Bathjobs

posted by Admin on Oct 31

Older Workers Like Work

Gee whiz! I never thought I would have to look for a jobagain, but I do. Funny that no one taught or told me that savings don’t last forever. I’m in that “pickle!” Besides savings running out, I feel better working! That idea goes again the grain of American culture. People of a certain age are encouraged to find fun things to do and not work at a job! Work is an American dirty word! But I want to feel productive, make money, be around younger folks and have some fun times at WORK.

Heck, I don’t have time to think about the culture I live in. I’m older and I need a job!

What can I do to find a job to do? Before I get started in looking for a job, I’m just plain scared that no one will hire me. I’ve heard lots of stories about age discriminationand I don’t want to look for a job where someone will tell me that I’m over-qualified, just to get rid of me because I’m old.

I know it only takes one employer to hire me, not half a dozen at once, but I may have to see more than I thinkis my share of talking to employers to find something! How can I do this?

I think I’d better not think of how hard this is going tobe and concentrate on finding employers who will want to hire me. It only takes one If I let fear take over in the job search because I have grey hair, then I will make my search that much harder & make myself feel useless.

I think I need to talk to someone about my plans to find a job. I can talk to Bob, my nephew; Carol, my cousin about what I want to do to find a job. They have always been kind and helpful to me in the past. I’ll let them know soon. They also make me feel proud of who I am and of my age.

Talking it over is good, but I need direction too about what to do next. Where can I talk to others aboutmy situation? I’ll just look n the phone book first.

I’ve found some employment agencies. I know their hours by asking for information on the phone. I’ll go to one or two to sign up.

I did get to the two employment agencies. They recommended that I take some computer classes,which they offer for a fee. I can’t do that asI’m already scared about spending more of my savings.The people at these places didn’t seem to have other ways of helping me.

The phone book didn’t help me much with people or places that might help me find a job. I thinkI’ll look in the help wanted columns of my local newspaper to find a job. There must be some jobs that I can do listed in the paper.

I’m so confused about reading these ads. Nothing seems to fit me. I’ve never had much of a work history, just being in & out of seasonal farm work.I never thought it was ecessary to have a CAREER. I barely got out of high school when I had to work. My family just worked at anything that came along. So did I.

One of my neighbors mentioned that I should go to WorkSource. I had never heard of this place.

I finally went there to find out about what I coulddo to find a job. When I got omeone to help me from there, I was put into a job club for older workers. There were about 12 of us in the jobclub room. Some were older than I & some were younger.

The instructor in this job club was one of the employees of this agency. It was sure an eye opener to be in there. I looked at some of the others who were there& compared myself with those who looked older, those who looked younger; those who had a give-up attitude & those who might find something to do. I wanted tobe one of those finding a real job. I decided then & there to get a new haircut, get outmy best clothes to wear & try to lose some weight.That might help in making me look younger than the people in this group. If I can manage to feel betterthen I might have more of a chance to get a job.

The instructor in this job club wanted to know whywe were there. Everyone had to tell their story.I couldn’t see how that was going to help me at all. I did enjoy listening to some of the others talk about their backgrounds. One was an ex-teacher who thought she knew everything, but still didn’thave a job.

The instructor also gave us a packet of material about who else in the community might help me & others find a job. I see now that I can call some others for help.

Sure, calling on others for help is good, but I need a job. I didn’t think a job search was going to be thishard. I had to muster up the courage to talk to the instructor about how to find a job.

She asked me about what my skills are & whatwas I looking for. No one had alked to me aboutskills, I just worked at whatever was out there.

She did give me a test to take to find out more about what I wanted to do. It turned out that this test said I would do best in an agriculturalsetting. I had to laugh as I had done farm &cannery work all of my life.

She did ask me if I knew what my skills are. After this test I had to take, I was still unsure about what I could do best. So, I decided that since I had done all of this gricultural work, I might do well in a nursery selling plants or some such. I had never had any selling experience but I thought that something might just turn up as a job selling plants was still related to what I’d done in the past. I talked to the instructor again about how I could find a job selling plants in a nursery, just as a hunch again about what I could do. She told me to compose a resume first. A resume would tell an employer some things abut who I was & what I could do. I told her I needed help in making up a resume. I had never needed one. I could understand that a good one might get me a job somewhere or at least get me in to an interview.

