under consideration.

I find this appalling, yet understandable.  Times are tough, unemployment really hurts, the competition is intense, and applicants must be feeling a bit desperate.

It’s wrong to falsify, exaggerate, or claim more responsibility than you have actually done.  It’s also stupid.  Here’s why:

• The internet makes fact-checking easy and quick.  Employers know this.
• Caught in one lie, you will not be trusted.  How could they know when to trust you?
• It’s morally bad.  And people don’t like it.
• It’s a small world.  You can be sure that someone in the targeted workplace actually went to the college from which you claim a degree.  That person can check (and will be asked to do so).
• Someone else belongs to the professional association in which you claim to be active.  That person may discover that you are not listed among the members.
• You will feel burdened, perhaps by guilt, certainly by anxiety that you’ll be discovered.

There is an easy solution out of this mire of guilt and anxiety.  Don’t lie.  Don’t stretch the truth.  Don’t make claims you can’t substantiate.  Don’t claim authorship when you were a lowly fact-checker.  In this small world, someone knows someone who knows the truth.

It is understandably tempting to want to put yourself in a favorable position.  Please remember that the best recipe for a successful candidate  includes a dash of humility, a refreshing pinch of modesty, and a generous helping of team membership.

Basic career message with a light touch

If you know someone who needs to brush up on the tools of the job search, yet dreads the process of slogging through all those steps, here’s a suggestion:  pick up a copy of Courting your Career by Shawn Graham. This paperback book draws parallels between courtship and the job search in a way that should be appealing to job seekers, especially the young ones.

• What to include/leave out in your resume?
• Why should you write a cover letter?
• Why fill out these tedious forms?

Well, let’s think about it.  When you are going out on a date, or arranging to meet someone,

• does it matter what you wear?
• why take a shower?
• why did you choose that shirt?

I find this analogy not only fun to think about, but persuasive .  According to Graham, the first characteristic in effective resumes is to be attractive.  Easy to read, lots of white space, not too much detail.  And no typos, no spelling errors, no misplaced apostrophes (my personal campaign).  Easily related to no ketchup stains on the shirt or spinach stuck in the teeth.  We get it!

If you have a recalcitrant job seeker in your life, this just might help.  Congratulations to Shawn Graham, who has combined very basic career information with an easy-to-digest, funny metaphor about the quest for romance.

What do you love?

Here’s a piece of advice to you young people out there, in the quest for your first job (okay, maybe a better job than you have now).

• What do you love to do?
• What are you enthusiastic about?
• What have you been recognized for?

This is not a silly question.  I don’t want to hear answers about beer chugging, evading the law, or cheating in school.

I do want to hear that you love to swim, that you try hard to amuse kids in your babysitting, that you can teach a dog to heel, that you showed some underachieving kids how to graph an algebra problem.

There’s a good chance that this interest of yours is not reflected in your resume.  It probably doesn’t fit in an entry about a restaurant job or your high school curriculum.  But remember that you can always have a section labelled  Extracurricular Activities, Volunteer Work, or Community Involvement.

Your swimming accomplishments don’t relate directly to the office job you’re applying for, but they say good things about you nonetheless.  You probably have a strong competitive streak and a commitment to health and fitness. These traits may add up to a positive work ethic which your new employer will appreciate.

Irrelevant to your job search?  Not at all.  People reading your resume know that you don’t have a lot of job experience, and they will be happy to read about what makes you a unique person.

If you need help in making sure that your resume reflects really good things about you, feel free to contact me.  You may visit my website at www.anneheadley.com for contact information.  The things you love may be what makes an employer want to meet you.

Part-Time Jobs: The time is now

The role of the part-time job is essential in measuring the progress of economic recovery.  Because businesses lack confidence as well as deep pockets, they may refuse to offer full-time positions even though they may need the help.  Instead, they are posting half-time jobs.

But you’re a full-time worker, and have been so for all your work life.  What’s with this part-time situation?  

I believe you should say yes if there is something compelling or otherwise appropriate about the offer.  What is good about it?

• You’re working again, and some money is better than no money,
• You’re making connections, expanding your network,
• There might be overtime,
• You’ll be there as confidence builds and people start spending again,
• If the company grows, your loyalty and hard work may be rewarded with a full-time position,
• You’re gaining new skills,
• You still have energy for the rest of your life, such as family, education, and community activities.

In a flourishing job market, it’s a good thing to hold out for a great situation.  But no one has used the word flourishing to describe today’s work world in recent memory.  You’ve already held out for a time and nothing has happened.  So go ahead – take that part-time offer.  You just may be very glad you did.

An Overlooked Resource for Networking

What was the last school you attended?  How are you still using it?

If it was college, whether for an undergraduate,  graduate degree, or no degree, does that school know where you are?  Are you in touch with your alumni office? Is that office helping you find a better job?

If you are not enlisting their aid, you are not getting a benefit that you or your parents paid for.  A good placement office should be in touch by email or newsletter or other publication with as many graduates or attendees as possible.  And there should be networking opportunities.  If you live in a metropolitan area, there should be a regularly scheduled meeting for alums in that area.

