This is a video from Job Search 2.0 Bootcamp System and Career Mastermind Program (http://www.kevinkermes.com) where he shares the tips he give clients on how to use Twitter (via the Hootsuite Platform) to begin networking, building relationships and uncovering the “hidden” job market. 

©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Are you someone who is in a place where you want to get the best job in your field? Is finding the right job something that has been on your mind for quite some time? The truth of the matter is that when you are looking for employment, you will be in a place where getting an interview sounds like something that could be great. On the other hand, to get the great employment, you need to look into being able to get through your panel interview! In the event that you are going to be facing a panel interview, you will discover that there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. Take some time and learn more about the panel interview and what you need to do.

When you are thinking about taking a panel interview, it can be handy to know why one is happening. When a company decides that they want to conduct a panel interview, you will find that they are looking to be very selective of whom they bring on. With so many people who are interested in getting jobs these days, and with companies still being very careful about their cash in light of the recession, you can bet that there are many things that they want to make sure of. Thus, a panel interview is a way of getting more than one opinion on the people who are coming in. Acing a panel interview can mean that your place at the company is assured, but you will find that losing out on one can make things much more difficult to you.

When you know that you are going to be working under a panel interview, the first thing that you need to remember is that a panel interview is not a place where you can ignore anyone. Make sure that greet everyone equally and remember that you are in a place where you need to be able to address them all, as well. Do not ignore someone during the interview, even if they never make eye contact, and remember that you should address them all equally. Take some time and make sure that you consider what your options are going to be and how you can make sure to address them all equally. Having a little bit of experience when it comes to public speaking can make a huge difference.

When you are thinking about taking advantage of a panel interview, remember that it starts from the first moment that you walk in the room. That means that you should be well dressed and that you should be on time. These are the simple basics, but they definitely bear repeating. If you are running late, call and let them know as soon as possible. The more you are going to be able to prepare for your interview, the better. If you are interested in making the most out of your interview, remember that practice makes perfect. This is something that your friends can help you with, so don’t miss out on the advantages that it can give you.

Take some time and read up on panel interviewing this can make all the difference.

Matinez Betheliza – Ph.D. – Organizational Psychology. Provides you with a deep level of insight into your career direction and career development.

Author: Martinez Betheliza
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people talk about “updating their resume” when thinking about making a career change. If you are one of those people out there putting the polish on your resume’ as you are about to launch a job search for a new career- STOP. Your resume’ is not the place where you start your work on a career change. If you are simply looking for the same or similar position in another company, go ahead. There is a big difference between looking for a job and making a career change. Sure, at some point the process is the same and you will need to have a spiffy resume’ but it’s not the place to get started in making a career shift.

When contemplating a career shift, you are in need of something that looks like a research project. You need to do the work to help point you in a different direction. Picking a career is as hard to do at 40 as it is at 18. The world is your oyster which is a great thing but how do you find the one with the pearl? The good news is: if you are older than 18 you have more work and life experience that will give you important insight into the process and decision making.

So, where do you start? There are multiple actions you can take initially and they primarily involve self examination. Among the first steps:

- Tests or assessments – These are good to give you more information about yourself. These assessments will give you insight on things like interests, strengths and work orientation. If you pursue these, you have to know up front that they alone will not give you the “One Big Answer” about your future career. In fact, they may in many ways tell you things you already know about yourself. So why take them? Because it will give you a starting place, it will help distill down information about you that you need to have as you embark on making a decision about a career. With any research project, you collect data from numerous sources to help create the conclusion. Among but not limited on assessments: Meyers-Briggs, Strength Finder, VISTA cards, Color Q and Holland. Many of these are in books and online.

- Self assessment – This is where you really self examine. What kinds of things do you like to do? Where do you currently excel? What do you gravitate to outside of your current job? What did you dream of doing when you were younger? Are there people you know who have fun sounding jobs? Are there causes you believe in?

- More self assessment – Start looking for feedback. When your performance has been assessed, what strengths and weakness to you exhibit? If you were to ask a circle of friends and relatives, what kind of work do they think you would be good at? You’d be surprised at how insightful this exercise can be. They aren’t encumbered with your history yet they know you and often have some great suggestions based on what they know about you.

- Job search – many libraries and websites have all kinds of job titles. Some titles will make almost no sense but most of them will. Start looking these over to see what might jump out at you as something interesting. You can also go to job search websites and get a vast quantity of job titles and job content to help in this step. What is it about the ones you selected that sound worthwhile?

