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When jobs stop looking for you

At least once a week a client or reader will tell me, “I’ve never looked for a job before.”

Are they teenagers? Homemakers saying goodbye to the last child out of the nest? Lifetime students finishing the last possible degree before facing the real world?

Sometimes. But not usually.

The people uttering those words are more likely to be 40- or 50-year-olds who have worked at least 20 years. They might be laborers or white-collar workers, or something in between, but they have one thing in common: Their jobs have always come looking for them.
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Managing Your Career: Always the runner-up for jobs? Tweak your pitch

Congratulations. You just came in second for a coveted job with a new employer.

Rather than fume, look at the bright side: You were almost the perfect pick. Placing second “does show that you are on the right path,” says J. Damian Birkel, a career counselor for Williams, Roberts, Young, a human-resources consulting firm in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Joe Conroy says he actually “felt good” when he became the runner-up for a finance chief’s job at a Maryland financial-services start-up early last month. “I represented myself well,” the 57-year-old job hunter explains. “I have more enthusiasm and confidence going into the next interview.”
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Your key to cramming for a job interview

This article is inspired by and dedicated to bookstore salespersons, who often serve as unheralded job-search support experts. As a career coach I’ve spent hours and hours in bookstores seeking publications to fill my resource library shelves and, more importantly, to broaden my own knowledge of concepts that will help others in their employment quests. And, as author of a book on the subject, I’ve recently spent a great deal of time in bookstores checking shelves to see if orders have been received, presenting seminars, and signing books.
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What you need to know to get a job

Getting a job can require more than walking up to a business and getting hired.

Employers are looking for young workers, but often high school- and college-age youths aren’t prepared or don’t understand what employers expect in applicants.

“You have to show why you want the job and why you’re the best for the job,” says President Gary Williams of Southwest Truck Driver Training in Tucson, Ariz.

(Original publication: May 3, 2005)
Getting a job can require more than walking up to a business and getting hired.Employers are looking for young workers, but often high school- and college-age youths aren’t prepared or don’t understand what employers expect in applicants.”You have to show why you want the job and why you’re the best for the job,” says President Gary Williams of Southwest Truck Driver Training in Tucson, Ariz.If you’ve just graduated high school, chances are good that you’re qualified for a job with less of a skill level than a recent college graduate. Jobs in retail, hospitality and tourism %u2014 cashier at a clothing store at the mall, concessions worker at a movie theater, ride operator at an amusement park %u2014 are often within reach of those with little work experience.”You can always get a job if you really want. It may not be the job you really like,” says Raul Marquez who worked two years in a Salinas, Calif., coffee shop while hoping for an internship more in line with his college coursework. “Some people are just too picky.”But whether you’re looking for a job serving up lattes at Starbucks or conducting audits at Ernst & Young, some of the same rules apply.In a study from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 44 percent of employers say the first thing that gets their attention is a job candidate’s general demeanor and confidence.Business attire and a one-page, typo-free resume, even for an entry-level job where employees work in casual clothes, can tell an interviewer that you’re competent, responsible and well mannered.”If you have two people with the same GPA (school grade-point average), the one that comes across more professional will get the job,” says Bob Piwowar, manager at Lowe’s Home Improvement Center in Marana, Ariz. “When you apply for a job, you have to show me that you’re different than other applicants.”Young people need to be like chameleons in the pursuit and acquisition of employment, says Lee Swanson, co-owner of Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop in Fort Collins, Colo.”It’s OK to wear pierced jewelry and big tattoos, but when you go into a place, you need to adapt to your environment,” he says. Cover up to blend in.Creating a resume is an important exercise even if you’ve never received a paycheck with taxes taken out. You should list your contact information, three references who aren’t relatives, and the jobs you’ve had, starting with the most recent and including babysitting and yard work. You also can point out any volunteer work that you’ve done, projects you’ve accomplished in your school, church or community, and subjects in school in which you excelled. You’re selling yourself and helping organize your thoughts for any interview.Piwowar says resumes are essential because they include a career summary and list of managers who know you and your work.”I was interviewing 20 college kids who didn’t think it’s important to bring a resume,” he says.You shouldn’t pop in to pick up an application as a side trip just because you’re in the neighborhood, says Colleen Wisnicky, who used to work as an employment and training specialist with the Manitowoc County Job Center in Wisconsin. Instead, the trip should be intentional, and you should be prepared to fill out an application and even have an interview on the spot.That means coming with a pen %u2014 Wisnicky suggests an erasable pen %u2014 and with all of the information needed to fill out an application completely, including the dates of previous jobs, your supervisors’ names, business addresses and phonenumbers. Also have with you names and contact information for references, easy to do if you have a resume in hand. Turn it in with the completed application.Job seekers should realize the person with authority to hire them might be working when they stop by. It’s always wise to ask for the manager and meet that person face to face when you submit your application.”You better be ready to be interviewed. You better look like you’re ready to be interviewed,” Wisnickysays.And don’t forget to follow up, including sending a thank-you note after an interview, something few people do that will help you stand out.”When you look for a job, you have to keep going,” says Director David Mathis of Oneida County Workforce Development in New York. “Get your name out now. Get your applications out. Get your resume out. Follow up in a few weeks. And follow up again.”If you sit back and do nothing, you can pretty much be guaranteed you won’t get a job,” he says.
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Long-distance job search is difficult, but it can pay off

Approximately two years ago I was laid off from a large financial institution in New York City where I was employed as a securities trader. This was a job I loved. I found another position, but I don’t feel like it is the right fit for me. My desire is to move to Boston where I feel there are more opportunities. Unfortunately, I have found that it is tough to crack the Boston job market. Should I make the move then start my search once I get settled in the Boston area, or are there ways of looking for new positions?
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Behind the Exodus of Executive Women: Boredom

Women now outnumber men in managerial and professional positions, and most companies have installed policies that aim to help their leaders balance the demands of job and family.

Yet three decades after a woman first became chief executive of a Fortune 500 company, fewer than 2 percent of the biggest corporations are run by women. Executive recruiters and corporate boards could be forgiven for asking themselves why.

The answer, experts are beginning to conclude, has less to do with discrimination in the corporate suite or pressures at home than with frustration and boredom on the job. “Men will grit their teeth and bear everything, while women will say: ‘Is this all there is? I need more than this!’ ” said Mabel M. Miguel, a professor of management at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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