NoJobSurvivor.com

Education of course has always been the best way to advance now more than ever in these very competitive times.

You're unemployed and have lots of free time and if the unemployment statistics are to be believed you will be unemployed for 6 months or more. Some 40% of the unemployed have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. The dead six months may be a good time to acquire additional skills or build on your present expertise.

Additional education:

• is a great investment in your resume,
• will show your future employer you are motivated and have a great work ethic,
• provide great networking opportunities so citical for finding that next job
• and of course can be fun.

 

So what to do?

 

 

While unemployment is ravaging every part of the workforce, perhaps hardest hit are fresh college graduates who can't get started. For these young people the damage can be deep and long-lasting.

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Gitmo McDonald's is hiring! Enjoy bennies-galore: a special tax-break, half your monthly rent paid, and the chance to serve unique customers! Gitmo captives cleared by the courts can now get McDonald's takeout orders (delivered by guards).

Apply now. McDonald's HR motto is: "It's not a job, it's a CAREER."

September 21, 2009 Having trouble getting in for an interview? Not hard to believe since it's most likely hundreds of people are applying for the same job you are. Many companies are using keyword-search software to wade through the giant file of applicants, so if you aren't including the key words of the job description in your resume, your submission may never even be seen by human eyes!

August 5, 2009  PRNewswire -- Half of workers who were laid off in the last three months have found new jobs, reveals latest CareerBuilder survey completed in June. 48 percent of workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last three months have found new full-time positions; up from 41 percent in March. An additional three percent found part-time positions; down from 8 percent in the previous survey. The CareerBuilder survey was conducted among 921 workers who were laid off from full-time jobs within the last 12 months.

"Despite a challenging job market, workers have been able to find employment opportunities in a variety of fields," said Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America. "Even though the number of workers who took part-time positions is tracking below last quarter, the number who found full-time jobs is notably higher. This is a positive indication that more workers who were laid off from full-time jobs were able to replace them with new full-time positions instead of taking part-time work as an interim measure to generate income. Part of this job search success is related to workers expanding career options to new industries and locations."

 

Job Seekers Willing to Make Adjustments to Pay, Appearance, Location and Industry to Secure New Positions

• 56% of workers were able to negotiate comaprable or higher pay.
• 38% of workers changed their field of work.
• 20% relocated to a new city or state for a new job.
• 29% of job seekers are considering starting their own business.
• 28% of workers have changed their appearance to help their job search, by losing weight, changing or coloring their hair, and dressing younger.

 

Read more details about the CareerBuilder Survey. What would you do to get that new job?

August 13, 2009 Few US Employers are planning more layoffs and many planning to reverse course in coming months on cost-cutting initiatives such as salary freezes, according to the survey of human-resource executives at 175 mostly midsize and large U.S. firms by consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc.

The survey found that 33% plan to unfreeze salaries within the next six months and 79% within the next year. In a similar June survey, only 17% of respondents planned to unfreeze salaries within six months. Roughly 60% of the companies responding to the new survey had frozen salaries.

Of the smaller group that cut salaries, 44% of respondents said they plan to restore those cuts in the next six months, and 66% in the next year. More than 70% of the employers with hiring freezes said they plan to resume hiring within the next year. Respondents said they plan to lay off fewer than 2% of their workers in the next year, down sharply from past surveys.

 

The tone of the survey was optimistic, some still counsel caution.

Many employers see the recession as bottoming out, adds David Wise, a senior consultant at consulting firm Hay Group Inc. "Most companies want to go into fiscal 2010 with the layoffs and salary freezes behind them," he says. But he warns that companies will remain conservative. "The worst thing a company can do after tough times is loosen the reins before the horse is ready to run," he says.

 

Employee health benefits, cut drastically in recent times are unlikely to recover.

The survey found that 66 percent of respondents that increased the percentage that employees pay for health care premiums do not expect to reverse that decision. Also, 40 percent of respondents are planning to shift more health care benefit costs to workers by increasing the percentage of premiums they pay. Another 41 percent of companies expect to increase the deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket maximums for their 2010 health care plans.

 

Read a summary of the Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey.

You are attending a local job fair and you are likely to be one of thousands of job seekers competing for few jobs. There will be at least 6 job seekers for each job according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.

Malcolm Munro, author of Marketing Yourself for Your Dream Job: How to Get the Job and Career You've Always Wanted has some handy tips to increase your chances of beating out those other 5 job seekers in the video at the end of this article.

So you are using every web based social network you can to brand and sell yourself into your next job. The good news is you are doing the correct thing.

Twenty-two percent of hiring managers said they use social networking sites to research job candidates, up from 11 percent in 2006, according to a nationwide survey of more than 3,100 employers from CareerBuilder.com published in November 2008. An additional 9 percent said they don't currently use social networking sites to screen potential employees, but plan to start.

As many as 75% of hiring managers use LinkedIn on a regular basis to research candidates before making an offer, compared to 48% using FaceBook, and 26% using Twitter, according to Jump Start Social Media.

 

Knowing how to get to the interview sounds  so basic. Its so easy to "think" you know how to get to it. The current job market is totally unforgiving to the smallest error.  Don't put yourself in the position of calling your interviewer to tell them you will be late. Your cell phone battery is charged up, right?

Prior preparation¨. One of the major reasons candidates fail interviews is through lack of basic preparation.

Know Your Route. Are you absolutely sure you know the location of the interview, and how you are going to get there. Consider parking arrangements, using public transport, rush hour timings. A well-prepared interviewee knows the way well in advance. If in any doubt, dry run the commute. If you are driving use google maps to help rehearse your commute, use the street view where available to familiarize yourself with possible misleading one way streets, hidden driveways, and large car parks.

Good luck.

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Networking Now, Yes Now.

Prior preparation¨. One of the major reasons candidates fail interviews is through lack of basic preparation. You have scored that interview for the perfect job. Ace the interview by knowing all you can about the company and the job beyond the job description. The goal is to reduce surprises during the interview and impress the interviewers with your knowledge, motivation and thoroughness.

• Use your network to find out as much about the company as you can.
• Try to find someone who either works for the company, or knows it well.
• How do they describe the company?
• Try to establish why the vacancy has occurred? Is it a new role? If not, what happened to the previous employee?

 

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