Would You Hire Rod Blagojevich?

Rod Blagojevich, the embattled ex-governor of Illinois, possible future ward of the Federal Government and current contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" has been giving Illinois residents a combination of shock and laughs for the past 14 months.

Now, in the latest installment of Rod's roadshow, his appearance on "Celebrity Apprentice" presents an interesting insight into a job interview. It doesn't really matter if you think he's guilty of trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat, various forms of corruption, or just poor word choices (that kind that start with the letter "F") - he's a 50+ year old with a blemished reputation, who's publicly interviewing for a job.

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Activity vs Effectiveness In Job Search

How should candidates gauge their job search - based on activity or effectiveness?

Most candidates that I speak to gauge their job search based on activity levels. When I ask a candidate to describe their job search to date, I almost always hear about how many resumes they've sent out. Sometimes I'll also hear about how many phone interviews someone has generated. These are activities.

It's rare that a candidate will answer this question describing effectiveness - with the number of job interviews they've had. Let's pause for a quick definition here ... phone interviews, informational interviews, and recruiter interviews are all preliminary steps to a job interview. A hiring manager isn't seriously considering a candidate until they have met face to face, discussed a specific job, and the hiring manager is in an active hiring process with an approved budget - otherwise, it's still a preliminary step.

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Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 3-29-10

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 3/29/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

Total Job Openings:
The retail, telecommunications, business services, health care, hospitality, and banking verticals are the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ leading job boards.

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Who's Firing? Layoffs week ended 3-26-10

Who's Firing summarizes weekly research of companies announcing and rumoring layoffs for the week ended 3-26-10.

For the past week, government, health care, financial, retail, and food employers announced the largest layoffs.

This information is intended for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting. The information can be valuable to job seekers also, to understand companies that are probably not in growth mode.

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Would You Stop Looking for a Job Already? Best of reCareered

Yep, that’s right... Stop looking for a job.

You’ll find a better job, a more fulfilling career, and likely higher pay if you just stop looking for a job already.

You can be more effective in your career search if you change the paradigm. Instead, start searching for a problem. Find a problem that you can uniquely solve; a problem that needs a subject matter expert – you.

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Friday Resume Round-Robin Roundup Review - Amy Reinhart

Let's meet this week's candidate, Amy Reinhart. Amy is looking for a procurement position with a biotech company in the Boston Area. She likes music, small fuzzy animals, the beach, and sunsets.

On Fridays, I review resume submissions from readers brave enough to submit their resume (or video resume) for public review and comment by top career coaches, recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates. Some of these reviews may be positive, some may not - if you submit, be prepared to be brave enough for positive and negative comments.

Hey, better to have us tear it apart than the hiring managers of your target companies - right?

Back to Amy - Amy has been looking for a new position for about 7 months, has sent out 40 resumes, had 8 interviews, been a finalist 3 times. She didn't get any of these positions for they typical variety of reasons. Amy has used Linkedin, posted her resume on her Linkedin profile, and earned a procurement certification.

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Why Do Technology Candidates Have Difficulty Marketing Themselves?

It seems to me on the whole, technology candidates have the toughest time marketing themselves.

This is interesting, as technology candidates have had some of the greatest changes in their industries, and have had to learn to manage careers that are largely project based.

Job Seekers - 20 Ways To Brand Yourself On Twitter

Today's job seekers face employers who are looking at more than their resume, and looking at more than just job applications to find candidates. This is good news for those who understand how to take advantage of newly popular social media tools like Twitter.

Yes, Twitter can help you find a job ... it's not just for telling the world what you ate for lunch.

Yes Twitter is for adults ... A recent study published by Pingdom.com established that 64% of Twitter users are 35+ and the average Twitter user is 39 years old.

Since Google, Yahoo, and Bing now index Twitter posts, using Twitter for your job search has become even more valuable in the last six months. Twitter can now help you get found, help recruiters find you, help you brand your subject matter expertise, help you increase your page ranking, and help you promote and find content.

