"What to do if you've been laid off" from The Career Digest
Aug 14, 2007 The Career Digest Vol. 7 , Issue 32
The Latest News, Tips and Tools For Your Career
What to do if you've been laid off
Abridged: WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON, DC -- What would you do if, when you walked into work tomorrow someone told you to head right back out -- along with many of your co-workers? Here are some things to consider:
Ask about severance pay. But don't bank on it. There is no federal law requiring an employer to let you take your half-empty notebooks with you, much less a couple weeks worth of pay.
Apply for unemployment benefits. This seems obvious, but young white-collar workers sometimes forget that such benefits apply to them.
Pare back discretionary spending, immediately. You want your savings to tide you over until you find the right job. Otherwise, you may have to take something awful just to stay afloat. It's rarely a good idea to let your bank balance completely drive major career decisions.
Take a little time off. You may need a day or two to recalibrate, especially if the announcement came as a complete surprise. But don't let this drag on.
Perk up your resume. You will be handing it out plenty in the next few weeks or months, so take the time to make it perfect. If you need help, seek out a professional resume writer.
Distribute your resume. Once your resume is ready make sure you distribute it widely to job sites, personal contacts, employers and recruiters.
Turn to your friends. Make sure you have a way to contact former co-workers and supervisors. You will need references, and a mass layoff can scatter your contacts to the wind.
Don't burn any bridges. It's understandable that you will feel frustrated, even angry, but channel that anger in ways that won't damage your reputation with your former colleagues.
Resume distribution service increases job prospects
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
LOS ANGELES, CA -- These days, to land a job over the competition, you have to work smarter. The hard part is to get your resume read by the right people at the right time. Good jobs aren't on the market very long. To succeed your resume has to be available to the employer the moment they decide to fill a position.
One easy way to be found by employers who are looking to hire someone with your skills, is to post your resume on all the top job sites. As soon as an employer needs someone, it's usually the first place they look. This is a proven, documented method of successful job searching. While it may take a fair amount of time to find and fill out the forms of all these sites, you will definitely multiply your chances of landing a job.
If you want all the benefits without all the work, a service like Resume Rabbit will do it for you. You fill out one simple form and they'll instantly post your resume on over 80 top career sites like Monster, Job.com, CareerBuilder, Net-Temps, Dice & more. You'll be seen by over 1.5 million employers & recruiters daily. It takes only 5 minutes to complete and saves 60 hours of research and data entry. Try Resume Rabbit today!
Good cover letter writing demystified
Abridged: ResumeLines.com
SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Cover letter writing is almost as important a skill for a job seeker to learn as resume writing. The cover letter accompanies the resume at all times as the primary support document. Whether you use traditional mail, email, faxing, or another type of electronic submission, a cover letter should always be sent with the resume.
There are, of course, other tools you'll use when job seeking. Your cover letter and resume come first of course, followed by follow-up letters, thank-you letters for after the interview, reference sheets, salary histories, and job acceptance letters. If you have good cover letter writing skills, and good resume writing skills, the other written tools should be a snap to compose.
Your goal in cover letter writing is to get the attention of the hiring manager, just as it is with resume writing. The method and format are a little different however. Your resume will cover all, or most of your professional career, and will be from one to two pages. Your cover letter will be a very brief page serving as an introduction to the resume. Cover letter writing style must be direct, to the point, and able to grab the attention of the reader quickly, with a goal of making the reader want to read the attached resume.
Cover letters that make your phone ring off the hook
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
LOS ANGELES, CA -- A perfectly-written cover letter can be more important to your job search than your resume! What most people don't realize is that a cover letter is really a sales letter. It's you're personal advertisement, your first impression, your grand introduction. Additionally a brilliantly worded cover letter is the easiest way to guarantee your resume is the one, amongst a stack of resumes, that actually gets read. The best part is, practically no one understands this fact. So having a great cover letter is almost like having an unfair advantage.
