Depression Sucks Darkness in the Job Search (Tips From the Arctic)

Depression Sucks Darkness in the Job Search (Tips From the Arctic) Depression clouds thinking. Depression can cloud everything. My most-commented on post was, I thought, a throw-away that no one would comment on. But depression is too real, and the post connected with people. Check out the post, and the comments, here. I live in a valley surrounded by mountains. Sounds charming, but theres way too many people who live here to make it as charming as a Hallmark setting. Instead, and unfortunately, the mountain/valley arrangement gives us what they call an inversion, where we get air trapped over our valley for a while. When I say air, think dark, yucky pollution. Winter here is an issue. It can be dark, gray, cold, unwelcoming, and then you have the inversion. Seasonal depression thats what they call it. I think some people get career seasonal depression. I did, when I was in my job search (exhibit A). Many people I talk to are discouraged and depressed, anxious and on-edge. It just comes with the circumstances. I continue to look for anything to help myself and others who tend to go down that path, and was really quite interested in this article on Fast Company titled I live in 24 hours of darkness each winter. Heres how I stay sane Please take the four minutes they say it will take to read this article. I think the entire article is fascinating.. Below the article are related links explore those, too. Ill list the five things the author lists to do, but please read the entire article for context. I dont want you to brush over this list and think its a good idea I want you to internalize the ideas. Whether you live in the Arctic and wont see the sun for a while or you live in sunny Florida and see the sun as much as you want, if you are in a job search you might be in your own darkness. These tips can be a part of your remedy. Keep a routine. Just make sure that what you have in your routine is actually working. Ditch the tactics that arent getting you anywhere. Plan excuses to be social. Job clubs, anyone?? Opt for a technical solution.  I might suggest, for job seekers, turn this around and opt for a non-technical solution that is, TALK TO (MORE) PEOPLE!! Find things to look forward to. This is why, in my Job Search Program, I talk about vision so much. You will land a job, you wont be unemployed forever. Dont fight the darkness. Recognize that the job search sucks, and accept it, but dont accept defeat. Know your enemy, as Sun Tzu would say. Heres the article: Depression Sucks Darkness in the Job Search (Tips From the Arctic) Depression clouds thinking. Depression can cloud everything. My most-commented on post was, I thought, a throw-away that no one would comment on. But depression is too real, and the post connected with people. Check out the post, and the comments, here. I live in a valley surrounded by mountains. Sounds charming, but theres way too many people who live here to make it as charming as a Hallmark setting. Instead, and unfortunately, the mountain/valley arrangement gives us what they call an inversion, where we get air trapped over our valley for a while. When I say air, think dark, yucky pollution. Winter here is an issue. It can be dark, gray, cold, unwelcoming, and then you have the inversion. Seasonal depression thats what they call it. I think some people get career seasonal depression. I did, when I was in my job search (exhibit A). Many people I talk to are discouraged and depressed, anxious and on-edge. It just comes with the circumstances. I continue to look for anything to help myself and others who tend to go down that path, and was really quite interested in this article on Fast Company titled I live in 24 hours of darkness each winter. Heres how I stay sane Please take the four minutes they say it will take to read this article. I think the entire article is fascinating.. Below the article are related links explore those, too. Ill list the five things the author lists to do, but please read the entire article for context. I dont want you to brush over this list and think its a good idea I want you to internalize the ideas. Whether you live in the Arctic and wont see the sun for a while or you live in sunny Florida and see the sun as much as you want, if you are in a job search you might be in your own darkness. These tips can be a part of your remedy. Keep a routine. Just make sure that what you have in your routine is actually working. Ditch the tactics that arent getting you anywhere. Plan excuses to be social. Job clubs, anyone?? Opt for a technical solution.  I might suggest, for job seekers, turn this around and opt for a non-technical solution that is, TALK TO (MORE) PEOPLE!! Find things to look forward to. This is why, in my Job Search Program, I talk about vision so much. You will land a job, you wont be unemployed forever. Dont fight the darkness. Recognize that the job search sucks, and accept it, but dont accept defeat. Know your enemy, as Sun Tzu would say. Heres the article:

