College Grads Need LinkedIn Profile to Land Jobs

It is common knowledge to many professionals that LinkedIn.com is the preferred business-oriented social networking site; College Grads who use LinkedIn have an advantage. In today’s highly competitive job market, LinkedIn has become quite popular with recruiters seeking to find the best candidates for job openings. LinkedIn recognizes the special needs of graduates in todays highly competitive job market, they have been busy developing services with a new site dedicated to helping the recent college grad launch their career and build a professional network, the “O9 Grad Guide” http://grads.linkedin.com/ includes a new “people search” tool.

It comes down to one thing: you need a killer LinkedIn profile to optimize your job search and land a job. Creating a successful LinkedIn profile that will get noticed by employers and recruiters, is as important as creating a winning resume. Chris Murdock, employment and recruiting expert for LandingJobs has introduced a new workshop: How To Become a LinkedIn Pro. In this workshop Chris discusses the methods and tactics, tips and tricks for creating your LinkedIn profile. We highly recommend this workshop, the time is now to take action and educate yourself on how to land a job in 2009. A brief segment from the workshop showing how to find recruiters who are currently looking to fill positions in inside sales is shown here:

Whats Age Got to Do With It?

A few months ago, I interviewed for an inside sales position with a large company. I knew that my abilities, qualifications and experience matched the position’s job requirements; in addition, I felt that the interview had gone quite well. When the position was ultimately given to a 23 year old recent college graduate, I was disappointed. I could not help but wonder; did it have something to do with my age?

A recent CBS News article noted "Complaints of age bias to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jumped 29 percent to 24,852 in the year that ended in September 2008, the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available. That's the highest such total on records dating back 16 years." According to the EEOC, complaints have continued at a high pace this year. Yes, age discrimination is real, though unfortunately for job seekers, hard to prove. You have seen the ads, "We are seeking a recent college graduate..." or "ideal for early career candidate..." and "join our young, high energy team....” I have accepted that this is just one more challenge to confront while searching for a job in a tough employment market, I have chosen to focus on what I can do, and that begins with trying to understand the reasons (or misconceptions) why many employers are reluctant to hire older workers:

• Less flexible, set in their ways
• Less agile with technology
• Overqualified and will leave for higher paying job
• Skills acquired from long career in previous industry are not valid
• More experienced than hiring manager
• Won't fit in with other employees
• Works at slower pace than younger employees

I have been asked on job interviews "don't you think you are a little overqualified for this position?" and the best one yet, "are you fast?" A question I found puzzling for a sales position. I recently read that "Older workers have a longer attention span and are often more patient, which strikes younger workers as being slow." Interesting how patience and long attention span are now considered a handicap.

Many of the unemployed come from industries that have significantly downsized, where the opportunity for further employment in their former field is greatly diminished, one of these industries is financial services. I won't pretend to have all the answers, nor have I completely mastered the challenge of age bias, what I know is I'm not prepared to give up, nor can I afford to. With many transferable skills, but perhaps not a lot of direct experience in other industries, this meant reinventing not only my skills, but my attitude.

Never has the age gap felt more real to me than the job interview I went on dressed in my best navy blue Nordstrom suit, wearing my favorite pearl earrings, to be greeted by an interviewer in t-shirt and jeans. Rather than feeling awkward all dressed up, I laughed and mentioned how appealing it would be to be able to wear my jeans to work. It all comes down to respect and appreciation for our differences, we have the wealth of our experience in a variety of work environments to offer younger workers, and they have plenty to teach us with their input and fresh ideas.

While striving to reinvent your career, it is essential that you stay positive and persist. Eliminate clues on your resume that would show your age, such as your college graduation date. Even if you have that thirty year career you are proud of, keep your resume relevant with a ten to fifteen year history. Demonstrate your willingness to learn by taking classes, if you are not comfortable with technology, you need to get there, quickly. Utilize professional and social networking sites like http://www.linkedin.com/ and http://www.twitter.com/. Prepare for questions in interviews that may reveal the interviewers concerns about hiring an employee with more years and experience than they have, how will you answer? Stress your flexibility, willingness to learn and ability to adapt well to change.