As a matter of fact, the vast majority of your competition simply "throws" together any old cover letter just so they have something to attach to their average resume. As a result, most cover letters do nothing to land the job interview. In fact, hiring managers often make a decision to interview from a well written cover letter alone -- before even reading a resume.
Wouldn't you love to have a cover letter written with the flair of an advertising executive? If so, we recommend a simple program that helps you quickly and easily crank out a killer cover letter that is guaranteed-to keep your phone ringing. With a click-of-a-button, fill in the blanks and in just 3.5 minutes out pops a brilliantly worded and perfectly crafted cover letter - 100% customized for you. Why not get your phone ringing with job interviews and employment offers - without writing one word, just go to Amazing-Cover-Letters.
Selling yourself in 90 seconds or less
Joan Bolmer, Business and Personal Coach
HOUSTON, TX -- Crafting a compelling 90-second statement about yourself and what you can do for a prospective employer, is the foundation for an excellent networking introduction. Experiment until you find a comfortable and smooth conversational way that works for you. The first 60 seconds should present a snapshot of your most recent career or business accomplishments, types of organizations, industries, and functional areas.
Example: "For the past five years I have been the Documentation Department Manager for a technical writing team of six writers and one graphic artist at ABC Software. My experience includes environments such as, international manufacturing, engineering, and deep water drilling. One of my greatest strengths is the ability to quickly grasp the overall concept of the application's use and adapt it to the skill and knowledge level of the user. I am proud of my reputation for designing and implementing exceptionally effective user training and materials."
In the last 30 seconds explain why you are looking for a job and what kind of position you are seeking. Always ask for leads into three or four specific companies
After your pitch, make sure they can reach you!
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
BOSTON, MA -- Up to 80% of job seekers today find their jobs through networking. That's because It works! Some great places to network are Alumni Events, Job Fairs and Professional Industry Association functions.
And no matter where you go, employed or not, you must ALWAYS carry a fresh supply of business cards to hand out when the time is right. There's nothing worse than making a great contact, searching for a pen and writing your number on a napkin - that they're sure to lose! Personal business cards project an image of professionalism and leave a lasting impression.
Complimentary for The Career Digest subscribers: Get 250 premium quality, full color business cards today! (Only a small delivery charge applies). Using pre-designed online templates, you can immediately create professional, attractive business cards in seconds. Instantly preview the cards online before submitting your order. This is an $85 value. To get your complimentary business cards, follow this link.
How industry associations benefit your job search
Abridged: CareerJournal.com
NEW YORK, NY -- To find candidates for a senior finance job that opened up last month, executive recruiter Ed Kaye scanned the roster of a relevant industry association and quickly homed in on a longtime member. He placed a cold call, and the recipient, a manager at a similar company, agreed to interview for the position and was eventually hired. This strategy is the most common way recruiters find potential candidates who aren't actively looking for a new job, according to a recent survey of 450 members of the Society for Human Resource Management.
"It never hurts to be involved in associations," says Nancy Grossman, a recruiter for Capital H Group, a human-capital consulting firm based in Chicago. "You become more visible to recruiters and it shows you are committed to staying on the cutting edge of your field." Recruiters and company hiring managers say they also often seek out potential hires at the meetings, conferences and other events that professional groups host. "Trade shows are great fishing expeditions for recruiters," says Barry Shulman, a principal at San Francisco-based recruiting firm Shulman Associates Executive Search Inc.
Many associations post job ads on their Web sites, and some limit access to the ads to members. Corporate hiring managers and recruiters say they like to advertise on these sites, sometimes exclusively, to target trade-group members. "All the good candidates seem to belong to a particular association and the ones who aren't as skilled usually don't," says Bob Hatcher, president of Executive Network Inc., a search firm near Chicago that specializes in the food industry. He estimates that 40% of the candidates he places into jobs are identified through trade groups.
