Job Search Advice

Stepping Up to a Better Career was created to help job seekers nationwide find fulfilling employment by providing advice on resume writing, interviewing, job searching and more.  For the past year, I have upheld that goal by creating topics that I felt would be interesting to the 100 loyal readers I have each day.

Now I feel it is time to turn over the reigns.  I want to hear your specific questions and concerns and provide you with advice that will aid you in finding fulfilling employment and fast.

Have a question about transitioning careers? Looking for employment while keeping your old job? Networking to find employment? Moving from nonprofit work to the business sector?

Explaining laid-off or fired status? Job searching on the internet? Keeping a job after your company has been bought out or your department is being phased out?

Creating a resume? Formatting a resume? Specific resume samples? Types of resumes?

Following up on an interview? Negotiating your salary? Creating a cover letter?

If you have any questions about your job search…

Contact me!  You can choose to comment directly on this blog or you can e-mail me your questions at Resumes@AyeshaWrites4u.com and see your question appear in my next post.

All I ask is that along with your question(s), you send your first name and an e-mail address where I can contact you to let you know that your answer is being posted on the blog.

As always, good luck on your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

You’ve been fired, now what?

Being fired or laid-off can have a serious impact on your family, your bills, and your own self worth. Yet, there are ways to bounce back from unemployment leading to feelings of renewal and better employment opportunities.   If you have recently been let go from your job, you may feel one of two emotions- despondent or elated.

For the despondent employee, there are several factors that can lead to despair after losing your job. For some, it is a shock to find out that you have been “let go”. Often, an employer is afraid of hurting your feelings and will not tell you that your job is in jeopardy until it is too late. Other times, you may have a feeling that you will be fired, yet, you have this need to hold on to your current place of employment because it pays the bills. Getting fired takes away your security and your ability to provide for yourself and your family, thereby leaving you with feelings of helplessness and desperation. If you find yourself upset about the way you were fired and would like to vent out your frustration, you can share your firing experience on the blog www.howigotfired.com.

On the other hand, you may not have felt despondent at all.  In fact, the minute your boss told you that your services were no longer needed, you might have felt as if a huge weight was being lifted off of your shoulders. If you are elated after being fired, it typically means you were working at a dead-end or displeasing job but didn’t have the courage to move on. Being laid-off or fired gives you the breathing room and the excuse to find more fulfilling and satisfying work. While you may hold some feelings of being betrayed, overall, you feel a sense of relief that you will no longer have to go back to your place of employment.  If you are elated about your unemployment and will like to read about other people who have also chosen to relish their unemployment experiences, you might want to visit the blog www.surviveunemployment.com.

Regardless of which category you fit in, typically, the newly employed will and need to take some time to get their bearings. Check your savings, checking, and investment accounts to determine how long you can reasonably be unemployed while still handling your financial responsibilities. Call your mortgage lenders, car insurance carriers, and utility companies and let them know your current situation. Tell them that you have recently been laid-off or fired and see if there is a way to negotiate lesser payments or a deferral on payments for a set time frame.

If you have the money to pay your bills, you might not want to defer payment, in fear that when the deferred time period is over, you will have an exorbitant amount of debt to catch up on. On the other hand, if you choose to pay your expenses immediately and you fail to find new employment in the time frame you have in mind, you will wind up in dire straights without any emergency reserves. So before making the choice as to which payment plans work best for you and your situation, call the companies and ask what payment alternatives do they offer and how long do they give you to pay on deferred payments. Then speak with your family and friends about how much support they can provide you if you wind up in a situation that is too difficult for you to handle on your own.

Aside from your own personal finances, be sure to apply for unemployment benefit assistance.  The Department of Labor’s website offers a fact sheet to help you determine if you are eligible for unemployment and provides the contact information for your state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency.

Once you have squared away the financial aspect of being unemployed, it is time to make plans.  First, you need to determine if you would like to stay within your current field or change fields altogether.  One way to make this decision is to check your feelings towards your last place of employment.  If you were happy at your most recent job and enjoyed your responsibilities, you may want to start looking for positions within the same industry and field.

If you were constantly depressed while working at your last job, then it might be time to do some soul searching.  Ask yourself, what about your last job upset you.  Was it the work itself or was it the environment?  Oftentimes, when people are upset at their work place, it is problems with coworkers or superiors that lead to this feeling of disillusionment.  If that is the case, then you may want to stay within the same field, but be sure to find companies that are more suitable to your preferable work environment.

If, on the other hand, you hated everything about your last job, then it is time to dig deep and find out what fundamentally makes you happy.  One of the most common used, but sage advice on job searching is to ask yourself, if money was not an issue, what work would you do?  If you have an immediate answer, then you have the starting point for finding a new career.  If you are still uncertain, you can take a career assessment like the Myers Brigg Personality Test, which will provide you with an assessment of what careers fit your personality for a fee.  If you would like to take a free career test, I highly recommend www.free-career-test.com which gives you a series of multiple choice questions about your likes and dislikes, then creates a 13-16 page free analysis of the field that would suit you the best.

