All Categories

Websites for the Modern Day Professional

11/20/2012

Most of us have visited major job boards like Monster, CareerBuilder, and USAJobs to scour job postings and skim a few articles on interview prep or resume tips. While these boards are valuable, there are countless other career resources that offer engaging, contemporary content to college students, job seekers, and career professionals. I have researched and compiled a list of websites - some you may know, some will be new - that provide something for everyone, whether you are in the midst of a job search or happily employed.

Alltop
Alltop allows you to find out “what’s happening” in virtually all topics you can think of. Great tool for conducting job research and brushing up on current trends and needs within a specific industry.

CareerBliss
Established with the goal of helping people find joy in life through happiness in the workplace, CareerBliss offers a job search platform, salary and company reviews provided by real employees, and career advice. Check out the interactive BlissFinder feature to find out what makes you happy at work and find your inner bliss.

Career Enlightenment
I attended a conference session led by Career Enlightenment founder and social media expert, Joshua Waldman, and loved his tips on incorporating social media into a job search. Subscribe to his blog and receive weekly updates and advice on using social media for your career.

Career Girl Network
Career Girl Network aims to build a stronger generation of women in business, and offers informative, fun-to-read articles on job searching, personal branding, networking, and much more.

Career Igniter
Career Igniter is your go-to source for career information. They offer a free resume builder, cover letter builder, job search platform, career tests, resume samples, professional resume services, and contemporary career advice.

The Daily Muse
The Daily Muse targets women and provides engaging job search and career advice, and articles focusing on long-term professional development.

Dice
As the leading career site for technology and engineering professionals, Dice allows job seekers to view thousands of job listings according to skill/job title, company, location, and/or employment type.

FlexJobs
FlexJobs is a subscription-based job search service designed to help “anyone who wants a job with some kind of flexibility - a telecommuting, part-time, freelance, or flextime job.”

Glassdoor
Glassdoor provides you with an inside look at jobs and companies, including interview questions, company reviews, and salary details. All information is provided anonymously by real employees and job seekers.

Hoojobs
Hoojobs is a job board created specifically for public relations (PR), social media, and communications professionals.

HR Bartender
Highly regarded blog written by HR pro turned consultant, Sharlyn Lauby, focusing on workplace topics such as leadership, management, customer service, and office politics.

Indeed
Indeed.com is now the #1 job site worldwide, and gives job seekers free access to millions of jobs listed on thousands of company websites and job boards.

Inside Jobs
Discover a future you'll love by checking out Career Finder, an interactive tool created by Inside Jobs that personalizes 15,000+ career profiles. Then use School Finder, a database of 7,000+ accredited U.S. schools, to uncover the education path that will get you there.

Intern Sushi
Intern Sushi utilizes a multimedia platform to link the brightest and most talented interns with leading companies in the hardest-to-break-into industries.

JibberJobber
Described as a “personal relationship manager,” JibberJobber helps you manage all aspects of a job search and optimize your network connections, and offers regular (free) and premium (paid) accounts.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the #1 tool used by recruiters and hiring managers to find job candidates online, and is also a prominent networking tool among today's professionals. It is vital to create an account and have your profile at 100% completeness (don't forget to add a photo!).

Simply Hired
Simply Hired is a leading job search engine that grants job seekers access to over eight million job listings across all categories and industries.

TweetMyJobs
New job search and recruitment tool that matches you with relevant job openings and sends job notifications via email, mobile phone, or Twitter.

Wet Feet
Founded in 1994 by two Stanford MBA graduates, WetFeet features hundreds of articles that guide job seekers through the job search, interview, and career planning processes.

The Work at Home Woman
Founded over three years ago by Registered Nurse and Texas mom, Holly Reisem Hanna, The Work at Home Woman is dedicated to helping women and moms fulfill their dreams of working from home and/or becoming self-employed.

YouTern
YouTern connects young talent with high-impact internships and mentors, and publishes helpful articles on job hunting and career development on its blog, The Savvy Intern.

3 Comments

7 Tips for Writing an Effective Resume

10/8/2012

4 Comments

1.    Formatting and layout are important. Recruiters spend a matter of seconds reviewing each resume, so make sure yours is well organized, concise, and easy to read. Bold each section header, job title, and degrees you have earned or are pursuing. If the reader can’t figure out what you have done or follow your timeline, chances are good you won’t be getting called for an interview.