Complimentary industry association publications
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Whether you're looking to move up or move on - reading industry and trade association publications lets you move right in to the job of your dreams. They keep you sharp, well informed, articulate and in-demand. It's no secret that keeping up with the news and trends of your industry or profession (as well as that of your clients) will give you the competitive edge you need. And now, you can get your trade magazines without having to pay for them.
Through a special offer from The Career Digest, you can instantly get a subscription to practically every leading industry and business publication. It takes only a minute to search the website to quickly find the magazines matching your skills and interests.
First search by publication title, industry, or geography. Then, pick the magazines you want, fill out a brief online subscription form and press submit. It's really that easy. To sign up now for your complimentary trade magazines, go to TradePub.
Facebook and MySpace thwarting job opportunities
Abridged: MSNBC.com
NEW YORK, NY -- According to a March survey by Ponemon Institute, a privacy think tank, 35 percent of hiring managers use Google to do online background checks on job candidates, and 23 percent look people up on social networking sites. About one-third of those Web searches lead to rejections, according to the survey.
Social networking sites have gained popularity among hiring managers because of their convenience and a growing anxiety about hiring the right people, researchers say. Job candidates who maintain personal sites on Facebook or MySpace are learning - sometimes the hard way - that the image they present to their friends on the Internet may not be best suited for landing the position they're seeking.
Big corporations long have retained professional investigators to check job applicants' academic degrees, criminal records and credit reports. But until now the cost has deterred the ability of smaller firms to do the same level of checking, said Sue Murphy, a director of National Human Resources Association. One problem is that there is little to prevent hiring managers from discriminating on the basis of personal information discovered through social Web sites.
Contact The Career Digest:
Contact Us: http://www.career-digest.com/contact
Join Newsletter: http://www.career-digest.com/signup/
Past Issues: http://www.career-digest.com/pastissues/
Submit An Article: http://www.career-digest.com/submitarticle
Copyright 2007, The Career Digest
9461 Charleville Blvd. #501 Beverly Hills, CA 90212
The Latest News, Tips and Tools For Your Career
What to do if you've been laid off
Abridged: WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON, DC -- What would you do if, when you walked into work tomorrow someone told you to head right back out -- along with many of your co-workers? Here are some things to consider:
Ask about severance pay. But don't bank on it. There is no federal law requiring an employer to let you take your half-empty notebooks with you, much less a couple weeks worth of pay.
Apply for unemployment benefits. This seems obvious, but young white-collar workers sometimes forget that such benefits apply to them.
Pare back discretionary spending, immediately. You want your savings to tide you over until you find the right job. Otherwise, you may have to take something awful just to stay afloat. It's rarely a good idea to let your bank balance completely drive major career decisions.
Take a little time off. You may need a day or two to recalibrate, especially if the announcement came as a complete surprise. But don't let this drag on.
Perk up your resume. You will be handing it out plenty in the next few weeks or months, so take the time to make it perfect. If you need help, seek out a professional resume writer.
Distribute your resume. Once your resume is ready make sure you distribute it widely to job sites, personal contacts, employers and recruiters.
Turn to your friends. Make sure you have a way to contact former co-workers and supervisors. You will need references, and a mass layoff can scatter your contacts to the wind.
Don't burn any bridges. It's understandable that you will feel frustrated, even angry, but channel that anger in ways that won't damage your reputation with your former colleagues.
Resume distribution service increases job prospects
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
LOS ANGELES, CA -- These days, to land a job over the competition, you have to work smarter. The hard part is to get your resume read by the right people at the right time. Good jobs aren't on the market very long. To succeed your resume has to be available to the employer the moment they decide to fill a position.
One easy way to be found by employers who are looking to hire someone with your skills, is to post your resume on all the top job sites. As soon as an employer needs someone, it's usually the first place they look. This is a proven, documented method of successful job searching. While it may take a fair amount of time to find and fill out the forms of all these sites, you will definitely multiply your chances of landing a job.