Once you know which career you’d like to work in, it is time to create a job search plan.  In this plan, you need to come up with three career choices -

• The jobs you wouldn’t want to do but could help you pay your bills
• The job you are qualified for but aren’t extremely excited about doing
• The jobs that match your career interests and work personality

Once you have these three career fields in mind, it is time to create your career search arsenal.  At the very least, you will need a cover letter, resume, and follow up letter for each field.  This way, whenever an opportunity arises that fits into either category, you can easily apply to the jobs by simply customizing the contact information in your cover letters.  When creating your personal branding materials, be sure that they show-off your unique value proposition and makes an employer excited about hiring you.  You should never mention being fired or laid-off in any of your career search documents.  If you are unsure of how to do this or need assistance, hire an expert.

Remember that the key to finding a new job is to be diligent.  Network with everyone, including friends, family, and old work contacts.  After sending out any resumes, filling out any applications, and conducting any interviews, always follow up.  Be consistent and thorough and keep your family and friends abreast of your progress.  They will be more willing to help you if they have evidence that you are persistently seeking new employment.

As always, good luck on your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!

Explaining Your Unemployment Status

One of my first posts on Stepping Up to a Better Career was “Does Unemployment Belong on Your Resume?“.  This post focused on people who chose to leave their jobs and do life-altering things such as taking a year hiatus to travel across the country or volunteering in a third-world country for six months.  But what if your unemployment experience is not as enlightened?

What if one day you showed up for work and was just fired?  Or laid off?

When unemployment is forced on you through an employer’s analysis, whether budgetary or personal, it can still have an effect on your self-esteem and thus have an effect on your job search. One of the biggest problems many people face is blaming themselves.  Unless you have done something deserving of being fired, such as excessive tardiness, lewd behavior, or mismanagement of company resources, it is not your fault!  And even if you were fired due to one of the aforementioned reasons, there is no reason to feel as if you cannot find new employment.  Of course if you were fired due to negative circumstances, you will need to do some self-reflection prior to taking on a new job so that you do not repeat the same mistakes twice.  The point is, that regardless of circumstances, you can still find a new job!

How?

Well, here’s the thing.   Your unemployment and the reasons for your unemployment do NOT belong on your resume or cover letter!  Therefore, if you are honest about your dates of employment, your career accomplishments, and highlight all of your qualifications, you will be seen as a viable candidate just like any other employee.

You do not need to explain the circumstances for leaving any job, unless it is voluntary and you have used that time to build your professional skills.  Then this is interesting information you can choose to put in the cover letter if the skills gained are applicable to the position at hand.  Otherwise, unemployment DOES NOT belong on any of your career documents.

The time to explain your unemployment is when you are standing in front of an employer and having your interview.  Then when the employer asks why you left your previous job, you can answer as honestly and professionally as possible.  The best response is brief, honest, and avoids criticizing the company, coworkers, or anyone else.

If you were laid-off, simply explain the company’s choices, such as budgetary cuts or departmental closings and then explain what you accomplished prior to being laid-off.  If you were fired, make sure you emphasize that the event leading up to your firing was an isolated event, you have evaluated your choices, and you will ensure that it will not happen again.

Being unemployed is not the end of your world.  You can always bounce back from setbacks such as being laid-off or fired, just be sure to be honest and professional as you go out on your career search.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!

Being Excessed…

The school year is ending.  For thousands of teachers, this means relaxation, going on summer vacations and enjoying time away from a classroom of children.  For newer teachers, it often fails to bring about that contented feeling.

If you are a new teacher and have less seniority than other teachers within your school, your principal may be forced to fire you due to budgetary constraints or seniority of certification.  When you experience this downsizing, it is known as excessing.

What  is excessing?

Similar to being laid-off, an excessed teacher has been let go by the administrator because her certification area will not suit the needs of the students during the next academic school year.  Based on seniority, the last teacher hired is the first teacher fired within that specific certification area. Different from being laid-off, you are still considered a staff member of your school and are appointed as a part of the Absent Teacher Reserve (or ATR).

I’m being excessed, now what?

The good news is that being excessed is not the end of the world.  According to your New York State UFT contract, an excessed teacher can be on the ATR indefinitely and cannot be laid-off. If, however, you are not within New York State and are actually laid-off, it is still okay as long as you are proactive.  Here are tips to help you find better employment:

• Ask your principal for district contacts in which she has a good relationship. Consult with her on the best way to approach these principals. When you approach your tentative new principal, be sure to bring up positive observation reports, your portfolio, and a recommendation from both your assistant principal and your principal.
• Sign up for the Open Market.  For each school you apply, follow up with the principal.  Call the principal and let him know how interested you are in working for his school.  Offer to send in a hard copy of your resume and to do a mock lesson for one of the open grades.  Between 10-20% of principals will allow you to come in and demonstrate a lesson.  Most will hire you on the spot if your lesson is of superb quality.
• Network. Tell your other teacher friends that you have been excessed, but have an excellent school record and would like to find new employment.  If your teaching network is limited to teachers within your current school, attend UFT outings or join Kappa Delta Pi and network with educators outside of your immediate environment.
• Be professional. Whenever you are networking or meeting a prospective employer for the first time, give the best impression.  Dress appropriately.  Make sure your portfolio documents highlight you in the best light possible.  If necessary, hire a professional to help you create and organize your resume, mission statement, and portfolio documents so they will complement each other.
• Stay positive. Nothing is worse than a disillusioned educator.  Remember that being excessed is not a testament to your potential as a teacher.  Every principal understands this and most will be happy to hire someone who has teaching experience, proper certification and wonderful recommendations from the excessing school.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Ayesha Long

Ayesha Writes 4 You

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services

www.AyeshaWrites4U.com

* To learn more about contractual rules of excessing, visit the UFT website.

