Tips for a Successful Job Search

Develop a strategy.

What occupation are you seeking?  What employers will you target? How will you get yourself noticed?  These are all questions that you must ask yourself and be able to answer for a productive job search.  Don’t just create a resume and email it off to every job posting you see; make a plan – who do you want to work for and what do you want in a job?

Target your Resume.

Once you are sure of what you want and who to apply to, you need to create a targeted resume that outlines your skills/experience that would be relevant to that particular industry/company/occupation.  Your resume is a marketing tool and needs to be able to show a potential employer that you are what they need!  Don’t create a general resume and use it for every job that you apply for.  You will get what you put into your job search!

Don’t skip out on Networking.

It’s a known fact that the majority of jobs are found through word of mouth; if you are not networking and keeping yourself open to options, you may not hear about a wonderful opportunity that is perfect for you!  Keep connected with old co-workers, friends, family – let them know that you are seeking employment and if they hear anything to let you know.  Get connected with social media; Linkedin can open many doors and introduce you to important people that could potentially be the lead to your next job. 

Take time for Yourself.

Don’t neglect your well-being and let your job search consume all of your time.  In order for you to be successful, you need to think about self-care.  Take time to continue the activities that you love; modify these activities if you can’t afford them at the moment or pick up a new hobby.

Be realistic.

Times are tough; there is no doubt about that.  Make sure your goals are attainable; review your salary requirements, your job objectives and the skills/experience that you have to offer.  Are you passing up opportunities because the wage seems too low?  Perhaps that company has a stellar benefit plan that supplements the lower wage.  Keep your eyes open and don’t live in the clouds.  

INSPIRATION

During your job search connect with people who inspire you; past and present.  Being around them will provide you with the motivation that you need to keep pushing forward with your job search.  Ask their honest opinion about your job search approach, they may be able to offer you constructive feedback and give you some new ideas and strategies! 

It's important to break the isolation if you have been job searching for a long time.

Consider volunteering if you are lacking in connections. Volunteering provides opportunities for networking, improves skills, demonstrates good character and develops valuable relationships which may be used for future references.

Keep connected, network, stay positive and do whatever it takes to increase your self confidence. And you will find the light at the end of the job search tunnel!

Sunny & Sassy

LinkedIn - the world of online networking!

LinkedIn is a great resource for professional networking online.  Since networking should be a huge part of your job search, connecting on LinkedIn is both beneficial and a necessity in today’s job search toolkit!  If you don’t already have an account, you should definitely get one!  The website is easy to navigate and setting up your profile is easy because you can upload your current resume and edit from there.  Technology is becoming a crucial part of our lives, be assured, potential employers will check out your online presence and being on networking websites will benefit you.

Cool things about LinkedIn:

·         Your resume is online for potential employers to view; this includes a summary of your skills/experience and chronological information about work history and educational history.

·         You can request recommendations from former co-workers/managers, etc.  These recommendations are posted directly on your profile.

·         You can see who has viewed your profile and there is a chart showing the number of views per month; this allows you to see if an employer who you have submitted your resume to has checked you out online!

·         You can connect with a ton of people that could potential be your next boss or know of job leads!

·         You can connect with people who can provide you useful information about various industries, hiring practices, and other information.

·         You can connect with groups related to your profession for tons of information sharing and advice.

·         Get up-to-date information about various companies and what jobs they have available.

·         View others profiles that are in your same/related occupation and see what type of training/skills they have that you may require to enhance your employability!

·         Get introduced to professionals that may assist you with your job goals (ie: HR department recruiter) through your own contacts

·         Access the Learning Centre at any time to answer any questions about the website, navigation, how-to, etc.

Strengthening your Employability

With spring-time right around the corner, why not freshen up your employability!

While you are unemployed, its a great time to take advantage of any workshops, seminars, short-term training and classes that may be available to you to strengthen your employability and give you that edge above other candidates. There are many tools on the internet that allow you to view occupations and the requirements for working in those occupations.  Its a good idea to make sure that you are up-to-date on any professional development that will make you more employable. 

In our segment about Career Exploration we provided links to websites that assist with exploring occupations.  These websites are also useful for determining the skills/experience needed for certain occupations and you can use these sites to research the newest professional development, skills and qualifications needed for employment in your specific industry.

~Sunny & Sassy 

Job Search Planning

Developing a plan for your job search is crucial.  Remember, this plan will be altered as you move through your goals and meet them.   In order to develop a strong plan for success, follow these steps.

Determine your career goal.  It can’t just be to get a job.  Seriously think about your skills, experience, career desires and financial needs.  Just because you have been in one occupation for a while doesn’t mean that you don’t have the transferrable skills to do a different occupation.  Investigate some career options and determine a suitable path for yourself.

Investigate Companies.  Browsing job ads online and in the newspaper is fine; however, you will also want to include researching companies that you would like to work for.  Have a look at their values, products, visions and career section of their websites.  Try and schedule an informational interview with the Human Resources department (or another person in the company) who can tell you a bit more about the position you would like to get into.

Set a schedule.  Develop a daily schedule of job search tasks.  Arrange time to do online job search, research companies, social networking and in-person networking and tailoring resumes and cover letters.  Keeping to a schedule will make your job search far more productive, increase motivation and is good practice for when you are back at work! Try and do something everyday that is relevant to your job search and that will move you forward.

- Sunny & Sassy

Older Workers: Tips for using your age to your advantage!

Embrace your life experiences:  You’ve experienced great triumphs, successes and failures throughout your life; use these experiences to your benefit when job searching and interviewing!  Great success is practiced and built on learning from bad experiences.  Think about lessons learned and how you excelled in experiences that were trying.

