Priceless gifts for jobless friends

With the national unemployment rate above 10 percent and Kentucky’s even higher, it’s a fair bet that most people this holiday season know someone struggling to find a job in our slowly recovering economy. Rather than a manufactured trinket, here are eight gift ideas you cna give the employed person that might help land the biggest gift of all: a job.

The gift of time
Volunteer to watch your friends’ children so they can have a day off. Taking a day off from the job search can be crucial for job seekers, said Michael Cronk, assistant director of career development at Transylvania University.
“If you’re a job seeker and you’re really having a tough time and you’re tired and miserable, it’s going to come across that way in interviews,” he said. “Give yourself a chance to recuperate. That will make you a stronger applicant.”

The gift of fashion
Buy your jobless friends a gift card for a new suit or dress. Any department store or shop that sells business clothing will do, but please pick up the gift card so they can pick the outfit out themselves. Then offer to accompany them on the shopping trip. It’s always good to have a second eye when trying to find a great-fitting interview suit.

The gift of sharing
This goes without saying, but tell your friends about any job leads you hear. Lots of times it is who you know that can get you the job.

The gift of technology
If your unemployed friends lack some technology savvy, help them set up a profile on LinkedIn, which has become the leading business networking site online. If you’re feeling bold, help them develop a Web site to promote themselves or put them in touch with someone who can.

The gift of a sounding board
Take some time out of your day and perform a mock interview with your unemployed friends. Folks are always more agile in an interview when they have lots of practice.

The gift of knowledge
Various organizations around Lexington offer computer classes to help people learn new skills or bolster existing ones. Talk with your friends and pay for their registration for classes at places like the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

The gift of a professional
Set up your friends with a career counselor to review their résumés. While some counselors charge, others are available free of charge to alumni at colleges, for example.

The gift of company
If you go to a networking event, invite your jobless friend, or if he or she is going to one, offer to tag along. It’s always easier when you have a buddy to help navigate the crowd of strangers.

Are you committing career sucide? Maybe not.....

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/19/news/economy/survival_jobs/index.htm

10 biggest job interview blunders

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/18/news/economy/interview.blunders.fortune/index.htm

Over 50, and zero job offers?

Age bias can be an extra hurdle in this awful job market, but you can make your experience work in your favor. Click on the link below and read how to sell yourself better in an interview if you are 50+

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/09/news/economy/jobs_age_bias.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes

Laughter for Job Seekers

We always need a good laugh each day. For those of you who are job seeking, these funnies are for you.

1. “Never take a job where winter winds can blow up your pants” Geraldo Rivera
2. Isn’t your pants’ zipper supposed to be in the front?” Hobbes
3. Don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never get out of it alive” Elbert Hubbard
4. “I always advise people never to give advice” P. G. Wodehouse
5. “When you come to a fork in the road … Take it”
6. God does not ask about our ability, but our availability”Unknown
7. “A man’s got to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink” W.C

Communities Band Together for Work

Good Morning America (ABC News) featured a story this morning (10/1/09) with Tory Johnson, Workplace Contributor to the show, about communities banding together to help those who have lost jobs which includes faith-based communities. Click on the link to read the story. She also reminds us that being creative with our job search can translate to success - networking with groups and others is powerful.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/JobClub/communities-band-work/story?id=8715308

Looking for additional education or new training

Read what some workers are doing to make them more viable.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/09/23/cb.working.returning.to.school/index.html

10 tweeters you should follow

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/08/31/cb.job.tweeters.to.follow/index.html

10 job tweeters you should be following - great advice from understanding or identifying with Generation Y, job seeking advice, or interview coaching.

How social media can hurt your career

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/08/24/cb.job.social.medial.pitfalls/index.html

The Real Work - quote of the week

It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.The mind that is not baffled is not employed.The impeded stream is the one that sings."(Wendell Berry)

Food for Thought

Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.

Job Search Tips - Great advice

Follow the link to get information about job search tips, dealing with unemployment in a job interview, re-entry into the workforce and other valuable tools.

http://abcnews.go.com/gma/jobclub

Senior (over 50) Job Seekers

Senior Job Seekers


The following information has been provided from the Web site www.aarp.com; Retrieved on 06/15/2009.