We did do a resume. I was surprised that after all this time, a resume is just a piece of paper that tells an employer what a worker can do. I like this exercise & it made me feel like a I could do a lot of things. I’m still a little unsure about what my real skills are although I’m good with my hands, I can sort through materials to find the bad stuff and keep up with a cannery line of products on an always moving belt.

The next step for me in this job club was to contact an employer. I had ever had to do this much as seasonal work was always there & employers just sent out a call for laborers I was called back year after year until I gave it up. Now with government help and a small pension I can just get by. The savings are being spent, fast. Well, I looked in the phone book again. This time I was looking for places that sold or cultivated plantsfor sale. I didn’t care much if I had to learn to sell plants or if I had to care for them.

With the help of the others in the job club and my instructor I made some phone calls. I didn’t ask for a job on the phone. I made an appointment with the owner or manager to talk about what they did. Even though I was scared to do this, after a few calls, I felt better about calling strangers. I did make two appointments to talk to the day-to-day manager of a wholesale nursery nearby. When I went to the nursery, I was dressed in casual clothing, not anything fancy. I did wear a jacket, though, as I thought that made me look more business like.

When I got to this place, I felt awkward until the manager & I started talking about the planting & cultivating of strawberries. I did know about growing strawberries from our own home garden. To my surprise when I was getting ready to leave, the plant manager asked me if I was looking for work. I told him that I was truly interested in seeing firsthand about this strawberry farm, really, not a nursery.

Finally, I had the presence of mind to tell him that I was looking for work at some date. He & I made an appointment to have me come in & talk to him & the owner. I was confused then but agreed to come back anyway.

After this experience I made up my mind that I wanted to work & working there with my background seemed to be a good fit. I was determined to go back & ask for a job, even though that was not what I thought had happened when I was there.

To sum up what I have learned from all of this it is:
1. I have skills I didn’t recognize.
2. Potential employers are not “meanies” who are rude.
3. I now know what a resume is and how one can help or hinder me in the job search.
4. Job hunting is not always a hard or hurtful experience.
5. I feel better about myself in knowing that employers do hire older workers. I think I just found one.

posted by Admin on Jul 25

The job search process involves a lot of planning and attention to detail, so its no wonder that many people quickly feel overwhelmed and even a bit out of control. The best way to avoid this is to organize your job search so that you have a clear strategy outline and a structured schedule to keep you moving forward.

Outline your strategy

Start by creating an outline of your job search strategy. List the tactics you intend to use, and the amount of time you will devote to each tactic. A typical list might include the following:

Network with contacts
Search online job sites
Search newspaper ads

Some employment experts say that less than 20% of all jobs are found through the newspaper or online, with the other 80% found through networking. Knowing this, decide how much time you are going to devote to your job search, then allocate that time accordingly.

Define the steps

Next, for each tactic create a list of the steps involved. Here is what this might look like for the Network with contacts tactic:

Call the contact
Ask to meet for 30 minutes to get their feedback and suggestions on your resume as well as your job search strategy
Confirm the date, time and location of the appointment
Meet with contact, taking notes on the conversation and collecting one or two referrals to other contacts you might meet with
Follow up meeting with a thank you note
Check back with contact after one to two months if you are still searching for a job

Once you have the steps listed, you will have created a checklist for yourself to help make sure you complete each step along the way.

Create a schedule

Now create a schedule of daily activities so that you are doing something with your search each day. A basic schedule might look like this:

Morning

- Call two contacts to set up networking appointments
- Write questions to ask during each appointment
- Prepare resume packet for each appointment made
- Prepare and send resumes for job found online or in the newspaper

Afternoon

- Attend networking appointment (if previously scheduled)
- Write thank you note following appointment
- Check one or two online job sites

Weekend

- Prepare for new week
- Check online job listings

Track each activity

For each tactic, track all of your activity. You can use computer software or a plain notebook with blank pages. The idea is to keep notes on each days actions, checking them against your master checklist for the tactic.

Lets use an example. You want to make a networking appointment with Suzy Smith, so start with a blank page and put her name at the top, along with relevant contact information. Each time you do one of the steps defined as part of networking (make the phone call, prepare a resume packet, go to the appointment, etc.), mark it down on Suzys page. Note the date, time, action taken, and any notes you may have.

