The other day I was talking with a neighbor who has been out of work for over six months. He’s a project manager who worked at a medical equipment conglomerate for five years. I asked him how his job search was going. He told me great; he had sent out more than 20 resumes that day on Monster. I cringed—in to the black hole they go.
I encouraged him to come down to the One-Stop career center, at which I work, for help in his job search. “The Unemployment Office?” he asked. Obviously he hadn’t been to a career center, where unemployment insurance assistance is one of many services the career centers offer.
“No the career center. We can help you with your job search. We have workshops on all kinds of job-search topics….” I also wanted to tell him that he’d feel very comfortable at our career center. He’d fit in.
One common misconception of the One-Stops is that the only people who use its services are people who know little to nothing about seeking employment, people who expect to be handed jobs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Seventy-five to 85% of the job seekers I see today in my workshops are savvy job seekers who come from all types of occupations. Positions like his as well as marketing, engineering, sales, pharmaceutical development, document control, manufacturing management, and more are represented. The brainpower in one of my workshop could rival that of the Pentagon.
I know this misconception was running through my neighbor’s head. He was thinking that he would be sitting in a workshop full of people with whom he couldn’t relate. The truth is that increasingly more people like him are coming through our doors, seeking advice on how to conduct a proper job search.
Adapting to a Rapidly Growing Professional Job Seeker
The increase in savvy job seekers has been a pleasure for someone like me who enjoys keeping up with advanced job search methods and employing my upgraded knowledge in the workshops. Unfortunately in some workshops this leaves the inexperienced job seekers at a disadvantage, as their job search typically takes a different path than the experienced job seekers.
To better serve the more experienced job seekers, who tend to be former exempt employees, but only as a general rule, career centers like ours have had to upgrade many of its services. Speaking as a workshop specialist, I can say that the challenge of meeting our experienced jobseeker has been both exhilarating and demanding. Below are some of the more popular workshops that I have enhanced, as other workshop specialists have, I’m sure.
LinkedIn: To answer the demand of the LinkedIn aficionados, I’ve developed and lead a workshop called Advanced LinkedIn Profile. This workshop is by invitation only and has been greatly successful. It addresses the elements that make a LinkedIn profile appealing to employers who are enabling the Hidden Job Market by searching for passive or active job seekers via LinkedIn. Employers are increasingly foregoing the traditional search process using LinkedIn and social media like Facebook and Twitter. Many other career centers in Massachusetts have taken hold of LinkedIn because of the prevalence of users among the experienced job seekers.
Resume Writing: This is another area of the job search where advanced job seekers expect more than the rudimentary theories on writing this important marketing piece. Many of them have received costly assistance from outplacement agencies and professional resume writers, so they know the drill when it comes to writing an effective marketing piece. I’ve designed an Advanced Resume Writing workshop that focuses more on Strategy, Positioning, and Selling ones skills and experience. “No fluff, just the real stuff,” is the mantra of this workshop. Results that are quantified and related to the jobs to which they apply are stressed.
The Interview Process: Advanced job seekers need to know more about the interview process than simply the etiquette one has to demonstrate at an interview, e.g. steady eye contact, a firm handshake, and good body posture. The importance of researching the job and company comes to no surprise to them, but combining the power of LinkedIn and reading the company’s website for additional details of the job is some food for thought. (Again, the more experienced job seekers have an advantage over the ones who haven’t looked for work in more than ten years.) Behavioral questions and how to prepare for them is often new information for even the advanced job seekers. Many of them haven’t experienced behavioral questions, and if they have they were often taken off guard. This is one workshop I know for certain that my neighbor would appreciate.
Networking: I notice a clear divide between the experienced and inexperienced job seekers in a career networking workshop. The advanced job seekers have been attending networking groups once or perhaps twice a week, so they’re familiar with organized networking technique. The focus of this workshop is on how networking enables one to penetrate the Hidden Job Market. It’s fascinating to see their faces when I talk about today’s hiring process—that 80% of employers are hiring from within, not advertising the very best positions, and entertaining only the savviest networkers. Occasionally there will be some Mavens in attendance. They’re good for the information they can impart to the group.
Job Search Letters: Experienced job seekers know the importance of effective written communications, but they’re reminded of how important it is to be proactive in one’s job search. I talk about approach letters as a way to network. Cover letters are always sent with a resume unless instructed otherwise. When asked how many send cover letters with resumes, most don’t raise their hand. I expect more from job seekers, regardless of their level of experience. I encourage them to go beyond the typical cover letter with the typical first sentence, and write a vivid tagline that grabs employers’ attention. Boring doesn’t win brownie points with employers—it’s simply boring. The thank you letter, I remind them, is the conclusion of the interview process.
The next time I see my neighbor, I’ll more enthusiastically suggest that he visit our career center; talk to a career counselor; look into training; and, of course, join one of our workshops. Job seekers of all experience levels shouldn’t turn their nose up to One-Stop career centers that are making a great effort to accommodate the expanding number of experienced job seekers…and often succeeding.
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