You’re too old to be hired???

One of the most ironic things about finding employment is that experience is always considered an advantage when someone is seeking employment.  Yet if you have too much experience, those same businesses from five years ago that were banging on your door asking you to work with them are now too busy to even interview you.  If you have over twenty years experience in your field and are not a C-level executive, experience becomes a barrier.  More factually, it’s not the experience, it’s your age.

Something about being older than most of your cohorts will turn employers off from employing you.  Unfortunately, they have biases due to increasing health issues and stubborn attributes that are often associated with older employees.  So how do you fight age discrimination?  How do you get an employer to look at your age and experience as an asset as opposed to a liability?

Our guest blogger, Kevin Donlin answers this question in his article, “How to Get Hired Faster by Overcoming Obstacles Like Age Discrimination”.  Before turning over the realm to Kevin, I want to point out that many of us know these answers.  It will be the same time and time again.  You must always sell the positive and forego the negative.  If you are unsure how to do this, hire a professional.  If you want to attempt to do it yourself, be sure to click on the link for The Guerrilla Job Search DVD at the end of Kevin’s blog post.

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!

How to Get Hired Faster by Overcoming Obstacles, like Age Discrimination

By Kevin Donlin

I got an email last week from Jim S. in New York. His job-search question may not apply exactly to you, but the mind-set I suggest to solve it should.

So, if you give me two minutes here, I’ll show you two ways to get hired faster, by playing to your strengths, and offering employers the equivalent of “found” money.

Ready?

Jim writes:

“I have been a self-employed residential general contractor with some commercial supervision experience for 35 years. Last fall I had heart surgery and as a consequence, I am no longer able to meet the physical demands of the job. How do I best convey this situation to a potential employer and still get in the door?”

When Jim asks, “How do I best convey this [health] situation to a potential employer and still get in the door?” what he’s really asking is: “How can I bring up my health problems and still get an interview?”

This is common, backwards thinking.

Instead, of worrying about how to confess a negative, Jim should build a case for his strengths until they overcome any resistance in the minds of employers.

Here’s the question that Jim (and you) should ask instead: “How can I appeal so strongly to an employer’s self interest that any issues about my physical condition won’t matter — they’ll want to hire me for my brains and not my body?”

Put another way, there must be some management function Jim can perform in construction that can leverage his 35 years of industry experience and knowledge, without requiring hard physical labor. He should examine his work history until he can picture a suitable job.

Better yet, he should call past supervisors, vendors, and clients, remind them of the good things he did for them, then ask: “Given my knowledge and experience, what leadership role do you see me playing for an employer?”

This is one way to overcome obstacles of physical condition, age, etc.

To learn more about how to use Guerrilla Job Search tactics in your job search, click here.

Online Scammers are still at it…

On Tuesday, I wrote the blog post “You’ve found a job…or not?”. In this post, I wrote about clear cut signs to tell if a prospective company is legitimate or if it is a scam.  Due to the number of employment scams that have increased in the past year, I felt it was necessary to let my readers know of these predatory practices.  It’s no longer investment scams that people must fear.

Now people are benefiting from the media’s constant display of unemployment rates, job seekers restlessness at not finding employment, and the lack of positive responses employees are getting after sending out hundreds of resumes.  Even worse, there are thousands of employees fearful of being laid-off or fired in the near future and they too are adding to the droves of people now seeking new employment.  With that said, there is a multitude of people that predatory companies can target to profit from other people’s suffering and desperation.

Yesterday, the New York Times discovered the same predatory phenomenon occurring throughout the internet.  I decided to share this article with you because while the tips are helpful, the most shocking aspect is the profile of Claude Vera, a employment scam victim who now owes Chase $6,700.

What makes this scam so profound is that Claude was actually paid by the company.  They sent him money orders to purchase the laptops and other materials he would need in order to begin working for the company.  Yet, after requesting these items and conducting wire transfers,  he never received the materials because the money orders were COUNTERFEIT  or had been USED  prior to being received by Claude!

Apparently, the number of on-line scams have increased exponentially and even sites like scam.com or Phishbucket.org cannot discover a scam until someone has complained of being scammed.   My hopes is that by reading this blog and the linked article, you can avoid being a victim of a fraudulent company.

