Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

When I was 25 years old I bought my first new car. It was a Toyota Celica and it was beautiful although I couldn't afford air conditioning or an automatic transmission. It had a manual transmission and since I didn't know how to operate a stick shift, my dad drove it home from the dealership. I bought it on a Saturday and I had to drive it to work the following Monday. What was I thinking? I spent the weekend practicing in the parking lot of Saint Michael's Church. The lot had a slight incline so I learned to change from first to second gear by going up and down that incline. Come Monday morning I drove from my home on the Jersey shore to Westchester County New York. I sailed through the toll booths in second gear, threw my quarter blindly and hoped it landed in the basket.

I thought about that time yesterday after purchasing a Blackberry. I wanted one for the convenience of scheduling and checking my business email while away from my office. When the salesman started throwing acronyms at me about the phone I challenged myself to get with the program. It took me 24 hours to figure out where my email contacts are and I mistakenly called my daughter as she was welcoming her group of first graders to their first day of school. Still, I am not going to let this uneasy bump in my learning curve get to me. I am still figuring it out and tonight plan to run over to Borders and pick up a copy of Blackberry’s for Dummies.

What's this have to do with the job search? Lots. Older (over 40) job seekers need to always stay on top of technology and be willing to learn about it even in their off time. Reading, classes, and practice are the keys to staying fresh in the business. This isn't hard for those who are technically savvy but it can be challenging for those of us who use the other side of our brains. Don't throw up your hands and say it is too difficult; don't let a position turn you off because you feel it might be too complicated. Stay fresh, stay optimistic and don't ever let yourself become untrainable. Like the pleasure I felt shifting gears on the Garden State Parkway all those years ago, it is just another obstacle conquered.

Labor Day

Labor Day is the first Monday in September where we honor working people. Whether you are laboriously searching for a job or currently working, may you have a spectacular Labor Day week-end.
I suggest that those looking for work take some time off to breath and step away from the arduous task of looking for work. Take a rest and come back on Tuesday feeling refreshed and energized.

More on Interviewing

The other day I wrote about some of the steps you can use to create a resume. Today I was thinking about using those same steps to help you prepare for your interview.
You know that two column chart I asked you to create? You can use that as your cheat sheet to prepare for your interview.
1. Look at the key words in the job requirements. (Column 1)
2. What did you do in your former job or life experience that relate to these? (Column 2)
3. New!! Develop specific, real-world examples of your accomplishments following the STAR Acronym - Situation, Task, Action, Results.

Let's look at an example open position for an administrative assistant. A partial description reads:
Effective organizational skills, including the ability to multi-task and prioritize and keen attention to detail, written and oral communication - effective interpersonal skills, requires effective command of the English language. Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook.

Based upon the job requirements, you might prepare for these types of questions:

1. "The position requires that the employee be able to multi-task while working for several managers. Please give me an example of a task or situation where you had to prioritize your work due to the conflicting requirements. Take me through the steps you took and the results of these actions."

2. "Describe the most challenging report or written piece that you prepared. What aspects of the piece were challenging? Who was the audience? What was the outcome?"

3. " You mentioned that you are proficient in Microsoft PowerPoint. Explain the types of presentations that you created in your previous position. Who was your audience and how did you tailor the presentations to their needs?"

When you create a chart of the job requirements, your skills and competencies and your REAL LIFE application and accomplishments of these, you will be so much more confident in your ability to speak about them in an interview. The bottom line is to prepare so that you are confident, secure in your abilities and not blind-sided.

Before Going to a Professional Resume Writer...

There are a lot of resume services popping up. Some are established and have been around for a long time. They were there all along but we never needed them so who knew to look for them? Lately, because of the employment situation, some people are opening Resume Chop Shops to make a quick buck. During times of uncertainty there are always people who will take advantage of any situation. If you are leaning towards a resume service, do your homework. Ask how long a company has been around. Ask about their success rate and their charges. Do a little comparison shopping and compare the services and benefits. Make sure that you are happy with the services provided.

