Resume Help Blog

Posts Tagged ‘changing careers’

Getting a job out of college right now is challenging. Employers may be getting hundreds or thousands of applicants for a job that used to get much fewer. College grads have an advantage but need to research companies to set themselves apart. Follow the tips below to help land a job during the recession.

Recent college grads face a tough job market in today’s recession. Below we have listed five tips that will be helpful in your job search. With the economy as sluggish as it is this may take awhile so be patient. One place where there are jobs however is the entertainment industry. If you don’t know where to find these jobs and how to connect here’s place to start.  If you don’t feel comfortable in this industry then here are some tips to help you find work.

1.   Be willing to take unpaid work.
College students usually don’t have a mortgage, children and many of the bigger expenses of life yet. Be willing to take extra measures like moving in with parents or friends and taking unpaid jobs for the experience. This could lead to another opportunity but most importantly, gets you experience in your field.

2.   Learn to network.
One skill that will serve you best in any job market is your ability to talk to people, develop trust and be likeable. Participate in clubs, associations, groups and events that are available on campus.

3.   Read blogs or start one.
One of the quickest ways to become familiar with an industry is to read blogs. Interested in being a chef? Read the top chef blogs. Read the blogs regularly and comment on them to develop relationships.

Some students start a blog of their own focused on the industry they want to work in after graduation. Use it to keep track of research, articles, and events. Just summarize the main points, add a link to the article or information and provide opinion or commentary on the information. Put a link to your blog on your resume. This helps potential employers find you and learn more about you before the interview.

4. Use the Internet.
Use any method at your disposal to see who is hiring. The Internet is a great tool for this.

Use social networking site www.LinkedIn.com to network online. Find people who work at businesses where you hope to work. See if you have any contacts that know someone who works there and ask for an introduction. When you have an interview, spend time on the site researching the people you will meet.

5. Consider alternative industries and careers.
Look at alternative industries that may be hiring for similar skills. One place where there are always openings is the entertainment industry and we have just the source for you. Why do I come back to this? Because there are jobs in this arena. Lots of jobs and they pay well!

Unique Talent = Natural Abilities + Your Unique Way Of Expressing Those Abilities

Your Natural Abilities

■ What’s *that thing you do* which you’re so naturally talented at?
■ What’s the work you’ve done effortlessly ever since you can remember?
■ Do you love to sing, dance, or entertain your friends?
■ What would you write about if I asked you to start sharing your expertise in a series of blog articles?
■ What topic are you so passionate about that you could confidently speak on for 15 minutes on if asked to.

Many people fit this pattern. Maybe you don’t think you have any talent but that isn’t true. You may not ever be an Elvis Presley or a Michael Jackson but you have talent! You could be entertaining people and making top dollar. I watched Dancing With The Stars last night and watched as Donny Osmond danced. He is 51 and said that he had been entertaining “all his life” and loving it. Entertaining is fun, people love to be entertained and entertainers love to entertain. Is this something you have a “natural ability” for but are shy and afraid to try?

It’s In Your DNA

We’ve all got a unique talent – a natural ability that only we can express in a totally unique way.  Just like your DNA, no one in history has ever had that combination.

Which is why:

- No one can write, sing and perform in the exact same way as Michael Jackson.

- No one is quite as unique as Oprah Winfrey but so what.

- No one can be a catalyst for compassion and change in the exact same way  as Mother Theresa.

And the reason why no one can do *that thing you do* in quite the same way you do it. Your own unique talent is built-in; — it’s part of your DNA. And being shy is no excuse not to use that God given talent!

Your Challenge

Your task then is to figure out what that unique talent is (I’ll bet you already have the answer)  and then sign up with Explore Talent and get going.

Once you do that with their guidance you will find your niche in things. You’ll be able to build a powerful personal brand, attract success, wealth, job satisfaction and create a sense of meaning from your professional life that most people spend years searching for.

Like everything, it starts with a first step. Go ahead! (you know you want to!) That first step is to start looking for clues about yourself and your unique talent by asking some tough questions of yourself.

I challenge you to take the first step…

Today’s economic news may be gloom and doom but it needn’t derail your job hunt.   You can still win a great job, even in a lousy economy. You WILL have to get smarter in your job search strategy, though.

Here are 5 tips to incorporate into your job search approach during the recession:

1. Research Your Options

Does your industry or line of work offer little promise of employment in the coming months? If so, now is a good time to step back to identify the projected top performing industries and jobs. The best place to find this info is on the web through Google or Yahoo. Start with “best industries work recession” or “recession jobs 2008″ to uncover articles describing some of the more recession-proof sectors to target.

2. Change Your Focus

Start asking yourself the question, “What’s in it for them?” as opposed to, “What’s in it for me?” Especially in an economic downturn, you’ll want to stay focused on what you can accomplish for your next employer. Show them that you understand the macroeconomic “bigger picture” of the role you play in moving the company forward.

3. Sell Results, Not Skills

Leave behind that old mindset that your job-related skills or length of service are selling factors. The new mindset is to think of yourself as a mini profit-and-loss center rather than just an employee. Employers today buy results and are less impressed with candidates promoting a long laundry list of skills. You’ll want to define the many ways your past and present job performance are assets to your next employer.

4. Start Talking Money

The recession has made the private sector economy even more bottom-line oriented than ever. Hiring managers categorize employees into one of two distinct groups:

a.) those who help make money

b.) those who help save money.

Which one are you?

For example, Barry worked as the human resources manager of a mid-sized company. While much of his work focused on compliance issues, he noticed that the company was paying many thousands of dollars to locate and hire good employees. As a result, Barry developed and implemented an in-house employee referral program that netted three quality hires in a six-month period. This saved the company almost $70,000 that the company would have paid for recruiters and advertising costs.

Barry saves money for his company and this is an accomplishment future employers will want to hear about.

Rethink your current or past job to understand your position in the bigger corporate P&L picture. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How did my work improve the performance of my department or company?
• How many roles did I perform that saved the company the expense of added employees or contractors?
• How has my work made the work of others (employees and managers) easier, faster and more effective?

Collect specific examples of the benefits that your company gained from the work you’ve already performed. Clarify the specific benefit your company received by making money or saving money, and write them down.

5. Add Achievements to Your Resume

Employers don’t hire employees, they hire problem-solvers. Your new resume should be a hard-hitting sales tool designed to accomplish one goal: get the interview. To demonstrate this, add a specific achievements list to your resume. Take the list that you developed in the previous section and hone it down to your biggest and most notable accomplishments. Now, describe the benefit that your employer gained from each example. This will put you several steps ahead of your job-seeking competitors. Plus, you’ll now have some talking points ready for that next phone interview.