Category: Job Search

Confident Career Strategies

by candacemoody

Stewart says that the first step in preparing for an interview is to conduct a thorough inventory of your skills and accomplishments. A sort of personal SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses in a competitive market can help you prepare to answer tough questions in the interview. These are internal qualities, whereas Opportunities and Threats are environmental qualities. What outside factors might influence the market for your skills? Is your programming language of choice being phased out? Are you an early adopter of some technique or technology? Being aware of industry trends helps you position yourself within a larger context.

Guest Post: Grad School Increases your Marketability

by candacemoody

The Bachelor’s degree may have slowed down as a a way for a candidate to stand out. With over 30% of adults now holding a Bachelor’s degree, ‘standing-out’ with respect to education may require job applicants to have more sophisticated training. This may be true both at the beginning of a career and as you climb in an organization. In some job environments, experience can only take you so far. To be considered for executive level positions, you may need an advanced degree.

This is Not How It’s Done

by candacemoody

I was shocked to read about the emails sent by a woman who includes in her email signature “2013 International Association of Business Communicators communicator of the year.” Her name is Kelly Blazek, and she runs a 7,300-subscriber JobBank newsletter based in Cleveland, Ohio. She’s supposed to be helpful (and a great communicator) but after her condescending and downright nasty emails to young careerists became public, she’s doing a lot of damage control. What was she thinking?

What’s in a Name?

by candacemoody

But names do matter. Your name is linked to first impressions from a very early age. A survey of 30,000 teachers revealed that 49 percent make assumptions about kids based on their names, and that they perceived some names as trouble makers (hint: don’t name your rambunctious boy Jack.)

Guest Post: How to Land the Job without Looking Desperate

by candacemoody

An unfortunate paradox pervades the job market: the longer an average person has been out of work, the more likely she becomes to lowering her standards, widening her range of options, ignoring employer red flags, and behaving in ways that don’t benefit her long term interests. This is perfectly natural, and in most cases, it’s a logical and intelligent response to a serious problem.

Guest Post: The 5 Hottest Job Markets (Jacksonville is #2!)

by candacemoody

In order to overcome the difficulties, some professionals are casting a wider net in their job searches and considering relocating to other areas in order to find good work. If your current location simply doesn’t have a market for your skills, that can be a great decision.

Guest Post: Networking While Unemployed: 5 Critical Tips

by candacemoody

If you once thought you had everything figured out, you had all the answers, and you were a winner through and through, welcome to a new reality: one in which you don’t know everything, you have lots to learn, and every social gathering is filled with people who can teach you.

Guest Post: 7 Ways to Tell Your Job is Worth Keeping

by candacemoody

Time to quit? Maybe. After all, the correlation between personal fulfillment and success on the job is a strong one. If you’re really miserable, you’re unlikely to brainstorm those cutting edge ideas that will both advance your career and put your company on the cutting edge.

Resolutions and the Modern Careerist

by candacemoody

I’ve been reading a lot of advice on how to make real change in your life, and the best advice seems to trend toward not making resolutions – at least not in the traditional way. When you try to make a change based on what you “should” do (lose weight, get back to the gym, or get organized), you are relying on a very weak system to help you along.