Prep Yourself For The Future

Words of wisdom for preparing for a successful future:

1. Be willing to step outside of your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your potential is your comfort zone.

2. Develop a professional network to get a better understanding of the industry and for advice on how to create a successful career path of your own.

3. Be open to new opportunities. You will never know what is behind closed doors unless you open them.

4. Spend time creating a great resume and edit it to target the industry and job qualifications of where you send it.

5. Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be right around the corner.

6. Think big, empowering thoughts and keep an open mind.

Make Your Resume a Success

Your resume often serves as your first impression with potential employers. Be sure that you are sending the right message in a clear and concise way. Here are some tips for making a successful first impression with your resume:

Focus on originality – Highlight individual achievements on your resume instead of listing your day-to-day tasks at past jobs.

Get to the point – Writing in a short, concise manner. In today’s job market, a recruiter may file through hundreds of resumes for a single position. Write clearly so your achievements stand out when your resume is given a 10-second look over.

Be relevant – Keep the content of your resume to the last four years of background information. Your high school accomplishments are not going to impress a recruiter. Make sure you are aiming your resume at your target audience!

Pros' of a Career-Focused Education

There are many things to consider when choosing a higher-ed school or program. Here are some of the benefits of a career-focused education:

Goal-Oriented – Career schools' offer programs designed to compliment specific interests and skill sets. At Career Quest our class sizes are small enough to allow for interaction and easy communication between the instructor and students. During and after the end of your program we can even help you with your resume and preparing for interviews.

Saves Time – Career programs typically have more start dates thoughout the year than traditional colleges and universities and most programs can be completed in less than 2 years.

Specific Skills – Career programs teach you job-specific skills that will be utilized every day in your career.

Things To Do Before You Graduate

If you’re approaching the end of your program, there are a few things to think about before you move on to life’s next chapter. Here’s 4 must-do’s before you graduate:

Get letters of recommendation – While you’re still a memorable face to your teachers, get a letter of recommendation so you will be prepared to start applying for jobs right after graduation. Although all of our instructors at Career Quest will continue to help you with your job search after graduation, we think its best to ask for recommendations while you’re still having regular interaction.

Get connected on LinkedIn – If you are not on LinkedIn yet, get signed up today. LinkedIn keeps you connected with professors, past employers or other professionals you may lose contact with when moving on to the career world. It’s important to stay in touch with these contacts for future references or possible job opportunities.

Clean-up and update your online image – It’s time to make sure you present yourself as a professional; this means both in person and online. With today’s competitive job market, every detail counts to set you apart from other job applicants. Many employers check social networking websites to screen candidates. Make sure your online image reflects the image you want your future employer to see.

Practice your interview skills – Interviews can be nerve-wracking, but a little practice goes a long way. Draft a list of questions a potential employer might ask in an interview and begin preparing answers to them. This will help to gather your thoughts and prepare you for any tricky questions that could catch you off-guard in an interview. Don’t memorize your answers too much though; you still want to be personable!

5 Reasons You Need to Be on LinkedIn Even When You Have a Job

1. You need to have a large network so you can use it later
Imagine you just got laid off. And you have 10 people in your LinkedIn network. You suddenly realize that you should have invested more in getting to know people. It's better to add connections while you're working with them and the same goes for asking for recommendations. So don’t wait until you need it. Build a strong network on LinkedIn now. Be active. Provide value. Stay in touch.

2. Opportunities come to you; recruiters look for passive candidates
When a company hires a contract recruiter to fill a job requisition, that company isn’t looking for someone unemployed.  There are enough unemployed people to fill every single job vacancy in the country. What the organization needs is someone who is not actively looking, called a passive candidate. Someone who is already employed by a competitor might be the perfect candidate.
If you aren’t on LinkedIn, you are reducing your chances of being discovered and having the opportunity to make more money.

