Thursday, December 27, 2007

Celebrating the past present and future



Thoughts from the commute

Mobile post sent by danieljohnsonjr using Utterz Replies.  mp3

Friday, December 21, 2007



Mobile post sent by danieljohnsonjr using Utterz Replies.  mp3

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

How do you face intimidating opportunities?

Do you run toward or away opportunities that you know would require a change in your character? What I talk about here could be applied not only to job searching, but to life in general.

Links mentioned:

  1. http://getthatjobonline.com
  2. http://danieljohnsonjr.com
  3. http://twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr


Mobile post sent by danieljohnsonjr using Utterz Replies.  mp3


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Thursday, November 29, 2007

One Week Job

Have you heard that you'll have many jobs during your worklife? This guy's working on one different job every week for a year: One Week Job

Hat tip to Shea Gunther via Twitter

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Monday, November 26, 2007

How to Conduct a Job Interview

As often happens, while browsing for a link to something else for a friend, I saw this interesting episode through BusinessWeek's Smart Answers podcast (Small Business Tips and Advice with Karen E. Klein). Although I haven't listened to it myself just yet, I think it's worthwhile, even just to see things from an interviewer's perspective. That way we can better prepare ourselves as job seekers.

How to Conduct a Job Interview


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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Religion in a Job Search

Jason just put up a great post to discuss the concept of religion in a job search. I wholeheartedly recommend you go over there and join the conversation.

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Friday, November 09, 2007

The Impetus for a Job Change?



To say I'm upset is an understatement. In this Utterz from the Road (player embedded above), I talk about a "Coaching Memo" I received today that could very well be the impetus needed for me to make a job move. Please check out http://danieljohnsonjr.com/

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Friday, November 02, 2007

The Meaning of Career

Have you ever wondered where the word "career" came from? Charles Hodgson shares the word origin on his podictionary podcast. Maybe now we'll understand why we feel like we're running around in circles?

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Find high quality Hispanic jobs at LatPro.com.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Craigslist Job Seeker Killed


I firmly believe in using social media and new media tools in our job searches; tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Craigslist. These and several others make it easier than ever to connect with people.

Having said that, we still need to be careful, as Steven Rothberg from College Recruiter.com mentions:

Front page news in the Minneapolis newspapers over the past couple of days has been the killing of Katherine Ann Olson. While any murder is tragic, this one is noteworthy to employers and job seekers alike because it appears to be related to the victim's use of Craiglist to find a nanny position.

Ms. Olson was looking for a nanny job. She had successfully used Craigslist before and so searched it again. She found an ad of interest responded. She told her roommate that she was going to meet the family from the ad. After she didn't come home, police initiated a search and found her dead in the trunk of her car at a park in Burnsville, Minnesota late Friday night.
I believe in the power of meeting up face-to-face with others, but I also strongly believe that these meetings must occur in public places like food courts at shopping malls or coffee shops, especially when meeting up for the first time.

What about you? What do make of all this? Join the conversation below.

Update: Craigslist scam avoidance tips

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DiversityJobs.com has thousands of jobs from employers committed to diversity.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Considering a job offer

Good morning, you wonderful people!

I have a decision I need to make about a job change very soon - even today. I was given a consulting-type job offer that I'm seriously considering.

So many things point to it being good; a lot of the opposites to my current position.

I'm working through concerns over whether I can really do this new job, because it's different from what I've been doing. You see, in my current position, I get to be creative, and I've learned THAT is one of my strongest motivators.

I'm not sure that exists with this new job. But I'm considering taking it and then looking for something creative as a hobby outside of work. I mean, I already have creative hobbies outside of work, but continuing with them.

Another thing that strongly motivates me is that I can really do a good job at what I've been tasked to do; i.e., I want to set myself up for success in the work I do.

As I type that last sentence, it almost sounds like I'm limiting myself - maybe I am. In most of my adult life, I've not been one to take many risks, especially since I'm the primary breadwinner of our family.

