Wednesday, March 25, 2009

5 Reasons Your Job Hunt Is Not Going Well

Jobs in Orlando, FL
We've already talked about job seeking being a full time job, and that is only 1 part of the problem. Today we are going to look at 5 quick, key reasons you are not getting the response from employers that you feel you should. If you are guilty of any of these offenses, today is a great day to take action.

  1. You are not making your job hunt personal. What we mean here is that you are still sending generic resumes to "whom it may concern." Get personal. Find the names of the HR Directors, hiring managers or the person doing the hiring at the company. Then send them a personal note with a custom resume catered to their company and position that you wish to have.
  2. You are looking where everyone else is looking. As a job board, we want you to look at apply to the jobs that we offer on our site. It's a great way to see a mass number of open positions at one time. However, do know that you are competing with a larger number of candidates. Do your homework and find open positions through networking, online searching and leveraging job boards and vertical search engines like Job-A-Lot to uncover hidden gems.
  3. You believe every word coming out of the television. If you think everything is all doom and gloom, its time to snap out of it. Florida is a top 5 city for available internships and entry level positions - so you are in a great place to find opportunity. Take a few minutes out of your day to find positivity and you will find yourself having less stress and an open mind towards your job hunt.
  4. Bad E-Mails. I say this every time that we have a job fair here in Orlando and it is still a major problem that I can assure you is hampering your job prospects. Read your emails, proof them and then look at them again. Start with the subject line and work your way down. Today alone I had emails with
    • No subject
    • Subject line that stated, "Look at my resum"
    • Opening sentence that read, "You sayed send resume so I sended to you."
  5. You are not as productive as you think you are. This is the full time job scenario. Sending out a few resumes in the morning and catching some daytime soaps is not showing determination, initiative or progress. Get into the habit of forming actions that produce successful reactions.

There you have it. I have called out your bluffs, your safety nets and your excuses. All that is left is the hard work that allows you to work hard. Don't forget to prep for the Orlando Job Fair on Thursday, April 16th at the Plaza Theatre, that should be part of your plan!

Happy hunting Orlando!

-Greg Rollett

Friday, March 20, 2009

What's Your Job Story?

People love to tell stories. In fact, it is the most effective way for information to travel. Think of brands that you buy from. Most have a story. Think of a product recommendation from a friend, it usually comes attached with a story.

Looking for a job can be filled with those same stories. Through all the fluff and exxageration that fills resumes and cover letters, a story may be the glue that sticks in a recruiter's mind to grant you that call back, first interview or next step.

The most obvious place to insert a story is in your cover letter. Author Katharine Hansen, of "Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career" cites that;
In a cover letter, you can engage the employer, make an emotional connection, show results, and become instantly memorable by including at least one paragraph in the form of a powerful story.
Some examples the book shares include:
  • Stories of early interest in your career path and determination to reach your career goal.
  • Stories that depict your motivation, enthusiasm, and passion for the job you seek.
  • Stories describing specific projects you've led or collaborated on, including results.
  • Stories detailing problems you've solved for your employers.
  • Stories describing other accomplishments and successes.
  • Stories that reveal your personality.
  • Stories describing long-term interest in, knowledge of, and admiration for the organization you're targeting.
  • Stories that describe how well you fit in with the organization's culture, values, and mission.
  • Stories -- for new graduates -- of how your education has prepared you for the targeted job.
  • Stories that touch the heartstrings.
  • Stories to back up your claims about yourself.
  • Stories that tell how you are uniquely qualified for the targeted job.
  • Stories that capitalize on networking contacts.
  • Stories to explain unusual or potentially negative situations.
  • Stories to explain a career change.
  • Future stories that address employer needs and challenges and tell how you would address those issues.
When structuring your story, conduct it like a story that you have told countless times. You should be able to fluidly chat, maintain integrity and timeliness of the story without fail. Go back to the classic interview question, tell me about yourself, and think of ways to insert compelling and inspiring stories that sell yourself as a viable candidate for the position at hand. Be sure that that story paints a picture into the readers imagination and also stays on topic for the job at hand. No need to have handyman stories in a marketing cover letter.

What's your story Orlando? And how can you apply it to your job search? Let us know in the comments.

-Greg Rollett

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sunny Days Are Coming

Sunshine in your Orlando Job Search(photo by PunkJr)

Floating around the Internet today, I saw a glimpse of hope for job seekers that companies are through with the layoffs and they are going to need to bring on top talent once again. Standout Jobs has produced a report that features responses from 450+ HR executives and recruiters. In the report they asked about future vision for their company and how they would be looking to source for the talent.

Here are a few results:

  • 41% of respondents believe hiring will increase from Q2-Q4 2009.
  • Social networks dominate as the most important recruiting trend, but candidate relationship management is a close second.
  • 27% of respondents believe that a lack of qualified applicants will be the biggest hurdle over the next 5 years.
  • 43% of respondents are not actively implementing recruiting strategies for younger Gen Y and Gen X job seekers. This is extremely surprising.
The first stat is good news to job seekers here in Orlando, where we would love to see an increase in talent acquisition in our larger corporations.