3. Industry groups can offer you value and connection
If you find the right groups in which to participate, the value to your network — and the knowledge you'll gain — is huge. Not only will you be exposed to news, and new ideas, but you’ll have a chance to demonstrate your expertise through commenting and discussion.

4. Keep your resume up to date just in case
A resume is a static thing. You write it once when you are actively looking for work. You get your job. Then you forget about it. LinkedIn profiles tend to stay up to date with greater accuracy than any other online profile. Recruiters know this. They know that your profile will be more accurate than your five-year-old resume.


5. Read the news feed for your industry
LinkedIn delivers you customized news delivered daily. Based on your industry, the types of articles you share, and who is in your network, your daily news feed is likely going to inform you of things you should know about your job.

A version of this post was originally posted on Ladders.com by Joshua Waldman.

Why It’s Never “Just A Job”

It’s important to never approach any position as “just a job.” Even the smallest job could be stepping stone to something else.

Besides increasing your skill set, jobs are a fantastic way to build a network. Though your current job might not be in your desired career field, that doesn’t mean you can’t begin assembling contacts.

The people that you meet at work could help connect you to your dream position. Having a large network of people that believe in your abilities will make it a lot easier to take the first steps toward your future career.

Every supervisor that you impress could lead to a strong letter of recommendation. Having a reference list full of past employers that praise your skills will be valuable when you start your career search.



More at Monster Thinking.

How Many Resumes Do You Need?

To catch a recruiters eye and hold their attention, job-seekers need to tailor a resume to each position. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Create a Master Resume. To help you draft multiple resumes, start with one resume that will act as your master. This document should include all of the jobs you’ve had and everything you accomplished at those jobs. Once you’ve listed everything you can think of, you can look at your resume from different perspectives.

Tracking. Create an Excel spreadsheet to track all of your resumes. Spreadsheets allow you to record jobs you’ve applied for, record which resumes you sent, and track responses and interviews you have scheduled.

Tailored Objective Statement. Your resume objective should change with each job. You want to be specific and tell a potential employer exactly what you’re looking for and why they should hire you by explaining your long-term work goals.

Switch Up Your Skills. The skills section in your resume should cover everything in the job advertisement. If the company is looking for a self-starter and a team player, make sure those are both skills listed on your resume. Don’t misrepresent yourself or lie, but cover the elements that the company is looking for.


Read more here.

Get Certified, It's Worth It!

Do you want to advance in a healthcare career? Dental assistants, nurses aides, medical assistants, patient care technicians, pharmacy technicians and others all can benefit from earning certifications.

Here are four great reasons to get certified:

Interview Take-Along Checklist

You’re interviewing for a job tomorrow, and you think you've done all the interview preparation you need to do. You’ve practiced your answers to a multitude of common interview questions and have thought up some questions to ask the interviewer. Your interview suit is pressed and ready. But what do you bring to the interview?

What to Say When You're Following up

Frequently asked questions when it comes to following up after applying for a job include:

How long should I wait to follow-up? Should I call, write or email? How frequently can I follow-up?


An important question people forget to ask is "What should I say when I follow-up?

How to Invest in Yourself!

Michigan’s economy is rebounding and now is a great time to invest in your future. For job seekers looking to boost their resumes, there are many options. For people who have found themselves stuck in a dead-end job or simply have been waiting for the right time to continue their education, now is the time.

On-The-Spot Job Interviews

Anytime you are applying for a job in person, or even online you should be prepared to be interviewed immediately. If you're applying in person, the hiring manager could interview you right then and there. If you applying online, the hiring manager could call you within minutes.  Keep reading for tips on how to always be prepared.

Why Your Resume Got Tossed

The average recruiter sees 5,000 resumes a year. Here are some of the top reasons why a resume gets thrown out:

Formality Takes a Vacation

Don’t succumb to the informality of email. “If you send a cover letter by email that starts with ‘Hi,’ it and your resume will probably end up in the trash.

