A successful job search involves an ever-widening network. Think of your network as having three levels:
Some of the most common questions I hear from job seekers have to do with if/when/how to follow-up. Whether you’ve met a new contact, submitted a resume or gone in for interviews, appropriate follow-up is critical. Use your specific situation to determine how to best follow-up. Here are the basic guidelines as a start: Read More
Your job search may pick up if you consider small companies as well as big names. The numbers show there are more jobs there. As you expand your job search to include small companies, you’ll want to consider the pros and cons. Having worked in both a small company and a larger well established organization, it is hard for me to generalize that one is better than the other. Based on my personal experience and from what I have learned from others, here are some pros and cons of working in small companies. Read More
Job seekers often focus their efforts on large firms with name recognition and, in the process, ignore smaller younger companies. However, by doing so, they are eliminating some good options. While looking for a job, you want to broaden your horizons and target a wide range of employers in your field of interest, regardless of size. Read More
If the idea of walking into a room full of people and talking to any of them makes you want to crawl back into bed for a week, this blog is for you. The advice is coming from someone like you (me). Many people (extroverts) say that to be successful in business or with your career, you have to suck in your entire personality and just “become an extrovert” for the ten, fifteen, or fifty minutes it takes to do some successful networking. They are, of course, incorrect. Introverts just need to prepare in their own way. Read More
After looking at what you can demonstrate about yourself to increase your chances of landing jobs in small companies , let’s see where you can find some of these openings. Unlike large firms, small companies and start-ups do not always have formal job listings. There is no substitute for networking and it becomes all the more necessary when looking for jobs in small companies. Focusing on your networking efforts and broadening your network is the best way to discover these hidden jobs. Read More
A friend of mine wanted to try doing a triathlon – a race involving swimming, bicycling and running. She was confident with the latter two but apprehensive about the swim. “I’ve been swimming since I was a kid, but I’ve never tried racing.” I offered to take a swim with her and see how she was in the water. It turns out she could barely keep her head up!
Swimming is like a lot of things in life. We can do it well enough to keep from drowning but we’re not truly competent and certainly not good enough to win a race. Read More
Have you ever worn yourself out with a course of action that simply didn’t produce the results you intended? Job seekers and working people alike are urged to work harder at achieving their goals, when working smarter is actually what they are really looking for.
Could your looks get in the way of your job search? It’s a question a lot of people are asking after a Newsweek article which said essentially looks matter. According to the Newsweek survey of hiring managers, looks were the third most important factor after experience and confidence. So what’s a job seeker to do? Read More
If the idea of walking into a room full of people and talking to any of them makes you want to crawl back into bed for a week, this post is for you. And the advice is coming from someone like you (me). Many people (extroverts) say that to be successful in business or with your career, you have to suck in your entire personality and just “become an extrovert” for the ten, fifteen, or fifty minutes it takes to do some successful networking. They are, of course, incorrect. Introverts just need to prepare in their own way.