In an age blended work environment each generation will likely have different work and communication styles, and that's a good thing. The single most valuable lesson I learned managing people; the most effective managers appreciate and utilize the best in all of us.

Kelly Leigh Wilson

Beating the Unemployment Blues

Yesterday, as I watched one of the many news programs dedicated to Michael Jackson and his memorial, I paused as I heard Michael’s voice in an interview…

"No matter what, the most powerful thing in the world is the human mind and prayer, and belief in yourself and confidence and perseverance. No matter how many times you do it, you do it again until it's right.

And always believe in yourself. And no matter who's around you that is being negative or thrusting negative energy at you, totally block it off. Because whatever you believe, you become."

As a person who has experienced unemployment, his comments seemed to reach out and touch me in a personal way. Coping with unemployment is certainly one of the biggest tests of confidence and belief in oneself that we experience in life. Maintaining hopefulness despite high unemployment numbers and all of the negative predictions about the job market poses the toughest challenge.

Lower psychological well-being during unemployment can be attributed to many factors: financial stress, change in social status, lack of activity, and duration of unemployment. For some, unemployment may spark a period of depression that requires medical intervention. Depression affects your moods, thoughts and energy. It can also affect your relationships and ability to find a new job. For many unemployed people, depression comes in waves, with good days where you feel hopeful and optimistic, and bad days where you may feel powerless to change your situation.

According to psychotherapist, Gina Simmons, Ph.D. (http://www.manageangerdaily.com/), “Unemployment can trigger normal feelings of anger, worry and sadness. These feelings usually pass once the stress of unemployment disappears. If the anxiety, anger or sadness stops you from job hunting, incites self destructive behavior (like excessive drinking) or begins to damage your relationships, consider professional help. If you still have health insurance ask for a referral to a psychologist or counselor from your insurer or physician. You can obtain low or no cost counseling through many local religious organizations, community clinics or college campuses.”

It’s helpful to develop coping strategies to pull yourself up when you begin to feel the blues. I will share with you a few I found that work for me, perhaps some of these will work for you as well:

• Get organized. Clean your house, from top to bottom, clutter is the enemy, get rid of it and make some money. There are clothes you no longer wear, junk you should toss, and plenty of good stuff you simply do not need, sort it out and have a sale. Sell your unwanted clutter on EBay and Craigslist or try the old standard, have a garage sale. You will feel productive and maybe earn some needed cash!
• Do something physical every day. Exercise is the best natural way to elevate mood. If a trek to the gym isn’t for you, then walk. Even if it is around your neighborhood, try to walk at least 30 minutes a day.
• Develop a schedule. For me this meant getting up at the same time every day. Having a morning routine that was similar to when I was working, shower and dress as early as possible. Eat breakfast.
  - Schedule a certain amount of hours to your job search daily. For me it was 5 hours. Spend these hours promoting yourself. This can entail: posting for jobs, networking with your contacts (by phone and email), or using social networking sites. Remember that everyone you know and everyone you meet is a potential referral source to a job. I talk to everyone.
  - Get out of the house at least a couple of hours a day. Go to the grocery store, the library, take a class, and join a job club. I found a variety of groups on http://www.meetup.com/.
• Volunteer. Helping others is good for the psyche, the heart and your community. Volunteer Match is a good place to find a volunteer need in your community. The organization offers a variety of online services to support a community of nonprofit, volunteer and business leaders committed to civic engagement. Volunteering can be anything from admin work for a non-profit, to helping at a homeless shelter, or local schools. http://www.volunteermatch.org/.
• Work on self improvement. This may end up being the quietest period in your adult life, a time for reflection, and quite possibly positive change. In life there are cycles. Sometimes bad things happen and our lives are turned upside down, and sometimes, we emerge out the other side with a new, happier and healthier life.
  

The power of the mind is huge. If you let yourself dwell in misery you won’t have room to see what is good in your life. Surround yourself with supportive friends and family. The people who care about you are your greatest allies. Be the person they enjoy. Take time to have fun and be a friend to others. Remember, you are not alone.

Kelly Leigh Wilson