Job Searching During the Holidays – Should I Stay or Should I Go?

This indecision’s bugging me
If you don’t want me, set me free
~The Clash

The malls and stores have been decorated for over a month now, and you know the words to all of the new Christmas songs, since you have heard them a million times. You are waiting for a reply from a previous interview and wondering if it is time to shut down your job search, as nobody hires during the holidays.

You are partly right.

As referenced in my previous article, Tips for finding Seasonal Work – there are employment opportunities leading up to Christmas. But what about the month of December? Is it worth the effort to keep plugging away at finding a job?

While it is true that most employers will slow down or freeze hiring during December, there are still fantastic opportunities to network and put yourself in a more strategic position for the New Year. Think of it as an early New Year’s resolution.

During this time of year people are wrapping up things for year-end. Their focus is not completely on work, but on the holidays, friends and family. Moods are more positive and people are more receptive to chatting about what the next year may bring. Use this opportunity to connect with your targeted employers to gather information about the company, upcoming job opportunities and their hiring process.

Having this information before jobs are posted in the New Year gives you an edge over the rest of the job seekers. You will know what jobs are coming up, when they are accepting applications, the hiring process and who is doing the hiring. If you are lucky and resourceful, you may even have secured someone on the inside who can pass your resume on for you.

It’s also a good time to follow-up on previous interviews where a decision has not been made. Most companies will want hiring wrapped up before the end of the year so they can complete any paperwork, finish budgets and project future headcount. People have a little more time to chat and may be more open to longer discussions on the decision and potential upcoming opportunities. Don’t go into the New Year thinking “what if” and “I wonder if they will call” – find out now. You can then start with a clean slate in 2012.

To be prepared for the potential opportunity of marketing yourself to employers, try this exercise:  in seven words or less – describe what you do or what you can offer an employer. Think of this as your sales pitch, calling card or your brand. It’s a way to become more memorable. What I currently use for employers is “Helping employers land their next great employee”.  I couple that with a profile picture on LinkedIn of me holding a large fish (yes it’s real and I did catch it! released it too).

You can choose to stop your job search over the holidays or keep plugging away to secure your next job.  I’m not suggesting that you continue at 100%. Everyone needs some time off to relax, regroup and recharge. Just don’t completely stop, as you would be missing out on some great opportunities.

The benefits of job searching in December include:

• employers have more time to talk about current or upcoming hiring opportunities
• there is less competition, as some job seekers have given up their search until the New Year
• some companies could be hiring to use up $$ left in the budget
• the down time can be used to research employers and lay the groundwork for networking (using LinkedIn), as well as review your resume and adjust it, if you haven’t been getting interviews
• companies have a skeleton staff on over the holidays, so the odds of making a connection are higher
• besides, what else are you going to do??

So, use this time of year to your advantage. Don’t give up; keep plugging away. After all, this is your job search and you will get out of it what you put into it. Good luck in 2012. Don’t stop “taking care of business”.

And I’ll be…

Taking care of business every day
Taking care of business every way
I’ve been taking care of business, it’s all mine
Taking care of business and working overtime
Work out
~(Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

Resume writing for the new economy

Writing a resume is one of the first tasks facing job searchers, as they set out to seek new employment. The challenge is to prepare a concise and clear document that represents your work history and skills in the best, most interesting way possible. 

As an Employment Counsellor, my experience has been that while most job searchers already have a resume, it most often requires some serious work to update it and represent the job searcher as current in the new economy. So, how do you prepare a well written resume that fits in with the ever-changing expectations of employers?

Here are some places to start:

While it is a good start to begin by unearthing your old resume and adding information about your most recent position, this is clearly not sufficient. Keep in mind that the quick pace of change in the job market has affected employers’ expectations of you – both in terms of your skills (i.e. the content of your resume), as well as the way your write it (i.e. style and layout).

Once you have added information about your most recent employment, it is worth seeking out advice for updating the appearance and style of the resume. There are many credible “how-to” sources to guide the resume writer. I recommend starting out by finding suitable job postings on job boards such as Monster.ca, to help you identify the relevant key words and descriptions of job functions, which you can integrate into your resume. They also offer a comprehensive Career Advice section, which offers excellent tips and suggestions.  Other excellent online sources are About.com’s Resume Tips, as well as Susan Ireland’s Resume Site. You will find good samples of resumes online, as well; I often refer clients to WorkBloom, who provide a good range of different types of resumes to inspire the resume writer to use new formats and wording.