- Compile and research – with your mounting list of insights you can now start synthesizing into some logical groupings. These groupings are becoming what will ultimately be your new career because the baseline is from things in your research that have attracted you in some way. Don’t worry about “real” titles, but put logical elements together. You want to avoid putting basketball and surgery together, it makes no sense. You could put problem solving, math skills and detail orientation together. An important action in this step is to eliminate things. If you naturally are interested in specific job titles or elements, then focus on those. Your goal in this step is to create groupings or jobs that will become your future career.

- Network and research – With your newly minted jobs (mind you that you may still not have official job titles), you now need to talk to people and do more research to finalize what you are looking for. In this last and final step before working on your resume’, you need to understand where this work is, titles it might be called, and any further qualifications you might need to land a job. You will know when this step is completed when you have a clear picture on what career you want to pursue. The other great thing about this step is it has just given you great input on where to start your job search, once you are ready to get started.

Hopefully, you’ll see that when making a career change, you need to do some heavy lifting to move you toward something meaningful. It is way more than simply updating your resume’. Many people don’t know what steps to take and muddle their way through life not happy with their career/job. The actions aren’t hard or difficult and the outcome is well worth the effort.

A career change can be an exciting and fun step to take. Most people have more than 2 or 3 careers in their lifetime. Since you spend so much time in your life working, it’s worth the time and effort to find something you will love.

Copyright (c) 2009 Dorothy Tannahill Moran

Dorothy Tannahill-Moran is an expert on personal change. She helps people master life changes, no matter what the nature of the change might be. She specializes in helping dissatisfied professionals discover an exciting career path. If you would like to read more on related topics go to: http://www.nextchapternewlife.com To attend a FREE Teleseminar: Turn your fear of change into mastery of your Life click here for details and sign up: http://www.nextchapternewlife.com/webinar/webinar.html.

Author: Dorothy Tannahill Moran
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Hiring Managers, HR professionals, and recruiters all agree – Volunteer work absolutely does count!

You simply have to present it in the right light. They really don’t mind seeing a “gap” in employment, but they do want to know what you have been doing, and what skills you’ve been using in your volunteer work that are relevant and transferable to the job you’re applying for.

The key is to present your relevant volunteer activities as things you’ve done to keep your skills sharp while out of the workforce, or to build/develop new skills.

1. If you’re a Mom returning to work, do not hesitate to place current and relevant skills at the very top of your resume to make your change. According to hiring managers and resume screeners, one of the biggest mistakes career changers and Moms returning to work make is putting their current volunteer activities at the end of the resume.

2. If you’re out of the workforce now, but your volunteer work isn’t in a capacity that uses the skills you’ll want to highlight when you re-enter, focus on your future and choose your volunteer work more strategically.

3. Research jobs you’re interested in and take stock of the skills they’re looking for; then, construct a volunteer strategy that aligns with using those skills.

4. Keep a file where you keep track of your numbers and results: how many people you managed, how many dollars you raised, number of hours you worked, the differences you/your group made, and the results you achieved. Include any other facts, figures, references, and information that might be useful.

5. Focus on presenting your volunteer activities in a “business light.” For example, if you’ve been:

The President of the PTO – Cite your leadership and management skills, and related accomplishments.
In any fundraising capacity – Map to sales & marketing skills. This is where your file comes in handy. Give them dollars raised, organizations recruited to participate, etc.
Running a school project – Highlight project management, the number of people managed, and special skills you used to get the job done.
Writing and delivering a newsletter– Highlight creative writing and marketing skills along with any graphics or desktop publishing you might have used.

6. Finally, think about your volunteer work and how you made a difference: Did your contribution include:

• Making an organization more money?
• Helping an organization save money?
• Streamlining an organization’s processes by operating more efficiently?
• Managing and organizing, such as an event or fundraising campaign?
• Creating written processes to smooth out transitions or future events?

7. Be prepared for an interview with a “story” about what you’ve done and how you helped an organization run more efficiently, make more money, or save time. Remember, the work you did was important, and made a difference. Don’t undervalue it, or yourself!
Volunteer work is a great way to:

• Get out of the house
• Get involved in the community
• Build your network
• Try on new skills
• Showcase your talents
• Build a “bridge” to a new career.

Never underestimate the value of unpaid work. It is still work, it has definite value in the business world, and it makes a difference!

Linda Waters is a working Mom, career coach, and the founder of Back to Business LLC. Back to Business, located in Franklin, Massachusetts, provides a full range of services for women returning to the workforce or seeking a better professional “fit” and more fulfilling career. By providing powerful self-assessments, career exploration and coaching, resume and interview preparation, and professional image development, Back to Business helps women reach their goals with clarity and confidence.

