Exit Interview: the Dilbert Version

I just couldn't resist this one...click here

Summer calls...

Sometimes you just have to get away. I'll be on vacation in Cape Cod, Mass this week. Check back next week for more Secrets of the Job Hunt...

A Google Powered Job Board

GetTheJob.com is a new national job board that recently launched. It's 'powered by Google'. I didn't realize Google was in the business of powering job boards... After all, they have their own classified system in Google Base. My guess is they are using one of Google's search appliances to make the "powered by" claim.

The site claims to offer "direct connection" to jobs on the employers' website but from what I can tell the site is a mix of listings from company websites and other job sites. I found a job from Spherion that appears to have come from Monster. Overall they claim to have 2.3 million listings indexed.

So does the job search world need another national job baord? I think not. This one reminds me too much of FlipDog. Jobseekers are better served by sites like Indeed, Jobster and SimplyHired which are the ultimate solutions for job hunting online.

They do have a nice blog though called Watercooler Wisdom.

Deconstructing the Interview

Sue Morem's got some new podcasts out where she deconstructs the interview for some recent college grads. Good stuff!

Frowning on your Facebook

Every time i turn on the news lately i'm seeing a story on the digital dirt issue about facebook, myspace or another social networking site. Last night CBS news had a piece on facebook where they profiled an ivy league student and her facebook account.

Are college kids are getting the message? I'm sure a number of them dont even care (at least thats what my 21 yr old intern says about his peers) ...but if you are the parent of a kid in school you might want to do a little online digging before little susie gets home for the summer. Likewise if you are a career counselor in a college placement office ...you should be warning students of this trend becasue its not going away and it is only going to intensify.

Instead of Facebook, point them to sites like Ziggs, ZoomInfo and Linkedin. I bet most of them would prefer to be found there instead of on myspace. There's even a new site called Naymz, that will list your name at the top of Google, Yahoo, and MSN search results. Here's a sample profile of what you get.

Funny how this is such a hot issue. Think about it. This kind of content has always existed except 10 years ago it was buried in someone's desk draw and shared with only a few select friends. Now its posted online and available to millions with the click of a mouse. Call it 'open season' on one's personal information.

So what's the bottom line? I think Gretchen over at Jobsyntax says it best:

"the hard truth is that potential employers will google your name during your application and interview process. Get over it - and prepare for it now."

You said it girl.

Microsoft & CareerBuilder.com To Collaborate To Help Job Seekers

Just saw this on the wires...

Microsoft and CareerBuilder.com on Tuesday announced a new collaboration that would provide job seekers and those who want to change careers with tools and resources to get started in the field of Web and application development.

Microsoft will provide visitors to CareerBuilder.com with access to the Visual Studio Express and SQL Server Express editions, as well as additional career development resources from Microsoft Learning. CareerBuilder.com will offer exclusive service discounts to Visual Studio Express users.

Microsoft and CareerBuilder.com are also planning to provide visitors to CareerBuilder.com with unique learning content, providing them with an additional level of information to help advance their skills.

5 things you need to know about today's job market

1. Job hunting is more difficult than ever. The Internet has made finding a job more challenging and time consuming process . The days of simply responding to a newspaper ad with a cover letter and résumé are gone forever. New job hunting rules have emerged.

2. Most people fail to maximize their search. They only browse a few job boards and apply to only jobs they see online. Internet job boards are great but there are several other ways of getting hired. Namely: networking (online & offline), direct mail campaigns, and even volunteering.

3. It's hard to break through. Hiring managers are busy people. Getting them to even look at your resume can be a issue. Job seekers need their message to be creative and unique to catch their eye.

4. Job hunting = marketing. Branding yourself as one who adds value to the employer should be your goal. Anything else on your résumé or other job search documents that does not meet this criteria is irrelevant.

5. Your competition is stiff. For any job you apply to there are usually dozens, if not hundreds of other applicants. The only way to rise above them will be to differentiate yourself. Unfortunately, many job seekers seem to forget this part.

Landed fm Transforms into Total Picture

In case you missed it, Landed.fm, the on-demand career podcasting site is changing its tune, so to speak. The new site is now called "Total Picture".

