Daily Career Connection

Article Contributed by Phil Rosenberg

Job seekers are notoriously afraid to embrace change…even though their entire goal is based on change (sure - sometimes the change is thrust upon us). Some candidates are afraid to approach new career paths, others afraid to change industry or function, almost all are afraid to change their approach.

So how can candidates break free from the vicious cycle of fear of change? Read the entire article at: http://recareered.blogspot.com/2009/11/step-out-of-your-comfort-zone.html

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

By Nicole Dukehart and Jennifer Bruton, The Job Awful Truth

©Copyright, 2009 All rights reserved. Used with Permission

WRATH….

Do you hate your boss? Are you angry because you were passed over for a position that you were clearly the best qualified for? Are you feeling frustrated and unappreciated in your current position? Sometimes these feelings are a good thing, they are just the push you need to leave your comfort zone and actually pursue your next best career step. However, you need to put all of your negative feelings aside during your job search, this is not the arena to exact your wrath. THE AWFUL TRUTH is, nothing will submarine a great opportunity for you faster than speaking negatively of your current or previous employer. Your interviewer is not your counselor, they do not need to understand why you are so angry or what a big jerk your boss is. All an interviewer sees, in those situations, is a person who will be trashing their company the same way next year and a potential employee problem. You have to put a positive spin on why you are looking at the position. Speak in positive terms about what this opportunity can do for your career, for example, “I think I could grow with this company and have a better chance at advancement”, “I love the team philosophy here and could really thrive in this environment.” When your motivation to make a job change is prompted by feelings such as anger, wrath or rage, then you need to keep that to yourself. THE AWFUL TRUTH is, you need to put on a happy face when interacting with others during your job search, and then if you really need to, go home and punch a wall.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Article Contributed By: CareerAlley

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” - Jim Collins

So what really is this list of admired companies? Well for one, the original analysis covered 64 industries (who knew there were so many) and is global in nature. Greatness, admired, best. Sounds good, but who is hiring and which of these companies are the best placed to survive the next recession (let alone this one)? Hard to say, but researching the companies that you would like to work for is one of the most important parts of your job search research. Yes, if you have been out of work for any length of time you sometimes feel like you just want to get a job (at any company). But if you have the luxury of choice, do your homework. Today’s post rounds out the top 50 (so there are 6 companies reviewed rather than the usual 5) and covers a broad range of industries (food, manufacturing, retail, electronics, telecommunications and consulting). There were clearly several hundred job opportunities across these sites when I checked.

• General Mills - General Mills, ranked 45 on this list, has a very long list of products that you’ve probably heard of: Chex, Bisquick, Green Giant and many more. Their career page is not clutter and is easy to navigate. It has links on the left for Job Search, Campus, Experienced, Careers and more. The middle of the page has additional links for Job Search, and Campus Events and Career Fairs and Why Work at General Mills (this is part of your research). The Experienced link provides an overview of the types of jobs at General Mills. Click on Job Search to register on the site or select search openings at the bottom which will return a search engine. There were 42 job opportunities when I checked the site.

• Toyota Industries - Perhaps the auto industry is not where you want to be given the state of the industry, but if this is what you do for a living, Toyota is a good place to start your search. A Japanese company and ranked 46 on the list, they do have operations in the US. Their career site is fairly simple with a search engine filling the bulk of the page, you can click on search jobs or search jobs complex (more advanced search engine). Clicking on search jobs for the US yielded 23 job opportunities when I checked.

• Lowe’s - Ranked 47 on the list, Lowe’s is a “do it yourself” retailer similar to Home Depot. As with many retailers, there are a number of career choices when looking at their Careers page. For Lowe’s, these are: Stores, Distribution or Corporate Headquarters. These categories are listed at the top middle of the page. The top of the page also has tabs, one of which is for College Recruiting. The Job Search link (a tab at the top or a box on the middle right hand side of the page) leads to a search engine which allows job search across the entire company. There is a Hot Jobs box on the right hand side of the page categorized by job function. Interestingly, you can subscribe to this section of the page via an RSS link. Searching across the entire company returned 94 job opportunities when I checked.

• AT&T - Best known lately for the iPhone and ranked 48 on the list, AT&T is a well known name in telecommunications dating back to the beginning of the industry’s history (although the “new” AT&T looks nothing like the original). Their careers page has a number of links arranged around a changing picture of people. The same links are available directly below the overview section. The main links are: Career Possibilities, Student Relations, Getting Started and more. The “Job Search & Apply” at the top of the page leads directly to their search engine, but it is worthwhile navigating the rest of their career site to see all of their opportunities. Overall, the site is very well done. Clicking on the Job Search link leads to a page where you can search by category, location or in groups. It does not look like you can search across the entire company but a quick look does reveal well over 100 job opportunities across the company.

• Accenture - This company is ranked 49 on the list and is one of the best known for management consulting, technology services and outsourcing. Their career site has tabs at the top for Working Here, Career Options, Search Jobs and more. The middle of the page has a brief paragraph about the company and a number of other career search tools below this. You can explore where you fit by clicking “Find where you fit”. Search Jobs requires that you use a drop down list of all of the countries where Accenture is located. Click you country from the list to see opportunities. Clicking the US, as an example, returned 381 job opportunities when I checked the site.

• Samsung Electronics - Last of the top 50 is Samsung. A global company, this link leads to their US careers site. The main careers page is fairly understated, with a very brief overview and a Search Jobs link on the left hand side of the page. Click on this leads directly to the search engine which returned 82 job opportunities when I checked.

Good luck in your search.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Guest Post by Jessica Holbrook with GreatResumesFast, an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, and presenter. She has written more than 100 articles that are featured on some of the best career advice Web sites today. In addition, her writing has been included in Launch pad, a career search strategy guide.

Would you go to an interview dressed in shorts and flip flops? I certainly hope not. If you are, seriously… STOP. My point is this, if you are worried about your first impression at the interview and that’s why you wear the suit or the nice professional career clothes then why aren’t you worried about the first impression your resume gives employers?

It’s really tragic how many truly talented professionals and executives on the market have great expertise and can completely WOW in an interview, but can’t get in the door because of their resume.

Let me be rather blunt for a second if I may. If you are using an objective and you are not a recent graduate – I’m talking to you. If you are an Executive (VP, Owner, Partner, Director, Senior Manager, C-Suite) and you are not utilizing a professional branding statement and Executive presentation strategy I am talking to you! Executives, hear me out – if you want to be PERCEIVED as an Executive your resume needs to LOOK, SOUND, AND SAY Executive. Yes, there is a completely different strategy to an Executive level resume then a professional level resume. You have different demands placed on you, different expectations and different expertise. Therefore, your resume presentation should be different. When a hiring manager views your resume for the first time it should communicate that you are an Executive.
I cannot hit this point home any harder or clearer you are judged on the first impression your resume gives – that first impression is your presentation, and it is critical! If your resume is a mess, outdated, or boring then guess how you are going to be perceived?

How do you want people to perceive you? Do you want them to see you as accomplished, successful, a leader in your industry? Then your resume must communicate that to them and the first place that communication starts is your format/presentation. Be strategic about how you put together your resume, NOTHING should be arbitrary.

If you have no idea where to start, then view samples from expert resume writers. If this is the 100th time you’ve tweaked your resume and you still feel like it isn’t quite up to par have an expert review it for you for free. You cannot keep plugging along thinking a mediocre resume will get you by – you have options. I suggest you step your resume up a notch or hire a professional who can.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.