For more information visit: http://www.backtobusiness.org

Author: Linda Kerr Waters
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Recruiters can be of tremendous help in your job search. Most often they are the gate keepers to the first interview. Gaining their help gives you a big advantage in today’s competitive job market. Recruiters fall into two basic categories. Either they are part of a Human Resources team of an organization or they are external third-party recruiters. Regardless, all recruiters have one job: to provide hiring managers with the best possible candidates. With that in mind, these three tips for getting recruiters to help you apply to all recruiters.

1. Provide them a user-friendly resume.

Your resume is the recruiter’s tool to help convince hiring managers that you are a good fit for the job. The more time and effort you put into your resume the better your chances of convincing the recruiter to present you as a candidate.

There are two vital elements to your resume that will be of great help to recruiters. First, it must reflect all the key words that describe the qualifications of the position. This allows the recruiter to convince the hiring manager that you qualify for the job. Second, your resume should be full of accomplishments which give the recruiter important selling points on your behalf. Think of your resume as a selling tool to convince hiring managers that you are the best possible candidate and that you are ready to step in and solve their business problems.

2. Demonstrate polished interview skills.

From the moment a recruiter calls you he/she is judging how well you will present yourself in a face to face interview with the hiring manager. How well you interview reflects on the recruiter. If you do well you make the recruiter look good and he will go out of his way to cooperate with you in helping you through the interview process. If you fail to impress the hiring manager it will embarrass the recruiter and he’ll most likely never present you to another hiring manager.

Before a recruiter calls you make sure your interview skills are top notch. That means working out good answers to the toughest interview questions. Practice out loud your responses to questions that have made you nervous in the past. To name a few, make sure you know how to answer questions like:

“What would you do if…?”

“Tell us your strengths and weaknesses.”

“Tell me about a time when you….”

“Why did you leave your last employment?”

3. Be thankful.

A good recruiter works hard behind the scenes to insure that the interview process runs smoothly. It is a thankless job at best. Once the interviews start the recruiter is very often forgotten in the candidates enthusiasm to impress the hiring manager. Since the recruiter can be of help to you throughout the interview process it pays to acknowledge their support with a thank you note after each interview.

For best results take the time to send a hand-written thank you note that reflects genuine appreciation for their time and effort. Use this opportunity to express your enthusiasm for the job and mission of the organization. This little bit of effort will return to you in added cooperation of the recruiter when you need information about the status of the job opening.

When you extend uncommon courtesy and take the time to provide recruiters the selling tools (your resume and interview skills) you go a long way in building a solid working relationship that will reap benefits for years to come. In short, recruiters can be your best friend or they can be the screen that keeps you out of the running for great jobs. A lot of it depends on you.

Deborah Walker, CCMC is a career coach helping job seekers nationwide. Her clients gain skills in resume writing, interviewing and salary negotiation. See her sample resumes and read more job search tips at: http://www.AlphaAdvantage.com

Author: Deborah J Walker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Here are the top things you must do to improve your chances at a job interview.

1. Treat everyone from the receptionist upwards with the same respect as you would the job interviewer. It is amazing how often an interviewer will look for feedback from other people within the organisation that the interviewee may have met.

2. Shake the interviewers hand firmly. It shows confidence. Self-confidence is of course a trait that create a good first impression.

3. Look the interviewer in the eye. Eye contact should average about 60%. This is the natural level where people feel comfortable.

4. Build rapport with the job interviewer. There is often an opportunity before you formally start the interview where there is time for ’small talk’ which relaxes both parties.

5. Make sure your posture says you are confident but not over bearing. If you slouch in the chair practice sitting more upright. It projects an image of self-confidence.

6. Mirror the interviewer’s body language. This is quite difficult to do. But for example if the interviewer has their legs crossed or perhaps leaning forward then try to mirror this. This will create a feeling of empathy in the interviewer’s subconscious mind.

7. Display enthusiasm for the job. Even if the interview is not going well continue to be upbeat and positive. You may be getting a negative vibe but this may just be the interviewer’s style. All the candidates may feel the same. Never give up on your chances.

8. Make sure you deliver as many examples of the benefits you bring to the company as possible. The job interviewer is looking to hear benefits. They can read from your resume that you have certain skills, knowledge and experience. But what are the benefits that you offer? If the interviewer has not asked about the benefits then make sure you tell them about what you can do for the company.

9. Ask questions at the end of the interview. It is crucial to continue showing interest in the job by asking relevant questions. Make sure the questions are not obvious, could easily be found out with a little research or on a topic already discussed.