I recently contacted its founder Peter Clayton to ask about the name change. He writes...

The name Landed came from my participating, early on, in community career networking organizations through Yahoo groups (like Trinity Career). When someone would get a job and want to change their membership status, often they would put "Landed" in the title of their message. In fact, to help professionals in transition "land" was the original, and primary focus of Landed.fm. The dot fm always confused people - I ended up registering landedfm.com just to point people to the website.

As I've grown and learned over the past year (thanks to organizations such as ERE, Kennedy, HCI, and HSM), and the broad group of thought leaders I've been fortunate to meet and interview - the focus has shifted from "landing" to "taking off." I'm really interested in looking at "big picture" topics such as the oil crisis, global warming, geopolitical issues, the aging baby boomer population - as well as emerging trends, (blogging is a great example), giving the listeners of my podcast - a "Total Picture" to help them assess opportunities, and their career goals - in anticipation of emerging trends that will impact all of our lives.

I'm interested in featuring companies and leaders who believe competitive advantage derives, in a very important way, from talent. I think Geoff Colvin, senior editor at Fortune said it best, " "Top talent has never been more valuable, nor competition for it more fierce... After 500 years or so the scarcest, most valuable resource in business is no longer financial capital. It's talent."

So I'm hoping the new "Total Picture Radio" will be a playground for your brain. A place where you'll learn something new, and meet someone you'd like to get to know, and challenge your ideas every time you visit the site and listen to a show.

Friday Tidbits from the Job Hunting World

Busy day today but here are some things to chew on over the weekend.

WetFeet Inc.
WetFeet Inc., a leading authority on recruitment strategy and hiring tools, has released a new research report, "Winning Campus Marketing Strategies Report 2006: Top Trends, Practical Recommendations and Student Views on Campus Recruiting." The report, which is available for purchase, points to three clear trends that have the most impact on student candidates: significant emphasis on high-touch recruiting; greater reliance by employers on internships as a source for full-time candidates; and students increasingly view employers as a resource for information.

www.usajobs.gov
Online job board will closeSteep costs and competition from the private sector are causing the U.S. Department of Labor to shut down its national online job board. The Web site, .us , is being phased out and will stop operating in June 2007. The decision does not affect www.usajobs.gov . That job board, operated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, will continue. The difference in the two job boards is that the Labor Department’s site, known as America’s Job Bank, made it possible to search for government jobs at the state and local level. The www.usajobs.gov site focuses on federal postings. (KansasCityStar)

Health care to see healthy pay increases
Middle managers will see healthier raises than lower level employees. Shortages of healthcare workers mean they can continue to expect "healthy" raises: Two of the top salary increases in this year's survey were for Pharmacists (up 5.44% to $89,230) and Registered Nurses (up 4.96% to $54,914). Engineers and non-management computer positions, big gainers in past years, will see relatively anemic pay raises.

Greatly Expanded Salary Surveys for 2006
BLR's 2006 survey has a number of significant improvements from previous years. It now has national salary data on 100 jobs, the number of industries has increased from 8 to 25, and many more state and metropolitan areas are included.

A free Executive Summary of BLR's 2006 Survey of Exempt Compensation is available at http://www.blr.com/landingpr/?landingPRID=10&source=PRS&effort=112

Go on an Interview with Hollywood's Toughest Agent

Want a truly unique interview experience? Then check out this interactive interview with Ari Gold, star of HBO's Entourage. You may not get the job but his feedback is priceless! enjoy...

Online Career Mentoring: Can It Work?

A new online career mentoring service launched yesterday. CareerDNA is an interactive career mentoring and counseling center that helps you find and manage a career you'll love. Based on the work of veteran career counselor Dr. A. Brian Schwartz, CareerDNA has taken an offline career discovery and assessment process and transformed it into a suite of interactive career management tools – it's available for $49.95 per year.

This service is broken down into four key components:

* Self-Assessment and Validation (identify psychological type, skills etc.)
* Career Finder (which job is right for you?)
* Marketing (how to market themselves as a product)
* Digital Coaching with Peter Weddle (valuable guidance and bi-weekly emails)

My Take: this service is the most ambitious online project I've ever seen to date that tackles the process of finding a career. It's obvious they have put a great deal of thought, time and effort into creating a world class product. The big question is will job seekers pay for it?

