Job Search Tips

Lying on your resume is very tempting, but please don’t do it. It can cause you so much heartache. Take the story of George O’Leary. Mr. O’Leary was a successful college football coach who finally landed his dream job as the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame. For non college football fans Notre Dame is the most storied college football program of all time, and being their head coach is a life long goal for many coaches.

George O’Leary was announced as Notre Dame’s new head football coach after a successful tenure as coach of Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, a few days into his new job inaccuracies in his resume surfaced. George had claimed on his resume to have earned a Master degree at a nonexistent University. He also lied about playing sports at the University of New Hampshire. The last straw was when it surfaced that he also falsified academic credentials. The University of Notre Dame asked for his resignation Mr. O’Leary was out as their football coach two weeks into his tenure.

This story is an extreme example, but I’m sure not a day goes by without someone getting caught lying on their resume. It may be tempting to enhance your resume a little but please don’t do it. In today’s world it is increasingly easy and cost effective to have resumes screened for inaccuracy. Don’t take the change of ruining your professional reputation.

What do you do when your over 50 and looking for a job. Age discrimination is a reality, but you can do things to combat it. Check it this great article on the subject.

Check out the guy at 9:40 into this clip. Make a note never do your reverse Pterodactyl bit in a job interview.

Yesterday I linked to an article listing the 10 jobs that companies had the most difficult time filling. One of those jobs was for IT professionals. IT is a great high paying field with ever increasing demand. But, how do you know if IT is the right job for you? Read on:

If you had teachers in school coming to you about school related computer issues then IT might be for you.

If you have ever installed a video card or sound card in you computer then IT might be for you.

If you love figuring out different computer related problems then IT might be for you.

If your friends and relatives ask you to fix their computer issues then IT might be for you.

If you are a regular ready of Slashdot.com then IT might be for you.

If you have four computers and only two of them actually work then IT might be for you.

If you grew up loving Star Wars and Star Trek then IT might be for you.

If you love working with computers and want to make it your career then IT might be for you.

If you see yourself in this list and are wondering if IT is the right field for you then look not further. The answer is yes. So brush up your resume and find your first IT job.

Here is great article in Forbes listing the 10 jobs that are hardest from companies. Two jobs are the list I would recommend to anyone is a position to retrain (which is most people by the way) are nursing and IT. Nurses are will paid and their demand will only increase as baby boomers get order.

IT professionals are always in demand. While programming is not as lucrative as during the dot com days, IT workers can make a good living doing something that is enjoyable.

Check out the article here!

You might be surprised at what networking can bring into your life. A new job or a private concert with Jimmy Buffet!

Have you ever seen a coworker resign his position only to suddenly change their mind? You know that the company counter offered and bumped his salary in order to keep him. This happens and it is infuriating to loyal employees that don’t make waves. When is the company going to reward loyalty?

The answer is never. If you are waiting around for someone to tap you on the shoulder to reward your hard work and loyalty you will be waiting a very long time. It just doesn’t work that way in what I like to call reality.  In reality you must create a little tension to get your just rewards. You must cause a little friction. You must be willing to lay your cards on the table and clearly communicate what additional composition you are looking for.

Now before we continue let me point out the obvious fact that in order to be successful at requesting more money, you must be a valuable employee. If you have the feeling that no one would miss you if you left, then don’t bother. Just continue to sit back collecting paychecks until that inevitable day when your boss calls you into his office for a chat.

For those of you that remain congratulations! You are a valuable employee and your employer would not want to lose you. But how do you leverage this into an increased salary? This is a very tricky question with many different possibilities. Here is what I recommend.

First off you should quietly begin a job search looking for other career opportunities. You don’t want to start salary negotiations without having other options lined up. You also want to know with confidence what the current market salary for you skill set would be.

This kind of job search should be private. Don’t reveal your name, email address, phone number, address, or current employer. Contact a quality job search company to make this easy. Once you have a feel for the market place its time to formulate the message that you’ll be bringing to your current employer.

The first thing you want to do is get clear about what you want. Are you looking for a salary increase? If you are looking for a salary bump then how much do you want? You must never be vague when requesting a salary increase. Vague requests get vague responses.  Think in terms of percentage increases. For example your goal could be a 10% pay increase.

Don’t forget that you could also negotiate other items including time off.  I once used up all my time off due to the birth of my son and negotiated an extra paid week off.  Employers will often give you extra time off a lot easier then they will give you a pay increase because time off is a soft cost.

Once you have a goal in mind you must set a formal meeting with your supervisor and lay your cards on the table. I recommend that you prepare an update to date resume and list what you bring to the table. This is not the time to be modest. Lay out your accomplishments out and remind your employer why you are so valuable. Then make your request and provide back up information.  “I’m looking for a 10% salary increase which would put my salary in line with the current market for my skill set and productivity level.”  Put it out there and shut your mouth. Let you boss digest your request and come back with a response. You might be surprised his response.

One thing that you should never do is to use a job offer to club your current employer. This is bad protocol and has a high likelihood of getting you escorted out the door next to Johnny the security guard with a box full of cubical crap including a squeeze toy and red stapler.

This whole exercise involves leaving your comfort zone, but if you are willing to put yourself out there you might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Energy Job

This video cracked me up! As someone who deals with job search issues all I could think about was how George Thornton (1:00 into the video) was going to add this to his resume.

Led project to remove the carcass of eight ton Sperm Whale. Utilized advanced explosive technique to disintegrate animal.