Employment Web Sites

RetirementJobs.comCareer advice, e-newsletter, podcasts; “age-friendly” certification for employers
Jobs 4.0 - http://www.jobs4point0.com For job seekers 40 and over
Workforce50.com - http://www.workforce50.com For job candidates 50 and over; formerly called “Senior Job Bank”
Retired Brains - http://www.retiredbrains.com Older boomers, seniors, and retirees
Seniors4Hire - http://seniors4hire.org For job applicants 50 and over
YourEncore - http://www.yourencore.com Older scientists, engineers, and product developers
RetireeWorkforce.com - http://www.retireeworkforce.com Retirees and mature workers
WiserWorker.com – www.wiserworker.com Job listings plus a schedule of job fairs throughout the U.S.
USAJobs.govOfficial job site of the U.S. government.

25 Ways to Sabotage your job search

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/06/15/job.search.sabotage/index.html

Interfaith Job Transition Ministry

A group of interested individuals representing many faith communities came together to brainstorm about ways for faith communities to serve the Louisville community during these difficult economic times. Our interests were specifically to learn how we could learn and share from one another so that more people could have access to services, and each of us wouldn’t be either reinventing the wheel or duplicating services.

Our website is http://ijtm.dyndns.org/. Visit it (and this blog) often for job postings and other information.

Thought for the Day - Unemployment 101

This may be the first day that you're unemployed or the three hundred and fifteenth. Either way, you may have more choices with how you spend your time than ever before. Today, do one thing that you deem totally frivolous and non-productive. Take a walk in the park. Get an ice cream cone and sit outside while eating it. Skips stones or just skip. Stop and talk to someone in a coffee shop for awhile (careful not to freak out strangers). No matter when you get a job, you won't get this day back. You only pass this way once. Make it count.

Thought for the Day

Feeling grateful towards someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things you appreciate and value in your life.

Three New Ways to Get Hired

In today's job market, it is essential that you are creative, resourceful, and imaginative in making your professional self know. You don't have to spend money to do some of these suggestions. Tory Johnson on Good Morning America on Friday, April 17 made some unique recommendations. Follow the link at http://abcnews.go.com/gma and click on "3 new ways to get hired. "

Just for your information, if you are reading this blog, I went to one of her recommendations, www.visualcv.com/ to create my free online resume. While I have not completed the task, it is an outstanding site and extremely useful. Try it - you control the privacy and content - great way to advertise your professional skills and employment.

Networking - Use social networking sites to find a job

There are many benefits of networking through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn according to Tory Johnson on Good Morning America on ABC News today, March 26.