2.    Use standard fonts and font sizes. Choose a standard font (Arial, Garamond, Times New Roman) in a standard size (10, 11, 12 point) for the body of your resume. Getting too creative with fonts can be distracting and unprofessional.

3.    Create a profile summary. In lieu of an objective statement at the top of your resume, craft a short paragraph (2-3 sentences) that provides an ‘executive summary’ of your background and qualifications. It is imperative that this be tailored to the position/industry you are targeting. For example, a physical / health education teacher may use the following profile summary:

Compassionate teaching professional highly trained in K-12 education, specializing in physical and health education. Dedicated individual who excels in classroom management, student growth and development, and incorporating creativity into the design and delivery of curriculum. Collaborative educator with exceptional interpersonal and relationship building skills.

4.    Include a 'Core Competencies', 'Key Areas of Expertise', or 'Relevant Coursework' section. This section will immediately follow the profile summary and should include competencies, skill areas, or courses completed that are applicable to the position you are seeking.

5.    Highlight major achievements. Job responsibilities are important, but employers really want to see how you’ve made an impact and contributed in each role you’ve held. List major accomplishments, honors, and awards. These could be projects managed, cost savings achieved, profits earned, sales quotas met, programs/ processes / products developed or implemented, etc. Be specific, and include numbers (monetary or data) whenever possible.

6.    DO NOT include a photo on your resume. Unless you are pursuing a career as an actor or model (or similar industry), there is no need to include a photo.

7.    Check for Errors. I recommend reviewing your finished resume at least three times. The first time, concentrate on the formatting – ensure spacing is consistent, font sizes and styles are the same throughout the entire document, bullets line up, etc. On the second pass, confirm all necessary content is included (ex: city and state are listed for each position under the 'Experience' section). On the third round, carefully read over all text to catch any grammatical or spelling errors.

4 Comments

The Secret to Interviewing

6/4/2012

2 Comments

When I first graduated college and found myself on the stressful path to finding a job, I had all types of interviews – over the phone, in-person, one-on-one, panel, and informal lunch interviews. I spent hours rehearsing the most common interview questions, triple-checked my resume for errors, and had my favorite suit cleaned and pressed for each interview. Then when it came time to meet with my potential employer, I would always get so nervous that my voice would shake, I would feel my face turn beet red, and my words almost never came out the way I had planned. I didn’t understand how anyone could enjoy interviewing when I found it so incredibly painful.

One day, it hit me. The secret to interviewing was a surprisingly simple concept:

The interviewer genuinely wants to like me, and they are hopeful that I am the candidate for the job. They want to be done interviewing as much as I do.

Once I embraced this reality, I was much more confident and calm during interviews – I knew that as long as I was qualified for a position, there was nothing to be intimidated by or worried about.  Rather than allowing myself to get so worked up by the interview process, I was relaxed and finally able to show my true personality and professionally articulate my abilities. I noticed a dramatic increase in my interview success rate, with the majority of my personal interviews resulting in job offers.

So the next time you are scheduled to meet with a company, think of the interview as a conversation with a friend. Just relax, be yourself, and remember… they want to hire you.

2 Comments

Pearls of 'Thank You Note' Wisdom

5/28/2012

1 Comment

A simple thank you note may be the final ingredient that sets you apart and seals a job offer. Here is a list of thank you writing tips you may find helpful:

• As your interview is coming to a close, be sure to ask the interviewer(s) for their business card(s) so you have the correct spelling of their name, title, and contact info.

• Handwrite your thank you note and mail within 24 hours.

• It will depend on the formality of the institution and interviewer as to whether you write ‘Dear John:’ or ‘Dear Mr. Smith:’ when writing your thank you. Follow your instinct on this, but if in doubt, it’s always better to air on the side of being too formal as opposed to being too casual.

• If you interview with multiple people at a company, do not send them all the exact same thank you (assume they will be shared). Customize each note by referencing something that came up in your conversation with each person.

• I like flat notes, as they give you a little extra room to write as opposed to folded notes. Personalized flat notes are available online from various companies; type ‘personalized flat note cards’ into Google for a list of results. I highly recommend Swanky Paper (www.swankypaper.com) – great customer service, high quality product.

1 Comment

Websites for the Modern Day Professional

7 Tips for Writing an Effective Resume

The Secret to Interviewing

Pearls of 'Thank You Note' Wisdom

Author

Archives

Categories