I need a job – Help!

There has been a national cry of doom from national retailers going bankrupt to the media spotlighting the 8.1% unemployment rate.  The words echoed across our nation?  I need a job!

How ironic is it that the people who most often say they need a job are the very people who have jobs?  Most of my clients are people who are already employed, but are looking for something different.  It is odd to me to notice this phenomena.  While the media proclaims thousands upon thousands of people are being laid-off every day, these are not the people proactively hunting for jobs.  Why?

I wonder if after being laid- off, many people feel it is time to relax and breathe.  Or maybe the shock of losing a job they’ve had for 5, 10, 15 plus years has made people bitter and timid of stepping back into the world of job searching.  Or worse yet, people have forgotten how to conduct job searches and have become complacent once they’ve realized the world of the typical chronological resume being sent to an employment agency and garnering a permanent position within two weeks has all but disappeared. So what can you do?

For starters -

• Don’t blame yourself! It is not your fault that you were laid-off.  The economy is bad and employers are conducting cuts across the board to save themselves money.  So unless you were painting your nails or taking two coffee breaks each hour, you are not the problem!

• Conduct a skills analysis. Take a look at your skills and traits and conduct an inventory.  What new skills have you learned as a result of your most recent position?  What were your accomplishments?  Would another company be happy to have an employee as skilled and trained as you? Are any of your skills or traits transferrable to another occupation or field?  Write down your thoughts.  Find the two or three most prominent successful traits you have and use those as your selling points.  These are your unique value propositions (UVP’s).  You will be using them to help you network and to update or write your resume.

• Begin networking immediately! Let people know you are in the market for a job and if they know of anyone interested to please contact you or give you the information of the person to contact.  Many people have successfully used social networking sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook to find their jobs.  But you still need to conduct some face to face networking, such as using your local Chamber of Commerce or using a rotary group such as Kiwanis.  Just be sure to keep going back to these groups, so that people get used to seeing your face and begin to establish relationships with you.

• Update your resume. Dust it off.  Read it.  Make sure that the skills you have are pertinent the job(s) for which you applying. If you are applying for different positons, then you should have a separate resume catering to each position.  Employers are turned off by reading resumes that are “One size fits all” and fail to explain how an employee can help establish their specific company’s goals and needs.

• Follow up! If you have sent out your resume and after two weeks have failed to get a response, you should call the company and ask about the status of your resume.  Practice this call with a friend first.  Be sure to explain that you are very interested in working for this company and then explain two or three traits that make you perfect for this job.  Ask if they have begun interviewing yet and if you are a viable candidate.  Yes, some employers will be turned off, but many are impressed by the initiative shown by persistant (not pesky) candidates.

• Remember your manners! If you have had an interview or received a referral from someone in your network, then be sure to send a personalized thank you note.  These notes show the employer or contact that you respect their time and appreciate their consideration of you and your skills.  It also keeps you on their mind.  Employers interview dozens of candidates and you want to be the candidate that stands out.  A thank-you letter helps you do just that.  In the case of contacts, by sending a thank you note and keeping them updated on your job search, they will know you appreciate their efforts and will continue sending you more referrals.  So 24 hours after receiving your interview, send a type-written note thanking the employer and/or contact for their efforts and consideration.  Be sure to remind them of two or three positive traits you possess as an employee.

• Be flexible! If the larger companies in your field are not hiring, then don’t be afraid of trying out start ups or smaller businesses.  If you have over ten years experience, you might even look into starting your own entrepreneurial ventures to offset any monetary losses from your current unemployment status.  The key here is to think growth.  You might be able to garner more experience working at a smaller firm with the potential of growing, then you will at a larger company, where you are focused only on your own occupational tasks.

• Stay positive! Finding a job is hard work.  When you are “unemployed”, you are still working.  Your occupation is finding a new job.  If you feel yourself getting depressed over lack of response to your resume or failure to ace your interview, take a break.  Spend some time with friends.  Maybe have them conduct mock interviews with you to help you find areas of weakness.  Contact a career coach who can help you through the process of finding a job.  But don’t let negative responses change your perspective.  You will find a job – you just have to be willing to stay committed to your job search. Many senior level executives don’t find a new satisfactory position until 6 months after they begin.  Just imagine what would have happened if they gave up after only a few weeks of searching.

Finding a job is hard work, but is a lot easier if you stay focused and persistent.  Don’t accept the first job offer you receive just because there is a doomsday cry of a latent economy and you are afraid of being unemployed.  Yes, jobs are being lost, but there are also a lot of jobs out there as well.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Sincerely,

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4U.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services

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