7 Essential Facts About Job Hunting Today

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Looking for a job, or considering making a career change? The process is complicated and frustrating, and has only grown more-so over the years. If you're looking to rise above the pack, you'll want to understand these seven essential facts about job hunting today.

1. Job Hunting is a Learned Skill. Have you been contacted by a recruiter for a job opportunity? If so, consider yourself lucky since there are many hurdles you need to overcome in order to get noticed by a recruiter or a hiring manager. It's important to learn about the nuances of job boards (i.e., Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, Glassdoor, and many others), applicant tracking systems, the social networking platform LinkedIn, and other online job resources so that you can rise above the massive stacks of resumes companies received. There's a lot more to it than submitting your resume and hoping for the best ("posting and praying"). The composition of your resume, your application strategy, and your followup are all factors.
    

2. So is Interviewing. A job interview is like a dance; you need to have all the right moves if you want to avoid stepping on your own foot. Your answers need to be practiced, tight, and natural. You'll need good, meaningful responses to behavioral questions, chock full of examples of how you overcame adversity to drive results. And then there's the social niceties and protocols. Hiring managers need convincing that you're a good person to spend time with, and that you'll make a positive impact. Going in cold can be dangerous. Practicing pays dividends – master the strategies that improve your chances.
    

3. Being Professional on LinkedIn Matters. A lot. Companies pay big bucks for recruiter licenses to see everyone in LinkedIn. Recruiters comb the system looking for passive candidates to fill their open jobs. Even if you're not actively looking you might still get a call. A polished, complete profile full of detail substantially increases your chances of getting noticed. An incomplete or sloppy LinkedIn profile, with a lousy profile picture can be toxic. Although it can be pricey, a LinkedIn Premium subscription can pay dividends during the search.
    

4. The Bigger the Job, the Longer the Search. If you're a CFO, for example, you should expect your job search to be considerably longer than a staff accountant by a factor of 4. Of course considerations of market demand and personal skill sets factor into the equation, but as a rule there are fewer executive than line jobs. And companies usually take longer to make decisions on higher level positions due to the organizational impact and cost. If you're an executive-level job seeker hunker down, strategize your approach (hint: it's mostly networking), and use the time wisely.
    

5. Getting Passed Over Because Your Resume is Missing an Essential Skill? You Can Fix it Fast. Let's say you're a sales professional with ten years of rock-solid sales experience;  you're hitting a roadblock because you've used lots of CRM systems but have never used the Salesforce CRM which seems to appear in every job description these days. Training has never been more accessible or affordable – why not take an online course on Salesforce and add the training to your resume under your "Education" section? This way, you'll improve your odds of making it through the ATS or recruiter. Mind you, you'll need to be transparent with the hiring manager about your depth of experience, and an online course is absolutely no substitute for a specialized degree or certification. But if you're most of the way there, it can help quite a bit.
    

6. Age Discrimination is a Real Factor. It’s illegal, and it’s regrettable. And employers miss out on many highly qualified candidates if they consider age as a factor in the hiring decision. Many employers will unwittingly (or wittingly) value younger, impressionable, and energetic employees whom they can mold to their liking rather than proven experience. And age discrimination isn't reserved for senior citizens, either – if you're over 40 years of age it could already be a problem. Learn and master strategies to cope with and overcome age bias, and know your rights.
    

7. Recruiters (i.e., Headhunters) Work for Employers. Not for You. One of the most frequent questions I get as a career coach is, "How can I hire a recruiter to find me a job?" While developing relationships with agency recruiters can be valuable to your job search, you usually can't hire one. Recruiters are hired by companies to find talent for their difficult-to-fill job openings. And these companies pay handsomely for these services, an amount in the neighborhood of 25% of the first year salary of the person they hire. Or more. That said, a strong relationship with a recruiter can pay dividends.

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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. 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.

How To Quit Your Job With Class

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You've just accepted an offer for a job with a different company, and you're ready to kiss your current employer goodbye. In fact, given the choice, you'd call in sick for the next two weeks and never return.