If It's Not On Your Resume, It Doesn't Exist

Do you feel like your resume is invisible to hiring managers, recruiters, and HR reps? If it feels like your applications are invisible, you're probably right.

"If it's not on your resume, it doesn't exist" was a common saying from my recruiting days, and it explains why many candidates feel invisible. By looking inside common hiring practices, you can see there are some good reasons for this saying.

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Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 3-22-10

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 3/22/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

Who's Firing - Layoffs week ended 3-19-10

Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs for the week ended 3/19/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

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Benefits Of Consultant-Think - Best of reCareered

Tip #123: Think like a consultant and search for a new job like a consultant.

Why should candidates think like a consultant if you're looking for a full time job?

Because today's hiring managers hire consultants and full time employees the same way, and look for basically the same thing. Most full time jobs today can be filled by either a consultant or an employee, and there's not all that much of a difference in cost.

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Friday Resume Round-Robin Roundup Review - Bryan Webb

On a new Friday feature, I'll review resume submissions from readers who agree to submit their resume (or video resume) for public review and comment by top career coaches, recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates. Some of these reviews may be positive, others may not be - so if you submit, be prepared to be brave enough for positive and negative comments.

Hey, better to have us tear it apart than the hiring managers of your target companies - right?

Hopefully the result will educate other candidates, while you get useful criticism and advice on your resume, from this pack of wild wolves - ready to tear your resume to shreds. In addition, the chosen candidate's background will get some wide exposure where reCareered is republished.

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Google Voice Can Be An Effective Tool For Job Seekers

Google Voice is still in Beta, but I was lucky enough to get one of their early limited invitations to try out the service. I finally started using it this month, and I can see it being a great tool for job seekers.

First, what is Google Voice?

Google Voice is a free VOIP and voice mail application offered by Google, that can provide some interesting benefits to job seekers.

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Job Seekers - Tell your readers WIFT (What's In it For Them)

Does your resume tell your audience WIFM (What's In it For ME - the candidate), or does your resume describe WIFT (What's In it For Them - the hiring company)? Unfortunately, most of the resumes I see now, and have seen through out my career are the WIFM variety, and fail to capture the hiring manager's attention ... because quite frankly, the hiring manager isn't so concerned about what you want. The hiring manager is primarily concerned about WIFT - what their company wants.

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Job Search Persistence - Never never never give in

It disturbs me when I see comments from candidates who have given up.

As the recession has dragged on, I sense that more people are starting to give up their job search. A number of mainstream news articles seem to confirm this when they discuss that unemployment numbers are understated, due (in part) to people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and have given up.

Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting. Persistence is the #1 determinant of success in any difficult task. However, if your persistence isn't leading to progress in your search, candidates can get demotivated. I see that happening more often with candidates - I suspect it's due to a misdirection of efforts, combined with today's tough job market.

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Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 3-15-10

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 3/15/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

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Whos Firing - Layoffs week ended 3-12-10

Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs for the week ended 3/12/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

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The Inside Track on Recruiters – Top 10 Tips: Best of reCareered

Job Seekers - Want a sure fire way to get recruiters to call you back? To be proactive? To work FOR you?

It's so simple, and so few candidates do this. And the higher up the management chain the candidate is, the more effective they can be using this strategy. Interestingly, the higher up the management chain the candidate is, the LESS LIKELY they are to actually do this! It's such an easy way to stand out, such an easy way to get priority and additional help from recruiters.

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Why Do You Want To Work Here? - Job search question of the week

On Fridays, I'm posting a job search question from one of our readers. This was a question posted in response to my posting on Linkedin Answers “Candidates - What's your most difficult job search question?”

R.R. shared a question he had about his own job search, and asked:

"I'm never sure how to answer the question 'Why do you want to work here?' The automatic answer in my head is: I want to work here because I want a job!"

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Networking For Job Search - Organize your contacts for increased search effectiveness

Candidates - How much time do you spend networking, either in person or online? Are you getting the returns you'd like for your efforts?

