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Employment

How to Handle a Career Change Late in Life

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How to Handle a Career Change Late in Life

How to Handle a Career Change Late in Life

Changing your career is a nerve-rattling experience no matter what age you are. But it is particularly difficult for individuals who are thinking of career change late in life. For people over 50, there are many factors that may pose an obstacle including age discrimination, lack of financial resources, and opportunity to further education among others. The opportunity cost of switching career is also usually higher.

The challenges ahead may be difficult but there are countless career shifters who had made the change successfully after 50. Some important factors that allowed them to do it include the following: [Read more…] about How to Handle a Career Change Late in Life

Understanding Job Recruiters: They Stand Between You And Your Future Job

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If you are looking for a new job, you may need to understand the role of job recruiters in your job search.  Your  expectations will be realistic if you understand their role.

You should not be disheartened if a recruiter isn’t overwhelmingly positive about your prospects!  Their job is NOT to be your friend, your coach or your advocate.  A job recruiter’s job is to put the right person into a position that they have been asked to fill. That “right person” is the person the company believes to be the perfect fit for that job.  It doesn’t matter how badly you need the work. Nor does it matter how great you think you’d be in the job. The recruiter isn’t working for you. The recruiter is doing their job….and that is to do their best for the company that is paying them.

Understanding Job Recruiters: They Stand Between You And Your Future Job

What Recruiters Do

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Seven Keys to Working With Recruiters

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Working with a recruiter could be one of the best career decisions you’ve ever made. It can also be a serious waste of time and lead to disappointment and even resentment. Choosing the right firm, the right recruiter and getting off on the right foot can be essential steps to landing you in a position that fulfills your ambitions. Follow these simple seven tips to get the most out of your recruiter relationships.

Work with a Recruiter who specializes in your industry

Choose firms (and recruiters) that specialize in what you do. As obvious as it sounds, a little research will go a long way to helping you find the right position. If a firm or recruiter doesn’t understand the language of your profession, chances are they won’t have the skill to obtain the job orders from managers hiring people like you.

Working with a Senior Recruiter is an advantage

It’s perfectly OK to ask a recruiter a few questions to determine their experience and ability level. Check them out on LinkedIn. Do they have good recommendations? Are they connected to your industry?

Recruiters are working for their client, not you

Most recruiters work for free until they make a placement and when they do, it’s the client who pays not you the candidate. Remember this and treat them accordingly. If a recruiter doesn’t like you for whatever reason (thinks you’re rude or arrogant) it’s unlikely they’ll submit you for any jobs.

Stay in touch

Staying in touch is YOUR job – just don’t stay in touch too much. It’s essential for you to gently remind your recruiter of your existence. However, too many phone calls or emails and your recruiter is likely to run the other direction and begin avoiding you. Striking the balance is easy. Ask your recruiters how often they would like status updates. I recommend sending an email each week with your availability status, whether you have interviewed recently etc. Include in the email “REPLY NOT REQUIRED”. This keeps your recruiter informed without generating more work for them.

Take their advice

If you’ve chosen your recruiter wisely and are working with someone with many years in the industry and he or she offers you advice TAKE IT. They know much more about resumes, interviews, and skills trends than most other people you’ll come in contact with.

Multiple recruitment companies

Register with more than one firm. More recruiters equals better odds of landing the job you want most. If you are working with several recruiters you are likely to find one that really suits your current needs.

Keep notes of people and meetings

Keep track of places you interviewed, the managers you met with and share this info with your favorite recruiters. Many recruiters rely on leads from candidates to grow their job openings, which helps them place other people. This is the very best way you can repay a recruiter for the time they spend with you. Not only will it be appreciated, but it will keep you at the very top of their available candidates matrix as well.

Our Guest Author: @josh_d_matthews is the Director of Get It Right, Inc. and specializes in assisting technology professionals in getting more offers and more out of life.

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Executive Job Search? You’ll Need More Than a Resume

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Tips for Doing an Executive Job Search

 

Executive Job Search? You'll Need More Than a Resume

It might intrigue you to learn that you’ll be judged by more than just your resume during your executive job search.

A full resume is most likely not going to be the only source of information that recruiters use to decide if you are the right person to be interviewed.