First things first - you need to tell your current employer you're leaving.

What can you do to make your transition as smooth as possible without burning any bridges?

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO:

• Give your notice in person to your manager. Assuming, of course, that this is possible - sometimes your manager works remotely, making this infeasible. But giving your notice face-to-face allows you to show the utmost respect.

• Be grateful. Thank your manager - profusely - for the opportunities they have given you. Even if you hate your job, show gratitude for what you gained.

• Tell your manager that the decision to leave was a difficult one. It takes a lot to leave a job behind, even a difficult job.

• Talk nicely about your employer and co-workers. Make clear that your employer runs a nice place to work, implying that you'd like to leave the door open in the future.

• Provide a written letter of resignation. HR will want this for the files, but even if they don't, it's a nice way to provide a written record of your gratitude for the opportunity.

• Give at least two weeks' notice. This will provide ample time to facilitate the transition of your function at work. It takes time for everybody to learn what you're working on and distribute what you've been handling.

• Be fair and balanced in your exit interview. The exit interview isn't an opportunity to unload every grievance you've been carrying around since the day you started; it's a chance for you to give objective feedback about what the company can truly do better. Choose what you say wisely - maintain a positive tone, and only bring up things that can be realistically changed. And pointing out all that stuff you don't like about your boss (and will never change) won't make you look good. I hate to say this, but filter what you say...

THINGS YOU SHOULD AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE:

• Badmouthing your coworkers or boss. What will you gain, except some ill will from people you may run into again?

• Telling the company you'd entertain a counteroffer. Counteroffers are a difficult topic even when your employer brings it up. But when you solicit a counteroffer for the company to keep you, you look like a greedy jerk who went out and got another job offer so that you could hit up your current employer for more money. You'd look incredibly disloyal.

• Giving less than two weeks' notice. Unless there's a truly extenuating circumstance, give and honor two weeks. Otherwise you're leaving your employer high and dry.

• Taking all your vacation and sick days after giving your notice.  Why bother giving notice if you're not going to be around to help with the transition?

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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. 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.

Looking To Relocate? 5 Effective Strategies For Pursuing Work In A Different City

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Are you looking for a job in another city?

When it comes to hiring, time is of the essence, and employers may prefer to focus on finding local talent so that they don't have to deal with the time and cost associated with interviewing, hiring, and relocating out-of-town candidates.

If you'd like to continue your career in another city, here are 5 strategies you can use to accelerate your search and increase your chances of snagging the job of your dreams.

1. Localize your resume. One of the very first things an employer does when looking through resumes in their applicant tracking system is filter the results by geography  in order to zero in on candidates who already live in the area (in the United States, this is usually done by Zip codes). If you're targeting a move to, say, Chicago, ask a relative who lives there if you can use their address on your resume; alternatively, you can rent a local mailbox from the UPS Store or another mailbox service provider. Also, secure a phone number with your target city's area code by using a free service such as Google Voice, which will route calls to your cell phone.
    
2. Localize your LinkedIn. If feasible, change your address in LinkedIn as well. Recruiters comb the system to find talent. This way you'll increase your chances of appearing in their searches.
    
3. Schedule a visit. If you have the time to do so, plan a trip to target destination with the goal of securing interviews. If employers have reached out to you and have demonstrated hesitancy to schedule an interview because you're not local, reach out to then and let them know you'll be in town and would love to meet them. Be proactive – identify recruiters and hiring managers at your target companies (LinkedIn is a great tool for this), introduce yourself, and (graciously) request a meeting for during your trip.
    
4. If applying internationally, spell out your work authorization status. If you're a Greek citizen applying to a job in Spain, your European Union work authorization enables you to work there without restriction. Spell this out in your resume and cover letter. Consider doing the same if you're following a family member to another country and will be able get work authorization due to their work status and local law.
    
5. Tell potential employers you're already planning to move. Have you set a move date? Do you have a place to stay? Make this known, and you'll quickly alleviate concerns about  timing and cost.

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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. 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.