Yet I can't help think that this could be the Lord prompting me to "get out of the boat."

I appreciate your thoughts and prayers and comments.

crossposted to Journey Inside My Mind Blog

Monday, October 08, 2007

Daniel Johnson, Jr. Interview on Post It Cast Live on Tuesday


Post It Cast Live
Host: Michael W. Moss
Episode: Interview With Dan Johnson Jr.
Host Of The Journey Inside My Mind Podcast: http://jimmpodcast.blogspot.com/
Also huge promoter of a great cause: http://onevoicewalk.org/
Tuesday, 09 October 2007
6:15 pm Eastern
live podcast
724.444.7444
Talkcast ID 32555
Answers Here

-----
Check out my other blogs:
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Add Google Alerts to your job hunting toolbelt


No, I haven't left this blog dormant. In fact, nearly every day over the past month or so, I've thought about you who stop by to read. In case you are interested in where I've been, let me point you to this blog post: One Voice Walk 2007. I've spent the last month or so doing some online publicity work for that project.

Do you know about Google Alerts? They are one set of tools in your new media toolkit that can help you in your job search.

Google Alerts let you find out about new web pages on topics of interest. I have them set up for my own blog properties, my name, the names of others, and other projects, etc.

For a job search, you should set up Google Alerts for companies you are targeting. Alternatively, you could set up alerts to keep current on what's going on in a particular career, especially if you're looking to make a change.

You do need to have a Google account, which is free, in order to set these up.

What are some ways that you have been using Google Alerts?

If you'd like to stay in touch, you can



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Find out more about Hispanic Recruiting at LatPro.com.

Monday, August 13, 2007

QUESTION: Drawing the line between effective promotion and spam

This is a question I've asked my LinkedIn network, and I also ask here:

How do you draw the line between effective promotion and spam?

When marketing a brand or doing some other type of publicity for someone or something, there are effective ways to promote, and there are not so effective ways. How do identify, especially in the digital age in which we live, where the line between effective promotion (self- or otherwise) is and where you've crossed it?
Comments are open and genuinely appreciated!

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crossposted to http://danieljohnsonjr.blogspot.com


Visit DiversityJobs.com for articles, news, and advice on Diversity recruiting.

Friday, July 13, 2007

It's A Mashup World for Job Seekers


Welcome to the world of mashups. I first came to understand that term as applied to mixing up different kinds of music when I started listening to podcasts back in July 2005. Now the term applies to mixing up all kinds of media, including feeds from different websites.

Have you heard of Yahoo! Pipes? This is a website that lets you set up and create your own mashups of information from different websites. For example, there's a pipe that finds videos on YouTube related to items on the front page of the New York Times. Another pipes searches YouTube for music videos for the top 10 songs found on iTunes.

yahoo pipes web2.0 mashup
An interesting thing about these pipes is that you can subscribe to the RSS feed in an aggregator such as Google Reader or Bloglines.

While browsing Yahoo! Pipes earlier today, I found some that others have created that relate to job searching. Check them out, and, by all means, use.What tools have you found useful to you in your job search? Let me know.



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Find more on diversity in the workplace at DiversityJobs.com.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

A little link-love...

... could go a long way.

reaching down1
reaching down1,
originally uploaded by addy1969.
I've noticed a number of interesting websites linking back here, lately:
  • Open Future©: John S. Veitch from New Zealand includes this blog in a section entitled "People With Ideas" - I consider that a compliment.

  • Work in Progress: Lisa Takeuchi Cullen is a New York-based staff writer for TIME. She writes about workplace trends. I'm encouraged to be among the blogroll.

  • The Job Blog: A set of regularly updated links to jobs and career information from around the web, coming via the Boston Globe's web site.

  • Water Cooler Wisdom: Alexandra Levit's up-to-the-minute career advice from one who has survived the trenches.

