Four Job Search Frustrations

I just spent the morning reviewing several hundred emails from job seekers across the country, looking for common frustrations among people looking for work.
As you might imagine, many things are bugging many job seekers in this economy.
But I boiled them down to four prominent job-search frustrations.
Here they are, with suggested solutions.
Which ones apply to you?

Continue Reading

What it is like to attend Bowdoin College

Located in Brunswick, Maine, you will find Bowdoin College. It is about 25 miles from downtown Portland, which has shops and restaurants on the water. The Bowdoin Student Shuttle allows students to travel to and from campus. There are over 1,700 undergraduates, with about one-third of them being minority or international students.

Continue Reading

Basic Do’s and Don’ts: Cover Letters

Speaking honestly, no one likes writing cover letters. You know how good you are and all of your capabilities, and then the dreaded cover letter must be written in a way that somehow condenses all your professional goodness into a concise two- or three-paragraph summary that spells out all the key reasons why you’re the best person for the job. What a pain.
Given that most people on the receiving end of communications from jobseekers don’t even read cover letters, the first basic don’t for writing cover letters, is don’t write one… unless one is expressly asked for. In that case, then there are few basic points to consider when crafting that perfect cover letter.

Continue Reading

Perks of Being a New Hire

This past week I came across a great post titled, The Perks of Being a New Hire. The post is part of Lisa West’s featured blog, Life as a New PT Grad, on ADVANCE.com. Current therapy students and recent graduates should definitely check out Lisa’s blog. Weekly posts touch on her day-to-day encounters as a PT. Not only are they interesting to read, but they are enlightening as well. In previous weeks Lisa blogged about her feelings of being “the low man on the totem pole”, but in this post she highlights the advantages of being a new therapist. Here are just a few:
“3. I have energy. I’m not burned out. Being a new grad, I am so excited to spend my time with patients all day instead of face-down in my notes, studying. I love working, and I love getting paid.
4. I am eager to learn and develop myself as a professional. This goes along with point #3. I have a drive to push myself. I want to learn how to treat in ICU settings, to learn different diagnoses. I am not stuck in a rut with my career.”
If you are a new hire, what “perks” do you see?
Article courtesy of RehabCare Student blog. RehabCare provides college recruiting for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Speech Language Pathologists.

“Damage Control” Thank You Notes

Did you just flub your job interview? Were you awkward? Did you forget some critical piece of information that will make them want to hire you? Or did you make some other kind of job interview mistake? Whatever it was-it just didn’t go well, and you know it. But you still want the job. What do you do?
You send a thank you note.

Continue Reading

Who’s Got Your Job? Recruiters & Headhunters

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take” – Wayne Gretzky
It is the same with job search, sometimes you just need to “go for it”. But you can’t go for it if no one is going for you. So what to do? You need to get your name and resume out there and one of the best resources is recruiters. But not just any recruiter (and certainly not every recruiter), the recruiters that will work best for you. Match your experience with your recruiters’ strengths. Today’s post is about picking the best recruiter and providing a few recruiter resources.

Continue Reading

“Extreme” Interviewing – Part II

I’ll Have a Side of Risotto with that Position
Last week, I posted about Extreme Job Hunting where people are using unconventional methods to get the proverbial foot in a company’s door for an interview. It made me recall some of the goofy hoops I’ve jumped through to get a job.
Interviews where they make you do stuff…
In the 90′s, I interviewed for a job with a psychiatric facility. The job was in marketing and was not a clinical position (I’m a licensed therapist), but several of the people who interviewed me were psych nurses and therapists. (There has to be a joke here about a roomful of therapists, light bulbs and/or change.) The interview was a disconcerting mix of touchy-feely therapist type questions and queries about market share, growth potential etc.
In a second interview, they took me to lunch. I realize an interview over a meal serves a purpose – make it seem more relaxed for the candidate, check out their table manners, etc. These folks took me to a “hidden jewel” Italian restaurant. You know the kind – four tables and the chef/owner cooks what he feels like, etc. Fortunately, I’m married to a gourmet cook and am a full-fledged foodie, so I know my way around a fine Northern Italian pasta dish. Evidently I chose the right risotto, because I got the job. Continue reading …
Guest post by Nancy LaFever. You can read more from her at the Centre for Emotional Wellbeing blog.
Article courtesy of Andrew G.R. and jobacle.com – your cure for carbon copy career advice!

The Smart Thing to Do

It was the lead story in the Life section of Monday’s USA Today. Apparently, a growing number of those in transition are turning to game shows to turn their fortunes around. They’re lining up to compete on the likes of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Deal or No Deal and even Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?. What’s driving them? The lure of quick cash and maybe even a little notoriety.
Now, I’m very respectful of anything anyone does to help make ends meet during a tough patch in their career. However, in this regard, I have to ask “What are they thinking?”. The key to weathering a period of unemployment is not to do something, but to do the smart thing, and competing on game shows falls far short of that bar.

Continue Reading

Turning Job Hunting into “JobGetting”

Article provided by JIST Publishing
Often, when job seekers come across job ads that interest them, they immediately submit their resume and cover letter to the employer promoting the position. Then they wait, wondering if their submission will develop into an interview opportunity or if it will slip into a black hole and never resurface again.
Unfortunately, this process is one of the least effective ways to achieve momentum in the job search, says Richard Deems, Ph.D., co-author of Make Job Loss Work for You. Continue reading …
Article by, Selena Dehne and courtesy of JIST Publishing

The roles we play at work: who [we] are vs. who [we] are expected to be

When a new hire walks in the door, they know what the job requirements are, and HR has determined that they’re a skill match. They’ve probably been screened as to personality type, too. But just as they get comfortable at the new desk, and start to settle into their workplace behavior, they’re likely to find that there is a mass of unwritten expectations that come from the people sitting around them. These expectations are the “role” that each person is expected to play — and it’s a lot more than just a job description.
Getting good people who are happy in their jobs long-term means knowing (1) their personalities, (2) their workplace behavior styles, and (3) the unwritten rules and roles of the positions. That last one is often the kicker.
Let’s take a look at all three:
1) Your personality type: WHO YOU ARE
Personalities are inherent and ingrained. No one can help bringing their personality to the table.
Personality typing has many different methodologies, from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the Enneagram to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and beyond. These measure your degree of introversion or extroversion, your propensity to think in an abstract or concrete way, and many other qualities. They may differentiate between types such as “Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, Rationalist” or “Achiever, Helper, Individualist, Peacemaker,” and more.

Continue Reading