Reach out to your Network

If you are seriously looking for employment you need to let your network know you are looking. Otherwise if someone you know, who knows about a job, won’t know you are looking and won’t contact you. So you need to contact them.

Even if you make initial contact with key folks in your network, you must periodically remind them you are seeking employment. Otherwise they may forget! I suggest job seekers email their contacts once a week and call every other week.

As a recruiter I stress to some of my candidates that it is okay to remind me that they are still on the job market. If I don’t hear from them I tend to forget them. I try not to let this happen but with unemployment at 10% I average 25 new résumés and contacts a week.

Also f someone if your network gives you a name or lead on a job, you better follow-up on that lead. An old friend called me today to see if someone she knew called me after she suggested the person contact me. I told her I did not recognize the name. She immediately understood the person did not follow up.

If you are seriously looking for work, use your network, maintain regular contact and follow up on leads and referrals.

Job Seekers: Don’t give up in December

Although job postings, interviews, callbacks and offers seem to slow down in December, it is not a holiday for job seekers.

It is important to hit your job hunting activity goals and keep an eye on your target companies. While other job seekers take December off, this is a good time for the active job seekers because of the lack of competition.

Continue your job seeking activity throughout December. The jobs you apply to in December will become interviews, and maybe an offer, in January.

If you like what you are reading and want to read more, check out my eBook at www.blackholesresumesjobs.com/

If you are an IT professional and want to send me your résumé, please feel free to email your résumé to me at chas.bollow@triad-corp.com.

Professional Networking Sites: LinkedIn

The world is much different today than it was ten years ago. Today we have social networking sites for both personal and professional purposes. We all know the personal social networking groups such as Facebook, match.com, atlinks.com, YouTube and others that have become common words in our vocabulary. We also know about LinkedIn, Focus, ZoomInfo and others for professional networking sites. It is very important to use these professional networking sites in your career search and it is just as important to be sure there is nothing incriminating on these personal networking sites.


LinkedIn Rules for the Job Seeker:

• Invite Others: Make sure you know the person you invite and don’t expect people you do not know to connect. If you feel the need to connect with someone get an introduction.
• Accept Invites: Don’t accept invites from people you do not know unless you were introduced from someone else and it was recommended for your career.
• The quantity of connections is not important as the quality of your contacts. More VP, directors, managers, team leads and fewer peers is better.
• Subscribe to a few local LinkedIn groups: Skip the bad news and look for articles and discussions about companies hiring. Look for job seeker tips. Most importantly, be informed about your local business climate.
• Ask for recommendations: On LinkedIn I have been asked by colleagues to write recommendations and I have asked for recommendations from others. In a sense these recommendations are references.
• Reconnect: If you have lost track of people you worked with, LinkedIn is a great way to reconnect with those you liked and the people with whom you worked well. I stay connected to those who I generally want to succeed in life as they want me to succeed.
• Ask people for introductions: Make sure you ask the person you know if it is OK to use their name. Don’t “name drop” unless you have permission.
• Ask connections for job leads: If you get a lead that is not good for you, try to pass the lead on to others in your network. They may do the same for you in return.

Using LinkedIn is a form of professional self marketing. Using your connections, is a good way to get your name “out there” to those that are hiring or know of others that are hiring. Your LinkedIn recommendations tell employers that you have performed well, are well liked, respected and can do the job. Social Networking is a tool in your toolbox that needs to be used, but don’t forget about old fashion networking.

If you like what you are reading and want to read more, check out my eBook at www.blackholesresumesjobs.com/

Are you using Career Builder, Monster, Dice, Hot Jobs, and so on as part of your job search? http://polls.linkedin.com/p/66041/roibz  

Social Networking in your job search: Twitter

This recession is different. Well all recessions are different. However those that are seeking jobs have found news tools and new techniques in their job search. Social Networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook are changing everything. This article will focus on Twitter and then I will visit the topics of LinkedIn and Facebook later.


Twitter:
Most of the job seekers I talk to know about Twitter but never thought of it as a tool for their job search. Most feel Twitter is all about following Megan Fox, Johnny Depp or your favorite sports team. However Twitter can be a powerful tool in your job search. In this case, Twitter is all about using the proper search techniques to find job postings.

Assuming you have a twitter account, the best way to search for jobs on Twitter is to simply use the search box to the right and middle of your Twitter “Home Page”. This search tool is very specific. “Job” and “Jobs” will produce different results, thus you need to search on both words. If we use “Job” as our example, “Job” will return any and all tweets with the word “Job” including any and all discussions that mention the word “job”. The results show a few jobs but mostly discussions therefore not the best results, but we can use “Hash Tags” to narrow the search.


Using “Hash Tags” in your search:
If you add “Hash Tags” to your search the results are much better. When I enter “#Job”, or “#Jobs”, the results returned are more favorable to a job seeker. Most of the fluff and conversations that use the word “Job” are gone and now I am seeing jobs! However I am seeing jobs all across the country and that may not be useful to someone looking for a job in Tennessee. When I add a state as a “Hash Tag”, such as #TN for Tennessee, I see jobs for Tennessee.

State Searches using “Hash Tags”:
There is real no standardization, and it is almost like a grass roots effort. Thus I suggest multiple searches. Try using the state’s the two letter abbreviation and the “Hash Tags” “#job” and “#jobs”. Some typical examples for searching jobs in Tennessee are as follows:

• #TN #jobs
• #TN #job
• #TNjobs
• #TNjob

City Searches using “Hash Tags”:
You may also be able to search for jobs by city such as Denver, New York City, Atlanta, Phoenix and so on. However, some cities also have abbreviations. For example, New York City may also be NYC, so you will need to search for multiple combinations if the city has an abbreviation.

