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If you really want the Job, PROVE IT!

If you’re job hunting, you’ll want to use an application process which ensures that you stand out from the crowd. Showing employers that you’re genuinely interested in this particular job — versus just any job — is the best way to secure an interview. Read more

10 key phrases that will make me want to hire you

Want to be a better job applicant? Do you want to be hired from your resume or receive a job offer straight after your interview? It might be worth looking at your language. Read more

Fired, laid off, re-structured, made redundant… 5 ways you can help your staff

It really makes no difference what you call it. If you have to let people go, you can still make the transition smoother for everyone. Read more

Stop Dreaming! If you want a new Job in 2015

Welcome and Happy New Year! Are you dreaming of getting a new job in 2015? Someone once said to me in my career that people who have dreams have goals. I agree, but if you dream too much and have your head in the clouds, then you will never get anywhere. I suggest you get real and let go of some or all of these typical job hunter dreams. Get them out of your head if you want to get a job in 2015.

If you want to get a job in 2015, I suggest you get real and let go of some or all of these typical job hunter dreams: get them out of your head now!

Dream # 1 The most qualified candidate gets the job. 

Seriously, when did you last apply that practice in your own world? Get real. For realistic people this is simply not how it works. I know, because I hear this at least 20 times each week and it is pretty clear to me that it’s hard for so many job hunters to let go of this dream. If you can manage to think differently about finding work and accept that it really means that you have to get a job and do a job, and that they are two different things, then you will get interviews and jobs.

Dream # 2 They will read all of the data in my resume. 

There’s only one definition of a good resume—it’s the one that gets you the interview. The vast majority of submitted resumes have evolved into ‘data dumps’ and in doing so, what’s been lost to the is the time tested value of telling your story. It’s the story, not the data, that engages the reader and communicates your value. Get it wrong and the reader will not consider you. Facts, figures and numbers, only matter when they form part of a larger story.

Dream # 3 Just work harder. 

This is probably the most evil and most common of all the job hunter dreams, because it can lead to blaming the victim. Not a single week goes by when I don’t read or discover yet another encouragement from self-professed recruiting experts, who tell job hunters to “just work harder.”  This unspoken judgment that hard work is all that separates the employed from the jobless is absolute nonsense. Never mind the irrational system we have in place for connecting people and jobs. Never mind luck, chance, connections, age, sex, race, disability, experience or sometimes even talent. Just work harder. Simplistic solutions like ‘work harder’ can feel good because they create the perception that the problem is solved. But it’s not. The dream remains. What you really need to do is search and apply smarter, not harder. That’s how you get job interviews. Call me if you want to know more; simply follow my blog or contact me during our Pro Bono Friday sessions or attend our seminars.

Dream # 4  Network, Network, Network till it comes out of your ears. 

Ask any job hunter or hiring manager what networking means and you’ll get a different answer each time. The word ‘networking’ has become so overused, that it has started to lose its real meaning for so many job hunters. To them, it actually means NOTHING because no one has an outright answer. Networking isn’t everything and it certainly is not wrong; it’s just not enough. And when it’s put forth as ‘the answer’ it becomes a dream. What’s worse is that it becomes a focus on the wrong thing. Networking is not the magic key to a new job.

Oh, and while we are on that subject, just knowing someone, or knowing someone who knows someone, will not get you a job either. You need to do much more than just ‘know someone’. This is probably the weirdest and hardest job hunter dream to challenge or even to dispute because sometimes it’s true! But more often than not it’s really just a start, especially if the connection is only online or simply weak. What’s weak? For starters, so many LinkedIn users believe that networking via their mouse clicks is a connection or a lead to a new job. Need I say more?

What’s even more important than knowing someone via a few mouse clicks or Facebook connection tabs, is actually being a part of something.

Being an active, visible and regular contributor to a community—any community— is real networking. Because it’s from these communities that the genuine connections required to find work are found. You have to put something in to get something out. A mere endorsement or a commentary post in a LinkedIn group does not make you a valuable networker.