Keep in mind that not all advice fits all resumes. For example, resumes should be styled to reflect the varying characters of different employment sectors. To illustrate that point, the financial sector (banking) is more conservative and requires traditional resumes, whereas marketing, especially social media, can be quite creative and may include a range of media such as Videos, Infographics or other alternative digital resume formats. 

Once you have gathered information and have begun tackling the process of rewriting the resume, it is worth seeking independent personalized feedback from those who you might regard as “in the know” – this might include Employment Counsellors or Workforce Specialists in local publicly funded services such as JVS Toronto.

Ultimately though, the best sources of feedback on your resume will always be people who hire into the fields which you are targeting. Make sure to ask as many as possible to ensure that you get a broad picture, and target people in large companies who see many resumes.  Eventually, you will reach a point in the writing process, where you have a “good enough” resume with which to start the process, keeping in mind that it will be adapted for EVERY job.

A good resume will be useful when you job search and network, and it will also be an excellent tool for setting up a detailed LinkedIn profile to initiate the online networking process. Taken further, there are even more ways of using your resume as a tool to increase your online presence, such as Visual CV.

There are some additional tips to keep in mind when writing a resume in this economy, with the increased use of email and online technologies:

• When chosing a font, keep in mind that resumes are primarily read on computer screens, so it’s useful to pick a font that is simple, clean and which allows for more information to be fit into a page and yet still be readable. I personally prefer Calibri, Tahoma or Verdana , but simple Arial is also good.

• Avoid using tables, as their outline shows on the computer screen, and try to eliminate underlining, which looks on the computer screen as if it is a link

• Keywords are very important. Remember that employers often use online screening tools, which search a resume for certain words, so make sure to use a range of keywords which may be sought after

• Assuming that employers will be checking up on the information you provide, using online tools such as Google and LinkedIn, make sure that your company names are valid and exactly spelled, and that the data on the resume is consistent with other sources such as LinkedIn

• Since resumes are on a screen, you are able to add live links to LinkedIn, as well as your blog/website, if relevant. This may be an excellent to encourage the employer to read more about you and for you to showcase information beyond the simple resume

Overall, while the process of writing a resume can be very stressful and demanding, it can also be an excellent way to re-evaluate your skills and learn about the changes in the job market.  Be prepared to take on the challenge fully, and make the best of what you can learn. It is well worth investing some time and energy (though not necessarily money) to make this a worthwhile learning experience that will enhance the chances of you finding the work you want more effectively.

Job hunting portfolios

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What exactly is a portfolio and why should I have one?

When we think of portfolios and who uses them, we think of people in fine arts, designers, performing arts, models, photographers and education professions. However, all types of job-seekers can make use of a portfolio.  When a client asks me whether I think they should make use of a portfolio I almost always say “yes”. They can be effective in any field.  Think of a portfolio as a very handy tool in the job hunting process and a constantly evolving record that, if kept current, will continue to be of assistance as you progress along your career path.

A complete, well thought out and structured portfolio has numerous advantages. For one, it is a strong persuasive tool in the interview process to visually demonstrate evidence of your skills and abilities to an employer. Another advantage is that all your career related documents can be found neatly in one spot. This is very handy when you want to add that letter of recommendation or new certificate, and easy to refer to if you need to access any career documentation you might need.

Your biggest time commitment will be the initial development of your portfolio, but once you’ve developed it, keeping it current and up-to-date will be fairly easy.

Having a portfolio means you can back up what you are saying in a job interview with evidence. For example, when talking about your exemplary communication skills you can back your words up with actual samples that demonstrate your writing ability. Projects you have worked on such as workshops, PowerPoint presentations and articles for the company newsletter can all be included in a portfolio.

An important point to remember is that the portfolio is a tool. It is used in job interviews to back up or illustrate a point, not to simply hand over to the interviewer(s) to have them flip through.

And so how do I start my portfolio?