There are already many online career assessment products out there that will help you find a job you like. CareerDNA's value is that it combines that assessment with tools to help you create job search materials such as resumes, cover letters and your value proposition. It enables you to craft a "marketing plan" for your career. Marketing yourself is a skill that many job seekers fail to grasp so in this sense the program does a good job of steering the job hunter in the right direction. There is a quick tutorial on the site.

I'm impressed with the thoroughness of the service. I believe there is a market here. When you consider the recent trend in paying for career coaching, $49 bucks seems like a bargain. CareerDNA is a coaching service for the everyday job seeker. It will be interesting to follow their progress. I, for one, will be watching.

Cool Tool: myjobtips.com

Most of the "job search tools" I've seen on the web the past few years have been amateurish in design. They claim to be useful or unique but in reality they fail to provide much value to the job search process.

This moring I received an email about a tool that I think delivers what it promises. Its called myjobtips from InTouch Software.

According to their representative, Bill Beairsto, "Rather than using pieces of paper, a spreadsheet or relying on their memory, myjobtips allows job seekers to effortlessly track jobs that they wish to pursue. The job seeker bookmarks the URL of jobs of interest and then adds such additional data as descriptive information, tags, and comments. As the number of users increases, our objective is to use the power of the total community to add value for the job seeker.

The easiest way to learn a bit about the service is to go to www.myjobtips.com/intro3. In order to encourage job seekers to try out myjobtips, in addition to our regular free registration, we are offering a limited-time-only Premium services package at no charge.

Although parts of the site have an appearance similar to a job board, we do not, and will never, replace the need for job boards. In fact, for job seekers, myjobtips takes over from where job boards leave off."

So I registered to try it out. The best part of the tool is that it lets you Bookmark any job on any job board simply by installing a "Add to MyJobs" feature in your browser. Just click on any job description and choose the 'Add to MyJobs' bookmark from your Favorites menu. A window pops up that automatically saves the URL of that job and allows you to enter in other information and tags. It even has this feature for any browser from Opera to Firefox.

Pricing is a reasonable $14.95 for 3 months or $29.95 for 12 months, but as of now are offering a limited-time-only Premium services package at no charge.



Employers needing to do background checks should checkout Background Information Services.

What ticks you off about job hunting?

Ok job seekers, it's time to vent your frustrations. What ticks you off about job hunting? I came across an article this weekend that lists the top 5 things job seekers complain about. Is your reason among them?

Five things that really tick off job seekers by: AMY LINDGREN

By now we've all learned that complaining seldom gets you anywhere. Hot weather? It's not going cool off just because you're hollering about it. Bad service? You might get a coupon for a future visit, but don't count on the staff being retrained on your say-so.

And yet we persist in stating our displeasure about things that aren't the way they should be. On the theory that the complaint itself can be cathartic, I will now give voice to the countless readers of this column who have complained about the job-search process. Here, in descending order, are the top five complaints of the past year.

-REAPPEARING JOB POSTINGS

-BAD INTERVIEWERS

-ONE-MORE-THING INTERVIEWS

-ONLINE APPLICATIONS

-INTERVIEWERS WHO DON'T CALL BACK

Read the full article >>

Study details trends in job hunting

Spherion Corporation, a staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions provider, today released the results of a study that tracked the job search techniques and methods used by more than 250 professional and executive-level job seekers taking part in a career transition program. The study found that the Internet continues to play an increasingly vital role in the way that candidates learn about and land opportunities. A number of online job search techniques, such as searching published ads online, submitting resumes online and use of email alerts are quickly replacing traditional practices of searching print advertising and networking.

Overall Internet Effectiveness Increases According to the study, 43 percent of active job search candidates learned about their next career opportunity by using the Internet, including 13 percent through online marketing (resume posting), 25 percent online published job openings, and five percent email/online networking. In addition, when Spherion tracked how candidates are landing job opportunities, 40 percent indicated they made a direct application to the employer. Of those, applying online was the most common method increasing from 38 percent in 2004 to 46 percent in 2005. Also, of those job search candidates who learned about an opportunity through published openings, only seven percent were print advertising.