Tweet Your Way to a New Job
How to Use Social Networking Sites to Find a Job
By TORY JOHNSON
March 26, 2009 —
Online social networks are the rage in this job market because applicants need to use every tool in the shed to find work.
If you're looking for work, you've already asked your best friends and family if they know anyone who's hiring -- and likely they don't. The best connection to your next job comes not from your strong ties, but from your weak links -- those distant friends and contacts that you make through networking.
That makes three sites in particular -- LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter -- potential gold mines for putting people in touch. Plus, they offer easy ways to track the industry, companies and executives you're interested in pursuing. Bonus: All three are free to use.
This is the most professionally oriented of the three, with nearly 20 million members in the United States.
Create. Create a profile with your work history, education and credentials, taken straight from your resume. Make your profile as thorough as possible. Recruiters search LinkedIn using targeted keywords, so it's important to include your industry's buzzwords to make your profile easy to find.
Share. Another great benefit is you can paste a link to your LinkedIn profile every time you send out a job search-related e-mail. This is often easier and more appropriate than always attaching a resume.
Connect. Then start building your network by sending out an "invitation to connect" to everyone in your e-mail address book. You can also use the search function to look for former colleagues or classmates and connect with them, too. Look at the profiles of your connections to see if they know anyone at a company you're targeting. Then ask them to make an e-mail introduction.
Recommend. Post a positive recommendation on the profile of former colleagues, vendors, clients -- anyone with whom you had a great working relationship. This opens the door for them to get back in touch and maybe give you a great recommendation, too, which makes you attractive to prospective employers.
Join. There are more than 1,000 groups formed daily based on a common interest. There is a Women for Hire group with more than 11,000 members -- men and women who share advice and leads on job searching. You can join my group or another one based on where you went to school, your industry, hobbies, location, desired employer, former employer and more.
Facebook
Facebook works in much the same way, but it's a more social environment, which is still very valuable for networking.
What started as a tool for college students has expanded considerably. Of the 50 million people in the United States on Facebook, the fastest-growing demographic is people 35 and older.
Update status. Along with many of the same features as LinkedIn -- finding contacts and joining groups -- you can use the popular "status update" feature to let people know you're looking for work. Instead of writing, "I'm in line for coffee," you can write, "looking for an accounting position." If I see that, I may send you a lead.
Twitter
Twitter is limited to 140 characters, unlike traditional blogs where you can write on and on. Brevity rules here. Make your profile count by being descriptive about your skills so that people can find you when searching for specific credentials.
Follow me. The highlight of Twitter is that you can use it to "follow" the posts of anyone you want including the companies and people you're targeting. Many viewers follow me (@ToryJohnson) on Twitter to ask career-related questions and, because of the length, I can quickly respond to everyone. I also post job leads as I get them, which is another reason people opt to follow me.
Follow your next employer. Let's say you're set on working for a specific company -- take Whole Foods, which has a very popular Twitter following. You can read what customers and employees have to say just about every minute. And if you're trying to interview there, it helps to understand the culture and the dynamic among its fans and foes. Many companies also post their job openings on Twitter, which is another reason to follow.
Twitter tools. One of my favorite sites is search.twitter.com, which enables you to search by key word, name, employer or buzz phrase to see what's happening at that moment on Twitter.
TweetMyJobs is a tool that enables you to search for specific openings by industry, company, key word, etc.
A word of caution. Everything you post becomes public and there are many infamous anecdotes about a candidate getting a job offer, then posting a comment online saying, "Yeah I got the offer, but the commute really stinks" or "I got the job but the money's pathetic." Assume it'll get back to the prospective employer and the offer will be rescinded before you even start.
Tory Johnson is the CEO of Women for Hire and the workplace contributor on "Good Morning America." Visit her Web site at http://www.womenforhire.com/ and follow her on Twitter.com/ToryJohnson.

Thought for the Day

"Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success."
Paul J. Meyer

Career Placement Part 5- Interview questions and preparation

Interview preparation

• Do advanced research on the company - be familiar with their product, service, etc. Visit their website and read press/news releases. Be knowledgeable. No, you don't have to know everything about them, but show that you have done your homework.
• Bring extra copies of your resume
• Know where you are going (location) and how to get there, Also allow enough time in case of traffic problems - don' t be late.
• Have reference names and contact information with you.

Behavior during the interview

• Turn off your cell phone before the interview
• Have a positive attitude and be optimistic
• Provide a firm handshake and make eye contact when greeting and during the interview - it conveys confidence
• Sit still and upright in your chair
• When asked a question, be thoughtful about your answer
• Give specific examples to support your answers
• Don't get personal in the interview
• Never bring up salary

Popular interview questions

1. Tell me about yourself. TIP: Don't give the interviewer your life history and don't be personal. This is a time to sell yourself - talk about your skills, your career objective, strengths, what you can offer the company. Keep it to two minutes. Don' t ramble - remained focused.
2. What are your major strengths?
3. What are your weaknesses? - Make sure you put a positive spin on them - example - "I am a perfectionist which is sometimes a problem with my co-workers but I always want the finished product to be of high quality."
4. What is your greatest accomplishment?
5. What is the most difficult decision you have ever had to make?
6. How do you handle stressful situations?
7. What do you like best/least about your last position?
8. Give me an example when one of your ideas was well received by others.
9. Give an example of an instance when you had to deal with frequent changes or unexpected events on the job.

Career Placement Part 4 - Interviewing

Earlier I talked about resumes (part 1) being your first marketing tool - your paper introduction of yourself to a potential employer. You now have snagged an interview because you have a great resume. That face-to-face meeting is the second way you sell yourself . This is your time to persuade an employer that you have the needed qualifications, background and ability to be a successful employee. The interviewer also wants to ensure that your personality will be an appropriate fit for the organization. While you must be qualified for the position, the interviewer is also measuring your interpersonal and communication skills and confidence. Preparation is key. Listed are a few tips about interviewing styles, what to expect, how to prepare. You have one chance to make an impression so you want to be at your best.