For the second time this week, I am asking all my readers to trust your instincts.  Finding a job is hard work.  Even more difficult is bouncing back from the financial setback of falling into an employment scheme that can wreak havoc on your savings, credit, and dealings with banks and reputable companies in the future.  Avoid being like Claude Vera, whose Chase account is now in collections because he failed to see beyond his current economic situation and allowed his emotions to put him in an even worse situation.

I highly recommend reading the New York Times Article, “Online Scammers Prey on the Jobless“  because it offers some great information, including the names of companies that have been identified as scams and additional tips on how to neutralize the effects of being contacted by a scam company.

As always, good luck with your job search and be careful.

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!

Networking 101

We’ve heard it said time and time again, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” What does that have to do with job searching?  Everything!  In one of my favorite books, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell discusses ways to dissect the classification of success and how we categorize people who are intelligent or financially savvy.

In one chapter, he discusses a man who ranked in the top 97% of the world according to their IQ’s.  Instead of working in the sciences or technological fields, as most would expect of someone so intelligent,  the man was a lumber worker.  While blue collar work is vital to our community, it’s not what we expect of  anyone who is among the 3% of most intelligent people in the world.

So what happened to this man?  The same thing that has happened to job searchers all over the world.  He lacked the one basic skill necessary to advance his career – social skills.  Yes, he was highly literate – could read expansive texts, could remember geographical locations, yet he couldn’t get further in his career.  He dropped out of college because his professors wouldn’t allow him to change his schedule.  A feat most of us have done at some point in our academic careers – whether in high school, secondary or post-secondary school.  Yet, here is this man with this enormous brain power and he fails to achieve the success many of us would imagine someone with such a high IQ would achieve – all because he failed to relate to people and become socially adaptable.

Yes, some people are naturally social butterflies.  They walk into a party knowing only the host and within fifteen minutes, it seems that they have been lifelong friends with everyone at the party.  They leave the party with dates scheduled and a host of new acquaintances.  These people are typically the most successful in their job search.  People are impressed with their communication skills and even if they aren’t the hardest workers, they have the ability to charm people into believing they are.

This is the skill that all job searchers must activitate.  Within each of us is a social butterfly waiting to come out.  If you are serious about your job search, you must step out of your comfort zone and reach out to employers to get a job.  You have to network and network hard to get the results that you want.

Not sure where to start?  Here are a few starting points to get you prepared to step out and get the career you deserve -

• Start slow. If you are not the most vocal person, but have a good eye on design and writing, join social networks that allow you to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones.  A great place to start is LinkedIn.com, which is meant for business networking.  Through your network of friends, let them know you are job hunting and be sure to post your resume in the best light possible so that potential employers will be willing to contact you.

• Make a list and check it twice. Make a list of your closest friends.  Then expand that list into people who are casual acquaintances, but you see them fairly often.  Contact everyone on that list including your beautician, barber, and mailman.  These people know the pulse of the community and are one of the firsts people to hear any new information that may be relevant to your job search.

• Attend job fairs. Job fairs are often advertised in your city’s local employment guides and will host dozens if not hundreds of employers willing to hire employees on the spot.   By attending job fairs, you can not only meet potential employers, but you should also network with other job seekers.  Often when you attend job fairs, people are afraid of networking with each other in the fear that the person they are befriending is fierce competition.  On the contrary, these other job seekers might have information on the companies that they are leaving and might be able to give you insight into these companies – insight that might make you interested in joining their old company. If there reason for leaving is strictly personal and they still have some good contacts, have them send in a positive word to their old employer and then follow up yourself.

• Cold Call. This is the hardest aspect of networking, but achieves the highest rate of success.  Look in your yellow pages, on-line, and throughout your community for companies of interest.  Then get on the phone and call them!  Yes, you can send your resume and cover letter like everyone else – but as we all know, if everyone’s trying to get through the front door, then the person coming through the back will have the greatest success.  This person stands out and gets noticed, which is exactly what you want to do.  Call the company, ask if they are hiring.  If they say yes, introduce yourself and ask if it’s possible to schedule an interview to come in and discuss the opportunities available.  If they say no, introduce yourself and ask if it’s possible to send in a cover letter and resume just in case something comes up in the future.  Then every one to three months follow up with the company and let them know you are still interested.  Even if you have found a different position, it is still always good to keep your options open, particularly if this is your dream company.

Remember that networking is vital to all aspects of our lives, and is especially essential to job searching.  If you remain professional and always project a professional image, you should be able to find a job in no time!