Things Get Too Personal


“If you mention your age, we have to trash your resume,” says one HR professional with a venture capital firm. Since it’s illegal for a company to solicit a candidate’s age, race, or marital status during the hiring process, firms have adopted a “don’t tell” policy to avoid potential bias suits.

Google Results

Unless you’ve adjusted your privacy settings, what you say and do on social networks is out there for all to see, including potential employers. Basically, you have two options when it comes to keeping your online identity spic and span: Remove all incriminating photos and censor your status updates and Tweets, or completely privatize your profiles.

Read more at: http://www.wetfeet.com/advice-tools/resume-cover-letter/why-your-resume-got-tossed

The Cover Letter – Your Chance to Impress

Resumes and online applications forms can only say so much, writing a cover letter allows gives you an opportunity to explain why you believe you are qualified for the job, to make a positive impression and to explain reasons for employment gaps or career changes.


Keep reading for our cover letter writing tips.

Follow directions. Before sending your cover letter, read the job posting carefully. Employers often list specific instructions to follow when applying, such as including examples of work, explaining your prior work experience or submitting your cover letter in a certain file format.

Personalize. Address the letter to the hiring manager by name. If you don’t know the contact’s name, call the company and ask. Also, don’t just write one cover letter and assume you can use it over and over. Write a new letter for each job you apply for and make sure the letter shows that you have researched the company.


Keep it short. Limit your cover letter to two or three brief paragraphs. Avoid sharing personal details that don’t relate to the position.

Proofread! Have someone else read your cover letter and try reading it aloud to make sure you find any mistakes.

How-To Talk About You!

Have you ever been in an interview and been asked to “tell me about yourself”? Many people struggle to talk about themselves in an interview; here are some tips for making a good impression:

Getting a Good Reference

Many employers want references – 3 seems to be the right number to have at the ready. Past employers, coaches, volunteer managers and others could all be candidates. Here are other tips to pick the right ones. 

Choose references you're sure can do a good job answering questions from an employer. Here's a checklist:

• Wants to see you succeed as much as you do.
• Can clearly articulate your strengths, areas of expertise and development.
• Can think on her feet if asked a tough question.
• You would feel good about being a reference for. 

Ask before you list anyone!

• It makes you look professional and courteous.
• It gives them time to prepare and not be caught off-guard by a phone call they didn’t expect.
• Their willingness or hesitancy can help you judge whether or not they would make a good reference. 

Share your goals

Tell your references where you are applying and why. Give them your resume' and current contact info.

Prepare a contact sheet

Create a one-page list that includes contacts and be sure your references can be reached and know the best way to contact them (phone, email, days/nights, etc.)

• Person’s name
• Job title
• Relationship to you (such as co-worker or direct supervisor)
• Company name
• Address
• Contact info (phone number, email address)

Close the Loop

Check back with your references from time-to-time to make sure that contact information has not changed. And of course, THANK your references each time they are contacted. They should also be the first to know when you land that new job.

These tips and suggestions were excerpted from a blog by Beth Braccio Hering of Career Builder found here.

What's in a Word?

This blog suggests 10 words to impress employers with your resume, (hint: they're action verbs). It also lists 10 words to avoid so your resume doesn't get tossed out before you can get an interview. Take out your version and see where you stack up. And please, choose your words carefully. Read more here.

FINDING WORK IN AN UNSTEADY MARKET

Sometimes you wonder if you're wasting your time.  But job hiring is

up. Here's how to focus on the jobs that are on the best match and

ignore the rest. 

Already hired? Tips for you too!  

Thanks to Career Builder for this solid advice.

See the link here.

THE SKINNY ON RESUMES

Less is more! Effective ways to slim down your resume in the right areas.

Check it out here.

WORDS TO AVOID ON YOUR RESUME

When you're done with your resume, be sure you avoid the the things employers don't like to see. Have someone double-check spelling and grammar, too. Spell-check is good, but it can't tell you the word has the right meaning.

Get more advice here.