Most Common Interview Types

Phone Interview - Common. Companies may attract many applicants and will use the phone to screen to determine face-to-face interview candidates. Treat phone interviews seriously. Make sure there are no distractions and have your resume in front of you. Usually the phone interview will be pre-scheduled so make sure that you set a date and time that allows you to be at your best.

Tip: If you receive a call to do the phone interview now and it is not a good time for you, tell the interviewer it is not and schedule a time. Don't end the call without it.

Behavioral Interview - Most common type of interviewing. This is a technique that focuses on demonstrated behaviors as the best evidence of future performance. The questions are open-ended and are asked to see how you have acted in previous situations. Example, "tell me about a time that you had a difficult customer and how did you handle the situation?"

Tag-Team Interview - You are interviewed by a group of individuals from the company. They usually alternate in asking questions. This interviewing method is often attractive for companies that rely on team cooperation.

Career Placement continued Part 3 - Networking

Networking

When I graduated from college, I immediately began my job search in Louisville. I had a resume, a college degree and I wanted to move to the city. I applied for jobs and got a few interviews but not a job offer. My job applications far exceeded my interviews. After months, I became very frustrated and my father offered his assistance. He told me that he would help me get my foot in the door (because he knew people) but it was up to me to sell myself in the interview. That assistance ultimately landed me a job. I learned from that experience. It is called networking.

Networking is the art of using your contacts to generate other contacts. You need to find a way to connect yourself to your dream job through family, friends, and acquaintances. It is a very
important in your job search. It offers another avenue to reach employers... It allows you to present yourself and your networking objective in a much more personal way than an online resume can.

Many employers hire from co-worker and/or friend referrals. We all have friends and family members who work and can help us. Identify those people who can be a part of your job search and ask for their assistance. Speak with them, tell them you are job searching. Visit their company's website to view job vacancies. Let your networking group know the types of jobs that you have applied for or are interested in and would they refer you.

Remember, you should never be afraid to let people know that you’re looking for work. Someone somewhere knows of that elusive job opening, and you need to talk to the right people to find out how.

Posted (March 3 on CNN's Website about "putting your best face foward")"The idea is the more you put yourself out there the more likely you will get something back in return. A lot of people go online but that's the least effective method of searching."

Online job postings are on the decline. In the month of February, there were only two advertised vacancies for every 100 people in the labor force, according to the Conference Board. With that kind of competition, it's tough to make your résumé stand out. "It's always about leveraging your network."

Career Placement continued Part 2 - Job search

Job Search

After you have completed your resume and a professional (someone like me or other person) has reviewed it, you are ready to begin your job search. Remember, you want the very best resume - you have a product, your self, to sell and your resume is your marketing tool.

Most people find their jobs through networking and I will talk about that in another section of this blog. However, I am going to list below some good websites for job search. In todays job market (March 2009) there are several industries that are hiring - healthcare, education, federal government which includes the US Census Bureau.

http://www.simplyhired.com/ ( this is a search engine for employment - it is a great site to do a one-stop job search. Employers cannot post jobs nor can job seekers post resumes. It will search every website for job opportunities based on your key words and location. It will also search by company. Follow the links to apply and then return to your search.
http://www.usajobs.com/ - federal government job opportunities
http://www.louisvilleworks.com/ - local website for job vacancies
http://www.ekos.ky.gov/.
http://www.louisvillehelpwanted.com/
http://www.ajb.dni.us/ - America's Job Bank - connects to state employment service sites
http://www.clarkmemorial.org/ - Clark Memorial Hospital
http://www.floydmemorialhospital.org/ -Floyd Memorial Hospital
http://www.kindredhealthcare.com/ - Kindred Healthcare
http://www.uoflhealthcare.org/ - University of Louisville Hospital
http://www.baptisteast.com/ - Baptist East
http://www.nortonhealthcare.com/ - Norton Healthcare
www.census.gov/ - US Census Bureau is hiring for positions through 2010 in New Albany,IN
www.eon-us.com/careers - Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E)
http://www.cnpe.org/ - non profit organization that lists all non-profits in Louisville area and their websites. Go to left side of menu and select "membership" and then "non profits and individuals" and then "click here for a list"

Career Placement Part 1 -resume

Let's get to the real purpose (for now) of this blog.......tools, tools, tools, tools for you to find a new job, change careers, seek meaningful work, etc. I want your job search to be successful.

