Kickstart your network expansion and lift your profile

Developing a strong professional network has always been an important and powerful strategy used by effective job seekers in all fields. Networking is often the No. 1 missing tool in a job seekers toolbox, and this is even more true with ‘mature age’ candidates in the Age Group 45-55. This group often started their networking activities too late in their career or haven’t adapted to new ways of networking.

 

 

So, what do you do when your number of network contacts is low and which solution do you turn to when your attempts to reach out for new network contacts fall on deaf ears? How do you deal with 7 or more months of unemployment and 100s of unanswered applications resulting in zero or near zero job interviews? Read more

When the writing is on the wall – Redundancy and other worries ….

Getting the flick in today’s job market is not uncommon and it affects almost every profession and industry. It can be like being evicted from your home in a storm. The horrific head winds facing job seekers today will make finding shelter with a new employer all the harder.
I am a big advocate of loyalty to your employer but sometimes you have to read the signals and work out if you should stick around to fight the battle or get the hell out of there on your own terms. There are many signals that may show you if you are likely ‘on the list’, so learn to read the signs to figure out when it’s time to bail and stabilise your career. Read more

I’ll have some PRIDE with that!

I recently received an email basically telling me that job seeker advice has a strong tendency to be drivel.  The email author went on to say that he was sick and tired of hearing the same old advice again and again from job search experts and professionals. He explained in all sincerity that he has read career advice from countless experts and knows it all even better than some of the so-called career pros (he actually teaches social media networking techniques)…and yet he is still unemployed.

To summarise his sentiments: knows it, does it, lives it – even teaches some of it.  And yet, no job. So, understandably, he’s had it up to here… no maybe up to HERE… with all the platitudes and assurances that following these job search tips will get him the golden ticket. Read more

Meet Roger Gray

Roger is an experienced MD in the  FMCG and Print Media Marketing industry and one of the industries key thinkers on the subjects of Leadership, Change Management and Supply Chain Optimisation. Roger works for organisations with large and complex supply chains as an expert on adoption of Culture & Human Resource methodologies and not to forget a damn fine manager. Roger has recently started blogging about Recruitment, Leadership, Change Management and Supply Chain Optimisation related issues.  He’s a contributor to the editors at thedyslexicjobseeker (TDJS) and various Industry forum groups such as LinkedIn and the Logistics Association of Australia (LAA). Roger also hosts various speaker and consulting events with the Contributors at TDJS. Check him out on LinkedIn.  Not up to speed in the social media game? Reach out via [email protected].  Roger has an MBA from the University of Melbourne  and a Masters of Business in Integrated Logistics from RMIT.  He also earned his stripes at the Institute of Directors in New Zealand and as Operations Manager for the Sydney Olympic & Paralympic games in 2000. Not enough yet? If you want to know more about Roger   Read more

Tackling the Talent Shortage – get out of the City

by Guest Editor Scott Butler, Butler HR

Industry trends, such as big data and cloud computing, crowd–sourcing and all the other new buzz word solutions have arrived for a while now and regional and rural areas are not immune to the effects at an enterprise or small – medium business level. These effects are fuelling the demand for IT skills, sales & marketing skills and many other specialised trade skills. While these trends have been on the horizon for some time, most businesses have failed to plan ahead and hire in advance. Read more

Want a confidence boost? Move!

Guest Editor Melony dos Remedios writes:

As a Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach, I’ve worked with so many clients over the years whose goals vary from weight loss to stress management to six packs and everywhere in between.

Once they made a decision to commit to exercise, they found there was an added benefit: achieving goals in the gym or working out with a team or trainer helped them to achieve goals outside the gym: in their relationships; while job seeking and in their career. They quickly learned the importance of exercise as a tool to help them achieve physical, mental and emotional confidence and strength. Read more

Meet Melony dos Remedios

Melony dos Remedios is the Fitness Services Director 

for Anytime Fitness Australia

Melony’s day gig is one of the best jobs in the world.  She designs and delivers the everyday marketing for over 260 fitness clubs. Her marketing insights and experience fuel their own drive toward achieving their outcomes. By and large, our members are self-starters. They don’t require large servings of external motivation. They don’t require huge amounts of external support. They find what they need from with-in. They know what they want and, usually with our initial help, they know how to achieve their goals. It’s simple, really. “At Anytime Fitness, my mission is to help people thrive through a fit and active lifestyle,” says Melony.

Melony is also a regular consultant and speaker at industry and corporate events, assisting individuals and companies to achieve life balance, healthy lifestyles and  staff engagement to drive greater results and loyalty. Read more

Don’t Attract Second-Rate Tech Recruiters – Hire Experts

Thursday morning 10am last week, I get a call from my Recruiter at Drake Recruiting, asking me, “Are we still on for 6 pm?”  My heart sank for a moment as I thought I might have missed an uber important interview but as it turns out it was a reminder for a networking event at 6pm in the Sydney CBD. Phew, lucky me. I am keen to attend so I confirmed, not mentioning that I had actually forgotten to enter his invitation in my calendar. I assure you this sort of glitch usually does not happen to me as I tend to be organised.

So, I left a bit early to join the networking event and arrived to meet an impressive line-up of Sydney Start-Up companies.  Read more

Meet Scott Butler

Scott Butler is the MD of Butler HR.  Scott’s mission is to humanise the relationships between Hiring Manager & Employee to drive greater employee engagement and loyalty. Scott’s practice supports recruitment across the Illawarra, South Coast & Southern Highlands of NSW.  He has extensive sourcing experience having worked in Sydney and Wollongong for over 20 years. He also performs regular contract sourcing for mining, manufacturing, professional services and larger NFPs, and got his start in the profession while a full life cycle recruiter at Centacom Staff (now Adecco).    No truth to the rumour that he has a side business as gifted consultant & speaker to help you push your staff engagement to drive greater results and loyalty.

Read more

Clean up your act before you start job searching or networking!

When you search for information on a product or a person online do you find what you want? I’m guessing that you often don’t, at least not easily. What often happens is that you end up spending a lot of time searching until you really find what you were looking for.

That’s because you get to see what Google and Facebook (and increasingly many other companies and search engines and solutions) think you want to find.  And here is the real bad part of the news.  It can also be because you have likely left a lot of personal online garbage out there on the internet. So, don’t be too surprised if you get hit with some embarrassing content from the past.  With this in mind, I strongly suggest that you clean up your ‘online shrapnel’ before you kick off your networking for a career change or before you embark on your job seeking mission. Read more