The 3 Keys To Career Success In The New Economy

The 3 Keys To Career Success In The New Economy Todays post is by Drew Tewell, author  The Dream Job Program: Get the job you want. You can connect with him on  Twitter  and  Facebook. In my job as a recruiter, I review a lot of resumes. I have to find the right people so I interview job seekers on a regular basis. But, if you were to ask me what the most important things you could do to be successful in your career, I would not talk to you about updating your resume or brushing up on your interview skills. These things may come up, but they are not the most important. Here are the three keys to success in the new economy: 1. Never Stop Learning We live in a world that is constantly changing. If you want to be successful in your career, you must be constantly learning. Learning gives you new skills. It also keeps you current with what is going on in the field that you work in. One way that I do this is by listening to audio books. I use Audible, which has an app for my iPhone and iPad and can be used on almost any media player. You can even burn a CD of your book. The convenience of audio allows me to learn while I drive and also at other times throughout the day. (Note: If you are interested in trying Audible, they have a promotion where you can try it out for free. Just google “free audible promotion” and you will be able to get more information.) Choose to be a lifelong learner. 2. Build Relationships Seth Godin, in his new book, The Icarus Deception, calls our new economy The Connection Economy. The internet and social media give us the opportunity to connect with others like never before. When it comes to your career, building relationships with other people is vitally important. For years career planning and job search experts have said that the number one way to find a job is through relationships. Are you meeting new people in your field or in the field that you someday want to go into? This is something you can do online or offline. Personally, I use blogging, Twitter and other social media avenues to connect with people. As I get to know them, we generally also connect in other ways, like over the phone. I also recently started a Google+ group with two other people. Each of us invited two more people so we have a total of nine people in our group. We meet for an hour monthly via Google Hangout, which allows us to video chat with up to ten people and it is going great! Don’t wait until you need a network to build a network. Start today. 3. Get Your Finances in Order Have you ever wanted to pursue your dream job but you were unable because you had certain financial obligations? You may want to start a business or volunteer your time to something you are passionate about but because you have a lot of loans to pay off, you don’t have the time or money? Getting out of debt and having fewer payments gives you  the freedom to pursue your dreams  on your terms. At the end of 2011, I started a personal coaching business. The first month went very well and I made more money than I did at my job the month before. The second month didn’t go as well. In fact, I didn’t get one new client. When I started the business I had very little (if any) savings and was not prepared financially. If I had saved up an emergency fund to cover our expenses when I had an off month, I wouldnt have been so stressed. I ended up having to find a job to help with our expenses and decided it was best to go in a different direction. Of the three things I mentioned, this is the one that I struggle with the most. It is not easy. But just because it is not easy, doesn’t mean it is impossible.  Anna is proof of that on this post. Your career is important. Consider today becoming a lifelong learner, being intentional in building relationships, and beginning to get your finances in order. Your dream job is waiting! What are the keys to your success in the new economy?