Prior to going to a resume writer, try to figure out some things on your own. The following steps will help you plan the content of your resume. Should you decide to use a professional service, it won't hurt to bring this information along with you.

1. Identify your strengths and development needs (a nicer term for weaknesses). Go to any of the free career assessment sites and take a few assessments.

2. Dust off your old performance appraisals. In what areas were you rated “Above Average” or “Excellent”? Also review your accomplishments. How did you save time or money? Did you bring in more customers? Did you display outstanding customer service skills or team work or goal setting? Make a list of these accomplishments and development needs.

3. Look up your job on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and review the wording. Do the descriptors sound like something you have done in your previous jobs? Yes? How can you frame this wording to you and your accomplishments?

4. Look up the type of job you’re seeking in Indeed.com, Monster.com or any of those sites. Look at the job requirements. Can you do that? How? Have you done this in your past? How? What were the results? Jot down responses.

5. Review any outside/volunteer/professional group activities. What is your role? Do you have a leadership role? Are creativity, problem solving, writing, goal setting, team building involved? What descriptive words can you use to describe what you do with this team? What are the results of these activities? Did you increase donations for this organization? How much? Did you bring in more members? How many?

6. Draw a two column table. In one column jot down the job requirements for your position. In the second column write down all your accomplishments as they relate to these descriptors.

This exercise will further clarify your past accomplishments and you will be better prepared to speak about them with a professional resume preparation service. On the other hand, now that you have done all the work, you might want to review various resume templates and create your resume on your own.

Finally, make sure your resume is editable. Each and every resume should be tailored to an open position so you have to be able to modify it at will.

No One is Hiring the Unemployed- Huh?

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the '70's and still buried deep in me is the protest gene. Maybe it’s from my father who always told me to stand up for what is unjust. All I know is that I have been hearing and reading stories about the long-term unemployed who have been labeled as "lazy", "unqualified", "untrainable" and more because they have been without work for some indefinable standard of "too long". There are thousands of heartbreaking stories of highly qualified and motivated people who are losing their homes, families and self-dignity because the corporate ivory tower deems them not good enough to work at their firms. They would rather select a person who is currently employed over someone who is unemployed. On top of it all, many times it is the older unemployed person who is thrown out of the selection process from the start.
What has happened to this country? What has happened to our definition of motivation and skills and drive and knowledge? Have ethics been thrown out the window? It is happening all over this great nation of ours and I simply can't get my head around it. Unfortunately, the news media hides it or turns a blind eye to it while it concentrates on the banal stories of the $5 million the Situation from Jersey Shore will bring in or who the next Dancing with the Stars celebrity will be.
One group that I am aware of is trying to catch the attention of the policy makers and I pray they are successful. They started a petition to stop these unfair hiring practices. Take a look at the stories on the petition - they'll tear you up. Unfortunately, no one is listening.

Freelance Jobs

The Wall Street Journal published an article today describing the many white collar workers who are "moonlighting" to make ends meet. They mentioned this website for freelance/contracted positions. Perhaps it can help you or someone you may know.

Go Google Yourself

I read an article on Forbes.com about using social media for your job search. It was good and it mentioned many of the things we've talked about such as using key words, not blasting your resume, being specific to your skills, etc. What caught my eye was something I haven't done as often as I should and that is to Google or Bing yourself weekly. You'll be either delighted, disappointed or upset at what you'll see. Your LinkedIn profile is there as are your Facebook, Twitter and any other accounts you may have. You might also see your donations to political groups, your college or other public listings.

Last year I had a MySpace account because I wanted to comment on some of the songs my son had written and posted (good mom!). I entered my age, location, basically everything it asked for to find out that all that information was listed in Google. Yikes! I didn't want to whole world to see my age or my motherly comments to my son. I immediately went into MySpace and cancelled my account. It took a few days to go away.

Needless to say, clean up all your accounts including pictures and language and stay away from taboo subjects in your messaging. You never know what will come up.