The majority of candidates learned of opportunities through online published openings by employers or recruiters. These findings support an overall trend towards reduced print advertising in favor of online advertising.Networking Still Powerful Tool in Landing Job Opportunities, Less Effective in Learning of Them
When it comes to learning about job openings, Spherion found that networking has declined from 44.5 percent in 2004 to 34.5 percent in 2005 as a means of identifying the next career opportunity. In fact, there has been a sharp decline since 2003 in the effectiveness of networking among all candidates, all ages, income or gender categories.

However, networking is still quite effective in helping candidates land their next career move.

The study found that networking is the second most effective method behind direct application, with 32 percent of candidates reporting success. Within the networking category, referrals from within an organization (53 percent) and outside the organization (27 percent) were the predominant networking sub-categories.Executive Recruiters Remain Effective Partner in Assisting CandidatesIn total, recruiters accounted for nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of candidate connections with an opportunity. This includes direct recruiting (11 percent) via phone, email or mailing, as well as posting resumes online (6 percent), and posting the positions they are sourcing online (16 percent). Candidates also attributed recruiters when it came to landing the opportunity. In 18 percent of cases, an executive recruiter presented or referred the candidate to the employer.

Effective Job Search Techniques Vary Depending on Income, Age and GenderAfter factoring in demographic categories including income, age and gender, the study revealed some compelling differences in the effectiveness of different job search strategies.For example, job search methods ranged in effectiveness based on an individual's income level. For those candidates above $100,000 in particular, networking and search firms are more successful strategies. Published openings played a more important role for those earning less than $60,000.

Interestingly, online marketing is equally effective across all income brackets.In addition, a significant difference was found between the effectiveness of networking and published openings when it comes to gender. Men are more likely to learn about opportunities through networking, while women are more likely to identify leads through published openings."This study confirms the notion that the Internet is becoming the primary venue for both job seekers and employer recruiting efforts," says Roy Krause, president and chief executive officer of Spherion.

"However, it is important that job seekers view the Internet as just one of the effective job search tools available to them and don't limit their efforts to just online outreach. Despite a slight decline in usage, networking and leveraging recruiters remain effective and viable methods of not only learning about job opportunities, but more importantly, in landing
them."MethodologyThe Spherion Candidate Tracking Study is based upon 252 most recently placed Spherion candidates between July 2005 and December 2005. The sample represents professional and executive level job seekers, excluding C-level individuals. Candidates were interviewed in an exit survey and were asked to share information on how they learned about and subsequently landed their next opportunity.

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation is a leader in the staffing industry in North America, providing value-added staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions. Spherion has helped companies improve their bottom line by efficiently planning, acquiring and optimizing talent since 1946. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com.

Tips for College Grads Seeking Jobs

In the latest in a series of articles, Forbes columnist Scott Reeves offers practical tips for college grads seeking jobs, including how to write a cover letter and resume and how to interview. Clicking on "seven things you need to know about interviewing for your first real job" returns a check list that will likely have recruiters nodding in agreement.

Read Tips for College Grads Seeking Jobs

Directory of Associations: another great networking resource

Last friday I posted several resources for finding and joining professional associations. Today I have another great web site for you in your quest for better networking.

The Directory of Associations is a comprehensive source of information on associations and professional societies including business and trade associations, 501c non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce, and other charity and community associations. It's broken down by state and has links to each associations web site.

- 31362 entries in 620 categories
- Lists 29,000 association executives and job function
- Over 11,000 National associations
- Over 16,000 State/Regional associations
- Over 6,200 US associations with international reach
- Over 25,000 records with website and email addresses

In the Job Hunt You are Your Own Company

All job seekers need to understand that when it comes to conducting a job search, you must consider yourself as a product of your own company. You are selling your skills and experience, and the companies you want to work for are the target market. Your prospects are their hiring managers. Your industry is the job market itself.

Once you put yourself in this marketing mindset, you'll recognize that the job market is a fierce and competitive place where no one is guaranteed a job. The supply of job seekers is usually high and demand for them is relatively low. You are tasked with getting the attention of busy HR executives and convincing them of trying an unproven, new product: YOU!