  • Wired and Hired: written by recruiters to help professionals navigate changing jobs in marketing, p.r., and advertising careers.
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Friday, June 29, 2007

Test drive your dream job

This is interesting. One of my Twitter friends told me to check out Vocation Vacations.

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Read local business journals for market info potential leads

Do you read the local business journal the city where you live or want to work? Years ago I started doing that, just to see what companies are doing in the area and as a potential source for job leads, a way to get an understanding of the job market. I can't remember whether the Cincinnati Business Courier does it, but the Dayton Business Journal publishes these lists every week of fastest growing companies, top minority-owned businesses, etc. I liked looking at those lists because it gave the name of the top official as well as other relevant information for generating leads.

I'm currently have the RSS feed for the Cincinnati Business Courier's Breaking News in my Bloglines collection. I often don't know what to make of some of the information I read, though.

On one hand I hear that unemployment rates are up slightly, but then I read that the job market for IT professionals is pretty good. I even saw this morning that Cincinnati is ranked 18th on Forbes magazine recent Best Cities for Young Professionals list.

Does it seem confusing to you? It does to me, sometimes. Then I look at the details and see that the unemployment article is talking about Ohio metro areas overall. I guess that's what we need to do - look at the details a bit more closely.

Also, I think it's a good idea not to let negative information put a cloud over your job search efforts. Doing so can lead to making excuses. You'll be tempted, as I am, to think and say things like, "Oh, the job market's just down; that's why I'm not able to find work." Let's think and believe bigger than that.

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Thursday, June 28, 2007

Retrospective - Year-to-date and prior-year snapshots

From time to time, especially since I've been blogging for awhile, I like to look back through the archives of my blogs. I believe, however, that this is the first time I've done this for Get That Job!

Starting off by going back each month of 2007 so far:

Here's what happened as we go back a year at a time during this blog's history:Have you found anything from the archives that you'd like brought back up to the surface? Let me know, and I'll share it with the rest of the group here.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Career strategies for using MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites

I've listened to Peter Clayton's interview with Steven Rothberg two days in a row, because it's got me thinking about my own career strategies for using social networking sites, as well as my portfolio blog. You need to listen to this, too.

From the shownotes at TotalPicture.com:

Did you know that MySpace is the 3rd most visited U.S. website and that the average age of a MySpace user is 35? Check out this interview, which covers an overview of CollegeRecruiter.com, and an in-depth analysis - from a career strategy perspective - of MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Second Life.
Click on the player to hear the 39-minute interview:


powered by ODEO

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Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Ron Hittle inspired me with one sentence

"To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground." - Stephen R. Covey, via QuotesBlog
I met Ron Hittle about 3-1/2 years ago at a career workshop at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. I remember that it was an encouraging and inspiring time for me, since I was really struggling for direction in my career. The encounter and events since then have showed me how powerful connecting with one person can positively affect another.

That year I also met a recruiter in the Dayton area, and we've exchanged e-mails and phone conversations over the past three years or so, having become part of each other's professional network.

She mentioned early on that I must have met Ron Hittle.
"How did you know that?" I asked.

"From then ending of your voicemail message," she replied. "I do that, too."
Imitation, it's been said, is the sincerest form of flattery. This recruiter and I at different times had adopted Ron's way of closing a message as our own.

It's a little bittersweet that I share all of this, because a few moments ago, she called me to say that Ron Hittle passed away this weekend. He'd retired some time ago and had been dealing with some health issues, but it still came suddenly. My thoughts and prayers go up to the family, as well as those who knew Ron well. He will surely be missed.

As I mentioned, I didn't know Ron that well, but he left a lasting impression on me just from one statement from his voicemail message, because it points to my own ability to do something about my life versus letting something happen.

If you've received an email from me or have heard me sign off on my mostly music podcast, you probably already know what I'm about to say.

Most people I know usually end a conversation by saying, "Have a great day!"