The second point is equally as important. As more companies look to social media and online sourcing objectives, you are going to need to continue to develop your skills and your online brand. Being out of work is no excuse to stop learning, progressing and preparing to wow employers with your net worth.

Happy hunting Orlando and keep your head in the game!

-Greg Rollett

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Employment Guide on FOX News

Here is a shirt clip of Jeff Lebel on FOX News talking about job fairs, how the Employment Guide is helping "Put America Back to Work" and how to succeed at an event like this.



For those looking for more information on our next job fair here in Orlando, please visit the EmploymentGuide.com.

-Greg Rollett

Friday, March 13, 2009

April Job Fair at the Plaza Theatre

Sometimes it takes a change of scenery to create excitement, provoke action and create opportunity. That is the reason we moved our April job fair to Orlando's historic Plaza Theatre. We are bringing in new light to our job fairs, based on feedback from job seekers, companies and looking at other events and tactics that can help you find a new job, career or educational opportunity to improve the value of your life.

The event will take place on Thursday, April 16th from 10am - 2pm and will not only include some great local companies, but also high level speakers, presenters and workshops to enhance your job seeking experience far beyond this one day event. We all understand that looking for a job is like a full time job, and one day at an event is not the end all be all for most job seekers. With this in mind, we have been working with local leaders, government officials, financial institutions and community advocates to bring together a job fair EVENT.

The schedule is as follows:

  • 10:15 - 11:00 'Looking for a Job in the Current Economic Climate'
  • 11:00 - 1145 'Personal Branding and the Power of the Internet' by Mark Krupinski
  • 11:45 - 12:30 'State of the City' (presented by a City or County Government Official)
  • 12:30 - 1:15 'Navigating EmploymentGuide.com and its Suite of Web Sites by Patrick O'Brien'
  • 1:15 - 2:00 'Advanced Tactics for Online Job Seekers' by Greg Rollett
Please come prepared to meet with companies, bring your resumes and also bring hard hitting questions, ideas and an open mind to learn new methods, tactics and hacks to find jobs, networking opportunities and career improvements.

For more information on the job fair, please send an email to greg.rollett@employmentguide.com and I will do my best to get it answered as quickly as possible.

More updates, companies and information can be found on the official job fair page here.

Happy hunting Orlando and we'll see you on Monday.

-Greg Rollett

Thursday, March 5, 2009

FedEx Office To Offer Free Resume Printing on 3/10

FedEx Office is giving away up to 25 resumesFedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinko's) is going to be helping out a lot of job seekers. Next Tuesday, March 10th they will be doing their part to get Orlando and the rest of the country working again. Anyone that comes into their stores during business hours can receive up to 25 copies of their resume printed - free of charge.

Read more from their press center here: FedEx Free Resume Printing

And for those of you in Central Florida, here is a list of locations to get your resume printed for free next Tuesday:

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
47 E Robinson St, Suite 105
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 839-5000
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
350 W Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 644-2971
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
1084 Lee Rd, Suite 6
Orlando, FL 32810
(407) 298-5045
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
2145 Aloma Ave
Winter Park, FL 32792
(407) 677-9950
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
7200 S Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32809
(407) 240-6610
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Signs & Graphics Center
7200 S Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32809
(407) 240-8466
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
3120 S Kirkman Rd
Orlando, FL 32811
(407) 298-7383
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
400 S Orlando Ave, Suite 102
Maitland, FL 32751
(407) 539-0502
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
6651 S Semoran Blvd, Suite 107
Orlando, FL 32822
(407) 856-1277
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
7828 W Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32818
(407) 523-0202
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
175 E Altamonte Dr, Suite 1050
Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
(407) 260-8371
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
150 S State Rd 434, Suite 1091
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
(407) 682-4440
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
5264 Red Bug Lake Rd, Suite 7
Winter Springs, FL 32708
(407) 695-2496
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Convention & Universities
4040 Central Florida Pkwy
Jw Marriott Grand La
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 226-0305
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Convention & Universities
9800 International Dr
Orlando Convention C
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 363-2831
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
11325 University Blvd, Suite 200
Orlando, FL 32817
(407) 282-4260
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
899 N Alafaya Tr
Orlando, FL 32828
(407) 658-9518
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Convention & Universities
6677 Sea Harbor Dr
Renaissance Hotel
Orlando, FL 32821
(407) 226-2113
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
12181 S Apopka Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL 32836
(407) 465-0085
View details, directions & map

FedEx Kinko's Office & Print Center
3295 Greenwald Way N, Suite B
Kissimmee, FL 34741
(407) 933-6760
View details, directions & map

For more locations, please visit FedEx Office.

Happy hunting Orlando!

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