Is the Writing on the Wall?

The first step to getting over the emotion of job loss is to take ownership of your part in it. You might be saying to yourself “ I don’t have any control over company takeovers or change of ownership!” Maybe not, but you do have control over your life and where you chose to work. Remember, you are there by choice and everything you do, every job you take, every move you make is a result of a decision you made. So if the axe falls, and your neck is in the way, take a long hard look at what was going on in your world at the time. Did an evaluation come and go without anyone saying anything? Has management seemed uninterested about projects you are working on or other events in the work place? Does morale seem low? These can be signs something is immanent. Nobody likes to think about the prospect of their job being eliminated, so we often ignore the signs.

When economies are tight, downsizing can occur and people can loose jobs through no fault of their own. Now more than ever it is important to pay attention to what is going on around you, continually build your network, keep those skills updated and watch for the signs.

Your comments are welcome.

Glen Slingerland

Practice, practice, practice

There is a saying that goes like this; the résumé gets you in the interview and the interview gets the job. If you worked hard to perfect your résumé and target it specifically for a desired position then same thing needs to happen for the interview.

There is another saying that goes; how do you get to Carnegie Hall. Answer; practice, practice, practice. The best way to practice is with a friend. Have someone ask you questions about your work experience as it relates to the job you are going after. Something I used to do prior to an interview was find a quiet place to write out the answer to the question – Tell me about yourself. I had this belief that if I got through that question smoothly right off the top, the rest of the interview would go well. There are other things you can do prior to your big interview such as popping into your local library and picking up any one of the hundreds of interview question and answer books. Just taking an hour to go through one of those books gets you into the interview mind set.

If you are unemployed, book an appointment with an employment counsellor. They can work one on one with you on your interview technique or register you for a job search workshop that includes mock interviews.

Your comments are welcome - Glen Slingerland

Help Wanted Nightmares

Recently, an employer told me about the response he received after placing an employment wanted ad on Craig’s List. Firstly, he was amazed at how many people apply for a position they have absolutely no qualifications for. Not that he wouldn’t hire someone without experience, but the key thing here is “qualifications”. Unless you can demonstrate exactly how your talents and skills can transfer to this field you have never worked in, you are wasting your time and an employers time sending in a résumé. The inexperienced person applying for the position seems to have no idea as to how much they look like an idiot. He said that if he ever ran into some of these people, he would be hard pressed not to say something about their application.

Secondly, about one out of five followed the directions in the advertisement. He asked for specific examples of the demonstrated skills and talents he was looking for and only one out of five sent what he asked. Once again he ended up shuffling through a pile of incomplete applications that were doing nothing other than wasting his time. It is no wonder most employers hate trying to find someone by advertising positions. It is so much easier to hire someone you know, or someone who comes highly recommended.

Something to keep in mind the next time your focused on sending out hundreds of résumés to jobs you’ll never get.

Your comments are welcome - Blogger Boy