If you want all the benefits without all the work, a service like Resume Rabbit will do it for you. You fill out one simple form and they'll instantly post your resume on over 80 top career sites like Monster, Job.com, CareerBuilder, Net-Temps, Dice & more. You'll be seen by over 1.5 million employers & recruiters daily. It takes only 5 minutes to complete and saves 60 hours of research and data entry. Try Resume Rabbit today!
Good cover letter writing demystified
Abridged: ResumeLines.com
SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Cover letter writing is almost as important a skill for a job seeker to learn as resume writing. The cover letter accompanies the resume at all times as the primary support document. Whether you use traditional mail, email, faxing, or another type of electronic submission, a cover letter should always be sent with the resume.
There are, of course, other tools you'll use when job seeking. Your cover letter and resume come first of course, followed by follow-up letters, thank-you letters for after the interview, reference sheets, salary histories, and job acceptance letters. If you have good cover letter writing skills, and good resume writing skills, the other written tools should be a snap to compose.
Your goal in cover letter writing is to get the attention of the hiring manager, just as it is with resume writing. The method and format are a little different however. Your resume will cover all, or most of your professional career, and will be from one to two pages. Your cover letter will be a very brief page serving as an introduction to the resume. Cover letter writing style must be direct, to the point, and able to grab the attention of the reader quickly, with a goal of making the reader want to read the attached resume.
Cover letters that make your phone ring off the hook
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
LOS ANGELES, CA -- A perfectly-written cover letter can be more important to your job search than your resume! What most people don't realize is that a cover letter is really a sales letter. It's you're personal advertisement, your first impression, your grand introduction. Additionally a brilliantly worded cover letter is the easiest way to guarantee your resume is the one, amongst a stack of resumes, that actually gets read. The best part is, practically no one understands this fact. So having a great cover letter is almost like having an unfair advantage.
As a matter of fact, the vast majority of your competition simply "throws" together any old cover letter just so they have something to attach to their average resume. As a result, most cover letters do nothing to land the job interview. In fact, hiring managers often make a decision to interview from a well written cover letter alone -- before even reading a resume.
Wouldn't you love to have a cover letter written with the flair of an advertising executive? If so, we recommend a simple program that helps you quickly and easily crank out a killer cover letter that is guaranteed-to keep your phone ringing. With a click-of-a-button, fill in the blanks and in just 3.5 minutes out pops a brilliantly worded and perfectly crafted cover letter - 100% customized for you. Why not get your phone ringing with job interviews and employment offers - without writing one word, just go to Amazing-Cover-Letters.
Selling yourself in 90 seconds or less
Joan Bolmer, Business and Personal Coach
HOUSTON, TX -- Crafting a compelling 90-second statement about yourself and what you can do for a prospective employer, is the foundation for an excellent networking introduction. Experiment until you find a comfortable and smooth conversational way that works for you. The first 60 seconds should present a snapshot of your most recent career or business accomplishments, types of organizations, industries, and functional areas.
Example: "For the past five years I have been the Documentation Department Manager for a technical writing team of six writers and one graphic artist at ABC Software. My experience includes environments such as, international manufacturing, engineering, and deep water drilling. One of my greatest strengths is the ability to quickly grasp the overall concept of the application's use and adapt it to the skill and knowledge level of the user. I am proud of my reputation for designing and implementing exceptionally effective user training and materials."
In the last 30 seconds explain why you are looking for a job and what kind of position you are seeking. Always ask for leads into three or four specific companies
After your pitch, make sure they can reach you!
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
BOSTON, MA -- Up to 80% of job seekers today find their jobs through networking. That's because It works! Some great places to network are Alumni Events, Job Fairs and Professional Industry Association functions.
And no matter where you go, employed or not, you must ALWAYS carry a fresh supply of business cards to hand out when the time is right. There's nothing worse than making a great contact, searching for a pen and writing your number on a napkin - that they're sure to lose! Personal business cards project an image of professionalism and leave a lasting impression.