Tracking your activity creates two benefits. First, when you have multiple activities happening at the same time it is very easy to get confused or lose track of steps that still need to be taken. Using your tracking log, it is easy to see at a glance where you are at with each activity and what next step is coming up. The second benefit is that it keeps you focused and active in your job search. It is easy to procrastinate and postpone looking for a job, but if you have to note daily activities in a tracking log you will feel more motivated to get moving and take action.

Action items

Finally, keep a separate list of action items that need attention right away. If, for example, a contact tells you about an open position at a colleagues company and suggests you call about it, this goes on your action item list to be handled within 24 to 48 hours. This list is a great way to deal with emergent issues and opportunities, while still staying organized and keeping up with your regular schedule.

posted by Admin on Jul 11

So you want to look around for your next career step but you are concerned that your current employer will find out and give you an early exit? Confidentiality in your job search is a reasonable concern and makes the way you approach finding your next position all the more important. Confidentiality and privacy issues in todays hyper-informative world are issues that should be taken seriously.

Keeping your intentions of changing jobs a secret is a challenge but secrecy is in your best interest. Case in point: Hilda was a highly paid pharmacist working for an independent pharmacy in Atlanta. She was approached by a new independent pharmacy who was a direct competitor of her current employer. The word leaked out that she was considering taking a directly competing position and her employer terminated her employment out of concern for operational security. As pharmacist-in-charge, she had full access to retailwholesale pricing, future plans, insurance reimbursement rates and customer information all data that would be highly desirable by the competitor. Hildas employer just could not take the chance that she would leave and take all that information with her so they terminated her. Unfortunately, the competitor did not make an offer of employment to Hilda and she was left out in the cold not hired, and fired. If she had taken greater pains to keep her options confidential, she may not have ended up in the predicament of suddenly being unemployed.

On the flip side, it may be tempting to let slip to your current employer that you are looking around for new opportunities to provide some leverage for a raise or a promotion. Fishing for a counter-offer is a no-win situation. In a survey by the Wall Street Journal, 93 percent of employees who accept counter-offers to remain with an employer leave anyway after 18 months. If you are unhappy enough to spend months hunting for a new position, dealing with recruiters, and going on interviews, the true value of a counter offer should be questioned. Employers make counter-offers for their best interest not the employees. Employers need to make sure projects are completed, that deadlines are met, and that production does not lag. An employee who accepts a counter-offer has branded himself as disloyal and possibly a gold-digger and will forever more be viewed as such by superiors.

Common sense rules when going about a confidential job search. Do not use your work phone, email, or company cell phone to conduct any job search activities. Do not surf the job sites during your lunch hour or at anytime on your work PC. Be careful of the conversations you have within earshot of other co-workers. Do not leave your resume lying on your desk at work. Keep your plans and intentions quiet, even from close office friends whom you feel you can trust. Request confidentiality from all potential employers until an offer is made.

Beyond the obvious, consider the following tips for keeping your job search hush-hush:

Remove identifying information from your online resume. Replace your name with a generic title such as Senior Marketing Executive. Use only your cell phone number and a web-based email address that can be dropped after your job search. City and state is sufficient for address no need for street address or zip code. Remove your current employers name and replace it with something that is descriptive, yet unidentifiable such as Major Manhattan-based Financial Organization.

Be careful in your networking. Networking is essential to an effective job search, but indiscrete networking can breach your wish for confidentiality. Networking carefully can be even more difficult in closed industries or highly-specialized fields. Ask more questions than you answer in group settings; talk about possible employment options with decision-makers only; and provide your resume only to someone in a position to assist you confidentially.

Protect your references. References should only be provided in an interview, and preferably not at a first interview. You dont want your colleagues getting wind of your intentions before an offer is imminent.

Consider a confidential job search agent. If you have an annual salary of greater than 500,000 andor you are well-known in your industry, hiring an agent to conduct your job search might be a good idea. The agent can extend inquiries without breaching confidentiality. An agent is not a recruiter, but rather someone who works for you individually to act as your liaison with potential employers.

In addition to confidentiality in a job search, everyone should be concerned about protection of privacy. Never, ever give out your social security number, drivers license number, or bank account numbers to anyone during the job search process. There are scam artists out there who will take advantage of your vulnerability as a job seeker to steal your identity, your money, and your reputation. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has some helpful tips for protecting your privacy during your job search at http:www.privacyrights.orgfsfs25-JobSeekerPriv.htm.

