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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice background+check employment+screening clark+howard

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking jibberjobber daniel+johnson+jr jason+alba

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!

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search success+stories networking daniel+johnson+jr

Blog your way to your next job

Thanks to Bryan from Monster Careers, I now point you to this article that describes How Blogging Can Help You Get A New Job.

Develop and nurture your online presence. It may lead to your next job.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking blogging daniel+johnson+jr self-branding

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search second+life interviewing

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?

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development daniel+johnson+jr career+management jibberjobber

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

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking twitter

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?

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking social+networking daniel+johnson+jr

How Companies Hire Bloggers

There's a discussion about how companies should hire bloggers at Business Week's Blogspotting blog.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development blogging

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development daniel+johnson+jr linkedin

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

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking resume jibberjobber

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice clark+howard government+jobs usajobs

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.

Related tags: cover+letter job+search advice patrick+fogarty george+smyth one+minute+how-to odeo

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.

Related tags: interview job+search advice joe+lynn one+minute+how-to odeo

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development monster podcasting

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search success+stories daniel+johnson+jr

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

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.



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:

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.

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking daniel+johnson+jr

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?

Related tags: getthatjob get+that+job job+hunt job+search career+advice networking professional+development daniel+johnson+jr goals

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.