Ron Hittle would say, "Make it a great day!"

Thanks, Ron. I think I will.

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Find information on Diversity recruiting at DiversityJobs.com.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Overcoming Excuses in a Job Search (video)

In lieu of a text post, and as part of the testing effort for Blogger in Draft, I've uploaded a video about a book I've started re-reading. I also mentioned the Journey Inside My Mind Podcast but forgot to mention the URL: http://jimmpodcast.com.



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Visit DiversityJobs.com for information on Diversity in the workplace.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Who is Daniel Johnson, Jr.?

I suppose it's time I should share a bit more about me, in case this is your first time here. Here's the latest version.

I've been blogging since January 2002 and podcasting since August 2005. I now have more blogs than I care to count. I started Get That Job! back in July 2002 because I was finding so much information online as I was going through my own job search. One thing I've learned over the past five years is how important it is to connect with others.

Here is more of me, in case you're interested:

And of course you can find me on MySpace, LinkedIn, and other social media networks. I'm always open to connect; just let me know how you found me.

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Find thousands of Hispanic jobs at LatPro.com.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Edvisors/Student Loan Network Hiring Developers (video)

Christopher Penn, the Chief Technology Officer at Edvisors and the Student Loan Network in the Boston area, just put out a Jobcast, stating that they are looking to hire some developers. Find the job details at www.Edvisors.com/jobs, but also check out this video to see what might be in it for you:



Christopher also hosts and produces the Financial Aid Podcast, which you should definitely check out. Here's a tip that might help you rise to the top of the pile of applicants: why not record a response to the video, post it on YouTube, and send Christopher a link to it?

Please let me know how this goes for you. I love sharing success stories here at Get That Job!

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Find Diversity employment at DiversityJobs.com.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Interviewing Etiquette - Let Your References Know

I just read a convicting blog post: Strategic Public Relations: "For Future Reference". I hope, now that I'm building my network and pinging more often, that I'm doing a better job at this.

Oops!
Oops!,
originally uploaded by loverfishy.



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Learn about Hispanic Recruiting at LatPro.com.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Dads, the Grassroots Mentors

In her recent "Minding Her Business" column, Megan Dowd has some encouragement for us Dads this Father's Day: "Women in Business: Here's to Dads, the Grassroots Mentors". The best thing we can do for our daughters is to encourage, inspire, and give them hope that they can be whatever they want to be.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

America's best jobs in the hottest markets

As spotted elsewhere in the blogging sphere:

The great American hiring boom is slowing down--but as labor cools with the rest of the economy, a few choice regions will stay red-hot. You just have to know where to look.
Check out the CNNMoney report here.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Run a background check on yourself

Clark Howard, syndicated columnist, radio show host, and consumer warrior, provides resources for running a background check on yourself so that you can see what prospective employers and college admissions officers might find out about you. You may have seen this information in the Wall Street Journal.

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Monday, May 14, 2007

Happy Birthday JibberJobber!

I just found out from Jason Alba that tomorrow is the first birthday of JibberJobber, a career toolset used by many - including yours truly - to manage aspects of a job search and networking relationships. I have yet to delve into the unchartered territories within the tool, but I have to say that it is EXCELLENT for managing the minute details of a job search.

If you haven't yet checked it out, click on the link on the sidebar. You certainly get a lot with a free membership; with the premium membership you naturally get more.

Update: Jason wrote a bit about the birthday on the JibberJobber Blog.

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

SUCCESS STORY - Getting a job despite your efforts not to

Sometimes the need is just so great that the company will jump through hoops to get and retain you, despite efforts you might make to the contrary.

I talked with a woman today who does Accounts Receivables about how she got her current job. She did that work for a group of doctor's offices before she went on maternity leave. She wound up finishing her Accounting degree before she came off leave, so she opted to look for a full-time job outside of her job with the doctor's offices.

