Navigating Today’s Job Market by Cindy Virtue, Job and Career Transition Coach
Thursday, November 20, 2008 | 12:50 pmYou have always heard the saying “it’s best to look for a job while you are employed.” Many clients who are unemployed and even employed refer to this saying when they come to me for job search assistance and each view this saying differently. Those who are unemployed, feel frustrated because they think employers view their being out of a job as a red flag such as “what is wrong with this applicant”. Those who are employed, state they don’t have time to do an effective job search and sometimes think they are betraying their employer if they seek work with another company.
Being employed or unemployed is NOT the issue with employers. What matters most to employers is to hire the best qualified candidate. With many companies downsizing, there is a lot of competition in today’s job market.
Here are some tips that will set you apart from the competition:
1. Know your Job Target – Identifying job titles and how they relate to your industry is important. Using resources such as O*Net Online a Dictionary of Occupational Titles is one tool used to discover information on earnings, education, tasks, skills, related jobs and much more.
2. Develop a Strong Resume – Once you have defined your job target, building a concrete resume that reflects your skills, strengths and accomplishments is important. With today’s technology for “scannable” resumes, understanding key industry words and how to market yourself will put you ahead of your competition.
3. Build a Solid Network – Having a solid professional network is essential, not only for job search but also for career management. Develop a plan on how colleagues, alumni and professional associations, friends and family can be part of your network for career success.
4. Don’t Do it Alone – Find a friend, a colleague or a professional career coach that will assist you with your job search. Having someone you can trust and guide you through the maze, optimizes your time, helps you set realistic goals and helps in pulling together a strategic job search plan. This has been proven to be more effective then those who do it alone.
We’d like to hear from you! If you would like to share your own job search tips that helped you find a job please post a comment. Or if you have a job search question, feel free to post it here and I’ll be glad to answer it.
Cindy Virtue, JCTC
—admin
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2 Responses to “Navigating Today’s Job Market by Cindy Virtue, Job and Career Transition Coach”
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Functional Resumes says:
Saturday, December 6, 2008 | 2:58 pm -
M. Smith says:
Tuesday, December 9, 2008 | 4:15 pmGreat Ideas….keep them coming. given the current job market we need as much advice as possibel to stay on track.
MSS
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I can\’t believe no one has made that point yet!!! Good work on really nailing down the correct approach. I\’m going to link to this from my blog roll, ok?