RESUME

You should have the very best resume that you can have. Why? Without a good resume, you won't get noticed. Your resume is your first marketing tool to a potential employer (think positively - your new employer). The purpose of the resume is to persuade an employer to interview you. It is a known fact that employers take 30 seconds to one minute to review your resume. That's it. So, you have to get their attention. Make them want to read your resume. How do you do that? Well, what you don't do is add your picture or use a fancy font or draw borders and/or colors on your resume. You want it clean and you want it focused on the type of resume that fits your job search. There are three different type of resumes (1) chronological (2) functional and (3) combination. To find out what type bests fits your needs, visit this website for an online resume writing module. http://www.crew.cc/services/resume/. There is also a resume worksheet packet (pdf file) that you can open and use to begin to craft your resume.

If you want help with writing and/or reviewing your resume, you can contact me via e-mail.

Career Exploration

We all come to the place in our lives, at one time or another, that we ask "am I doing what I love?" Do I get excited about my job or do I dread going to work on Mondays. Sometimes our dissatisfaction is not about our jobs but more about we are not being fulfilled personally. Sometimes we may be in the wrong career, burned out or we are out of balance. We became accountants or lawyers or plumbers because that is what someone else wanted us to do. We let our jobs stress us and we take that stress home. Maybe you have hobbies, things you enjoy such as writing, photography, volunteering but you feel too tired to do any of it because you feel burned out. Burnout is a state of emptiness. It does not result from giving all you have; it merely reveals the nothiningness from which you were trying to give in the first place. That can result in feeling drained mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Making a change is scary and uncomfortable. However, the realization and/or the desire to make a change is the first step. There are things you can do......... so let's explore.

First of all you can take an online career assessment. There are several ways you can do that. If you are limited with time and you would prefer to do this in your own home, you can. If you have access to the internet, you can take an online assessment called "Campbell Interest and Skills Survey." The cost is $18. The web address is http://www.pearsonassessments.com/ciss.aspx.

Many of the adults that I have worked with in the past have found this to be very helpful. Another option if you have some spare time, is to go to Jefferson Community and Technical College at the downtown campus. The Kentuckiana College Access Center (KCAC) is located in the Jefferson Education Center at 200 W. Broadway. They administer the Strong Interest Inventory and Myers Briggs Personality Assessments. These are free. You can call them at 502-584-0475 to get more information.

If you are a college student or an adult wanting to begin college or return to college and uncertain of your major, visit Jefferson Community and Technical College for the career assessment called DISCOVER. The CREW Career Center located in the Jefferson Education Center at the same address on the 9th floor will be happy to help. You can call them at 502-213-4520.

I will post more information about other resources later.

Introduction

Welcome to my new job transitioning services blog. Establishing this blog is new territory for me. I just got on Facebook about three weeks ago and still trying to adapt to that. I am a baby boomer and the old ways of communicating were in person and by phone. We did not have e-mail, twitter.com, internet, myspace.com etc at our disposal. I love the new stuff. I can disseminate information, words of cheer, a joke, well wishes or a quick note to many in a very short period of time. Don't get me wrong. My preferred mode of communication is in person. However, a reminder to all of us in our hurriedness. We must continue to come face-to-face to talk, to interview, to communicate in order to maintain, nurture and/or form relationships.

Why am I establishing this blog? Many reasons. Let me try to explain some of them. First of all, I feel called by God. Career counseling is my passion and it is a gift. My vocation has not come from willfulness but from listening. I am doing what I love with my gift. Secondly, we are in unprecedented times right now with our economy. Job loss is high. Homes are being foreclosed on, stock market is down 50%, many have lost their retirement funds or have seen their retirement funds decline drastically. Sometimes we operate out of fear or "what if" and find ourselves paralyzed.

I want to help. I want to give you tools that will assist you in feeling in control of your present or your future job search whether you are a new college graduate, a career changer, or just want to do something different. The better prepared you are, the more likely you will find a job, a career, a vocation. With that said...............let's get started.