Saturday, November 17, 2012

Technology pushes jobseekers back to the pros



Jenny was sent an e-mail telling her that she did not have to come in next week since her position had been eliminated.  After searching online for a while she finally found some positions she was interested in. “What’s Taleo?” she thought to herself.  She applied for the position and moments later she received a rejection e-mail.

She then posted her resume on job websites and quickly got calls from salespeople.  Her search began to wear her down. It seemed like Jenny was on the wrong side of technology. Jenny needed a pro.

We wanted to get to the bottom of her issue. Since we are a technology company we did an unscientific study of jobseekers who used technology to search for a job and found some interesting results.  

·         A whopping 91% of job applicants despise the applicant tracking process (Amplicate).   
·         653 Applicants sent their resume to a fake job posting within 24 hours (Wallstreet).
·         3000 people stood in line for 6 hours and were told to submit their resume online (Chicago).
·         93% of jobseekers we asked remain disorganized using only e-mail to compile their information.

You would think the search process would be easier but it seems to be becoming more complicated.

Take it from a technologist, use a pro and stop wasting time!

Use a Certified Career Coach to unclog your search
Coaches clarify your job/career situation, determine your needs, and you will discover new things about yourself.  You will learn new skills and techniques, develop new perspectives and conquer fear and uncertainty.

Use Certified Professional Resume Writers to “present” not “parrot”
Certified writers probe beyond what you tell them.  They don’t simply list the “stuff you did” but assist you in listing skills, abilities and accomplishments in an organized compelling fashion.

Ask your pro what tools they use to help you get organized
Organization is key to a successful search. Coaches and resume writers who use Career Coach Office tend to be successful at keeping their clients organized. Job seekers can track leads and document important research they find and place it in easy to find records.

Career Coach Office has:
·         Job Lead Management
·         “About the Company” Research Tracking
·         Resume and Cover letter Management
·         Customized Interview Tips and Reminders from the coach

Tell your Career Coach, Life Coach or Professional Resume Writer to use Career Coach Office or have them try it out for free and to put your search put on turbo! They can go to www.careercoachoffice.com today.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Did I call your daughter Zack?



Business was going quite well.  I had made a lot of connections and prided myself on knowing my clients. As I spoke to one of my referrals for the second time I just knew I was going to get a new client. We started discussing children. “How’s Zack” I asked.  From the awkward silence I sensed I had said something wrong. 

“My daughters’ name is not Zack.”

From there the conversation went downhill.  My business had experienced growing pains and I could no longer keep all the information about my potential clients in my head.  The names were too similar or circumstances too parallel.

When I have a conversation with someone I like to document where we had the conversation and list any pertinent information that would help me serve them better.  Usually the actions are longer term so I don’t have to act upon them right away.

When I’m on the phone I like to capture action items and place them in an organized place where I can find them. With separate notes I can see how many times I made contact with the potential client.

I called myself organized until I had to find the phone number of someone I was going to refer to one of my clients. I fumbled, flipping through pages and pages of notes but to my chagrin I could not find the information.  Turns out I had written it on another notepad. I discovered the number two weeks later!

Career Coach Office offers CRM specifically built for coaches but can be used by any business. Keep track of notes and document the number of times you contact that potential client. List action items and keep the relationship flowing towards your business.

HR consultant and Coaches...Try Career Coach Office for free! Go to http://www.careercoachoffice.com.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Veterans Virtual Job Fair November 1-15, 2012



Technology is making it easier for your clients to submit their resumes to many companies and VeteransCONNECT is no exception. The Virtual Job Fair is sponsored through the Veterans Administration and is sponsored by Raytheon and Macy's.

Instructions:

Have your clients register for the Virtual Job Fair by going to: http://workplacediversity.com/VeteransConnect/.

There they can register by uploading their resume and complete their profile information.

The Job Fair starts November 1, 2012 and ends November 15, 2012



Technology suggestions to tell your clients:

  1. Check their documents (Resume and Cover Letter) for viruses before uploading them
  2. Scan DD-214, Transripts and any other supporting documentation (just in case)
  3. If they do not have a computer then have them use free e-mail services such as G-Mail, Yahoo or Hotmail, then leverage resources at their local VA or Library to access the site.


HR consultant and Coaches...Try Career Coach Office for free! Go to http://www.careercoachoffice.com.