Honey, I Shrunk the Job Market - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Honey, I Shrunk the Job Market - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career A fantasy of shrinking your family can be entertaining, especially if you know from the start that it is a Disney film intended to entertain the entire family. We love to be entertained taken away from the real world for a while. But what about the real world of todays job market? It is shrinking, too. Yes, Virginia, the job market is shrinking. I am here to tell you the cold hard facts that no one else seems to recognize or, perhaps they just dont want you to know. In Chapter 18 of Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!), I include a graph of the U.S. net employment change by quarter per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That graph indicates that, while our population grew 20% during the last 20 years, the total number of jobs has trended slowly downward. Next, consider that the BLS defines a person as employed if they have done ANY paid work during the week when they are surveyed. This means that a person is classified as employed if they are found to be working part time, in a temporary job, in a short-term contact, etc. Given that the proportion of people NOT in full time jobs has become a growing segment of the workforce, this means that the downward trend of full time jobs is actually larger than that of jobs in general. You already knew this. As William Bridges noted in his 1994 book titled JobShift, During a transition period like ours, jobs too will be around for a while. So if you still have one, hold on to it while you work on your alternatives. For quite some time many people will find a job to be a workable stopgap solution to the need for an income. But the only long term solution is to rebuild your career and your life around strategies that work in a dejobbed environment. So, why am I sharing what many of you are likely to take as bad  news? Because it is important that you consider this megatrend when making future career plans and employment decisions. More and more people must consider alternatives to full time jobs if we are all to prosper in an America that continues, regardless of the political party in power in Washington, to become dejobbed. Here are some alternatives to a full time job that more people need to be considering: 1. Independent consulting Working for yourself and/or part-time with a consulting company. 2. 1099 employment Working for an employer as an independent contractor. 3. Entrepreneurism 1 Starting your own company from scratch. 4. Entrepreneurism 2 Buying an existing business or a franchise. 5. Portfolio career Developing some combination of two or more of the previous  options, to establish the income you desire. In the ancient employment paradigm of the 20th century, getting a good job with a good company was the gold standard that the vast majority of self-sustaining people pursued. Entrepreneurs were the tiny minority. In the 21st century, the old gold standard is slowly fading away. In the 21st century, perhaps your new brand should be entrepreneur or consultant. If some of the options have gotten your attention, then consider reading  Ceren Cubuckus article titled Have You Ever Thought about Becoming an Entrepreneur? to consider more seriously what it takes to pursue the  entrepreneurial option. And read Beth Kuhels article titled Starting Your Own Business? Keep It Simple for Success! if you would like suggestions for planning a new business. Have you already found an  alternative to the  elusive 21st century  full time job?  I would love to hear about your experiences and suggestions. Author: Richard Kirby  is an executive career consultant, speaker on career strategies, and author of Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!). Richard Kirby’s earlier experience includes managing engineering, human resources, marketing and sales teams for employers that ranged from a Fortune 100 to a VC-funded entrepreneurial startup. For the past 11 years at Executive Impact, Richard has helped hundreds of executives and professionals successfully navigate today’s transformed 21st century job market and achieve better employment for themselves. Richard’s expertise includes career assessments and goal setting, personal marketing/branding, resume enhancement, strategic networking and job interviewing, and “contrarian” job search methodologies. He is a Board Certified Coach (in career coaching) and a Certified Management Consultant (recognized by the ISO).

3 Chrome Plugins To Accelerate Your Talent Sourcing

3 Chrome Plugins To Accelerate Your Talent Sourcing Despite the advancement of technology with the invasion of AI, machine learning, predictive analytics, hiring is still pretty much a painful process for many. You start off confidently with a vacancy handed down from your hiring managers, thinking it would be a walk in the park. A job ad goes here, a social post there and voila! The candidate starts tomorrow! No, that’s me dreaming. The reality is you get all the people you won’t want to hire from your job ad and you are only hearing crickets from your social post. What about LinkedIn? You do have a Recruiter account, right? Guess what, so do the thousands of internal and agency recruiters you are vying attention with. They probably have more user accounts than you too. And that marks the start of the frustrating journey that keeps getting restarted every month or so because you are going around in circles. 3x Your Talent Sourcing To win a race where everyone is driving the same car, you need to have some secrets under the hood. Here are 3 turbo boosts in the form of Chrome plugins that will help to improve your talent sourcing: 1. Hiretual Hiretual is your recruiting assistant powered by Big Data and Cognitive Computing. It helps you easily piece together complicated and far more accurate Boolean search strings based on an input as little as a job title. This provides a far more accurate long list of candidates to start the review process. Want something even more targeted? Feed it with your entire job description and it would convert that into a Boolean search string that returns the candidates that you are looking for. 2. Dux-Soup Acting as your virtual assistant, Dux-Soup does quite a few things to make your sourcing easier and quicker. It keeps track of every single profile you visit and allows you to make notes directly on the profile page which are saved. Profile date and notes can be export as a .CSV file to be opened in Microsoft Excel or similar. The .CSV file includes data such as the name of the person whose profile you visited, job title, company name, location, email and notes. You can take and save notes on each profile such as: have sent invite / need to reply to a message / likes Opera etc etc. Dux-Soup can save you hours of manual data entry when it comes to tracking all your leads you interact with on LinkedIn. 3. AutoPilot Connecting with new profiles on LinkedIn usually yield no responses. And it shouldn’t surprise many because accepting connection on LinkedIN is really painful. For users who seldom log in, you will be seeing like 100+ connection requests waiting for you. And LinkedIn doesn’t allow you to do an Accept All. So you either waste 30 mins of your time doing 100+ clicks or you don’t at all. AutoPilot automates the visit of profiles in a sequential manner like a human would. This prevents any LinkedIn penalty. You may wonder what for. When you get a visit, you actually see a notification on your flag icon. Because it isn’t so cluttered like your connection request icons, people tend to go into it. Coupled with an interesting headline in your profile (e.g. Looking for amazing CFO candidate for Fortune 50 client), you are going to get a visit back. So instead of you connecting with them, interested candidate can connect with you instead. This not only saves you time but also wasted efforts in speaking with candidates that just might not be so keen in the first place. Conclusion So stop thinking time is the only thing you have the upper hand in. There are many hacks out there to make your sourcing work easier and faster. Give them a try and start outracing your competition.