Competing in this industry is going to require a solid marketing effort to be successful. You are in charge of every aspect of this operation—planning, strategy, research and promotion. You will need to create a positive brand image of yourself through the use of your job search documents and communication skills. It's all about selling yourself.

Discover Your USP
When companies are trying to determine how to market a product, they focus on the one thing (or combination of things) that makes their product different from any other product on the market. You need to take the same approach when going up against other job seekers and develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), the one reason you think an employer will hire you even though there may be others with the same skill set.

Your USP should be short but descriptive. Think of it as a tagline or slogan. The purpose of the USP is to motivate the employer and convey your uniqueness. You may find that your USP may be a single differentiating factor or a combination of several. Whatever the case, keep it simple and believable. Here are some examples.

Example USP for a Customer Service Rep
"Your customers will love my customer service!"

Example USP for a Webmaster/Web designer
"Cyberspace Cyber Ace seeks to catapult your Web site."

Example USP for an Administrative Assistant
"An Admin who anticipates your every need."

Applying the techniques of marketing throughout your job hunt will give you a more personalized and creative understanding of how to implement a successful job search strategy. The end result will be more interviews and job offers.

MyResumeSpace.com: extreme resume makeover

In my continuing quest to uncover new job hunting tools and services I bring you: MyResumeSpace.com, a new web resume service that lets you add graphics, audio and a slick interface to your online resume. According to their press release;

MyResumeSpace provides job hunters with dynamic, easy-to-use tools that add color, graphics and multi-media elements to boost visibility and connect them more quickly to potential employers. In addition, members can track who is looking at their profile, or who isn’t and quickly readjust.

Create free MyResumeSpace profiles by going to http://www.myresumespace.com/ today* to take advantage of several dynamic features including:

• Full Color Graphics: highlight and rate skills and tasks accomplished during career
• Profile Tracking: track whether profile is getting attention from employers
• Add Visuals: add pictures, charts, graphs and other images to enhance profile
• Add Audio: create audio introduction to further personalize profile
• Personal Link: dedicated link (user_name/myresumespace.com) to post on other job boards, MySpace or other blogs, websites – even email
• Real-time Employer Chat: chat directly from profile to prospective employer or with other job hunters for tips, advice on job vacancies, companies, etc.*

This is one of the better online resume sites that I have seen in the past few years. I dont know how important having jobs on these sites is since they will never be a big player in the classifieds market. Perhaps integrated Jobster or Indeed might be more helpful to the job seekers that use it.

Anyway, here's a screen shot of a sample resume. Pretty slick...

Real life stories from the job hunt

If you are looking for real life, practical advice for today's job hunt then look no further than this podcast on Landed.fm. An actual job seeker describes the steps he takes by following advice from a book called Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters. In the interview you'll learn some great tips and tactics for your own job hunt.

Listen: Darryl Praill is in hot in pursuit of a new gig. And we’re along for the ride.

Surveying the pulse of today's job market

Here's one staffing firms take on the attitudes and confidence levels of job seekers. Do you share their sentiment? Read on...

Spherion Employee Confidence Index Rises 1.3 Points in May

• Despite Slowing Job Growth in May, More Workers Confident in Ability to Find New Job and Optimistic About Job Security
• Fewer Workers Concerned About Job Availability
• 57 Percent of Workers Believe Economy Strengthening or Remaining Stable
  

Despite the lower than expected job growth in May, U.S. workers' confidence rebounded after dropping to a five-month low in April. The Spherion(R) Employee Confidence Index jumped 1.3 points to 58.7, a level that is 2.9 points higher than a year ago. The recent survey of 2,894 employed adults in the U.S. conducted by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), shows that 60 percent of workers are confident in their ability to find a new job (an increase of three percentage points from April 2006) and 66 percent are confident in their employers' future, up from 65 percent in April.

In addition, more workers are confident in the security of their jobs, with 78 percent saying they feel that their jobs will not be eliminated in the next 12 months. Workers' outlook on the job market was slightly improved in May as 27 percent say that more jobs are available, an increase of one percentage point. Workers' confidence in the economy was unchanged, however, with 57 percent saying the economy was either strengthening or remaining stable.