One way that job seekers can network more effectively is through organization to increase the ROI of your networking investment.

Even the most organized networkers can add a step or two to give their efforts additional effectiveness. Here are steps that some of the best recruiters use to increase networking ROI.

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And The Award Goes To ... Ed Hamilton for most creative resume

Ed Hamilton came up with one of the most creative resumes I've seen. This one even beats the resume I wrote about 2 years ago, delivered on a sheet cake.

It's not for everyone, but it's eye catching. So what did Ed do?

He created his resume on Google Maps.

Especially if your background is international, Google Maps can create a wonderful visual resume effect for your global experience. In addition, since Ed's background is in digital advertising and he's a writer, this works well in catching a reader's attention.

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Employer Value Statements Make Your Resume Sizzle

Do you want to be perceived as the perfect candidate for the job? Who wouldn't, right?

When I talk to hiring managers, I often ask if they have ever seen the resume of a perfect candidate - one who was born to do the job.

The typical answer is not often ... but yes. The interesting thing, is how hiring managers typically answer this question - they usually go into a story about the candidate and usually raise the pitch of their voice, giving a very emotional response. The typical reaction signals that the hiring manager still remembers that perfect candidate and is still excited about them after all these years.

Would it be helpful to your job search to elicit such an emotional response from your reader?

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Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 3-8-10

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Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 3/8/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

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Whos Firing - Layoffs week ended 2-26-10 and 3-5-10

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Who's Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs for the week ended 2/26/10 and 3/5/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

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5 Ways Social Media Gives Job Seekers An Advantage In A Recession: Best of reCareered

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This is a republication of an article I wrote for NewMediaHire.

In today’s hyper-competitive, recessionary job market, job seekers are finding more barriers than good news. Creative social media use gives job seekers a way to beat the odds. When government figures list unemployment as 6 times greater than job openings, you’ve got to try something different to be noticed.

The good news is that Social Media gives job seekers plenty of opportunities to stand out. While most job seekers recognize Social Media’s help in networking, few take advantage of Social Media’s power in branding, Subject Matter Expertise, research and differentiation.

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Age Discrimination - Job search question of the week

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On Fridays, I'm posting a job search question from one of our readers. This was a question posted in response to my posting on Linkedin Answers “Candidates - What's your most difficult job search question?”

K.T. shared a question she had about her own job search, and asked:

"Age discrimination is my biggest problem. Being a face reader I can tell immediately their impression of me. It's happened many times."

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Safe Is The Risky Path For Candidates

Two days ago, I posted an article suggesting that job seekers take responsibility for their own search, rather than blame others, blame the economy, blame anyone but themselves (see: http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/job-seekers-its-not-just-economy-its.html).

Sadly, I got many responses that just contained more whining, more blaming others, with not very many taking responsibility for their own job search.

I'm not alone in this observation. Seth Godin, one of the great marketing minds of our time, and author of 13 marketing books, has some interesting thoughts on taking the safe path.

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Employment Turnaround? Indeed!

Indeed just published some interesting employment trends for February, showing some encouraging news.

As the winter of our discontent is ending, Indeed's recent employment trends show that the recession may be easing. I don't know that I'd justify buying a new Porsche based on this report, but it's a step in the right direction.

What does this bright ray of sunshine tell us?

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Job Seekers - It's Not Just The Economy, It's You

What happens when the going gets tough?

In sports, when a team is about to face a tougher opponent, when they are expected to lose, do their coaches have them prepare in the same way? When you're up against a tough business problem, up against a difficult challenge, do you go prepare the same way as for something easy?

Successful teams, competitors, and business people attack difficult challenges differently than the easy stuff. They prepare differently, they train harder, they push themselves, and they try new tactics to put prepare their competition. Better preparation is why underdogs have a fighting chance to win.

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Who's Hiring - Top employers week of 3-1-10

Who's Hiring is a weekly survey of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 3/1/10.

Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth. Despite the recession, these companies are all expanding.

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