Fortunes Top 25 Companies for Leaders - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Fortunes Top 25 Companies for Leaders A highly effective, proactive approach to senior executive job search begins by researching and compiling a list of companies that will fit your objectives and career fulfillment needs. After determining your target companies and key hiring decision makers within them, you can develop a strategic plan to connect with them and get under their radar on social networking sites like and Twitter. Despite the current job market, there are top-level executive jobs out there. Dont always expect to find these jobs on the companies websites or anywhere else in print. Many are hidden jobs that are never advertised and/or dont exist but are created for the right candidate to meet companies particular challenges. Fortunes November 19th article listing  the top 25 global companies that truly develop strong leaders will give you a great starting point for developing your list. Teaming with human resources consultants Hewitt Associates and the RBL Group, Fortune surveyed more than 500 global companies searching for those who are best at attracting, retaining, and nurturing talent. According to Fortune reporters Beth Kowitt and Kim Thai: The companies that made the cut have one thing in common: They know that investing in their employees isnt a luxury its a necessity. 1.   IBM HQ: Armonk, NY Revenues â€" $103.6B 2.   Proctor Gamble HQ-Cincinnati, OH Revenues â€" $79B 3.   General Mills HQ: Minneapolis, MN Revenues â€" $14.7B 4.   McKinsey no HQ Revenues â€" $5B+ 5.   ICICI Bank HQ: Mumbai Revenues â€" $7.4B 6.   McDonalds HQ: Oak Brook, Ill Revenues â€" $23.5B 7.   General Electric HQ: Fairfield, CN Revenues â€" $182.5B 8.   Titan Cement HQ: Athens, Greece Revenues â€" $2.3B 9.   China Mobile HQ: Shanghai Revenues â€" $2.5B 10. Hindustan Unilever HQ: Mumbai Revenues â€" $4.4B 11. Natura Cosmeticos HQ: Cajamar, Brazil Revenues â€" $16B 12. Colgate-Palmolive HQ: New York, NY Revenues â€" $15.3B 13. TNT HQ: Hoofdoorp, Netherlands Revenues â€" $1605B 14. Deere HQ: Moline, Il Revenues â€" $28.4B 15. Whirlpool HQ: Benton Harbor, MI Revenues â€" $18.9B 16. 3M HQ: St. Paul, MN Revenues â€" $25B 17. Cargill HQ: Minneapolis, MN Revenues â€" $16.6B 18. OLAM HQ: Singapore Revenues â€" $8.9B 19. Ely Lilli HQ: Indianapolis, IN Revenues â€" $20.4B 20. PepsiCo HQ: Purchase, NY Revenues â€" $43B 21. American Express HQ: New York City, NY Revenues â€" $28.4B 22. Lockheed-Martin HQ: Bethesda, MD Revenues â€" $42.7B 23. Intel HQ: Santa Clara, CA Revenues â€" $3706B 24. Infosys HQ: Bangalore, India Revenues â€" $4.6B 25. FedEx HQ: Memphis, TN Revenues â€" $35.5B Related posts: How to Target and Network into Hidden C-Level Executive Jobs Tips for Executive Job Search and Research 00 0

Networking or Interviewing for Your Next Career Move Get it Right!