A black professional three-ring binder (zipper closure optional) is a safe option. Make sure it looks professional as it will be coming with you to your job interviews. A table of contents is important and an orderly system which identifies the various sections, (e.g. mission statement, education, professional development), using tabs or dividers.

Gather and assemble all your materials that you want to include in your portfolio. Wondering what to include? Think about documents that showcase  your education and work experience by showing examples and evidence of your work, skills, education and accomplishments.

Ideas of pieces to include are:

• your branding/mission statement which sheds light on the guiding principles that drive you and give you purpose, your work ethic, organizational interests, management philosophy, etc. and listing goals can be  included (ie: where you see yourself in five years time)

• your skills, qualifications and abilities, including a list of accomplishments highlighting your achievements in your career to date, samples of your work (e.g. Powerpoint presentations, reports, workshops you’ve developed, reports, publications, brochures, news clippings etc)

• testimonials, letters of recommendations and thank you notes from clients, colleagues and supervisors are always nice to include; some people even include favourable job reviews/evaluations

• photocopies of awards, licenses, certificates, degrees and scholarships

• any professional development activities; for example, provide a listing of professional associations and conferences attended and any other professional activities

• information about volunteer jobs and community service activities, especially those that relate directly to your career, can be included

• a copy of your current resume plus a scannable/text-based resume in case one is required (I would put the scannable resume in the portfolio’s pocket if it has one)

•  a reference list should also be included with the names of 3 to 5 people (including their full names, titles, addresses, and phone/email) who are willing to speak about your strengths, abilities, and experience; at least one reference should be a former manager

Besides the traditional portfolio, you should also consider developing an online web-based portfolio. Make sure your online presence/branding corresponds to your resume and your portfolio. The information should be similar online (ie: LinkedIn and any website you use for a portfolio) and back up what is in your resume.

The career portfolio is a great job hunting tool that sets you apart from other candidates, and if prepared correctly, it may help land you the job!

RADICAL THOUGHTS, PART 1: On Finding a Decent Job in a Reasonable Amount of Time

How do you find a job when you need one?

In the old days, people had to leap out of bed with the sun so they could grab a newspaper before all the other job seekers got hold of it! It was a daily race to be the first to inquire about the advertised listings.  This was followed by ‘pounding the pavement’: going from shop to shop, office to office, making inquiries about work in person.

Today, the internet has made the job search process nearly unrecognizable.  From the comfort of our homes, we can browse listings, post resumes so that hiring employers will see them, set up ‘alerts’ so that jobs matching our criteria sail into our inboxes all by themselves, and network with friends and acquaintances using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any one of dozens of other sites and technologies.  (No doubt our smartphones “have an app for that”!)

If you are like most people, you might log on to Workopolis or Monster Canada, or Kijiji Canada, or Craigslist Canada, or Eluta, or Job Bank, or Vicinity Jobs, or Charity Village, or Work in Culture (you’ll find more job boards on the Useful Links: Job Search menu of this blog), or if you are creative and unusual, you might just go to Google.ca and type in “Toronto food service jobs” in the search box …are you sensing a pattern here?

The widespread availability of technology has made the job search easier than ever!!

Or maybe not…  experts like Dr. Randall Hansen, founder of Quintessential Careers, and Richard Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute, and the Job Hunters’ Bible website, tell us that fewer than 5% of job seekers are ultimately hired as the result of applying to advertised jobs – including internet AND newspaper ads – and that all the advertised jobs together represent no more than 15-20% of all the available jobs at any given time.

That other 75-80% of jobs are to be found in what is often called ‘the hidden job market’.  Most job-search manuals, strategy guides, and employment services focus on finding ways to navigate this market.  (Try Googling “penetrate hidden job market” and see what comes up!)  The bottom line of all such advice is basically this:  If you wish to find a decent job, in a reasonable amount of time, then applying to advertised jobs IS NOT ENOUGH.  Even ‘networking’, that Philospher’s Stone of the job hunt, so often touted as ‘the key to the hidden job market’, is NOT ENOUGH.

You need to understand the labour market, insofar as it pertains uniquely to YOU.  This requires that you conduct your own research into the labour market, and your potential place(s) within it.  It isn’t as hard as it sounds!  Stay tuned for my next “Radical Thoughts” installment on Labour Market Research.