10. Close the interview by making sure the interviewer knows you are keen to take the job.

I hope you found the above list useful to your job hunting. There are plenty of other free articles and invaluable advice available on this site.

Article written by Barry Golds an expert in making sure you rise into the top 1% of all job interview candidates. For further details visit http://www.jobinterviewperfection.com

For a free ebook on the 50 toughest job interview questions and answers visit http://www.samplejobinterviewquestionsandanswers.com

Author: Barry Golds
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

No matter what your profession, every individual should have an awesome elevator pitch. A great elevator pitch is a statement that explains the benefit of what you do in less than 12 seconds; just three seconds shy of how long you have to excite someone with your resume. Great elevator pitches have been known to get people Job Interviews, New Clients and Dates. Like a great resume, presentation or advertisement, it should be designed to explain how you help others. Here is what I say – “I help people get more offers, more sales and more out of life.”

One of the most common pitches I hear is “I’m a consultant.” A friend of mine is convinced this is code for “I’m unemployed.” Even if this is the case, you can develop a great pitch and increase your chances of more work, more prospects and greater income quickly. Some Sales Professionals believe a pitch can be up to 30 seconds long, but at 30 seconds, there’s hardly time for the person you’re speaking to to ask the question you want to hear “How do you do that?” When someone asks you this, they give you permission to have a real discussion and the opportunity to develop a relationship; quite a different experience than you shoving the door open and boring them to death with a commercial that’s uninvited.

Here’s how to write your own Elevator Pitch.

1. Explain the RESULT of your work. What’s the benefit?
2. Keep it short - 12 seconds max. Time yourself saying the pitch without rushing your words
3. Use the word “help”.
4. Keep your job title to yourself. People have assumptions about job titles, many which are negative. Withholding this detail is the best way to keeping the conversation going.

Here are a few examples:

• General Practitioner: “I help people stay healthy to enjoy life longer.”
• Janitor: “I help others enjoy a cleaner more relaxing environment.”
• SEO Expert: “I help people and organizations improve profits by improving their internet visibility.”

A pitch is not spin. It is the heart of what you do. See if you can come up with a great elevator pitch today and drop it into the comments section. We’d love to see what you do.

@josh_d_matthews is the Director of Get It Right, Inc. He helps people get more Offers, more Sales and more Out Of Life. He can be contacted at josh@yougetitright.com. For more information, visit http://www.YouGetItRight.com

Author: Josh Matthews
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

Okay. You’re not as young as you used to be. The job market is shrinking along with your 401k. You need to keep working.

If you’ve been downsized (or if you know deep in your soul that you just can’t keep doing what you’re doing), does the prospect of looking for a job make you want to run screaming from the room? Is one of your major concerns your age? Don’t buy into the conventional wisdom that you’re “over the hill”, over qualified, and unemployable. I guarantee you, if your age is a problem for you, it will be a problem for any prospective employer.

In my early 40s, I wanted to break into local television production in a major market city. I did my round of interviewing for an internship. Honestly, it never occurred to me that my age would be a barrier. I was floored when a 22-year old male production assistant at the FOX station asked me if I wasn’t “a little long in the tooth” to be changing careers.

I looked him square in the eye, and told him that I’d been on his side of the desk, and if I had my choice between hiring a 20-something more interested in her Saturday night date than the work, and me who had 20 years of solid work experience to bring to the table, I’d hire me in a heart beat. I was offered – and turned down – the internship.

Okay, you say. That was in your 40s; being in your 50s or 60s is different. Not so. My 63-year-old client Darlene lost her job when the major financial institution she worked for closed down her entire division, and with it her lucrative sales job. Instead of panicking, she took some much-needed R&R for a few months. When she was recharged, she jumped into her job search with much gusto, and gave not one thought to her age. She set up four job interviews in two weeks, received two job offers, and is a valued member of her new sales team.

It’s all about what YOU believe, and how that projects to others. If you’re worried about your age, you’ll reek of a lack of confidence. If you believe in your abilities, experience, resources, and wisdom, you’ll convey utter confidence. Who would you rather hire?

And remember, there’s no such thing as being “over the hill”. When you reach the top of each hill, what’s waiting for you is your next great adventure!

Copyright (c) 2009 Lin Schreiber

Certified Retirement Coach Lin Schreiber, author of the popular ABC’s of Revolutionizing Retirement, helps self-reliant women reinvent themselves in the next stage of life, formerly known as “retirement” by designing a new encore life that includes a fulfilling encore career. To claim your free Revolutionize Retirement Starter Kit, visit her site at =====> http://www.RevolutionizeRetirement.com

Author: Lin Schreiber
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Career Design Coach. All Rights Reserved.