Networking or Interviewing for Your Next Career Move Get it Right! You work so hard to get an informational meeting, a job interview, or a network meeting that could lead to a job. But how much time in hours are you spending to prepare for that meeting? Not enough! And if your answer IS “enough,” then double it. Whether you are searching for a job outside your company or you are striving for a promotion or job change within your company, follow the same guidance. Get it right! Don’t make any of these meeting preparation bloopers: Not rehearsing the most basic interview questions. Not bringing copies of your résumé, cover letter, and the job description you want to discuss. Not bringing a pad and pen to take notes. (No, this time don’t use a computer!) Not studying the company, the division that is hiring, and the job description in great detail. Not dressing appropriately, looking disheveled, disorganized, or not ready to work. Not knowing where you are going â€" getting lost, being late. Treat networking meetings, informational meetings, and interviews all the same. Regardless of whom you are meeting with, the person on the other side of the table or the phone is asking themselves these questions: Are they someone I would recommend to someone I know? Are they someone who is showing the skills needed to be successful at work? Are they committed to the job search process and will follow through on next steps? Or are they just sniffing around? Are they passionate about the job or company or industry we are talking about? Follow these three preparation steps and you’ll be successful: Step 1. Interview Questions: Study the top 10 most common interview questions and write down 3 bulleted answers to each one â€" no more! Practice and repeat them. For phone interviews, you should have a “cheat sheet” in front of you with the questions and answers. And it’s okay to bring in notes for your face-to-face meeting, too. Time estimate: 2 ½ 3 hours (approximately 15-20 minutes per question). Block the time in your calendar, find a quiet place, and do this well. Step 2. Job Description and Your Résumé: List the top 5 reasons why you are the best candidate for the job or company. These should be in the form of skills and experience you have to offer THEM and should not be a list of random skills that are irrelevant to the job or company. Memorize those and word them in terms of “You’re looking for XYZ and I have Y years of experience and Z skills.” Time estimate: 2 hours. Networking or Interviewing for Your Next Career Move_Get it Right Step 3. Prepare to Meet: Make more than enough copies of your résumé, your cover letter, any samples of your work, and the job description. Organize them all in a neat-looking folder. Bring paper and a pen to take notes with â€" and use them! Lay out which clothes you are going to wear, try them on to assure all looks good. If your meeting is in the morning, set two alarms so you won’t oversleep! Print a map and directions and double the time you think it is going to take to get there. If you are not sure, then drive the route a couple of days before to find the exact location. Get there super early on the day of the meeting, and find a coffee shop to wait in. Be ultra-prepared and you’ll stand out as the best candidate for the job. We want to hear from you! Share your challenges and questions in the comments section below.

The Use of Synonym Resumes in the Fourth Category of Work History

The Use of Synonym Resumes in the Fourth Category of Work HistoryIf you have a work experience you want to get on the employer's list of records, you may have to write a synonym resume for your job application. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but it has to stand out from the crowd of other candidates who may not be all that different when it comes to the qualifications of their resumes. By using synonyms that mean the same thing in your work history, you can make your claim easier to process.In a job search, there are three categories of types of work history that are likely to be reported on by employers. The first is the type that covers four years or less. This means the individuals who are most likely to be employed by larger organizations and thus get more regular pay. The second category is one that covers five or more years.The last category of work history is those that are ten years or more. This means that the individuals are likely to be employed by small businesses or at least by not large ones. A job application can cover the category in one of two ways. Either it can describe your work in a way that reflects how it relates to the first or second categories or it can match your work with a second category.If your work history covers the fourth category, your third option is the most straightforward. You can simply write 'Experienced,' 'Experienced'Experienced' when describing the same job you describe when listing the first category. You can also write 'Worked,' 'Worked'Worked' as synonyms for 'Worked.'If your work includes all three categories and you are looking for something a little different to describe the same position, you have two choices. You can describe the same position as 'Performed'Performed.' Both describe the same job in the same way: by referencing the fact that you performed the task. And both are acceptable, if not necessary, synonyms for 'Performed.'If you have a work history that is considered exceptional or highly advan ced by the employer, you can describe your work in the same way you would if you were discussing a position ten years in the past. What could be more vivid than saying, 'Worked as a Director for twelve years'? It is the equivalent of saying, 'Performed as a Director for twelve years.'So much for what is considered to be the fourth category of work history. These descriptions, synonyms and matching of work experiences should stand out from the others on the employer's vocabulary list. Synonym terms are appropriate for those applicants whose work differs from the others' on the employer's vocabulary list.In an interview or a job application, any opportunity to use synonyms and to help an employer to see you as a more competent person is worth taking advantage of. And if you don't feel like you are qualified for the job because you are in the fourth category, that opportunity could come in handy for you.