Scam details

Another reason to avoid the big job boards

Clues your big job board posting is being scammed:

---Someone asks you to set up a direct deposit account before the interview

---The email reads like English isn't well understood.

---You get an email purportedly from the big board asking you to click a link to fix or update your account.

---They ask for your Social Security Number or bank account information without an interview.

---They want you to pay money (it's supposed to be the other way around).

---They want you to cash a check, send part of it onwards and keep the balance for your troubles (which are just beginning when their check bounces).

Why did you bother posting on a big board?

Numbers

A Costa Mesa, CA company had 682 applications for an entry-level official specialist position. A San Antonio company received 23,000 applications for 120 jobs; only about 192 people per opening--much better odds than in California.

Techniques

One woman brought in cookies with her application. She got the interview (but not the job).

LinkedIn claims if your profile is 100% complete, you're 40 times more likely to "receive opportunities" on the site.

The Dichotomy of Job Hunting

"Be yourself," this article advises. But employers want you to be relentlessly happy with no bad bosses in your past. Who's in la la land here?


Image

Great Depression in 2 areas of US

Great Depression Lives

Two metropolitan statistical areas in the US have unemployment rates worse than the Great Depression. The El Centro, California MSA's rate was 28.5% in June. The rate for the Yuma, Arizona MSA next door was 26.9%.

The Great Depression's rate peaked at 25% in 1933. Both areas are roughly the same as they were a year ago, with Yuma being .3 worse and El Centro .3 better.

The lowest unemployment rate was in the Bismarck, North Dakota MSA: 3.6%.

Networking

CON: Don't network or tell people you're looking for work, this unusual advisor says. Ignore ads that say "no phone calls" and phone anyway between 4 pm and 6 pm. (No word on what to say if they ask "Can you read?")

PRO: Networking is not all about you. The other person has to get value too.


---value delivered: 99 cents ebooks and free articles

Worst suggestion of 2011?

Bad advice

One web site says to ask for a meeting, saying you're looking for a position and have a list of 50 companies. "I know that you know the industry. Could we go through the list together to pinpoint the best companies and to see whom you know and whom you might help me meet?”"

The person you're asking ought to respond "How much are you going to pay me?" "50 companies" suggests you've done no research--you're asking this employee to mine the slush pile for you. When she's done doing that,she's supposed to spoon feed you her contacts.

What was it you were going to do for her?

The worst part about this strategy is you could be right: this person might know people in the industry. She might tell them what you did.

Better: come to an informational meeting with two or three companies you can talk specifics about.

The Numbers

The national unemployment rate for July 2011 was 9.1%. Here's a sampling of local numbers:

30.8% Imperial Valley, California

12.9% Nevada

11.8% California

10.7% Florida

10.4% Mississippi

10.4% North Carolina

10.0% Alabama

09.5% Illinois

09.0% Ohio

08.4% Texas

08.0% New York

07.7% Alaska

06.7% New Mexico

06.0% Iowa

First Names

Don't use an interviewer's first name unless you're invited to do so. (Just like Mom said.)


Image

What Not to Say

The four worst words you can say to your boss--"That's not my job."

In this era of straitened circumstances, his next 4 words might be "You're not my employee."

Besides, if you do only your job, how will you learn anything new--or why would they ever promote you?

One of the things new employers will be looking for in the interview is how you showed initiative, how you're self-motivated--a self starter.

So try not to limit yourself.

Not a Numbers Game

Job hunting is not a numbers game, this article agrees. A job search is about targeting--and standing out from the slush pile.

One government ministry had 22 jobs available. They received 30,000 applications. That's 1,363 people vying for each position.

How many of those 1,000+ studied the department and networked with people inside? Nobody's going to look at all 30,000 apps. So if you don't have someone inside keeping an eye out for you, go buy a lotto ticket.

Techniques

Treat a job fair just like an interview. Look sharp, have a short verbal "business card" ready and follow up with a note.

Call and ask for a job, this site says. But why should they hire you?

You'd better know that in detail before you pick up the phone.