She said she applied everywhere and doesn't remember when she was contacted by the recruiter who was hiring for her current position. Then when it came time for the interview, she had to reschedule a couple of times.

While on the job for awhile, the company came in and eliminated half of the department. Thinking her own job was in jeopardy, she found another one and put in her notice. The VP of Operations begged her to stay and sent a message to her boss demanding that she give the accountant a raise.

Please share your own job-hunting success stories here so everyone can know they too can Get That Job!

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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Monday, April 02, 2007

Using Second Life to find your next job

Some IT firms are conducting job interviews in Second Life, according to a CNNMoney article mentioned in insideTonic and Static Cure.

If you or someone you know has found a job via Second Life, I'd like to share your success story here.

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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Job Searching vs Career Management

Jason wrote a great article about changing the way we approach job searching and career management:

I frequently think about how we think of our job transitions - we are supposed to have lots of them during our career.

I’m completely intrigued by the people who have forgotten what a forced transition is like, or by those that feel totally secure in their job (or their ability to find a new job) - and their reactions to a “job search.”
I'm finding that Career Management was easier when I was looking for work. Now that I'm working, it's harder and harder for me to stay in that mindset. I'm spending more time thinking about projects at work than my own career management.

But I try to do a little bit every day to manage my career, whether it's setting up a lunch appointment with a friend, or use my LinkedIn URL as I comment on this and many other posts. I also maintain a portfolio blog. I also look for other ways to share what I'm learning about career management.

I don't want to be misled into a false sense of job security. Right now work is going strong, but I still need to keep my eyes on the big picture.

What practical things do you do every day to manage your career?

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Friday, March 23, 2007

Twitter got her a job!

"Twitter got me a freelance job." -- Karina Longworth
Karina Longworth, who writes on her blog Vidiocy, sent that message to folks following her on Twitter. Read more about the details at her blog post: Vidiocy >> Twitter Got Me A Job

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Make a Personal Connection!

Chris at LifeHack.org recently shared some thoughts on effective networking ("Meet People NOT Business Cards - lifehack.org"). If you're like me, you've tended to use these events as opportunities to amass a big collection of business cards. But that's not the point of the meeting, really, is it? Here are my comments to the article:

I hear you, Chris. I just read something along the same lines in Keith Ferrazzi's book Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time. If you collect a bunch of business cards without making a personal connection, you're left with a phone list from which to make cold calls.

Now, let's transfer these thoughts into collecting contacts on internet social networks, okay?
I see people blindly adding friends on social networking sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others, the same way people collect business cards. There are various reasons to do this; the most obvious is to make themselves look important, which is something that motivates some people. If people see someone with lots of contacts, they will begin to think of them as an expert in their field. I'm a bit torn on this myself, to be honest.

Just remember that the personal connection is what matters. What are you doing right now to make and reinforce the personal connection with your contacts? What are your thoughts on the effectiveness of amassing large numbers of contacts?

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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

For Victory You Need Many Advisers

Proverbs 24:5-7 (New International Version)

5 A wise man has great power,
and a man of knowledge increases strength;

6 for waging war you need guidance,
and for victory many advisers.

7 Wisdom is too high for a fool;
in the assembly at the gate he has nothing to say.
Where am I going with this, you might ask? Check out LinkedIn: Answers You can search the vast wisdom of people in your network and across the LinkedIn userbase for answers to questions you have, and you can ask questions of your network.

So go assure yourself a victory and seek out advice from others who can help you.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

How to Write a Better Resume

Jason at the JibberJobber blog is doing an experiment. He has asked some experts in the field to weigh-in with comments about a certain resume. Follow and join the conversation, starting here: JibberJobber Blog >> Blog Archive >> The Resume Experiment: Day 1 of 5

Related posts: Get That Job!: resumes

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Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Lots of government job openings coming

Clark Howard reports that a huge wave of people will be retiring from government jobs soon. Check out usajobs.gov for more information.