Surprised? You’ll find that recruiters, company owners, Boards of Directors, and other hiring decision-makers often look at your experience through a series of interviews and investigations.  This means that your executive resume is just one part of the process. [Read more…] about Executive Job Search? You’ll Need More Than a Resume

Mastering The Job Search Process

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To master the job search process you need to understand how it has changed over the years.

In the last two decades job seeking has changed.  Competition for every role seems more competitive than ever. The prosperous decade of the 1990s, when jobs were plentiful and money (not to mention credit) was seemingly free flowing, was a wonderful time for many people who are now older workers. But over the years the world has wobbled through financial crises, political instability and an upheaval of working world, through technology and outsourcing.  These factors have all made the job market more difficult to navigate.

Individuals seeking employment in this market can find this overwhelming and very upsetting. The world of work has definitely changed and job search process has changed as well. This especially impacts those who have been working in the same organization for many years,  Job seekers are finding that they must be more strategic then ever in their search for employment.

Understanding the job search process

You must have an understanding of what it takes to stand out in this tough job market in order to succeed. Those that fail to adequately prepare a job seeking strategy will likely find themselves without a job for the foreseeable future. Job seekers must learn to utilize their personal and social networks, professionalise their resume and develop great interview skills. Each of the aforementioned will greatly improve an individual’s chances of landing a job.

Networking

Networking is a strategy that many job seekers don’t focus on enough but in today’s society should be the number one strategy at the top of the list. The fact is, many workers can trace their current employment to someone who was kind enough to give them a job lead, a foot in the door or point them in the right direction. Today, networking has become easier then the ever, thanks, in a large part to the growth of online networking websites.

Social networking websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are great places to meet people who share similar interests or who work in the same industry. However, even with the power and reach of social networking websites, a person may want to start their job search using the contacts they’ve developed in their own, personal network. Speak to your family and friends and make them aware that you are job hunting. Don’t be scared to reach out to people who are in a position to help.

Professional Resume Writing

Having a strong resume is a vital part of the job search process. Expect the competition to be fierce. Human resource professionals routinely receive hundreds (sometimes thousands!) of resumes for each and every job opening. An individual’s resume must stand out from the pile order to even be considered for a job. you have just a few seconds to impress.  If your resume doesn’t immediately get the reader’s interest the chance of being called in for interview is greatly reduced.

A great resume is an essential part of the job search process. A professionally written resume highlights an individual’s skills, experience and achievements.  This improves the chances of actually getting an interview.  If you are not having the success you desire from your existing resume consider having your resume professionally written or edited. The cost of a resume writing specialist is far less than the cost of not having a job.

Writing Your Own Resume

If you are a good writer you may prefer to create your own resume.  It is essential that you include your transferable skills .  BoomersNextStep has many articles to help you create a strong resume, and even if you are going to employ someone to write for you it is wise to know what your expectations are before you appoint someone to do this vital task for you.  It can make or break your job search success.

Interview Skills

Having great interview skills is extremely important and gives you the opportunity to shine in person. Actually being invited to an interview is often the hardest part of the job search. Therefore make the most of the opportunity by being well prepared for the job interview. Research the company and practice answering potential interview questions. The more information you have on the company the more prepared you will be to answer any tough questions that come your way. The best way to becoming a master interviewee is understanding what works best and then practice those skills!

Staying Positive Should Be Part Of Your Job Search Strategy

In today’s tough job market, job seekers should be prepared for a lengthy job search. However, being strategic with your job search process can help you remain confident and upbeat during this period. Positivity is important so make sure you surround yourself with positive people. The last thing you need is negativity in your life.

 

Our guest author was RedStarResume, Resume Writing Experts. RedStarResume have helped thousands of job seekers meet and achieve their career goals through delivering specialist resume writing that seeks the attention of hiring managers and ensures that you stand out from the crowd.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.redstarresume.com/

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Important Job Search Tactics For Older Workers

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Back To The Basics: Older Worker Job Searching Tactics

Baby boomers faced with the prospect of job searching—in some cases for the first time in years—need to employ more sophisticated tactics in an overall job searching strategy.

The days of relying strictly on a resume are long gone.  A well-written resume is still important.  However it’s only one tool in a job search strategy.  To really compete with younger job candidates, baby boomers need to update their job search tactics.  This often means incorporating social media, boosting their education and increasing networking activity for an effective job search strategy. [Read more…] about Important Job Search Tactics For Older Workers