Effectively Manage Your Time to a New Job

Following is a guest post by Laurie Turner, an employment and career counselor with Jewish Community Services of South Florida, a social services agency which is the largest non-profit [501(c)(3)] Jewish social service agency in South Florida, JCS provides critical help in the community, such as care management for frail seniors; counseling for families in crisis; and employment skills for developmentally disabled adults. Laurie also works with JworksMiami, an employment service which helps match job-seekers and employers.

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Looking for a new job? Not getting paid to do it? If you take your job search seriously, you may realize sooner or later that you have a new full time job for which you are not getting paid.   There may be a direct correlation between the amount of effort you put into searching for a new position and how long it takes you to find one!  So, how do you approach your job search?  Do you wake up in the morning, get dressed, have breakfast and hit the ground running?  Consider planning your day’s activities to include some time at your computer searching for postings, time attending networking events and some time with friends and family to let them know what you are seeking.  Make sure you have developed your “elevator pitch” so you can articulate, in a concise manner, the type of position you are seeking whenever you have the opportunity.

Applying to 100 positions per week? It is probably impossible to do a thorough job of applying to this quantity of jobs. Consider applying to less than 10 and do it properly.  You can research the company or look on linked in to see if anyone you are connected to has a connection with the company.  If you find a possible connection and a position that is a good fit, reach out to see if the person can refer you to Human Resources. Many companies offer their employees an incentive if someone they refer is hired.  You could be doing the employee a favor and helping your own cause at the same time.  Submit a version of your resume and cover letter that best markets you for the position you are applying for.  If you are invited for an interview, prepare, prepare, prepare.

Figure out how to distinguish yourself from the pack. Prepare to answer standard interview questions but also take the opportunity to reveal a little about yourself that will make the interviewer remember you.  Email and snail mail a thank you note.  You will certainly be noticed! Use the thank you note to tell anything you may have forgotten to share during the interview.   There are sample resumes, cover letters and thank you notes on the internet.   Don’t take shortcuts!  Go through the above steps for a week or two and see if you are able to jump-start your job search.  If you are stuck, get unstuck!  Keep a positive attitude, try to relax, exercise, take care of yourself (i.e. eat well and get enough sleep)!  Hopefully, sooner or later, you will get the results you are looking for!

Three Weekly Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Job Hunting Tips – June 22, 2015

Lemon Squeezy

Here are three simple job hunting tips for you to begin your week!

1. Any time you prepare a paper résumé (yes, these still exist) to give to anybody, print it up on your printer. DO NOT make photocopies - the copier glass tends to get filthy and shows all sorts of residue, lines, and other grossness. Don't believe me? Compare for yourself. And, yes, people will notice the lines and dots that are copier artifacts.
2. Treat an internal job application (i.e., an application for a position inside your current employer) with the same level of respect you'd treat one on the outside. This means: apply in a timely manner; dress professionally for the interview; and send thank-you notes to everyone you meet with; and should you not be selected for the job, handle the defeat with graciousness and dignity. Keeping doors open applies in your current job, too.
3. After the interview, if you don't hear anything after repeated attempts to find out your status, know when to stop asking for feedback. It's crappy for an employer to not get back to you after an interview, but you need to recognize the line between persistence and stalking.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Some Thoughts From a Background-Checker

The following is a guest column by Marc Hurwitz, President of Crossroads Investigations, a full-service Private Investigation and Due Diligence firm. Marc began government service with Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and continued in the U.S. Department of State’s Human Rights Bureau. He then worked in the White House for three years, where he served as the aide to the Deputy National Security Advisor. Marc went on to become a counter-terrorism officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and later worked for the government in multiple overseas posts, earning several commendations for meritorious service.

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First and foremost, let me say I am not a lawyer.   Employment law is complicated and I am not offering legal advice.   You should seek the counsel of a local attorney if you have employment law questions.

As the owner of a private investigation agency, I am often asked to run background checks on job candidates.   I always give the employer a consent form to be filled out by the candidate.  This is so important because the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires it, even though the background check includes information that is a matter of public record.  The employer is obligated to pull a background report that is FCRA-compliant, which limits what can be searched and how far back those records can go.

I’m sometimes asked if a candidate should volunteer negative information in their background.   This is always a risk.  On the one hand, it’s possible that the information won’t show up on the background report - this could be for a number of reasons such as the employer not ordering the correct report to the record being too old.  However, if the candidate says he has always been a model citizen, and his background report suggests otherwise, what do you think their chances are of getting a job offer?  My advice is to be honest.   Yes, you may not get the job, but if you lie, you definitely won’t get the job if the employer discovers it, or could fire you later if they find out.

OK, you’ve given your consent and you don’t get the job.  You have the right to ask for and receive a copy of the background report used to make the non-hiring decision.  If there’s a mistake on the report, you should communicate with the employer and the background check company to seek corrections.

I am happy to take questions either via this blog or by email: marc@xinvestigations.com.