Make Ethics a Part of Your Daily Job Search Routine

When searching for employment, don’t let your values, ethics, or judgment be disputed!  You should make ethics a part of your daily job search routine.  Here are a few tips:

When creating your résumé, and when answering information in an interview, always be completely truthful!  Don’t lie or mislead employers about your past work experience, education, or qualifications for a position.

 Apply only to those positions which you are genuinely interested in for employment.    Thoroughly research the company, and the position prior to an interview to demonstrate your interest.  Remember,   taking Interviews to practice your interview skills is inexcusable!

Don’t ever “no show” for an interview.  Each employer sets aside their valuable time to interview potential candidates.   If you can't make an interview due to an unforeseen emergency, you should make every effort to call the employer at least 2 hours or more in advance of the interview time.   Some inexcusable reasons for not making an interview include not having the right date and time of the interview, oversleeping, running out of gas, or completely forgetting about the interview.

Not Getting Interview Calls? Those Pesky Workplace Acronyms Could Be The Culprit!

To get that first interview call, your resume should be pristine and natural for anyone to read - from the layperson to a technical/military expert.  

Using common workplace acronyms in your resume could be negatively impacting your job search because the automated tracking system (ATS) or the person reading your resume may not be familiar with them. Why spell the words out?  Employers choose specific keywords for ATS systems to filter and find the right candidates and may not use their related acronyms.
 

When preparing your resume, here are a few simple basic rules to help navigate your resume through to an interview.

The first rule: when choosing to insert common acronyms, be sure to spell out the complete wording once because abbreviations such as ATM for automated teller machine could have been spelled out as qualifications by the company as “automated,” “teller,” and “machine,” and the system would not recognize “ATM.”

The second rule: don’t capitalize all words that have acronyms (always capitalize acronyms and proper names).

The final rule: take the time to make sure your acronyms are correct.  Easy mistakes can be costly – i.e., the medical acronym "HIPAA" s often incorrectly written on resumes as "HPPAA".

30 Seconds that just might land you an interview!

Having a short and well prepared "elevator pitch" could be a key to your future career...  

Like most people looking for work, you come into casual contact with professional people daily when personally dropping off your resume, visiting a recruiter, or going for an interview. One of these new unscheduled encounters could also provide a link to an employment opportunity.

Called by many names over the years, the elevator pitch remains a positive way for job seekers to present a brief (around 30 seconds) rehearsed personal introduction that encompasses their relevant experience and employment goals to a potential employer or a new professional contact.   To add to the impact, presenting them with an introduction business card with your name, position goal, email address, and other information can speed up the process. 

Are you suffering from digital overload?



FINDING YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO ANYTHING THESE DAYS?

Are you up at 4:30 am and find yourself checking Facebook and Twitter to see if anyone has an update or liked your clever comment or picture. and finding no one liked them immediate turn your semi-depressed mind to your text messages and email? Then you're off to shower and after-the-shower toast and coffee while curiosity forces you on to determinedly check other websites to ensure you are up-to-date before you go into the office.

Once you arrive at your workplace, do you head into the office break room to have a Starbucks and

donut while discussing with your co-workers all of your now up-to-date info? Then, once you have  downed your coffee and second chocolate donut, do you head back to your desk to begin checking and answering your work email, monitoring the internet for any updates you may have missed earlier and then move on respond to phone messages while asking yourself while looking at the clock..."Where did the morning go?" 

You are suffering from digital overload. While a somewhat serious and contagious condition, it can be cured!  How?  Take some time to take a few steps back and breathe! 

What your digital presence says to an employer...

You have been searching for the right position, and you have done everything you should do-updated your resume/CV and LinkedIn profile - so why aren't you getting interviews?

It could be your social media presence. Today's savvy employers want to know who they are asking in for an interview or hiring.  With social media at an all-time high in usage, it isn't very hard for you to get known pretty quickly through your online presence.

Today, Facebook and other sites are an employers' window to who you are.  Even if you have set your privacy settings on high, a lot of personal information can still be garnered by a potential employer - including who you are connected to, your interests and passions, your affiliations and political ideals, your religious beliefs and other information can be pretty easy to get to. 

Here are a few things a potential employer might look at:

Multiple profiles.  Do you have multiple profiles on various media sites?  Perhaps creating multiple profiles has a meaning to you but, to an employer, the first thing brought to mind might be "why?".

Your pictures. Is your profile picture seductive, silly or a graphic?  Yes, your personal life is your business, but these are immediate turnoffs to a recruiter or potential employer. Images posted by your "friends" or connections or your Likes or emoji may also affect the way your persona is viewed. 

Your grammar and spelling.  What do your posts reveal about you?  Many employers probably would be hesitant to hire someone as an Administrative/Executive Assistant who posted "Cease the day" rather than "Seize the day" to represent their company.

Your statements.  Do you make political statements (or statements of any kind), post lewd or weird pictures and nonsense (the list is pretty long, but the point is to be very selective)?  During your career hunt, this information should probably be put in "hold" status.

Many other factors that may sway an employer from calling you in for an interview or hiring you. However, making a few changes to how and what you put in your online information just might improve your chances. Good luck!

Career Strategies that Work

Career Strategies that Work Internet Success