On Careers: Outside Voices Is hanging onto your job one of your big worries for 2009? If so, you're not the only one.
It seems no one feels really safe anymore. But don't despair. Take a cue from a segment of society that has never enjoyed much employment security—freelancers.
Freelancers know that the key to keeping their paychecks—and their sanity—is proving their value to their clients every single day. They never forget that they need to consistently be a client's best "employee." They're always looking for ways to promote themselves. They know they can't afford to get too comfortable. They are basically always looking for a job, and that is where their strength lies.
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Twenty seconds. That's how long, on average, your résumé is reviewed.
This is why it is often the form, and not the substance, of your résumé that gets the most attention. So, you'll have to make yours errorproof, clean, and well designed just to get past the first five seconds.
Next, be sure your résumé highlights experience relevant to the job. This means making your résumé fit exactly the company and the position. I understand that it takes a bit of extra work to make a custom résumé for each job opening. Obviously, if you are going to broadcast your résumé out to hundreds of employers HOPING to get noticed, this will not be possible. But this generic résumé blasting hardly ever works.
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Alison Green Alison Green
I love to serve as a job reference for most former employees. But I've also occasionally been asked to be a reference for employees I can't honestly recommend. Here are some ways to handle reference requests when you can't recommend the candidate:
1. Whenever possible, warn the employee in advance that you won't be able to provide a positive reference. You may still receive calls from reference checkers who go outside the list of references provided by the candidate, but this should minimize it.
2. If you get a call anyway, you have the option of only confirming the person's title and dates of employment. However, be prepared for a savvy reference checker to ask if this is your policy across the board or just for this candidate.
...continue reading. Tags: careers | employment
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It's early in the new year, and that means that well-intentioned, business-minded folks will be looking to better themselves. One way that is accomplished is by continuing education.
My employer offers a pretty generous benefits package, but unfortunately, tuition reimbursement is not among the perks. I've been thinking about how to approach management to make a case for myself. Here's what I have so far. Any other ideas?
Ways to lobby for tuition reimbursement:
...continue reading. Tags: benefits | careers | continuing education
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Michael Wade Michael Wade
Their achievements are indisputable. They are regarded as successful by their peers. But none of this matters.
They think they are impostors.
I have met many of them. These insecure souls dismiss their accomplishments with a variety of excuses:
- "I lucked out."
- "I smooth-talked my way into a promotion."
- "They overestimated my skills."
- "My competition wasn't that strong."
- "I had connections."
When asked which skills they would need in order to be a true achiever instead of a fake, they cite a skill that is somewhere out there, one that others possess. The missing skill of one "impostor" may be held by another "impostor" in the very same profession and work environment and vice versa, but each person claims that his or her skill is meaningless. They are convinced the real substance is elsewhere: "The other people are the ones who know what they are doing. I'm simply a sham."
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Curt Rosengren Curt Rosengren
I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. I love using the new year as a time for reflection and for looking ahead, but as a tool for meaningful change, New Year's resolutions stink. Roughly 90 percent of them fall flat, leaving a trail of failure and frustration in their wake.
I think it's time for a different spin. Instead of a grand commitment to change that loses steam by the end of January, make a commitment to constructing 52 New Week's Resolutions over the coming year.
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Outside Voices - ''Working Girl'' aka Karen Burns Outside Voices - ''Working Girl'' aka Karen Burns
You're probably seeing a lot of articles this week with headlines like "Ten Best Career Resolutions for 2009."
"Update your résumé," they'll advise. "Acquire a new skill." "Do more networking." "Work smarter, not harder."
Good ideas. But here's a better one: Have a Plan B .
...continue reading. Tags: careers | recession
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