Job Search Strategies

Three home truths so you can secure your ultimate job

April 18, 2016 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

1. It is not about you, it is about them

As a job hunter, your resume and your responses to the selection criteria are actually not about YOU. Yes, you heard me – they are not about YOU – they are about what you can offer THEM (the employer and agency). Once you understand this vital principle, then you can start creating a document that meets their needs and the best way to do this, is to simply mirror their requirements, right down to the language they use. It is all about creating the linkage between what THEY require and what YOU can offer.

The best way to achieve this, create a T-Account. Simply draw a line down the middle of the page and one side, list the employer needs and other the other side of the line, list all your hard and soft skills that prove you can do the job. This exercise will help you to pin point what you can offer the employer. [Read more…] about Three home truths so you can secure your ultimate job

How safe is your job and how to future-proof your career

March 14, 2016 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

How to future-proof your career

The world of work is changing rapidly during the past decade due to increased globalisation, the proliferation of online social media and technological advances.

‘Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future’. John F. Kennedy, 35^th President of the United States

Combine these changes (the online revolution, new technology such robotic technology and global outsourcing) with the fact that competition for senior jobs can be INTENSE, it is no longer viable as a professional, manager or executive to only work on job prospects when you decide you want, or need a new job. [Read more…] about How safe is your job and how to future-proof your career

Why the easy convenience of job boards, can result in the hardest job search journey

November 2, 2015 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

Australian’s have an addiction to job boards.

If you talk to the bulk of job hunters, the only vision, or method they use when finding a new job, is to go straight to a job board, quickly search online for jobs that look like a ‘possible fit’ and then start submitting their resume and cover letter. Then they wait…. don’t hear anything, or get rejection letters, so submit some more applications via the job boards and then wait…

I think our addiction to job boards is that they are ‘so easy to use’ and the promise of the perfect and highly lucrative job beckons us.

In the meantime, in the land of ‘job search coaches’, we try to drown out the message emanating from job boards and their effective and easy sell about securing your dream job at the press of a button. We spend a good portion of our time advocating alternative strategies, such as direct job search campaigns, networking, researching opportunities, optimising, LinkedIn (to name a few methods).

Why having an online presence is becoming increasingly important as a job hunter.

September 21, 2015 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

The bulk of my clients fall into 2 categories – those that have embraced social media, including LinkedIn and those that have deemed social media as irrelevant and a ‘waste of time’.

Now if you fall into the latter category and you don’t have an online presence and you are a professional, manager or executive, this could increasingly become a liability to progressing your career. Let me explain.

Being online matters for the following reasons:

Busting some key myths about LinkedIn

August 17, 2015 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

Myth One –LinkedIn is about YOU

If you think your LinkedIn profile is about YOU, you need to start thinking about this document in a whole new light. NO a LinkedIn profile is not about YOU, it is about what YOU can offer THEM! That is the employer, recruiter, hiring manager, or client.

Once you understand this vital principle, then you can start creating a profile that meets the needs of the audience.

The modern realities of job search

March 17, 2015 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

Not so long ago, all you needed was to scratch together a solid resume and a cover letter and apply through your network, or send a hard copy of your resume to the employer that advertised in the newspaper.

In 2015, the recruitment landscape has changed dramatically and in this article, I’m going to share a few tips, so you avoid the major pitfalls of the modern job search. [Read more…] about The modern realities of job search

Job Search Strategies

Myth One –LinkedIn is about YOU

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