Archive for July, 2009

Getting Hired in a Competitive Job Market

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Rising numbers of layoffs are being announced as 2009 goes by, and many job seekers have been noticing (myself included) that it’s getting harder to get yourself noticed for a job opening in the ever increasing sea of applicants. I’ve already written a bit about how you can help make your resume standout, but how about when an employer has contacted you and you’re already in the thick of the interview process?

Recruiters and HR Managers are trained to look for certain qualities in a candidate and are tasked with pre-screening applicants based on certain prerequisite job skills or work experience that the hiring manager is looking for. This means if the HR Manager or Recruiter has already contacted you, you already fit the “mold” that the hiring manager is looking for, so you’re in luck.

However, just because you have the necessary skills, doesn’t mean you’ll automatically land the job, especially in this job market. With so many applicants out there, your personality, work ethic and even “likability” will be the most important factors in landing your next job. Keep in mind that though there are a lot of “qualified” applicants out there, what every hiring manager would like is someone they could work day-in and day-out with.

This means that when you go in for that interview, you really have to sell yourself. You’re no longer worrying if the hiring manager thinks you can do the job, chances are that if you got this far: you can. The key is that you have to show how you can be a team player: someone who’s easy to work with and would fit in with the company culture. Do some research on who you’re interviewing with. Ask the HR Manager if you can get a bio or a rundown of the person or people you’ll be speaking to. Do some research on the company; find out what it’s like and how you would fit in with the rest of the employees.

Good luck out there!

Posted in HR and Recruitment, Job Tips | 1 Comment »

Boeing will be cutting 10,000 jobs

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Boeing recently announced that it will be cutting about 6% of its job force, and more than half of the layoffs will be happening in Washington state.

4,500 of the jobs being cut will come out of the Commercial Airlines unit, which was already announced by Boeing earlier in July. The other 5,500 of the jobs that were announced to be cut last week will be made in the defense and corporate support services unit, most of these jobs located across the US.

Estimates for the number of Boeing jobs lost in Washington are adding up to be more than 5,000 jobs cut in the state. This comes out of a total of 13,000 employees that Boeing employs in Washington.

However, Boeing does see a return to profitability within 2009 as it expects to continue current production levels and deliver between 480 to 485 planes through the remainder of this year.

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Working for Free

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Working for free? Unheard of you say?

Not when you’d like to keep your job skills sharp and the economy is down, making jobs scarce.

I first heard about Jobnob and the idea of working for free from a quirky little networking session that aimed to unite recently unemployed professionals with startups looking for people to help them get started… up. With the economic crash that happened late last year, startups have been in dire straights for most of this year: everyone has been spending less, investing less, and because of that startups based on great ideas have been floundering around trying to get their businesses up and running.

Enter the quirky little networking session: the Jobnob Happy Hour.

Although not ideal if you have a mortgage to pay and kids to feed, the premise of the Jobnob Happy Hour is that you volunteer your time for a startup while you’re looking for a job. It’s win-win for both parties because you help them stretch out every dollar they have, while you show them what you’ve got and why you should be the first employee they hire when the money starts rolling in.

On top of that, you can feel the impact of everything you do. Your opinion on everything actually matters. You have a new idea that you’re excited about? Run with it, give it a try! Definitely not something you would expect if you have a corporate background like me, and it is immensely satisfying when something you did catches on and you know that you had a hand in it.

Volunteering my time has also helped me broaden my horizons. Coming from a background in Public Relations, there have been many marketing terms I’ve heard being bandied around quite a bit recently: search engine optimization, organic searches, paid searches, Google Analytics, social media, etc. But to actually sit down and learn what these things are, how to utilize these things, and why you even need them at all has been incredibly enlightening. It’s been useful in understanding how I can be better at my own field and I definitely know it’ll make me better at my own job, when I do get back on my feet.

And the kicker is that I know these aren’t things I would’ve learned at a normal job.

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How can I get a new job?

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

The job market may seem like it’s stagnating at the moment, but if you take a closer look at what’s happening in many industries you might be surprised with what you see: they’re hiring! So getting a job might not be as grim as the news makes it out to be.

Alcoa Inc. is the first blue chip company to report its financial earnings this year. Alcoa unfortunately reported a loss of $454 million in its first quarter. However, even with the bleak earnings reported in this most recent quarter, their HR department is still posting new positions at Alcoa as its CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld, rebutted this loss by saying that they “expect to see improvements in the second quarter. [Improved] cash flow will be our primary goal.”

Other companies like Google, Levi and T-Mobile are also taking the optimistic high route by announcing new products and expansions in business, despite the economic doom and gloom. So there’s no reason you shouldn’t keep your own employment hopes high.

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To keep my own employment hopes high, I’ve been following these three basic rules:

      1. Network – Now that you have extra time on your hands, get out there and talk to people. You never know who might need a position filled.

      2. Be memorable – Business cards are like mini-resumes for those on the go. While you’re out meeting new people, keep business cards handy so you can make a lasting impression and so people can keep your name and number handy, just in case they do have a position open up.

      3. Research – Keep abreast of the latest happenings in your industry. If companies are looking to increase sales to counteract first quarter losses, new Sales Managers are going to be needed. Are companies announcing a slew of new products? Public Relation Managers will be needed to keep up with the demand. Did Google just announce a new OS? Many software developers will have to look into hiring new Computer Programmers to rewrite programs so they’re compatible with the new Chrome OS.

You never know when something might come along, so stay sharp, keep your eyes open and your job prospects up!

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How to make your resume stand out

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Writing a resume is no fun, but it is a critical part of getting a job. And these days jobs are a bit scarce as more and more people are competing over the few jobs that are popping up. It’s an unfortunate fact of current affairs, but if you’re aware of the fierce competition and you prepare your resume for it, chances are you’ll fair better than most. I’m going to assume that you know the basics of how to write a resume. What I want to advise you on today is how to make sure you get the attention of the HR Manager that may be sifting through a stack of resumes, and at least get a chance to describe what you know how to do.

HR Managers are busy people, and with the deluge of applicants knocking on every door, you have to get their attention straightaway. Rather than beat around the bush, describing your fluffy dreams of “what you’d like to do when you grow up,” many HR managers would better appreciate a brief description of what you’ve done in your past that is directly applicable to what the hiring manager needs in a candidate. So do just that. Before you hit “send” on any job board, make sure you take a minute to write a career description that is relevant to the key features that the job description requires. There is a reason the description has a section that says “Job Requirements.”

Additionally, print a copy of your resume and take a minute to look at its visual impact. Is your resume organized and easy to read? Does it stand out? A little trick I like to do in Word is to go to Format > Borders and Shading… and click on the Page Borders tab. Then, frame my resume so it stands out. If you take a minute to highlight your abilities, maybe you’ll land that interview you’ve been waiting for.

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Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to share or get feedback on? Feel free to send one back in our Comments section and maybe we can help you refine your resume even further.

Posted in HR and Recruitment, Interviewing, Job Tips | No Comments »