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Thursday, March 01, 2007

How To Write A Resume Cover Letter

From the One Minute How-To podcast, hosted by George Smyth, Patrick Fogarty explains how you can maximize the chances of getting that interview with a properly written cover letter.


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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

How To Knock Them Dead In An Interview

From the One Minute How-To Podcast via Odeo.com, here is some advice on how to leave a great impression during your job interview.


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Monday, February 19, 2007

Monster Podcasts

I just found out that Monster.com is podcasting career advice. A little more audio for your commute or work-out. I've subscribed but haven't had a listen yet.

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Saturday, February 17, 2007

Job-hunting success story - right out of college

I am very proud of how I landed my first job out of college. It was 1994, and I had spent lots of time at the library, researching the hidden job market and looking for leads. I had posted a resume at the University of Cincinnati's Career Development and Placement office, and I guess they made a database available to recruiters.

My sister had recommended a book entitled 300 New Ways to Get a Better Job by Eleanor Baldwin. Nevertheless, I found that very useful and would recommend it to any graduate or especially students in an online degree program, since they don't have access to a career center.

So one summer day that year, Mark, the Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager for a company that manufactured decorative items for homes, called me. What was meant as an initial screening call turned into a full-fledged telephone interview. When I hung up, I had made an appointment for an in-person interview. Not having a car of my own, I was able to borrow a friend's. I spent the next days before the interview at the library, researching all I could on the company.

At the interview my enthusiasm for the position as an Environmental Engineer was strengthened, especially as I convinced Mark to take me on a quick tour of the plant. I made sure to share some of the information I had found from my own research, which seemed to impress Mark and Jim, the HR Manager who also attended the interview. At the end of the interview, I asked what more I could do to qualify for the job, conveying my strong interest.

Immediately when I returned home, I typed up a thank you note to both Mark and the HR Manager who also interviewed me. Then I both faxed and mailed it.

Within a week Mark called me to offer me the job. I accepted it and wound up moving an hour north to Dayton, Ohio, where I lived for ten years.

The Internet has certainly changed the way we can look for jobs and how employers can find us. This worked for me back in 1994.

Do you have a job-hunting success story you'd like to share? Please send it to me at daniel [at] getthatjobonline [dot] com.

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Note: I've updated this post to include some additional links to affiliates and others that I recommend you check out.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Get That Job! Online Makeover

If you've been around this blog throughout its nearly 5-year history, you'll know that the general layout hasn't changed that much.

Get That Job! from April 2006

Until today. I encourage you, if you're getting this content via an RSS subscription to stop by the website at getthatjobonline.com to see how it looks.

Some great things you'll find over there are

  • Larger font size, wider layout, and white background
  • Category list
  • Blog archive by year and month (love those twisties!) - did I really have 416 posts in 2003? Wow.
Let me know what you think - I'm not necessarily sold on the template layout just yet, but it's a nice change.

By the way, here's what getthatjobonline.com looked like at the very beginning:

Get That Job! from February 2003

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Job-hunting success stories uncovered during lunch

It appears to be so easy for the coworkers in my department to eat their lunches at their desks. We work on a floor below most of the company, and I've made an effort recently to head upstairs to the break room to eat my lunch with other people.

I have also spent time asking some of my fellow employees about their work. This is probably made easier to do because these individuals were all recently hired. I like to ask about their work backgrounds, and how they found out about the job they have now.

I'm finding that people are so much more interesting as you get to know them than they initially appear on the surface. Isn't that so true?

