Top 5 Recruiter Pet Peeves REVEALED!

Lindsay Pollak write a great blog for job seekers! I have been following her for some time now and think her advice is great. This blog post today really hit home for me, so I thought I would share it:

Welcome to MyPath: College to Career: Your Guide to Starting Out: Top 5 Recruiter Pet Peeves REVEALED!

Changing Careers Challenge: Week of 6/28/10

Changing Careers Challenge:

Last week your task was to make a list of 5 job titles you think are interesting. This week we will look at researching these jobs to see what each entails.

For each job title that you think is interesting, do the following:

• Go to a job search website (such as http://www.monster.com/ or http://www.indeed.com/ ) and do a search for that job title nationwide (or even internationally). Read through 5 of the job descriptions that you find.
• Search LinkedIn for 10 people that have that job title as their current position. Look at the jobs that they did prior to that position to see where they got their experience.
• Look at Google Blog Search to find any blogs written by people who have that job title
• Search Vault for information on 2 of the professions your interested in

Changing Careers Challenge

This week I talked to six different people who are looking to change careers and have found that their biggest problem is keeping on track with a career search. So once a week I will post a "Changing Careers Challenge" for all of you looking to change careers, but have a hard time staying focused. The 'challenge' will be a task of some sort that can be accomplished during that week to keep you moving forward with your goal of changing careers.

This week we will start with an easy one since the week is almost over

Changing Careers Challenge:

• Make a list of 5 job titles you think are interesting
• If you are having a hard time coming up with 5 job titles, check out: the online job postings of companies in an industry you are interested in, look at online job search engines using general keywords for your search (such as business, health, education) or look at the Occupational Outlook Handbook online at www.bls.gov/oco/

Next week we will look at researching these jobs to see what each entails!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

If you ask my 6 year old daughter this question, she will tell you either an animal rescuer who owns an island to keep the animals on or someone who designs clothes for sea lions (and yes, you read that correctly because no one is designing clothes for sea lions and they really need some). In the past 4-5 years she has wanted to be everything from the real to the imaginary to the outright funny. Possible careers have included princess cowgirl, fairy house builder, doctor for cowgirls and horses, fashion designer, teacher, snow globe collector or mom.

We seem to ask this question of children all of the time, but as adults we assume that everyone is employed doing exactly what they want to be doing. Everyone but us. Or at least that is what it seems like sometimes.

As you start to think about what you want to do for your next career, make a list of every possible career that you have ever contemplated being. Be sure to include every career, starting back to when you were a child to present day.

Now, wait a day or two in case you forgot any.

Then look closely at the list. Do any of these jobs have things in common? Are they all jobs where you would be helping people? Or include some sort of mechanical or technical skills? Or are all very creative? Think about what they have in common, what skills you would use in the position, and what really interests you about it.

Are any of these careers that you want to pursue now? Maybe your idea from when you were 6 is exactly what you should be doing now.

How to Survive in an Unhappy Workplace

If you are in the process of deciding whether or not to change jobs because you are not happy at your current position, here is a great post from the Harvard Business Review by Pat Olsen that I found today on LinkedIn. I think it is worth the time to read!

How to Survive in an Unhappy Workplace

Interview Skills: Career Connections tips

I recorded a video this week for the UMass Amherst Alumni Association on tips for succeeding on an interview. Check it out!