Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
The first quarter of 2013 is winding down; how far along are you on your plan for a new career? If you are making a change, your first task is research – deciding on what career to pursue. As in previous years, growth projections for IT, marketing, healthcare, and engineering are still trending up at a steady pace. Here is a list of the fastest growing careers for 2013 and their qualifications.
While phone interviews are the most common alternative for out-of-state candidates, it’s not unusual for a distant employer to request an interview session with a candidate via Skype or Gmail. Welcome to the post-recession economy, where candidate searches have gone global, and where technology has improved so much that travel isn’t necessary to meet face-to-face. … Continue reading Guest Post: Mastering the Art of the Video Interview
Since this terrible recession started, we’ve been hearing about clever gimmicks that desperate jobseekers are trying to get themselves noticed. We’ve heard about people standing at a busy intersection with a “Job Wanted” sign and the guy in Seattle who took out a sign on the side of a city bus.
If you’re a job seeker and you’ve been on the receiving end of any of the disrespectful moves listed below, you aren’t alone. But take heart; smart employers are starting to recognize that an imbalanced job market doesn’t give them free rein to treat applicants poorly. Meanwhile, the faster you shake off the effects of these rude behaviors and move on to the next potential job, the faster you’ll get where you need to be.
Any career advice column can give you tips on answering the most-often asked questions in an interview. It takes real confidence to give tips on how to shine when the questions are just plain wacky. This post by Glassdoor.com compiled the 25 strangest interview questions posed by recruiters from name brand companies.
Introverts tend to gain strength, energy and confidence through spending time alone, unlike extroverts who tend to recharge their batteries in social settings. Introverts can be intelligent, calm, thoughtful, and creative. They just don’t find social contact as energizing as extroverts do.
Since you’re making all those other New Year’s resolutions, why not add a couple to perk up your career prospects? Here are two suggestions that will add value to your resume and that can be accomplished in your spare time.
Heather Huhman wrote a great post about the personal qualities that hiring managers don’t like to see in a candidate. But it’s the Smart Brief link title that caught my eye: Are you too boring to hire?
Huhman writes:
“Hiring managers don’t want to see a candidate who has no additional interests or personality beyond what’s required to get a job in their industry. You need to show you’re a human being, not a robot. Hiring managers love to see candidates with hobbies, or even those who have taken on a second job—it shows you’re able to make good use of your free time to expand your skills and interests, and this is a quality that’s likely to spill over into your professional life.”
Buckingham starts out by defining “strength” as “near perfect, consistent performance.” Being pretty good at something is not enough. It starts with talent, which Buckingham describes as an innate ability – something you may have been a natural at all your life. In fact, being a natural is what keeps many of us from understanding true strengths; if it’s that easy for me, doesn’t everyone find it to be easy too?
Q: I’m unemployed right now, and I’ve heard that it’s a waste of time to conduct a job search during the holiday season. Should I just forget about it until January?