If there is no such thing, someone needs to start one, and that someone might be you.  Contact your college’s alumni relations to find out.  

Embarrassed about your employment situation?  Many people are.  You may feel like an insecure 20-something again, and it need not be that way.  Yes, there are those who will come and flaunt their success to the group.  Some were always like that and always will be.  But you may reconnect with a friend or two, or make a new one.  You will find people eager to share business cards (don’t forget yours).  And you just never know what might happen.  You can always leave if nothing is happening.

Do you have a story about an alumni gathering that might encourage others?  I’d love to see you write it here.

From Ho-hum to Trendy: government jobs in the recession

I’m surprised and encouraged to hear that federal, state, and municipal jobs are looking more attractive to new college graduates for the first time in many years.  The benefits are obvious:

• a growing workforce instead of a shrinking one, 
• relative job security (more on that later), 
• a predictable, competitive pay scale.

Why did it take people so long to figure it out?  Here are some possibilities:

• the application process is cumbersome beyond belief,
• the “good enough for government work” mentality may still prevail,
• takes too long to get ahead,
• you can’t get anything done,
• they don’t reward visionary thinking.

What is the truth here?  

Yes, the process is awful.  From lengthy applications (phone number of supervisor in your first job many years ago) to those pesky KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities questions designed to either torment you or elicit narrative of your relative accomplishments), filling out a federal application can take hours and hours.  It’s so complicated that a mini-industry has sprung up to coach you through it.  And state applications aren’t much better.  You can submit your packet and then wait and wait and wait. And while you’re waiting, you can read articles about the simplification of the application process.  Um-hum.

But there is an exception to the usual process. Did you know that jobs related to the federal stimulus package are handled differently?  Check out www.opm.gov and follow the link  to recovery jobs.  It is possible to apply for these special positions with a resume and cover letter.  Who knew?  

 What about the role of creativity and ambition in the bureaucracy? Some agencies get it and some don’t.  At least a decade ago, enlightened planners began to see the need to reward creative problem-solvers on the job.  And they have tried to infiltrate the workforce with mixed results.  I think that as the workforce ages and retires, things will move more quickly, more responsively to public demands.  This is a case of “hang in there”.  

What about job security?  The class of 2009 doesn’t want to go through what their elders are experiencing.  It’s traumatic all around.  Yes, government work is more predictable than the private sector.  But it’s not ironclad anymore, and hasn’t been for a long time.  Please never forget to keep up your network, to keep expanding your skills, and to keep broadening your horizons in many ways.  You will be glad you did, because nothing lasts forever in the world of work.

The pay scale is indeed competitive.  According to Karol Taylor, author of the brand-new Guide to America’s Federal Jobs (Jist), the average federal job pays $77,143 per year, versus the private sector job which pays $48,035.  And this is not factoring in the cost of the benefits package, which is substantial.  Note:  this figure does not suggest that you will begin your job earning this amount, but it does give an indication of what upward mobility is possible.  

Read. Pay attention to articles that compare worker satisfaction in different agencies.  Interview people that work in these places.  Send in applications.  And when you get an interview, don’t hesitate to ask about creative ideas, problem-solving opportunities, and the chance to get ahead.  

Once again, welcome, Class of 2009, to the major sources of employment around here.  You’re needed more than ever.

The GED in the job interview: how do you explain it?

There are so many reasons that people do not move through high school in four orderly, productive years. A few examples:

• a health event,
• a disruptive home life,
• the need to earn money,
• a poor social fit in school,
• immaturity/lack of purpose.

People may feel burdened by having “just” a GED instead of what they perceive as a real high school diploma. Let’s set the record straight:

The GED (General Educational Development test) leads to a real high school diploma issued by the state. Colleges, the military, and government agencies accept it as a true equivalency. So why do doubts and insecurities linger?

Part of the problem is language. The term GED really refers to the tests that an applicant must take and pass. Yet GED is mistakenly applied to the state diploma issued upon successful completion of five competency tests.

In order to sit for the exams, a person must be at least 16 years old, be a resident of the state for at least three months, and have been withdrawn from a school for at least three months. For more exact information, please see information on the State Board of Education website for your state of residence.

For a college or a workplace to look down on the holder of a state-issued diploma is a mistake. Just about any person who studies independently and passes the competencies can tell a story of hard work, determination, focus, and recovery from bad situations. Such people, no matter what their age, are ready to work or study in a way that they never did before. They may express regrets that they chose a difficult path (if it was indeed a choice), but they also share pride that they have achieved this milestone on their own.

Let’s not make things harder. The arenas of work and higher education should welcome holders of state diplomas and recognize them as the workers that they have proven themselves to be.

If you would like to practice explaining your educational pattern (including its interruptions) for job or college interviews, please visit my website (www.anneheadley.com) for contact information. Together, we can turn your unique situation into a strength!