January 15, 2009
Each month the Career Choice Guide Newsletter brings you current and in-depth information and resources to help you build your career.
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In this month's issue of the Career Choice Guide Newsletter:
Newest Articles at Career Choice Guide
Job Application QuestionsLisa's response to a reader's question about answering questions on a job application. Choosing a Career
Lisa's response to a reader's question about choosing a career.
Newest Articles on the Career Choice Guide Blog
10 Things You Need to Know Before Making a Career ChangeJob Interview Attire - How to Choose the Right Career Clothes for Your Job Interview
Using Good Company Research in a Job Interview
Your Experiences and Tips
Job Search LuckDemonstrate How Your Skills Fit Employers' Needs
Skilled Trade Career Change
Be Prepared and Be Yourself During a Job Interview
Setting Goals in Small Steps
Feature Article
How to Job Search in a Tough Economy
In the challenging job market that exists today, you may feel that you have no control over your ability to find work. It's easy to look at the news about the economy and feel hopeless about your job search. However, even in a tough labor market, there are plenty of things you can do to increase your odds of success in your job search.I've worked with plenty of people who were job searching through good and bad economies, and even in a competitive labor market, there are always certain people who find appropriate work relatively quickly.
What is special about those people who find work in a reasonable time frame? They simply aren't content with conducting a very good job search; they know they have to be remarkable to land the jobs they want.
The good news is, it's surprisingly easy to be remarkable in your job search.
Conducting a remarkable job search simply means taking all of the advice you hear from career experts and using it - not dismissing certain job search strategies because they are difficult, time intensive or force you to stretch outside of your comfort zone.
For example:
Finding Job Leads
Now, more than ever, you must access the hidden job market. In spite of the fact that there are more and better jobs available in the hidden job market, most job seekers still rely on advertised jobs for their job leads. It takes more work to find unadvertised jobs, and networking strategies can feel stressful to people who are not used to business networking, but this is how you'll access the hidden job market and find your best job leads.
Resumes and Cover Letters
Your resume and your cover letters must be tailored to suit each job you apply to. You might get away with using a general resume and form letter cover letters in a strong labor market, but when the labor market is competitive, you absolutely must commit the time it takes to write resumes and cover letters that are specific to each job you apply to.
Job Interviews
Never go into a job interview without preparing great answers to frequently asked interview questions. Having good answers to those difficult interview questions that get at your personality and attitudes about work are particularly important. Unfortunately, many people fail to prepare good answers to tough questions and simply hope the employer won't ask the tough questions.
Also, never go into a job interview without knowing a bit about the company. This may seem like basic advice that you've heard before, but it's amazing how many people attend job interviews without first doing a bit of company research. Completing some company research before your job interview is an extremely easy way to stand out from the crowd at your next interview.
Finally, be sure to follow up your job interview with a thank you note sent to the interviewer(s). You've probably heard this advice before too, but have you ever actually followed through and sent a thank you note after an interview? Many people know that it's wise to send a thank you note after a job interview, but surprisingly few people actually send one. A thank you note is not going to land you the job if the employer has decided you're not an appropriate candidate, but if the employer is deciding between you and another candidate, sending a thank you note can be the extra step that shows the employer you are serious about the job and tips the scales in your favor.
As you read through these tips, you may be thinking, "I've heard this before; there's nothing new here." The best strategies for job searching don't change in a tough labor market; it just becomes more critical that you apply all of those strategies to your job search when the labor market is more competitive. So, while you may have heard certain tips before, ask yourself whether you've actually wholeheartedly applied those tips to your job search. For plenty of job seekers, the issue is not that they don't know they should write specific cover letters or prepare for job interviews, it's that they often don't commit to diligently applying those strategies to their job search.
As you go through your job search, challenge yourself to be remarkable, even when that means doing tasks that are challenging and outside of your comfort zone. If you catch yourself thinking that something you've done for your job search is good enough, ask yourself, "What's one more step I could take to make this remarkable?" Very few people apply those extra steps and strategies that transform you from a very good job candidate into a remarkable job candidate, and because most of your competition will settle for very good, standing out and being remarkable can actually be quite simple.
Search Career Choice Guide for more job search and career planning tips.
Thank you for reading the Career Choice Guide Newsletter.
I welcome your comments and questions.
Best regards,
Lisa McGrimmon
CareerChoiceGuide.com