Want a New Job? Open Your Eyes by guest blogger Kevin Donlin

Last week, Kevin Donlin, creator of The Guerrilla Job Search offered some great advice on how face-to-face interaction can lead to a successful job search.  This week, he shares new insights into creating your own job.  I guarantee you will find it useful.  Also, don’t forget to take advantage of Kevin’s Free Audio CD on conducting a guerrilla job search.

As always, good luck on your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services

Want a New Job? Open Your Eyes

By Kevin Donlin, Guest Blogger

Kathryn Valentine delivers talks to secondary students on such life skills as budgeting, resume writing, and job interviewing, as a High School Presenter for Heald College in Concord, Calif.

How did she get this job? It walked into the room. Literally.

“I was working at a nearby high school and looking for something different. Because I worked in a career center, I was the one who scheduled presenters to come to our campus. The Heald College rep came in and said to me, ‘This is my last day.’”

After discussing the specifics of the job, Valentine let a few days go by, then called to express interest in applying. “She told me to send her a resume, which I did, and said she would pass it on to her boss,” says Valentine.

She didn’t stop there, however. Valentine turned one personal connection into several at her potential employer, which give her an edge over other candidates.

“I found out who my potential bosses would be and emailed them about the position. I got this information by researching the school and talking to the former employee, who gave me names of people I should talk to,” says Valentine.

It worked. Valentine was hired in September 2008 for the position she now holds, replacing the woman who walked into her classroom.

Here are two takeaway lessons from Valentine’s success:

1. Keep your eyes open for job leads, because they’re everywhere.
As soon as you walk out the door each day, you’re entering the job market. Keep this in mind as you select your clothes, groom yourself, and load your wallet with business cards tomorrow.

If you fail to prepare to meet job leads every day, you are preparing to fail in your job search.

2. Turn one contact at employers into many.
The more people at an employer who know you want to work there, the better your chances are.

To that end, ask this question of every potential co-worker you meet: “If you were me, who else would you talk to?” Then, take names and start making phone calls.

If you like what you’ve read, then you’ll love Kevin’s special Free Guerrilla Audio CD.

*** 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!

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Get Interviewed!

Okay, we’ve all been there!  You have a great resume.  You have an even better cover letter.  You have the qualifications.  But your phone just keeps on failing to ring.  Oh, you’re getting phone calls from friends and family – but the phone call you’ve been waiting for, the one that comes from the employer of your dreams, is just not happening.

Day in and day out you resend your resume to another company thinking this one MUST be the company that will call you and get you out of your rut of a job.  But what if that doesn’t happen?  How do you ensure that your resume will be viewed and will result in an interview?

Attack! Consider yourself a marketable good and think of creative ways to present yourself to an employee as an exclusive commodity.  Don’t just send out your resume or worse yet, click send an application on your monster account and wait for the phone calls to start ringing.  You have to really put yourself out there.

What does that mean for your job search?  Well for starters, you can forget about applying to every job that catches your eye.  This is a waste of your valuable time.  Instead, what you are going to do is choose nine companies, nine positions and stick with them for the next two weeks.  During that time, you are going to do the following:

• Make initial contact – If there is a company you are interested in, whether they are hiring or not, you are going to make a friend.  This does not mean you are going to be shopping buddies.  No, you are going to contact someone who is in a similar position or who is in the same department as the one to which you are going to apply.  You are going to call them and schedule an informational interview (see Importance of Networking).  During the interview, learn as much as you can about the prospective company and be sure to ask the person if it is okay to mention them during an interview or on your cover letter.
• Go straight to the head – Call the company and see if they are hiring.  If you’ve already seen a posting advertising a position, then you are going to respond to that posting.  But first, you are going to find out who is responsible for the hiring process and send your resume and cover letter directly to that person.  This first resume will be sent in TWO formats – the ASCII format which is an non-formatted resume that can be pasted directly into an e-mail and will be able to undergo an employer’s keyword scan.  The second resume will be formatted and sent through snail mail.
• Follow Up! Follow Up! Follow Up! – Here is where things get tricky.  Depending on how badly you want the position, your follow up can take a number of different formats – sending a follow up letter, making a follow up call, having your inside contact recommend you, or finding out a secret indulgence the HR manager has and feeding into it.  For example, if you know the HR manager loves chocolate, you can send a box of chocolates every day with your business card demonstrating to the HR person that you are eager, a go-getter, and know exactly what you want.  Now this strategy may not work for everyone.  Only you know what your limits are to being determined versus being pesky.  Either way, you must take some form of follow up measures to let the employer know you are a serious candidate and not arbitrarily sending out your resume to everyone (See Most Common Resume Mistake).

If you utilize these strategies, along with maintaining a professional image through your paper choice, resume and cover letter formatting and words, finding a job should be a quick, painless process.  Remember the key to finding a job is casting a wide net through networking, but being selective about which fish you actually want to bring home with you.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Sincerely,

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Stepping up to a Better Career with Professional Career Documents

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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

Visit me on LinkedIN

(866) 620-2741

Company Information

I know I haven’t posted in a while and I apologize to those of you who regularly visit Stepping Up to a Better Career.

However, during this time, I have been undergoing a lot of research and spending a lot of time networking with people in the resume writing and career search industry.  I’ve learned a lot about useful websites to help you undergo your career search.

One of my most recent discoveries is just how powerful the Internet can be to your job search.  Yes, I’ve posted previously about the benefits of using CraigsList and LinkedIn to help increase your visibility, but the Internet can be used for a lot more than posting your resume and making prior connections.

In fact, one of the best uses of the Internet is to research companies of interest.  Now some of you may be wondering why you should research a company?  There are three reasons.

Reason #1 – If you are called in for an interview, you can have an arsenal of information about the company and can use this knowledge to make connections about how your work history complements the company’s needs.  This will impress an employer and give you that extra benefit of standing out which is always important when going through any part of the job search process.

Reason # 2 – If you are looking for a career in a field you are already intimately involved in, you already know a lot of big name companies.  Now is your chance to research these companies and learn areas of strength and areas of need.  You can also research whether or not the company is searching for candidates in your position of interest.

Reason # 3 – If you are a career changer and are unsure of how to progress throughout a new field or career, you can use the internet to do a lot of your legwork.  You can find out company and/or industry statistics and find contact information to conduct informational interviews with people within the industry.

So how do you get started?  Just to get your feet wet, google a company you already know – such as Pepsi, Levis, or your current place of employment.  See  what’s out there.  Other than the company’s website, what other information is presented?  Are there websites dedicated to giving commentary on the company you selected?  Are there places where your company is advertising for positions of interest?  With this little test, you can tell that finding information is easy.

Now finding accurate information is a different thing.  Visit Stepping Up to a Better Career on Wednesday and I will be providing you with websites dedicated to helping employees – just like you – Step Up to a Better Career.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Sincerely,

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4U.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services

Visit me on LinkedIN

(866) 620-2741