Job Seeker Blog

Tips To Land A Job Even If You Are Overqualified

With about 6.1 unemployed workers for each job opening, competition is intense.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls declined for the 25th time in the past 26 months, falling by 36,000 in February, the U.S. Labor Department estimated Friday.

As the downturn continues to crush some industries, job seekers understandably are struggling. If you’re under-qualified for a job or looking to enter a new industry, the advice is pretty obvious: get training or experience. But what do you do when you’re overqualified?

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Where M.B.A.s Are Finding Jobs

Hiring for soon-to-graduate M.B.A. students is in high gear. Jackie Wilbur, senior director of the career development office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, says it’s been a difficult year, but she has seen some improvement over last year.

The M.B.A. Career Services Council recently reported that about 34% of schools said they had seen an increase in job postings in the fall. Only 48% saw a reduction of postings, compared with 70% that did last year.

In an interview, Ms. Wilbur spoke about the challenges and where students are finding jobs.

Read full article.

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Executive Resume Tips: Give Yourself A Resume Reality Check

A resume is no place to cut corners in your job search…but the truth is many job seekers do.

Sure it’s a modest investment to have a resume professionally designed, but honestly I don’t think that is the main reason why job seekers try to sidestep this important step.

I believe the real reason is simply because many job seekers feel their resume is “good enough”. This is an interesting phenomenon. Have you heard the saying “you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it?” I think this applies to understanding the magnitude of what a professional resume can actually do for your job search results. It does indeed have the ability to turn your whole job search around, pay for itself through shortening the job search process, securing you higher and more quality interviews and offers or a combination thereof. Why? Because it is a critical part of a potential employers first impression of you. And as we all know, first impression are everything.

Read full article.

posted in: News

How To Beef Up Your Resume, And Job Search

These are desperate times for many job seekers. But you can avoid desperate-looking and time-wasting measures when it comes to putting together and marketing your resume.

There are more than six job seekers for every job opening, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data from November. And the first mistake many of them make is sending out resumes in bulk without giving much thought to whether they are a good fit for a job.

“Everybody’s desperate so they’re wallpapering resumes everywhere,” said Susan Whitcomb, a Fresno, Calif., author and president of Career Coach Academy. “That’s not effective because it just screams, ‘I’m desperate! I need a job!’ “

An effective job search does not entail “sitting at your computer all day sending off your resume into the hinterland,” said Andrea Kay, a career consultant and author in Cincinnati. Only about 15% of your time should be spent responding to job ads online, she said.

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IT Hiring to Rebound?

As the economy slowly but hopefully starts to recover this year, how do things look for the IT job market? A December survey of chief information officers by Robert Half sees some increase in hiring as early as the first quarter of 2010.

Seven percent of CIOs questioned expect to add staff early this year, while 4 percent are eyeing reductions, according to Robert Half’s Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. Also significantly, 89 percent said they’re likely to keep staff levels the same. Though 4 percent doesn’t sound like a lot, it represents a 3 percent increase over Robert Half’s last survey from the third quarter of 2009. Further, that 3 percent gain is the most improved forecast seen since the first quarter of 2009.

Read full article.

posted in: News

Getting a job just got a little easier

With 14.8 million people out of work, competition for new jobs is easing ever so slightly, according to a government report released Tuesday.

There are now about 5.9 job seekers, on average, competing for each job opening, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s down from 6.4 the previous month—the greatest differential since the Labor Department began tracking job openings in December 2000.

It’s the first time the ratio of job seekers to jobs dipped below six to one since June of last year. While that’s a step in the right direction, it’s still a far cry from pre-recession levels.

Read full article.

posted in: News

Senate presents $50 million jobs creation bill

The Senate today (Monday, Feb. 8) presented a $50 million jobs creation bill, one featuring angel investor tax credits and a tax credit for rehabbing historic buildings.

Other features of the proposal, which include provisions dealing with tax increment financing, are similar to a proposal recently offered by the House.

“The idea, of course, is to build buildings and put people back to work,” said Sen. James Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul, Senate Business, Industry and Jobs Committee Chairman, of the legislation.

One aspect of the proposal that Sen. Kathy Saltzman, DFL-Woodbury, lauded is the angel investor tax credit provision — it’s easier for businesses to get a $20 million loan than for start-up businesses to get a $500,000 loan, she said.

Read full article.

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US Job Market Improves

The battered U.S. job market got a bit better as private employers cut just 22,000 jobs in January.

That is about one-third the number of jobs cut the prior month.

The information comes from ADP, a company that processes paychecks across the nation.

Read full article.

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How a Black Mark Can Derail a Job Search

You messed up a job search, making a faux pas during an interview or handling a turndown badly. But you probably don’t realize that your mistake, exacerbated by the tight job market, could harm your long-term prospects.

At a networking event last August in Bellevue, Wash., a recruiter pointed to a software developer across the room. He’s qualified, but “very bad in his presentation skills,” he told career coach Paul Anderson and a human-resources official for a big technology concern. “What’s that guy’s name?” Mr. Anderson remembers the HR official asking, and then scribbling the name in her notebook. “I want to add him to our blacklist.”

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posted in: News

Time to Revamp Your Resume With Results

n tougher economic times where competition for full time work with benefits is fierce, how do you stand out from a crowded pack of IT workers? For starters, you need a resume that speaks results, say resume writing experts.

It’s not enough anymore to simply rest on your skills and experience, you need to put some serious thought in to how your resume will be read by its audience (who are sometimes non-technical)—an audience that wants to understand what impact you had with your skills and experience on business results, and wants to understand it quickly.

Read full article.

posted in: News

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