Update your look:  You don’t have to entirely reinvent your personal style; but you want to make sure that you look is not outdated!  Get feedback from friends about your current look and what you can do to update it.  Try reading business magazines geared for your age group and look for styles that you would be comfortable with.  A new hairstyle, some new clothes, and simple make-up application can go a long way!

Regain confidence:  Be confident in your abilities and let that confidence shine during your interview; even if you are interviewing with someone who is younger than you.  Holding a grudge about a generation younger than yours will not get you very far.  Remember, you had to start somewhere too.  Your life lessons, extensive work experience and knowledge will no doubt benefit the employer.  Show them what you've got!

Get with the times:  In today’s world of technology, there are many skills that you can be updating to increase your employability!  Try taking an online or classroom course to update your computer skills, learn about social media and networking, read articles relating to the industry that you are in and learn about any changes that you could be making.

~Sunny & Sassy

What Not To Do While Job Searching

A good way of determining whether or not your job search is working – is if you have found a job, right?  Wrong! You want to ensure your job search is working through self-evaluation! 

We have compiled some pointers of "What Not to do While Job Searching."  If you are doing several things on this list – you may want to re-vamp the way you have been approaching your job search.

Updating social networking sites with inappropriate content that may offend potential employers

We’ve said it before, and we will say it again – what’s posted on the internet, stays on the internet.  You need to ensure you are 100% professional on all your social networking platforms – even if you have set your privacy settings to allow only your “friends” to access your information.  Be sure to think before you post, this includes status updates – what is funny to you, may not be funny to others and this includes potential employers!

Not fixing errors on your cover letter and resume.

It is imperative to fix every mistake on your cover letter and resume; even the smallest mistake in spelling and/or grammar can move your resume from the “go” to the “no” pile.   Have a friend proof-read your documents – or even two friends! Do not depend on spell-check alone!

Having an inappropriate or hard to read email address.

Email addresses can tell a lot about a person’s personality and professionalism.  If your email address is outdated; for example, you created it when you were 16 years old and in love with the words “bebe” or “stud” – it's time to update your email address.  Make sure that it's easy to read – if there is an underscore in your email address, it may not show up on your resume properly.

Not tailoring your resume to the specific job you are applying for.

This is another one that we write a lot about!  Keep in mind – the job you are applying for probably has hundreds of other applicants as well.  Your resume needs to stand out!  You need to market yourself to the employer and show them that you have what it takes to do the job – a generic resume will not do this. Keep a master copy and tailor your resume each time that you apply for a job.

Addressing your cover letter with “to whom it may concern” and not putting in the effort to find out who to address it to.

These days, finding out a contact person is quite simple – so when you don’t take the time and effort to do so, it demonstrates to the employer that you are not taking initiative.  Contact the company directly and ask who is in charge of hiring, have a look at the company website, and even double-check the job posting for the name of the person doing the hiring.

Not having a clear objective on your resume. 

Stating in your objective or sending unsolicited resumes for “any job” will not do!  An employer wants to hire someone who has an interest in the company/position that they are applying for.  When you put that you are willing to do anything, no enthusiasm and commitment is displayed.  And honestly, do you really want to do “any job”?  Be proud of your successes and your skills and use them to land the job a job that you are truly passionate about!
Depending on the position, it may not be necessary to put an objective. For instance, in some cases, the objective is obvious and need not be stated.

Utilizing only one method of job search
If you are only applying on-line and not including other job search strategies such as networking, cold calling and dropping off your resume to targetted potential employers, then you need to step outside of your box and expand your job search strategies. Depending only on the internet to land you a job will lead you to a big black hole - in cyberspace.

Neglecting to follow up after a job interview
Waiting for the employer to call is okay when the employer has given you a specific amount of time before the hiring decision will be made however, there comes a point when it is crucial to follow up with a phone call or email. Following up not only indicates you are interested in the position but also demonstrates that you have initiative.


Remember, reviewing these pointers and making sure that you are on track with your job search will lead you to the light at the end of the job search tunnel!

                                                                                                                                    -Sunny + Sassy

Job Search Burn-Out

As we have written about in several blog posts, job search is a job in itself.  Countless hours are spent revamping resumes and cover letters, browsing job boards and newspapers for the perfect job posting, submitting online applications, preparing for job interviews, networking, and the list goes on.  Eventually, Job Search burn-out can happen.  It can leave you feeling emotionally drained and exhausted (much like typical job burn-out), de-motivated and wanting to just give up. 

We have compiled a few tips to hopefully help to bring you back to a motivated and upbeat feeling about your job search:

Admit Defeat – let yourself feel the symptoms of burn-out; do not try and run from them.  This is not to say give up on job searching completely; because as we all know, most things in life are just not handed to us, they are worked hard for!  Let yourself feel the emotion of loss of motivation and then shake it off and hit the pavement running in a more refreshing frame of mind! 

Take a Step Back – give yourself a break and an opportunity to look at all of the positive things you have done  throughout your job search;  determine what is working and what isn’t, and take some time to re-energize through doing things that you love to do (like taking a walk, hobbies and interests). 

Manage Stess - feeling stressed can contribute to feelings of de-motivation and burn-out.  When feeling overwhelmed or hopeless about your job search, incorporate tools to reduce your stress level; deep breathing, time-outs, exercise, laughing (watch a funny movie), journalling, talking to a support person etc. are all ways to alleviate stress.  

Simple Reminders – reminding yourself why you are going through all of this in the first place is a good step in the right direction.  The obvious is that being employed is a goal most of us have, but also that finding the perfect job that aligns with your way of life, values and passions is why you are working so hard!

And remember, with determination and perseverance you will see the light at the end of the job search tunnel!
                                                                                                                                                        -Sunny & Sassy