"Even though job creation in the last two months certainly hasn't been as strong as the first quarter, this rebound in worker confidence indicates that workers are feeling that they are gaining the upper hand in the job market," said Roy Krause, president and chief executive officer of Spherion. "The overwhelming majority of workers feel their jobs are secure and many say they are confident to go find a new job and plan to do so in the next year. This sentiment shouldn't be surprising to employers. With low unemployment rates and broad-based job creation, workers have more choices when deciding upon their next career move as competition for top talent is becoming even fiercer."

Employee Confidence Index: Confidence Increases in May

The overall May Employee Confidence Index was 58.7, rising 1.3 points from April. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and the macroeconomic environment, may have increased as a result of more workers reporting optimism in the job market, the future of their employer and their ability to find a new job. The Index level is 2.9 points higher than the level recorded in May 2005.

Macroeconomic Confidence Index Rises: The Macroeconomic Confidence Index increased to 42.1, a 0.6-point rise from April as more workers were confident about the availability of jobs. The Index level is 2.9 points higher than in May 2005. Specific findings from the Macroeconomic Confidence Index include:

27 percent of U.S. adult workers believe that more jobs are available, up one percentage point from April. -- 23 percent of U.S. adult workers believe the economy is getting stronger, showing no change from the previous month.

Personal Confidence Index Rebounds: The Personal Confidence Index was 75.3 in May, a two-point rise from April as more workers were confident in the future of their employer and their ability to find a job.

The Index level is 2.9 points higher than in May 2005. Specific findings from Personal Confidence Index include: - 66 percent of adult workers in the U.S. feel confident in the future of their employer, compared to 65 percent in April.

60 percent of adult workers in the U.S. have confidence in their own ability to find a new job, up three percentage points from the prior month. Job Security Index: More Workers Confident in Job Security

Rising for the first time in two months, the Job Security Index rebounded in May with 78% of participants saying it is unlikely their job will be eliminated in the next 12 months. The Index is up one point from May 2005. Job Transition Index: Percentage of Workers Planning to Search for New Job Unchanged

Holding steady for the second month in a row, 38 percent of U.S. workers said they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months. The Index is down one point from May 2005.

About the Spherion Employment Report

Free eBook to Finding Jobs in New York City

I'm pleased to announce the publication of the New York City Jobs Report - an essential guide to job hunting in NYC. It is available for FREE as a PDF download via NYCityWorks.com.

Featuring more than 50 pages of content including lists of local job boards, professional organizations by industry in Manhattan, local resume services, a staffing firm directory, and the fastest growing jobs in the city.

All in all, its a great resource to take with you as you search for work in the Big Apple.

Job seekers win with feedback: Learn from your interview mistakes

William Olson has switched employers seven times in 25 years, usually because a search firm pursued him. His success stems in part from his refusal to cooperate unless the recruiter promises to give him frank feedback about his performance during interviews.

He became a regional manager at Guinness Brewing North America, for example, after a recruiter recommended he tone down his aggressive manner. He rose to the top post there five years later. "With good feedback, you can adapt during the recruitment process," says Olson, now president and chief executive officer of MRINetwork, a Philadelphia search firm.

That's one way to solve a persistent problem. Most job seekers never recognize the shortcomings that kept them from a job - and so go on to repeat them. The fix: Persuade key players that you will all benefit from an honest reaction.

Read full article >>

Harness the Power of Professional Associations to Boost Your Career

If you want to open up opportunities for yourself and your career, consider joining a professional association.

Professional associations are organizations of people who share a common background in a particular career area. These organizations are typically nonprofit, cooperative and voluntary, and exist to serve their members in a variety of ways, providing networking and social events, professional development activities, and career services. They also compile and disseminate information about the field and may lobby for legislation that is sympathetic to their particular cause.

Professional associations are committed to attract and support people interested in entering particular career fields. You can often find names and email addresses of professionals through such associations or follow up on an open invitation to attend association events to network with people in the field.

• 
  Associations on the Net - Links to over 2000 associations.
• ASAE Gateway to Associations Online - Search a database of over 6500 links to professional associations. Directory by the American Society of Association Executives.
• Yahoo: Professional Organizations
• Scholarly Societies Project
• Yahoo: Student Organizations