What Happens to Your Social Media Profiles When You Die?While Twitter will start deleting accounts after six months of inactivity, most other social networks won’t touch your profile unless specifically asked by a family member or an agent of law enforcement.
Resumes are overrated.
“Can you review my resume” is the first question most people ask me when they find out I’m a career adviser. They waste the chance to develop new strategies for connecting with employers and others in their career field.
Too often job seekers think a few tweaks on a piece of paper are the only things keeping them from being hired.
Most job seekers get more results focusing on building relationships within their professional community (um, isn’t that networking?), than spending hours editing their resumes. Continue reading
Like many people, the career area I’m in now is completely different from the career I started.
I started in journalism and media; now I’m a career adviser. Because the two career areas seem completely unrelated, people often ask me how I got here from where I was.
Here is an interview I gave to Media Shower about my transition into career advising, and why helping people find meaningful careers is so important to me.
I appreciate Sam Jordan’s funny and interesting questions. I usually don’t talk about my (distant) connections to Prince or Donny Osmond.
Sam also got me to talk seriously about how the 9/11 terrorist attacks changed my life – a difficult time to think about.
We also discussed the Minneapolis job market. I gave an honest answer and talked about Minnesota’s racial economic disparities.
The many, complicated reasons why people of color are not being hired into or retaining good-paying, career-advancing jobs is a serious issue that affects our entire economy.
In addition to helping job seekers to make positive decisions that affect their lives and careers, I intend to examine and write about some of the larger issues affecting the employment and education of everyday people.
You can find a bit more about where I’m coming from in the interview 10,000 Hours in 10 minutes: Denise Felder on Career Coaching.
Career Services Center – April 9 & 10, 2013
Career Fair – April 10, 2013
WHERE: Minneapolis Convention Center
WHAT: Receive free one-on-one coaching to prepare for the Career Fair and/or job interviews. Special training for veterans will also be offered.
Career services including:
WHO: Job seekers with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, college students and veterans
MORE:
Also from DeniseMpls:
You go on an interview. You think it went well, but the employer doesn’t call you for a second interview.
What happened?
Truth #1: There are many things an employer thinks about when hiring a new employee. Most of them have nothing to do with you.
The ultimate reason why you do or do not get a job offer might be completely out of your control.
Truth #2: If you did do something wrong during the interview, an employer probably would not tell you. They would just send you a rejection letter.
So what are employers not telling you?
Here are a few things you might be doing that are turning away employers.
Employer Turn Offs
You smell bad.
Wearing cologne or perfume to a job interview might seem like a good idea, but it’s not. Fragrances can be overwhelming when you are in a small space, like an office. Plus, some people have allegories to fragrances – scents can cause headaches, nausea or an asthma attack.
An employer will not tell you that you smell bad; they might not even make a face. But the hiring manager is thinking that they do not want to hire someone with an offensive order, or whose scent might make their customers or coworkers sick.
Bathe before each meeting with an employer, and skip the perfumes and cologne. Also, don’t smoke before an interview or job fair. People who smoke often smell like cigarettes without knowing it.
You seem depressed.
It’s normal for an unemployed person to feel sad or anxious. However, you don’t want these feelings to affect your job interviews. Even the most sympathetic employer does not want to hire someone who is moody or has low energy.
If you are feeling unusually low, talk to your doctor or a counselor. They will have resources and tips to help you through your depression.
If you are not sure of what employers think of you, here are two things you can do.
1. Ask your career advisers or friends for honest feedback about your attitude, interview skills, and presentation. Use their comments to improve how you present yourself to employers.
2. Ask employers what they think of you. At the end of an interview, you can ask the hiring manager if they have any concerns about your qualifications. It’s a gutsy question to ask, but if the employer gives you an honest answer, you have the chance to discuss their concerns immediately.
Before you change your interview or job search strategies, talk with your career advisers. It’s better to get feedback from someone you know before you make another bad impression on an employer.
More Info