Here are some recent examples how some of these people got that job:

  • J. worked for a worker's compensation managed care group that our company has used. Her boss knows our VP of Operations personally, since they regularly eat business lunches together, etc. When that company recently downsized, J. was left unemployed. That afternoon, her boss ate lunch with our VP of Operations, who also knew of her work, and, since we had a position to fill, hired her on the spot. So she was unemployed for 1 whole hour!
  • S. had worked for over 20 years for the LA Times circulation group before retiring in 2001. Needing to supplement her income, she worked as a temp for a payroll processing company in California. Friends in Ohio begged her to move here, and she did so last fall. Having heard about our company while at her previous job, she stopped by the office, having seen the sign from the highway. She went in and asked for a job, for which, the company indeed did have an opening.
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Sunday, January 28, 2007

You are a business unit

I've been reading David Schwartz's book The Magic of Thinking Big, and I'm currently going through a chapter about goals. We all should approach our lives the way businesses do when it comes to setting goals. Here's an excerpt from the chapter I'm reading:

Like the progressive corporation, plan ahead. You are in a sense a business unit. Your talent, skills, and abilities are your 'products.' You want to develop your products, so they command the highest possible price. Forward planning will do it.

Here are two steps which will help:
First, visualize your future in terms of three departments: work, home, and social. Dividing your life this way keeps you from becoming confused, prevents conflicts, helps you look at the whole picture.

Second, demand of yourself clear, precise answers to these questions:
  1. What do I want to accomplish with my life?
  2. What do I want to be?
  3. What does it take to satisfy me?
Just like in any business unit, there is sure to be integration among the departments, but this example really has me thinking about my own life. I have been reluctant to set goals in the past because I've had a low self-confidence. Now that it's gotten much better, I'm thinking BIG and ready to set goals.

How about you? What do you think of all this?

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Thursday, January 25, 2007

Ten ways to improve your job hunt

Jason just pointed me to Penelope Trunk's latest column, "Ten Ways to Improve Your Job Hunt". Now I'm pointing you there.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

We are better together than by ourselves

This is one of the things I love about blogging: Comparing Apples to Ideas

Monday, January 15, 2007

Hear me talk about my job search!

I was recently interviewed on the Career Opportunities LIVE! podcast by Douglas Welch this past Friday.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

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Thursday, January 11, 2007

Find Your Ideal Career

While driving home from work yesterday, I listened to the Buckeye Drive Time podcast, #122. If you're not familiar with the format, Tom Rockhold shares an Ohio moment, three podsafe songs - songs that independent music artists have permitted to be played on a podcast, and three podcast promos - audio commercials for other podcasts. It's designed to be a drive-time alternative to mainstream radio.

One of the promos I heard yesterday was for Find Your Ideal Career, which I found really intriguing. Michael Spremulli helps college students figure out what they want and discover their ideal career path, sometimes referred to as the "Simon Cowell of personality profiling". It looks like the podcast is brand new; I haven't listened to it myself yet.

I'd have to imagine that the show could be useful to anyone wanting some more advice on their own career assessment, whether you're in college or not. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

You Are the Star of Your Show!

Okay, I realize this might sound a bit weird...

Some of you may know that I host and produce the Journey Inside My Mind Podcast, which I have done for over a year now. At the end of the theme, before the opening monologue, I have an audio clip that I created that goes like this:

Man:What happens when a man goes through his own portal?

Woman:We'll see.

Announcer: Get ready... here's Dan Johnson!
(applause and sound of kids cheering)
I love having that clip because it gets me charged up and ready to move on with the show.

I recently have started using that same audio clip as the Start Windows sound for my computer. So now, as I boot up my machine and log in, I get introduced!

Like I said, it may sound a bit weird. Maybe even a little corny. I don't care. It charges me up for doing work.

What does this have to do with a job search? Well, in the same way, we all are the stars of our own show. Every day you get to live is a new palette for you to carve out a masterpiece. I think that how you approach it says a lot for your effectiveness. Sometimes we need something to inspire us to get started.

What inspires you to make it a great day?

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Office features to help you get a new job

Inside Office Online reports that they are featuring a package on everything Microsoft Office has to offer to help you get a new job. I have not checked it out myself, but I thought I'd share the news with you here.

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