Dream # 5  Be honest. 

We are all for honesty. The problem is the job hunters who confuse including EVERYTHING in their application versus simply including what matters. No small task. And it means something different to every individual. Most job ads are short and simple. So many jobs today are very narrowly focused. That means that the focus in your application has got to be on what matters, NOT on telling your life story. I just looked at another 8 page resume. I am not kidding. 8 pages?!

Telling what matters is what counts. Bottom line? Instead of a focus on being honest and including everything, change the focus to reading and LISTENING and speaking to what’s needed and what matters the most. Less is More!

Dream # 6  Go to LinkedIn and you will get a job. Yeah—dream on!

It is like saying, “Google Translate will solve your language problem.” Get real—LinkedIn is a database. As one of many tools, it might help you find work. But it’s a database, not a magic online kingdom. There are at least 10 alternative sites who do more for you depending on your industry and job search segment.

Dream # 7 Job Boards will do the work for you.  

There are lots of published speculations on the percentage of time job board’s lead to jobs and they range from 5-15%. Is that really true? Maybe. Maybe not. What’s consistent is that the numbers are never more than 20%. What is larger than 20%? The dream that online job boards will do the work for you. Approximately 70% of all job hunters focus their job search energy on online job boards hunting for less than 30% of the actual job opportunities.

Dream No. 8 You just need to get past the Gatekeeper. 

Yep—the gatekeeper used to be the receptionist or the protective ‘HR guy’; nowadays the first gatekeeper can be resume parsing systems and software. The idea is the same. The dream that if you could just get  past something, or someone, is a silly idea. Wake up. Job hunting is about doing things smarter—not harder—and with consistency.

If you want to get a job in 2015, get your head out of the clouds, focus on what really matters and remember to hunt wisely!

TheJobSearchCoach

Uli

Are you made to work for a Not-for-Profit?

I am frequently approached by my clients on whether they should leave the corporate world and make the leap from the for-profit to the not-for-profit world.

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Kickstart Your Career ! CHANGE

There are times in our lives when we need to review our situation and think about  a new direction and a possible career change or transition. Unpaid work, possibilities for learning, the kind of lifestyle you want and your changing roles within your family—any of these things can trigger career change, and you should consider all of them when you’re thinking of reinventing yourself. Watch the video blog to see what suits you best.

Decipher the Job Ads to land the right job!

When you read job advertisements, you know that they’re not all created equally. Some include far too much detail, while others leave a lot up to the imagination. As with everything, it is up to you to pick out what’s important when applying for a job.

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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

Help Me ! instead of telling me how to suck eggs…

Have you heard this one before?  Don’t tell me how to suck eggs!

If you live in Australia, then I’m sure you’ve heard it and maybe even experienced it first-hand.

Employees, work mates, peers or friends who tell you that, are really saying they don’t care for your advice.

But, they would like you to help or they wouldn’t have asked in the first place!

They usually have a valid point, since advice is often not delivered properly. There are endless examples of managers and executives who do not know their staff and therefore do not know about their strengths and weaknesses.  There are also tonnes of experts, forums and online portals which prefer to post generic–type advice and information instead of really helping their audience to work out issues or problems.

 

The same applies to people looking for a career change or new work.  Job Seekers don’t need intervention and help from content providers or experts who live and work in countries which have no relationship to their situation. What Job Seekers want is tangible solutions and good direction.  I found some of that for you – if you are a Job Seeker and if you are interested, that is…

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When Your Recruiter is a “Rookie”

Yeah, the phone rings and it is an enthusiastic recruiter. Brilliant! I am enthused too and I am keen to hear what the caller has to offer, but as it turns out, my new contact has lots of question and no genuine job opportunity. And to make things worse, I realise pretty soon that my new recruiter is also a “rookie” because she asked some bizarre questions to prove that she knows her “people” stuff.  I am not kidding – these two questions gave it away:

  •  “If Germans were the tallest people in the world, how would you prove it?” and     “Does life fascinate you?”

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