Complimentary for The Career Digest subscribers: Get 250 premium quality, full color business cards today! (Only a small delivery charge applies). Using pre-designed online templates, you can immediately create professional, attractive business cards in seconds. Instantly preview the cards online before submitting your order. This is an $85 value. To get your complimentary business cards, follow this link.
How industry associations benefit your job search
Abridged: CareerJournal.com
NEW YORK, NY -- To find candidates for a senior finance job that opened up last month, executive recruiter Ed Kaye scanned the roster of a relevant industry association and quickly homed in on a longtime member. He placed a cold call, and the recipient, a manager at a similar company, agreed to interview for the position and was eventually hired. This strategy is the most common way recruiters find potential candidates who aren't actively looking for a new job, according to a recent survey of 450 members of the Society for Human Resource Management.
"It never hurts to be involved in associations," says Nancy Grossman, a recruiter for Capital H Group, a human-capital consulting firm based in Chicago. "You become more visible to recruiters and it shows you are committed to staying on the cutting edge of your field." Recruiters and company hiring managers say they also often seek out potential hires at the meetings, conferences and other events that professional groups host. "Trade shows are great fishing expeditions for recruiters," says Barry Shulman, a principal at San Francisco-based recruiting firm Shulman Associates Executive Search Inc.
Many associations post job ads on their Web sites, and some limit access to the ads to members. Corporate hiring managers and recruiters say they like to advertise on these sites, sometimes exclusively, to target trade-group members. "All the good candidates seem to belong to a particular association and the ones who aren't as skilled usually don't," says Bob Hatcher, president of Executive Network Inc., a search firm near Chicago that specializes in the food industry. He estimates that 40% of the candidates he places into jobs are identified through trade groups.
Complimentary industry association publications
Staff Writer, The Career Digest
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Whether you're looking to move up or move on - reading industry and trade association publications lets you move right in to the job of your dreams. They keep you sharp, well informed, articulate and in-demand. It's no secret that keeping up with the news and trends of your industry or profession (as well as that of your clients) will give you the competitive edge you need. And now, you can get your trade magazines without having to pay for them.
Through a special offer from The Career Digest, you can instantly get a subscription to practically every leading industry and business publication. It takes only a minute to search the website to quickly find the magazines matching your skills and interests.
First search by publication title, industry, or geography. Then, pick the magazines you want, fill out a brief online subscription form and press submit. It's really that easy. To sign up now for your complimentary trade magazines, go to TradePub.
Facebook and MySpace thwarting job opportunities
Abridged: MSNBC.com
NEW YORK, NY -- According to a March survey by Ponemon Institute, a privacy think tank, 35 percent of hiring managers use Google to do online background checks on job candidates, and 23 percent look people up on social networking sites. About one-third of those Web searches lead to rejections, according to the survey.
Social networking sites have gained popularity among hiring managers because of their convenience and a growing anxiety about hiring the right people, researchers say. Job candidates who maintain personal sites on Facebook or MySpace are learning - sometimes the hard way - that the image they present to their friends on the Internet may not be best suited for landing the position they're seeking.
Big corporations long have retained professional investigators to check job applicants' academic degrees, criminal records and credit reports. But until now the cost has deterred the ability of smaller firms to do the same level of checking, said Sue Murphy, a director of National Human Resources Association. One problem is that there is little to prevent hiring managers from discriminating on the basis of personal information discovered through social Web sites.
Contact The Career Digest:
Contact Us: http://www.career-digest.com/contact
Join Newsletter: http://www.career-digest.com/signup/
Past Issues: http://www.career-digest.com/pastissues/
Submit An Article: http://www.career-digest.com/submitarticle
Copyright 2007, The Career Digest
9461 Charleville Blvd. #501 Beverly Hills, CA 90212
posted by Professional Women's Network at 8/15/2007 10:24:00 AM
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