Archive for the ‘other career coaches/experts’ Category

Advantages of Alumni Networking in Your Job Search

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012 by Judi

Great post on a forgotten aspect of networking from my friend, Scott Sholtes, of  www.AlumniAgent.com

tnWith the current economic difficulties, many jobseekers have been looking for an edge in the job market. The average job posting on one of the large career sites receives between 400 and 600 resumes. How do you stand out in such a large crowd? While you may think it is impossible, the answer might just be that guy that sat next to you in Biology class back in your college days.

A highly undervalued tool in many jobseekers’ job search strategy is the power of networking. While many people think that they are using networking to the best of their abilities, many have not considered the power of alumni networking. Few connections are as strong as those one shares with their alma mater, so why not use those connections to land your next job?

Studies have shown that employees from the same alma mater often work well together. Employers are also more inclined to hire candidates from their alma mater because they know exactly what kind of educational background they are coming from.

Alumni networking can also help during the interview process. When an alumni employer interviews and alumni jobseeker, they already have something in common and it helps to relieve some of the tension.

Jobseekers can also use alumni networking in many other ways. They can join their local alumni association groups, and meet many new contacts there. These contacts will be connected in a variety of different businesses and industries, and some of them may even be able to recommend you for positions.

Statistically, 75% of jobs are never advertised and are filled through employee recommendations and referrals. Alumni networking can help you to become aware of many of the unadvertised positions and it may even land you your next job. There are also websites dedicated to helping alumni connect in the job market. AlumniAgent.com is a good example of one of these sites, and it is very effective at helping to give jobseekers an edge in the job market.

University alumni associations are also great resources. They have complete lists of alumni in your area, and they can help you to become aware of alumni events in your area. Some alumni associations have job boards where you can find jobs with employers from your alma mater.

Having a connection with a potential employer can create a distinct advantage, and could mean the difference between landing a great job and returning to your job search. Alumni networking is an extremely valuable tool, and can provide access to many jobs you would have never heard about. If you are looking for an edge in the job market, alumni networking could be just the thing to help you find your next career.

Scott Sholtes is a Social Media Specialist for AlumniAgent.com, a career based website. He has been a professional blogger for the past three years and has expert knowledge in the job search field.

Posted in interviewing, job hunt tips, job hunting advice, networking, other career coaches/experts | 2 Comments »

tighten ALL your job seeking skills and shorten your job search!

Friday, February 12th, 2010 by Judi Perkins

little red figureFREE preview class Wednesday for a 5 module class with 5 experts, including 2 recruiters and the Vault resume expert.   The preview call enables you to decide if you want to take the class or not.  If you do, you receive value-added services and products, handouts, and a recording of each module.  Don’t miss this teleseminar if you want to get noticed, tune up your search and move ahead of the competition!  Read on to learn more:

Getting to the finish line in your job search isn’t easy.  There are myriads of hurdles along the way.

  • If you’re sending out resumes and getting very little response it might be the ads you’re answering. 
  • Or it might be that you’re not fully utilizing all available resources. 
  • Or it might be your cover letter.
  • Then again, it might be your resume….or your interviewing skills.

How do you tell what the problem is?
If you’re unemployed, you can’t afford to guess. And if you’re employed, the longer it takes to find something new, the longer you’re forced to stay in a job you don’t like, and the more you come to dislike it. 

If you are getting some action, are you sure you’re pro-actively finding everything you could be?  There are four available avenues for searching – most people use one or two, and not very effectively.  If you knew what those avenues were and how to maximize them, you’d get more results. 

Are you interviewing?  No offers?  Always the bridesmaid but never the bride, and consequently feeling confused and frustrated, on the verge of giving up?  It’s not the companies, it’s you.  Clearly you’re failing to communicate in a way that catches the company’s interest.  Your interviewing skills are probably severely lacking.

Finding a job is a skill!
That it’s your career and you can search effectively by just putting your resume together and networking or answering ads is a fallacy.  The average job seeker is operating at perhaps 30% effectiveness, and completely unaware of how you have the ability to leapfrog over the competition.

But it’s a process.  In a market like this, your skills need to be cutting edge from start to finish.  The market isn’t dead.  Companies are hiring.  If they’re not hiring, chances are it has nothing to do with the economy, your age, your industry or anything else.  It has to do with you. 

How to finally put it together so it works
Now, in a 5-module teleseminar of one-hour sessions created based on the questions and issues our clients are currently facing, you’ll receive that in-depth information.  You’ll have access to the knowledge 5 career experts will be providing you. 

  • FREE PREVIEW CALL WEDNESDAY, Feb 17 at 12:00 pm eastern (you can attend the preview call and THEN decide if you want to take the class)
  • Thursday, February 18:  Judi Perkins – 4 ways to jumpstart your job search
  • Tuesday, February 23:  Donna Sweiden – Optimizing your online presence
  • Thursday, February 25:  Debra Wheatman – Building An Effective Resume
  • Tuesday, March 2:  Jeff LeFevre – Understanding Recruiters for effective  working relationships
  • Thursday, March 5:  Melanie Szlucha – TODAY: A better way to prepare for job interviewsFor more information about each module (time etc) and each presenter, go here:   www.JobAdviceMentor.com

Posted in interviewing, networking, other career coaches/experts, resumes | No Comments »

a bright star blog in the midst of dead meteors

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 by Judi Perkins

bright star(Is “dead meteor” an oxymoron?)

I didn’t feel like posting something original. I wanted to see what articles and postings other blogs had. It’s not about competition as much as it is tracking trends, timely topics, and (I didn’t plan that alliteration…) curiosity.

So I googled Career Blog. Click, read, back button. Click, read, back button. Click, read, back button. After about 10 articles that said aboslutely nothing, I tried googling Job Blog. Except for one blog, it was the same thing. It would be very poor form to list the ones that were singularly unimpressive.

But I found one I really like. It’s funny. It conveys actual, helpful information. It tackles topics besides vague stuff like prepare for an interview, why your resume needs to do this or that, and other unoriginal topics written about in singularly unoriginal ways.

The other reason I like it is because it reminds me of me (well, duh). What I mean by that is it’s straight talk. It puts the responsiblity where the responsibility should go. It doesn’t perpetuate or defend so much of the junk advice out there. Head on. Gives good advice in detail. That’s what a good blog should do.

It has a lousy URL – I wonder how many people know about it? I don’t even know who writes it, or if it’s more than one individual. Just because many of the articles are first person, doesn’t mean there’s only one author.

Check it out. http://jobhunt.typepad.com/

Posted in Uncategorized, other career coaches/experts | No Comments »