The World Privacy Forum has an excellent article about an Internet job scam that is a must-read for anyone considering using the Internet for their job search. This particular job scam involved 23 Internet job boards including Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, and PreferredJobs.com. The scam involved a posting that required the new hire to transfer money into their personal bank account and then transfer it back out to an account overseas via Western Union, keeping a percentage of the total amount for their work. According to victims of the scam who responded to the article, the interview and application process for the position was extremely convincing and they were totally taken in. The article can be found at http:www.worldprivacyforum.orgjobscamreportpt1.html.

The bottom line is that confidentiality starts with you. A secret shared is no longer a secret and cannot be controlled. If you are serious about keeping your career ladder climb quiet, you must take the precautions that are necessary. Employers have a great deal to lose when they lose employees human capital investment, corporate information, competitive data so keeping your intentions to leave might well be in your best interests until the time is right.

posted by Admin on Jun 6

How You Can Use The Internet In Your Job Search

If you havent already starting using the internet to assist you in the job search, then you are missing out on a huge employment trend. There are numerous reasons to take advantage of this powerful tool, the most important one being that employers are using the internet more than ever to find candidates. If recent internet usage studies are accurate, nearly 48% of businesses do at least some of their recruiting online. Not utilizing the internet in your job search means that you are flying under the radar for many potential job opportunities.

The internet is useful for a number of job search-related activities including:
– Searching for Jobs Online
– Posting your Resume Online
– Networking
– Company Research

Searching for Jobs Online

Million of job openings are posted online each year, many times more openings that you could possibly access on your own outside of the internet. There are a number of general employment sites that allow postings in all professions, industries, and experience levels. These sites are very large in both size and scope, but are popular with employers and job seekers alike.

If you are able to narrow your job search to a specific profession or industry, niche sites will be incredibly valuable. Niche sites are those websites that specialize in a particular industry or profession, as opposed to allowing for the postings of any position imaginable. The advantages of using a niche site are (1) that you will not need to sort through nearly as many job openings to find those that fit your qualifications, and (2) that traffic is much less at niche sites. As a result, the competition for these positions is not nearly as fierce. Examples of niche sites in particular fields include:
– For Human Resource Professionals: SHRM (http:www.shrm.org)
– For Teaching Professionals: Teaching Jobs (http:www.teachingjobs.com)
– For Medical Professionals: Med Search (http:www.medsearch.com)
– For Accounting Professionals: Accounting Job Search (http:www.accounting.com)

In addition to standard online job boards, many government agencies (from the local to federal level) now list all available positions online. Companies with corporate websites also frequently post any job openings on the companys job announcement board. You can use any major internet search engine such as Google or Yahoo to find a specific government or company website.

A final note on online job searches: a large majority of newspapers with widespread circulation publish classified ads, including job openings, on the internet now. These ads can be accessed for free in most cases, and will give you direct access to any local position openings.

Posting your Resume Online

Resume banks are large online databases that allow you to post your resume to be accessed by recruiters and potential employers. The advantage to keeping a copy (or copies) of your resume online in a visible location is that allows employers actively seeking candidates to consider your credentials without you having to submit your resume directly to the company. Individuals worried about confidentiality can opt to leave personal identifying information off of the resume and simply provide an anonymous email address at which interested employers can reach them.

Many job boards also have resume banks, so take the time to browse around your favorite job sites to determine your options for posting your resume. Resumes can frequently be uploaded directly to the site or cut and pasted for quick posting. In the event that the site does not support this technology (or if you only have a hard copy of your resume), you will need to manually enter your resume into the site by filling out a form or typing into a pre-designated text box.

Technically-savvy job seekers may also choose to post their resume on their own hosted website, on a free personal site provided by your Internet Service Provider, or on a company website (such as Careerhunters.com) for a small fee.

Networking

Networking is one of the most successful ways to find a new job, since personal relationships often lead to opportunities that you might have otherwise never knew existed. The internet offers innumerable opportunities to network with other professionals in your field. Online forums, newsgroups, and professional journalsblogs allow you to connect with professionals who may be able to point you (and your job search) in the right direction. You may even be able to find a mentor to help guide you in your career development.

Company Research

The internet is a powerful tool for conducting research on a specific company in which you are interested. Using a major search engine to scour the web for information on a company will turn up a companys corporate webpage (if they have one) as well as a variety of other web sources disclosing information that may be highly pertinent to your job search. Use the internet, for example, to research the companys products and services, industry, competitors, financial information, history, and reputation.

posted by Admin on May 23

Job-seekers tend to worry about whether a prospective employer will like them. But considering that most people spend a majority of their days at work, it’s also important for prospective employees to consider whether a particular company is the right fit for them.