Take 5 coffee meetings a week. Never eat lunch alone. Build your network. I like the concept if not the numbers--can you effectively continue to do some good for a couple of hundred people? Probably not. So do a lot of coffee meeting repeats.

Status check! 4 1/2 months left in the year. Does your job search include all these techniques?


Image

Soldiers don't need the big job boards (neither do you)

Veterans have federal right to old jobs

Veterans have a right to their old jobs back if they're returning from more than180 days of active duty.

They must notify their former employers within 90 days of returning to the states.

Big job boards aren't helpful

"Skip Monster.com and other broad job boards. They’re full of spammy, irrelevant recruiters," one writer counsels. (Hmmm, where have I heard that before?) He also recommends signing up for Google+, filling it out and forgetting it.

Con people are using the big job boards (glad somebody's getting use out of them) to contact victims. Clues the email is illegitimate:

* They ask for money for any reason.

* They say you're hired without an interview.

* The only contact method offered is email.

* No physical address is given.

* Words are spelled or used incorrectly.

* They want to mail you a check.

Online Presence

One study says 87% of companies check LinkedIn in recruiting. Good suggestions for using the site are here.

70% of companies who ran an online check didn't hire someone because of what they found.

Noted

Keep up to date on your job and industry. Set up Google or Yahoo news alerts. See if industry blogs or publications have an email or other alert service.

Not researching the company before the interview is a mistake, this article says. That's way too late to be looking them up. How can you write a résumé without knowing the company--and people inside?

Keep a record of where you've applied. When the phone rings, you want to be familiar with the company he's calling from. You need to know what contacts you've had with them previously.

Agriculture jobs are available, particularly rural Michigan.

To be deductible, job hunting expenses have to be related to a search within your current field.


Image

A drop of good news!

Finally a better #

The big news is the unemployment rate in July dropped 1/10 of a point to 9.1.

Barriers

One study shows 39% of workers are job hunting.

They increasingly have the field to themselves as employers restrict hiring to those who already have jobs or are just shortly unemployed.

Not in New Jersey though. That state reportedly bans requiring applicants to be currently employed.

The 50+ applicant may be fighting a perception that age group isn't tech-savvy or can't learn new things. Your online presence can show how laughable that stereotype is.

Techniques

Googlepleasehire.me is the web site created by one applicant. He also Fed Ex'd a life-size cardboard statue of himself to Google. So far no offers from Google but he claims 50 others have invited him for interviews.

Call 50 companies, ask for each for an informational interview, try to pass along a résumé at each.

Well, at least you're not haunting Monster.com. Our approach to getting a job focuses on a few companies, researching and interacting with people already there. We see the informational interview as part of that process--learning. Still, even if talking to 50 people won't further your job search, it's unlikely to hurt.


--99 cents ebooks with the full scoop on successful job searching

Image

Companies want 10 years olds

10 years old

Ye shall be corporate automons. Ye shall not join controversial organizations. Ye shall not have family or friends who join controversial organizations.

Does anybody else think employers' digging into social data is getting out of hand? Having to check my personal life with an employer is a lot being 10 years old again.

Numbers

US veterans have an unemployment rate higher than the general population--11% versus 9%. Iowa thinks the problem is much worse there--they've opened 42 job search centers for returning veterans.

The June nationwide number hides the fact that unemployment for whites was 8.1% while that for African-Americans was exactly double--16.2%.

Tips for the Hunt

One counselor advises cold calling hiring managers even if there's no job advertised. "Making the effort to reach them directly can help you stand out." I'll bet it does--right onto their enemies' list. That's using a shotgun for open heart surgery instead of a laser. You need to
develop relationships with people inside the company before you start calling about jobs.

Search for a company, not a job, one counselor advises. Good advice. But then she says don't take just any job. (Presumably the mortgage company will understand while you wait for the perfect post.)

Job hunting is a lot like lead generation. A former lead generator makes the case.

The key to solving job hunting problems is to write them down. Then write down 20 (not 19) possible solutions. One will work, this article believes.

Unemployment rules change in Florida

Florida is starting new rules for unemployment, including contacting 5 employers a week.


---check out our 99 cents ebooks and free articles

Image