Career Goddess

Get Organized to Get Ahead in Your Job Search

Job search nightmare: A company recruiter calls you about a specific job opening to which you have applied…and you cannot recall anything about it! Furthermore, you have NO IDEA what you said in your customized cover letter or which person you mentioned as the employee who referred you for the job. In other words, you come across as a complete dunce because you are not prepared and organized.

Sound familiar? Keeping track of the details of a job search spiraling out of control is a common problem for job seekers. But you do not have to struggle with Excel spreadsheets or “tickler” files to try to stay on top of each facet of your job search.

My favorite online organization system for job search has been JibberJobber – Jason Alba came up with this extremely valuable tool several years ago, and has been updating it regularly. The basic level has no charge; for advanced functions, there is a modest fee.

Now there is a new player. The newest organization tool online for job search, Huntsy, has launched. It includes some interesting features:

• A tool similar to Pinterest to “clip” job postings and input them into your account to easily track them.
• Social networking integration so you will be notified of any your friends or connections who have worked, or currently work, at a company where you are going to apply. This allows you to leverage your network for employee referrals.
• Reminders about following up after applying, after interviews, or after other communications with people important to each job opening. Using your social network is the key to getting “warm referrals”, which will be more likely to generate interest in your candidacy by each company.

In January 2012 I wrote about Huntsy’s free ebook “Handbook for the Recently Unemployed”, which contained job-hunt advice from 15 blogger authors (myself included). With your signup for Huntsy (complimentary), you will receive a link to download that entire ebook.

These two websites (JibberJobber and Huntsy) are worth checking out if being naturally organized is not one of your strengths....or even if it is! You will be amazed how much an online organization tool – one that is available at your fingertips via your mobile phone – can enhance your ability to respond intelligently to “surprise” phone calls from recruiters.

What Does Passion Have To Do with Careers?

What is “the highest expression of YOUR talent?” Can you identify your dream job? Or is your job search about settling for whatever comes along?

This TEDxUW talk by University of Waterloo professor and economist Larry Smith is on a subject you may think surprising for an economist: passion, dreams, and having a great career.

One of Prof. Smith’s former students did just that. With his passion and dreams in mind, he founded and developed the company Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of the groundbreaking BlackBerry wireless mobile smartphone.

This serious topic is presented with a tongue-in-cheek delivery and probing questions. In fact, it is a bit in-your-face and definitely funny...in other words, a must-see career video!

In my private practice as a career coach to executives and professionals, I hear many of the “excuses” Prof. Smith cites.

But here’s the bottom-line: if you talk yourself out of having a dream job, then you surely will succeed!