I Need a Job! (Starting Down the Path)

Let's be honest:

Most of us have a general idea of what our "dream job" is. Personally, mine is writing articles for a celebrity gossip magazine or a hard hitting political e-zine, but who am I kidding? I don't have the credentials or abilities to move to NYC and get a job at one of those hoity-toity companies. I will stick with reading my chick lit and living vicariously through the characters. (Side Note: If you share my dream job, you must read Little Pink Slips.)

Okay.. now that I've successfully thrown myself off course, let me attempt to get back to my point. The reality is most of us will never get our "dream job." Unless you have the means to get the Ivy League education and have an "in" at the company that people would kill to work for, you'll never walk into the position you dream of. Aren't I a kill-joy? Well, now I will throw a bit of hope in the mix: you can get a job that closely resembles your dream job, or a variation of your dream job; however, you must be willing to work at it. By work, I mean dedicate yourself completely to getting what you want. With the job market the way it is now a days, my recommendation (and remember, I base these opinions solely on experience) is to start small and work your way up the totem pole. If you expect too much, too soon, you made end up with more headache that euphoria.

At this point you may be thinking "Well, what the Hell do I do to get my foot in the door?" Don't get your britches in a bunch - I'm getting there. First, I must give a disclaimer: I cannot and will not guarantee the methods I am presenting to you in this blog will work for 100% of the readers who take heed. These are simply opinions and recommendations based on my life experiences to help you get ahead in your career. Now that we have that out of the way, we'll get down to the nitty-gritty:

I have developed a five-step method that will (more often than not) get you ahead when applying for jobs. I will briefly outline them below:

1. Be realistic when beginning your job search. Most job-seekers have specific ideas of what they are looking for when cruising the "Help Wanted" sections of their local newspapers. Well, I got news for ya: it's not going to happen in the classifieds! The better bet for searching for the criteria you want is to use a job search engine online. Some popular sites to use (that I have had much success with personally) are: Career Builder, Monster, and Hot Jobs. You are able to truly narrow down the criteria you want with these websites as opposed to using the old fashioned "circling the ad" method. Hello! Can we say "outdated?" I will never tell a job-seeker to revise their expectations, unless those expectations will lead to heartbreak. Only you know what you want out of a career... so don't let anyone stand in your way!


2. Many companies have applicants fill out online applications for available positions. The applicant will then attach his or her resume to the application at the end of the process. A great rule of thumb to use: copy and paste your existing (NICE) resume into a NotePad or Text Document feature. Eliminate special characters and spacing, and clean up the layout. Save this document for use on these types of applications. Take it from me: using your well formatted resume in these types of applications is useless. The formatting will be destroyed and the prospective employer may not even be able to decipher its content. Once again, this is from experience. You will get more responses to your applications if you put in the effort of thinking issues like this through ahead of time.


3. Make sure you have different resumes for different types of positions. There is nothing prospective employers hate more than receiving a resume with an objective stating: "Applicant is in search of a full-time sales position in a well established financial institution," when the position the applicant applied for is a janitorial position. (Yes, this is an extreme example, but it makes my point.) Even if you update your resume each and every time you send it out, you may miss a detail or two that can throw off the employers. Don't risk it. Save different copies for different job types so you don't have to fear sending the incorrect information and embarrassing yourself.


4. Keep a detailed record of what positions you have applied for. Although you may not do it intentionally, you may come across job postings on different search engines and apply for the position twice. Employers are relatively understanding of this occurrence, but if you happen to send your resume to the same place twenty times, you may have ensured a big fat NO from that employer. Keeping a log/record of each job you apply for helps to eliminate that possibility, but also saves you precious time. There are a lot of options out there - don't waste your time on duplicates.


5. When contacted for an interview, always, and I mean ALWAYS take notes. Whether you write down the contact phone number and name of the individual who contacted you, or you write down every single word the person said, you always want to have notes on the companies who show interest. There are a few reasons for this: primarily, if you have an emergency, a problem finding your interview location, or something comes up, you will feel ridiculous if you do not have a name and phone number to call and let your potential employer know you are having difficulties. It's rude not to show up somewhere - even if you simply had no way of reaching the interviewer. Waste of time for them, thus, no job for you. Second, if you have a history of the company you are applying to, and you can get information on the position you have applied for specifically, it gives you the upper hand in an interview. Yes, it's okay not to have the knowledge of an encyclopedia; however, it's better to have "cliff's notes" in your brain while having a conversation with your interviewer.

Do you think you can handle these five simple steps? I promise it will make your job hunting experience more enjoyable. Well, at least more enjoyable than getting an enema. Hey, no one said this would be easy...

As always, if you have any questions or require any assistance, please feel free to contact me. And please, check out my available services: I'm here to help!

Kudos!