• #job NYC
• #job #NYC
• #job new york city
• #jobs NYC
• #jobs #NYC
• #jobs new york city

Skills and Hash Tags:
You can also search for a skill within a city or state or in general. Some tweets may have the skill listed as a “Hash Tag” while other will not. J2EE could be listed as J2EE or #J2EE. I suggest searching for both. A few examples:

• #job #Phoenix J2EE
• #Jobs #Phoenix #J2EE
• #Job J2EE
• #Jobs # J2EE

Company Searches:
By using “Hash Tags” in your search you may find patterns to how companies post their jobs on Twitter and you may want to follow that company for future job tweets. The company I work for, TRIAD Consultants, actually has Twitter on our main page. When job seekers go to our website they will see that last four tweets, usually jobs, and can actually choose to follow TRIAD Consultants. For a good example check out www.triad-corp.com.

As I mentioned, each recession is different and in each recession new tools and techniques are developed for finding jobs. It is up to you, as a job seeker, to use the tools available. Try using Twitter and try multiple combinations of “Hash Tags”, cities and even skills.

Happy job hunting!

Now I have to admit I am new to Twitter, and welcome comments and suggestions to help job seekers. Please email me at chas.bollow@yahoo.com

If you like what you are reading and want to read more, check out my eBook at www.blackholesresumesjobs.com/

Are you using Career Builder, Monster, Dice, Hot Jobs, and so on as part of your job search? http://polls.linkedin.com/p/66041/roibz

Poll: Are you using Career Builder, Monster, Dice, Hot Jobs?

Are you using Career Builder, Monster, Dice, Hot Jobs, and so on as part of your job search? http://polls.linkedin.com/p/66041/roibz

10.2%, does it matter? Have we bottomed out?

Let’s take the second question first: Have we bottomed out?

It looks like the economy has bottomed out and the companies that are still in business have realized they have survived! These companies laid-off workers and were unable to replace those that left voluntarily because of hiring freezes. These companies have work to be done that has been piling up for over a year. So they will start hiring, slowly and a few at a time. And they will be extremely picky in who they hire.

They will want experts. They will look at previous experience and they will look at certifications. They will look on your résumé to see what you have done in the past and they will want to know you can do it for them too!

Example:

• If you are in sales and you were in the tops 10% of your peers in your previous company they will expect you to be in the top 10% for their company.
• If you were in accounting and responsible for SOX, they will expect you to be responsible for SOX in their company.
• If you were in IT and you eliminated redundant severs and systems, thus saving money, they will want you to do that for them too.

So if you did some great thing in your last job, then it should be on your résumé and expect to do it again. If you increased, reduced, eliminated, completed on time, or completed on budget then it better be on your résumé.

Now, 10.2%, does it matter?

Yes & No

Yes: The more of you unemployed, then the more competition for jobs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “There were 6.3 job seekers for every job opening in August…” and I expect that number is higher now.

No: Well maybe, but in terms of 8%, 9% 10% or higher what is the difference to the individual job seeker? Not much. 8% won’t feel much different than 10%.

In any case, I expect employers to start hiring soon. When these companies lift their hiring freeze they will start interviewing, slowly hiring a few at a time. So do not expect mass hiring. But I do expect you will see more activity, interviews, for your efforts.

If you like what you are reading and want to read more, check out my eBook at www.blackholesresumesjobs.com/

If you are an IT professional and want to send me your résumé, please feel free to email your résumé to me at chas.bollow@triad-corp.com.

Unemployment by Skill and Industry

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the current national unemployment rate is 9.8%. On November 6th the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the numbers for October and we will find out if the trend of job losses hits 10% or higher, remains the same or goes down.

Regardless of that unemployment rate, it is important to know the unemployment rate of your skill in your industry. Unemployment rates also vary by region, state and city. For example let’s look at Michigan. Michigan’s unemployment rate is 15.3% while Detroit is 18.3% and Flint is 15.8%. Again these numbers come form the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you look at Colorado, unemployment is 7% for the state, 7.1% for Denver and 8.2% for Grand Junction. Arizona is 9.1%.

The question is, what is the unemployment rate for your skill in your industry? When I conducted my research the unemployment rate in Colorado was 7.3%. By using this number as my starting point I determined unemployment rates for information technology professionals by job title (skill).

In a 30 day period I looked for the following skills and determined each skill’s unemployment rate. Note there are other skills I could have included but I wanted a sample of data.

Notice that most skills were near the Colorado average 7.3% unemployment rate. A few skills were lower than 7.3%, three were above 8% and one skill was above 14%.

Interpretation of any data is a science and can be tricky. We do know that the higher the unemployment rate, the harder it is to find a job. However you can still find a job, but it will take longer and more effort. If you are actively seeking employment when unemployment is 6%, it may take 6 months to land a job and 9% may take 9 months. In any case, don’t assume your industry’s and skill’s unemployment rate is the national average, your state’s average or city’s average. Do your research, check out the feds website, gather local information and watch for trends in your region.

Source: http://www.bls.gov/cps/


If you like what you are reading and want to read more, check out my eBook at www.blackholesresumesjobs.com/

If you are an IT professional and want to send me your résumé, please feel free to email your résumé to me at chas.bollow@triad-corp.com.