4 Questions to help newly trained young adults under 25 job search

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4 Questions to help newly trained young adults under 25 job search

Plan to contact the one-stop career center in your area, as well as the local urban league, goodwill career solution centers or YMCA/YWCA for job search assistance. Research companies using Glassdoor dot com. Build your network and make application to 30 to 40 companies per week. Post your resume to niche industry sites, including government websites such as usajobs dot gov. Prioritize your employment and search activities. Practice interview questions to showcase how well you will meet the needs of companies. Continue to dedicate an allotted time each week to your job search plan. See full articles @
4 Questions to help newly trained young adults under 25 job search http://shar.es/xiTk5.

Why Your LinkedIn Profile Matters in Your Job Search

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Why Your LinkedIn Profile Matters in Your Job Search

By Shareem Kilkenny
If you’re in the job market nowadays, it more critical than ever that you clean up your online presence. Not only that, but you need to update your LinkedIn profile to make sure it reflects the most current and accurate information about your professional experiences and career. Why? Because, according to Brenda Bernstein, author of “How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile…And 18 Mistakes to Avoid”, more than 75% of employers actively research candidates online. A fact that even I found alarming was that research indicated that approximately 70% of employers decided NOT to hire a candidate based on what they found online. Why is maintaining your LinkedIn Profile specifically so important? It is estimated that LinkedIn profiles are viewed by over 25 million people per day. And according to Brenda, approximately 73% of all hires sourced from social media were sourced from LinkedIn.
So expect employers (or potential clients) to Google you, and specifically check out your LinkedIn profile. What they’re looking for, and the level of scrutiny they’ll apply will vary from person to person; but at a minimum you need to make sure the information presented is accurate and consistent with the information you’ve advertised either in-person or on your résumé. If you put on your résumé that you worked at XYZ Company between 2001 and 2008 as an electrical engineer, but your LinkedIn profile states that you only worked there from 2001 to 2003, the employer may grow suspicious that you are embellishing your level of experience. This could be a totally honest oversight on your part; or you may have simply failed to update your LinkedIn Profile when you updated your resume. Nevertheless, this inconsistency may have just cost you an interview.
Beyond accuracy, a good LinkedIn profile will impress the viewer with its appearance. Make sure that the font size and style are consistent throughout. A profile that was slapped together in five minutes will reflect just that. Be sure to include a profile picture; and make sure the picture you include has a professional appearance. That doesn’t just apply to you and your attire, but also consider what’s in the background. Just because you thought you looked cute in the picture you took with your girlfriends at the beach, doesn’t mean you should just crop it and make it your LinkedIn profile picture. If you think that sounds strange, think again…because I’ve seen it. Even though I recommend you post a picture of yourself in business attire, military attire ‘can’ also be appropriate – especially if you’re seeking employment doing the civilian equivalent of what you did in the military, and your military experience is recent. Nevertheless, avoid photos where you’re toting a weapon. You may look tough to your buddies, but some employers will be turned off.

Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

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Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

By Shareem Kilkenny
Preparing a list of questions to ask your interviewer is always a good idea as it will set you apart from the competition and shows you are proactive by taking the initiative to ask intelligent and thought provoking questions – not just the generic questions the interviewer has heard several times. There are no set number of questions to ask however try to have at least 3-5 prepared. Also, try to ask open ended questions to create opportunities for conversation. Make sure you do your research, so that your questions are unique to the organization. Remember that an interview has two purposes. Just as the interviewer is assessing whether you are a good fit for their organization, you should be assessing whether the organization and position fits your lifestyle, career goals and expectations.
1. What are some behaviors of the Senior Leadership team that demonstrate the organization’s core values of respect, efficiency, diversity and collaboration?
This not only demonstrates your knowledge of the company’s core values, but that you desire to understand the behaviors of its Senior Leadership Team. Senior Leadership behavior sets the tone for the organization. This is a question that is sure to engage the interviewer.
2. What tools and support are in place to help me grow my career in your organization?
This question emphasizes your desire to enhance your skills with the organization. It also shows you have a desire to be committed to the organization. Any manager would be excited to know that a potential employee has a desire to excel at the next level.
3. What would be the top priority of this position in the first 60 days?
Understanding the initial expectations lets you determine if they are achievable based on your skill level. You do not want to start a new position overwhelmed and stressed from the beginning. For example, the response from the manager could indicate expectation is for you to develop a new on-boarding program for new hires during your first 60 days. This may not be realistic without understanding further details about this project and you may decide that this position is not the best fit for you.
4. What is your management style?
Understanding the management style of your superior will be key to your success. No matter how you feel about the organization you will be working directly for a specific manager. This is critical to understand before you accept a position. A large number of employees leave companies because they do not get along with their immediate supervisors. During your time in the military you may have been used to having lots of structure around your job, decisions, etc.; and you may have difficulty working for a manager with little to no structure.
5. What particular areas about my experience and background interest you?
This is a great question to draw the focus back to your skill and qualifications. It also gives you an opportunity to elaborate further or speak about additional points you may have not gotten the opportunity to articulate during the interview. For instance, if the interviewer indicates they were impressed by the various projects you managed while in the military, you can use this time to reinforce this with an example or further comments. Now would be a good time to highlight you recent pursuit of your PMP (Project Management Professional) certification.

3 Ways to make your cover letter shine

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Someone recently asked me, “What’s a cover letter”? In our highly competitive market, it is surprising to see that an alarming number of young professionals still are uneducated on basic job search materials 101. A cover letter is an attached document used to upload in the needed space as part of the supplemental job application materials on sites such as usajobs dot gov, for state and federal employment. Other job search sites also provide spaces for such documents as a cover letter. For instance, indeed, monster and career builder as well as higher ed jobs dot com and the chronicle of higher education will permit applicants to add additional materials along with their resume to establish candidacy for employment. See article @ 3 Ways to make your cover letter shine http://shar.es/wR1rY

Little known ways to develop a critically compelling cover letter

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If you want to show up and get invitations for interviews within 30 days of uploading your resume and other job seeking documents, it may be wise to take a few minutes to consider how best to develop a critically compelling cover letter. Given that you understand your value to the industry in which you are a part and that you have several key talents, achievements and accomplishments that help your corporation to address its hardest hit challenges, you are ready to receive 3 key little know ways to develop your critically compelling cover letter. See full article @ http://shar.es/wORJX