Before spending time and effort in applying for a particular job, find out how happy you’re likely to be as an employee of that company. Here are some factors to consider in your job search:

* Does the company promote a healthy balance between work and life outside the office? Find out whether the company offers flexible hours, maternity and paternity leave and health benefits for employees and their families. Does it offer anything extra, such as day care, wellness programs or on-site health care?

* Are there family ties? Ruth Rodriguez, a senior executive assistant at Roche, is one of three generations in her family who have worked at the pharmaceutical company, and her clan is not the only one with multiple ties to Roche. It’s typically a good sign if a company employs generations of families.

* What kind of training and professional development can you expect? Learn about opportunities for advancement. Does the company promote from within or provide training in other departments? Is there a tuition reimbursement program?

* Has the company been recognized as an employer of choice? Research whether the company has been recognized by any third-party organizations. For example, Roche, which employs 65,000 people in 150 countries, ranked No. 1 in Selling Power magazine’s “50 best Companies to Sell For” and was named one of Fortune magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For in America.” Roche also made Health magazine’s “Top 10 Healthiest Companies for Women,” among other honors.

* Does the company give back to the community? Companies that contribute to charitable causes and encourage their employees to volunteer are likely to be companies that care about their employees, too. – NU

posted by Admin on May 16

Job-seekers tend to worry about whether a prospective employer will like them. But considering that most people spend a majority of their days at work, it’s also important for prospective employees to consider whether a particular company is the right fit for them.

Before spending time and effort in applying for a particular job, find out how happy you’re likely to be as an employee of that company. Here are some factors to consider in your job search:

* Does the company promote a healthy balance between work and life outside the office? Find out whether the company offers flexible hours, maternity and paternity leave and health benefits for employees and their families. Does it offer anything extra, such as day care, wellness programs or on-site health care?

* Are there family ties? Ruth Rodriguez, a senior executive assistant at Roche, is one of three generations in her family who have worked at the pharmaceutical company, and her clan is not the only one with multiple ties to Roche. It’s typically a good sign if a company employs generations of families.

* What kind of training and professional development can you expect? Learn about opportunities for advancement. Does the company promote from within or provide training in other departments? Is there a tuition reimbursement program?

* Has the company been recognized as an employer of choice? Research whether the company has been recognized by any third-party organizations. For example, Roche, which employs 65,000 people in 150 countries, ranked No. 1 in Selling Power magazine’s “50 best Companies to Sell For” and was named one of Fortune magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For in America.” Roche also made Health magazine’s “Top 10 Healthiest Companies for Women,” among other honors.

* Does the company give back to the community? Companies that contribute to charitable causes and encourage their employees to volunteer are likely to be companies that care about their employees, too. – NU

posted by Admin on Mar 21

There is stiff competition in the job market. Unemployment is on the rise. Large numbers of applications are received by companies for limited number of posts. But there is dearth of skilled manpower in the industry. So both potential employers and employees resort to online job portals which are a powerful medium in the era of Internet. There are certain websites which offer better services if paid for them. But, Jobbi.com is one exception that provides all its services absolutely free.

Jobbi.com believes in keeping things simple and easy as far as possible. The registration process of the site consists of few easy steps unlike other sites whose sign up process is unnecessarily lengthy and time consuming. The user can straightway apply for jobs or post his jobs after the completion of registration process. The portal also offers free resume search for candidates so that they can get access to best of resumes to build their effective profiles. It also has three samples or templates of resume which the user can copy and paste and then edit to suit their requirements.

Apart from employers and job seekers, other users are also benefited by Jobbi.com. Its HeadHunt program enables users to search for potential candidates and jobs and provide them to employers and candidates. So they act as a connecting medium between employers and employees. But, companies dont make payments to these headhunters for providing them manpower. Instead, they are adequately compensated by Jobbi. Moreover, candidates need to fill out one basic application form instead of different forms for all kinds of jobs. Employers can only add certain customized questions as per their requirements. As a result, there is no need for lengthy repetitive applications. All these features speed up the job search process and satisfy the needs of the clients quickly and effectively.
http:www.jobbi.com