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!

You’ve found a job…or not?

If you’ve ever read Stepping Up to a Better Career before, then you know I typically write about ways to find a job.  I love to share my expertise and knowledge on resume writing and job searching.  Yet, I read about job scams on CNN’s website and was so angry that I knew I had to share it with my readers.

Nothing angers me more than when people take advantage of other people’s weakness and desperation.  We all know the volatility of the job market.  We’ve also seen the dismal unemployment rates and statistics of  employees laid-off each month.  Yet I can attest to the fact that there are jobs out there!  But in the midst of having readily available jobs for the unemployed, laid-off, or dissatisfied employee, there are leeches who choose to prey on victims of the economy and offer you jobs that turn out to be scams.

Typically, these scam artists are looking to prey on your wallets and will ask for cash or use other means to extract money from you before they can begin the job search process. If you have been contacted by any company asking you to release your social security number or any other information that typically has not been asked of you, remember to always err on the side of caution.  Unless you are being employed or seriously being considered for employment, you should never  give out your social security number.  Other information, such as credit reports, may be pulled, but only with your explicit consent.

If after speaking to a representative, you still have feelings that something may not be right, contact your local Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, or look on-line at the website scam.com. Most of us are aware of BBB and Chambers as resources to use when searching for a company.  However, failure to be accredited by the BBB or Chambers does not automatically make a company illegitimate.  Some companies choose not to use these organizations and are perfectly trustworthy.

If your prospective company is not a member of the Better Business Bureau or Chambers of Commerce, or even if they are, you should still visit scam.com.  This is a website where employees and customers can write in complaints about a company and explain why they believe a company may be fraudulent.  If your prospective company is listed on the site, then you may need to do additional detective work to determine if you would still like to work for this company.

If your research fails to find any complaints on your prospective employer, but something in your gut tells you that there is something wrong, trust your intuition.  There is no advice I can offer better than to trust in yourself and know that even when your mind is rationalizing a situation, your gut intuition will tell you all you need to know about any particular event.  If you would like to learn more on how to spot job scams, read CNN’s article Six Signs it’s a job scam.

As always, good luck with your job search.

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!

Let Your Resume Shine WITHOUT You

In a world where individualism, self-criticism, and  self-reflection are encouraged, there are still places where you are not important.  Your resume happens to be one of those places.  When your resume focuses only on you and not on an employer, your previous companies, or the achievements a compnay has received by hiring you, then you will NOT get hired.

If you have ever written a resume before, you know the basics.  Pronouns do not belong on a resume – so there should be no I, you, we, he, she, or they on the resume.  Instead, your resume should begin with strong verbs that demonstrate your capabilities as an employee.  Here is where the fine line is drawn.

How do you know how much of yourself to include and how much of your previous employers?  Simply look at the classified ads and look to see what qualities your prospective employer is seeking.  Then look at your resume and ask yourself if the qualities you project on your resume demonstrate you as the right candidate for that position.

Here is an example.  I once worked with a client.  Let’s call him Jeff.  Jeff had worked in the Human Resource field and had listed every detail required of his job as an executive recruiter.  Jeff, painstakingly described how he went into the field, came up with campaigns to generate candidates, and coordinated with the hiring companies.  Yet, Jeff was trying to transition into a mangement position.  No where on his resume did he demonstrate his capabilities as a manger.  He was perfectly qualified.  In fact, on his resume he was perfectlyqualified as well – to be an executive recruiter!

The problem was that Jeff was more concerned about his past achievements and wanted to show off his success as an employee  – which is something that all employees should do.  Yet, he forgot about the most important aspect of any resume – it is not about you!  Employers do not care about your past achievements because they are well, in the past.  What they do care about is that everything on your resume demonstrates that the achievements you had were stepping stones to ensure that you are capable of handling the job that they are going to hire you to do.

So after six months of using his own resume, Jeff hired me.  Together, we looked at the classified ads of companies looking for Human Resource Managers and were able to find the qualities Jeff was lacking on his resume.  I constructed a job-winning resume that demonstrated his managerial skills, while still leaving his best accomplishments as a recruiter.  Within two weeks, Jeff had received three job offers.

Learn from Jeff.  Look at your resume and make sure that every accomplishment you post is not about you, but is about the needs and desires of your prospective employers.

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!