12 Powerful Ideas for Landing Your Next Job

1. COUNTER OFFERS

“Counter Offers: The Reason That You Resigned Seldom Goes Away If You Stay.”

Companies give counter offers when the timing works against them to lose a person. However, unless the reason you resigned have gone away, taking a counter offer means that you are returning to work where have shown disloyalty by looking for another job. Read more.

2. JOB CHANGE TIMING

“The Best Time To Change Jobs”

Changing jobs is one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. That statement does not mean that job changes do not bring high rewards. Getting married, having children, and buying a house are also among the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. Yet these experiences are rewarding. Read more.

To make any major life change successful and rewarding requires preparation, planning, and timing.

3. INTERVIEWING

“How To Handle The Interview Question What Is Your Greatest Weakness?”

I made the mistake of answering this question honestly during an interview for a promotion. I did get the promotion.

However, my new supervisor had an annoying habit of reminding me of my answer to that question during our work together.

Being able to answer this question is part of standard interview preparation. What should I have answered when he asked me about my greatest weakness? Here are some options that would have helped me. Read more.

4. INTERVIEW PREPARATION

“12 Things You Should Not Do In A Job Interview”

An interview is a critical step to getting a job. Preparing for your interview and making good choices in handling your interview questions can turn your interview into a job offer. Here are twelve things you should not do and suggestions for the correct things to do in a job interview. Read more.

5. JOB OFFERS

“How To Negotiate A Job Offer”

Employers are more open to negotiating a job offer when they can see that there is a real shortfall between what they have offered you and what you have in your current job.

The simple way to approach the matter is to make a straightforward presentation of the facts involved. Read more.
6. JOB OPTIONS

“Finding Jobs That Match Your Skills”

This lists compares skills to jobs to help you find jobs that you will enjoy and do successfully. Enter any of these jobs into the Job Search engine to find career opportunities. Read more.

7. SELF-EMPLOYMENT

“Is it Time for You to Start Your Own Business?”

Prior to entering recruiting, I worked for two terrific companies: Procter & Gamble and Polaroid Corporation.  I did a lot of things that I loved to do. I took pride in my companies’ brands. I loved giving presentations. I enjoyed the travel. I took fascination in new product introductions. I found joy in absolutely crushing the competition in shelf space, ad space, and in sales.  However, I had two frustrations. Read more.

8. RECRUITERS

“Should You Work with a Recruiter?”

Whether or not you should work with a recruiter depends upon your comfort level in working with other people about your income and upon your career goals and your urgency in finding employment. The best recruiters can help you in many ways. Read more.

9. NETWORK CONNECTIONS

“Your Know Network”

Today I so instinctively take the easy way to finding information and contacts.  I go to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Job Boards, Business Directories, Google Search, and forget that the best network I have is the one made up of the people I already know. Read more.

11. NETWORKING FORUMS

“How to Pick a LinkedIn Group”

Different LinkedIn groups have different purposes. Some groups are directories of people in the same industry or who have the same interest. These groups are terrific for building networks or creating databases. You can pick nearly any business sector and find that there is LinkedIn group for that business sector. From there, you can build relationships to expand your network. Read more.

Other groups give terrific sources of information on how to get things done or how to find people who can help you get things done. These groups are really forums where people answer questions. The members of these forums tend are often very responsive and may give better help on topics that relate to products which have their own company forums.

LinkedIn: Can People Tell that I Have Looked at their Profile?

LinkedIn: Who Can See My Profile?

5 Simple Techniques to Get Rid Of Job Interview Anxiety

LISA EVANS, Fast Company contributor and freelance writer, uses her technique of helping readers make small changes for huge results in this article.  She writes,

Don’t let your nerves stand in the way of landing your dream job. Here’s how to put your best foot forward.

Source: How To Get Rid Of Job Interview Anxiety | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

5 Interview Questions Hiring Managers Must Avoid

I am not a lawyer.  I am a writer and corporate recruiter.

It is illegal for an employer to base a hiring decision on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.  An employer can’t ask whether a person is a citizen.  However, employers must verify that all employees are eligible to work in the United States.

If you are interviewing for a job and the employer asks you a question about one of those factors, you may find yourself in an awkward spot.  You can always ask the interviewer what the question has to do with the qualifications of the job.  You may also ask yourself whether you want to work for a company that would ask you any of those questions.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the federal agency that oversees employment discrimination.  (1)

“The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.”

The guidelines from The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission specifically lists the laws pertaining to the factors that are illegal requirements for consideration for employment. (2)

• “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
• The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
• Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;
• Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government;
• Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former employee; and
• The Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.”

However, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires that all employers verify their employees’ legal status to work in the United States.  The specific method of verification comes from the requirement of all employers to complete the following form for all of its employees. (3)

“Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form. On the form, an employee must attest to his or her employment authorization. The employee must also present his or her employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form. Employers must retain Form I-9 for a designated period and make it available for inspection by authorized government officers. NOTE: State agencies may use Form I-9. Also, some agricultural recruiters and referrers for a fee may be required to use Form I-9.”

9 Great Ways to Find a Job Without Networking

I read a great deal about getting a job through direct referrals.  The NY Times has an article on companies using direct referrals for finding new employees.  Forbes also had an article on the same subject.  Networking for job seekers is important.  I have written several articles that discuss the topic of networking directly into a company.

Some career coaches recommend that you limit yourself to a dozen companies where you really want to work and use a direct referral to get into those companies.

Companies do use direct referrals.  As a contract recruiter, I have recruited for companies that also paid a referral fee to their employees for direct referrals.  Direct referrals come into the company with a solid reference from a person the company knows.  A company can evaluate the value of the referral based on the company’s knowledge of the person making the referral.

There are many opportunities that you will never find through your network alone.

Companies still use multiple resources for finding job applicants.

1. Recruiters
2. Job boards
3. Company websites
4. Newspapers
5. Trade journals
6. Internet want ads including newspapers and Craigslist
7. Social Media News Feeds
8. Press releases
9. Internet search Engines

Stay Focused

Using multiple resources to find a job can lead to a scattered search.  Stay focused on jobs that are best for you.  Pick companies that really interest you.

Unless you have unlimited time, don’t exhaust your network resources before you to turn to other resources for a job.  If you really need a job, contact and build your network daily while also using the other resources on a daily basis.

I created the website Find Jobs using Google Custom Search.  I find greater job search results using a search engine than using a job search website.  The website also has search engines for finding companies, people, and salaries.