As we prepare to welcome in the new year, I just wanted to share some words from George Blomgren on the ob search process.
My articles often elicit frustrated email messages sent by job hunters who are trying their best but feel they aren’t getting anywhere or who have had bad experiences courting prospective employers.
Job hunting can be a very painful and daunting experience. And let’s be honest: a job hunt entails many things that just aren’t fair. Interviewers will promise to call, and many won’t. You’re required to be on time for an interview; the interviewer may keep you waiting half an hour or longer. There are any number of “hoops” you’ll need to jump through, often with no rewards. You’ll be judged repeatedly, often by people entirely unqualified to judge you. It’s hard work with no compensation, and it may take a long time before it pays off. Ouch.
Having acknowledged these unfortunate truths, accept them and make the most of a painful situation. Remember that your competition (other job seekers) faces the same challenges. You’re all on the same uneven playing field, facing the same unfair challenges. Many of your peers will struggle terribly with this fact.
Make a mental game of it. One way of looking at it is that competitors who face the unfairness and hard work with the most positive attitude and persistence are the ones who do best. Choose to be one of them.
I used to work with a sales manager who told new telemarketers that their job was simply to bring him 50 “no’s” a day. This surprised many of them. As he explained, “if you bring me 50 ‘no’s,’ I know that the ‘yes’s’ will take care of themselves.” That’s a piece of advice that translates well to a job hunter’s situation. Remember that sometimes you can learn from the “no’s” you face, but often you can’t. Just move ahead, stay focused on opportunities, and keep a positive attitude.
George Blomgren is an Operations Manager with The Benefit Companies. He brings vast experience on both sides of the table, and is currently on the hiring side. As an employer, George offers solid, practical tips to get hired
Found via the JobSearchers Weekly newsletter
Posted by Rebecca as Changing careers at 3:51 PM EST
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I just love this post by Curt Rosengren. He’s so right! I carry around a notebook so I can jot down ideas as they occur to me. Sometimes I end up with pages filled with cross-outs, arrows flying all over the place, and little doodles trying to illustrate what i was thinking.
I’ve learned a couple of things from this process. The first is that one’s man’s silly idea is another’s stepping stone to a brilliant idea. The second is that silly thoughts are necessary to help you recognize the good ones. The third is that arrows and doodles make everything make much more sense. (I’m a visual organizer.) I guess I pretty much agree with Curt on this one.
Posted by Rebecca as Creativity, inspiration, and motivation at 8:12 PM EST
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In trying to gear myself up in any useful direction, I have taken to reading a lot of business and entrepreneur blogs and articles. This article on trademarks is near and dear to my heart since I am trying to design logos and trying to figure out what face to put forward to the world.
What really makes this particular post useful to someone like me, who has no real idea how trademarks work, is how he goes through the various types of marks, examples of the marks, and how enforceable each type of mark is. It’s just something to keep in mind while we’re working on my logos over the next couple of months.
Posted by Rebecca as Entrepreneurship at 10:59 AM EST
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Today, I’d like to share this lovely piece of advice I read recently in the JobSeeker’s Weekly e-newsletter:
<em>I used to work with a sales manager who told new telemarketers that their job was simply to bring him 50 "no’s" a day. This surprised many of them. As he explained, "if you bring me 50 ‘no’s,’ I know that the ‘yes’s’ will take care of themselves." That’s a piece of advice that translates well to a job hunter’s situation. Remember that sometimes you can learn from the "no’s" you face, but often you can’t. Just move ahead, stay focused on opportunities, and keep a positive attitude.
George Blomgren (the author) is an Operations Manager with The Benefit Companies. He brings vast experience on both sides of the table, and is currently on the hiring side. As an employer, George offers solid, practical tips to get hired.</em>
Posted by Rebecca as Changing careers at 10:00 AM EST
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I seem to be running this accidental series of entries across at least two of the Niche blogs right on blogs, a fact made even funnier as I am now looking at how blogs fit into an e-portfolio.
Today’s installment looks at Wayne Hurlbert’s post on the profitability of blogs. I’ll admit it, I’d like to see my blogs all get to a point where they can support themselves. If they happen to turn a modest profit in the process, then that’s fine, too. It was just interesting to read this article and see how he draws parallels between the maintenance of a blog and the maintenance of a small business at the end.
As someone working on her own small business, I can see why he’d say that. It’s so true. You put in a bit of effort every day on your blog, growing it to meet your vision and to attract your target audience. You tweak things here and there to draw a larger audience and convert them into regular readers. You try to give people the resources they need or want, whether it’s your own wisdom you’re sharing or someone else’s wisdom that you think your target audience would enjoy.
Raising a blog is a thoughtful process, and the decision to turn it into something profitable is a challenging one.
Posted by Rebecca as Weblogs at 3:46 PM EST
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In continuation of my accidental blog series, I present this article that looks at how blogs can impact your business’ communication style and capabilitities.
Found via Carnival of the Capitalists via Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Blog
Posted by Rebecca as Weblogs at 8:54 PM EST
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Continuing my apparent series on blogs in the corporate world this week, today’s article looks at how corporate blogs allow companies to reach a larger audience than their website does and receive open, honest feedback from the public.
Found via Business Opportunities Blog
Posted by Rebecca as Weblogs at 7:25 AM EST
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This article is an interesting way to look at blogs. I think the parallels drawn are here are just fascinating. It’s so true, though. It is a rare blogger who doesn’t write with an audience in mind. I know that for my part, I have let my visitor logs dictate the directions my blogs have gone to a certain extent.
You grow a business in much the same way, starting small and then building up a customer base by fulfilling the needs your customers have.
Found via Carnival of the Capitalists through the Business Opportunities Weblog
Posted by Rebecca as Weblogs at 9:37 PM EST
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I’ve had the worst time deciding where to blog this article, but finally decided to place it here. It could probably be cross-posted between here and EducationNiche but I had a very hard time creating a post around it that fit well within that blog’s sphere of influence.
Of course, looking over it, I find I am equally challenged to make it fit within this blog’s sphere of influence. I think I finally selected this blog because while the article talks about learning trends, it discusses them in the framework of the business setting.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 1:46 PM EST
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I’ve probably spent 75% of the past three months reading over job descriptions in my vain attempt to find a job. Of those job descriptions I’ve read, probably 70% have had a requirement of so many years of experience and a set minimum education level. Of that 70%, maybe 10% have had requirements reading something to the effect of Set minimum education level. Set work experience, or relevant transferable experience. As a job seeker looking to potentially change industries, it’s rather disheartening to see such a small number state an openness to consider that necessary experiences can be gained in different ways.
Then I stumbled onto this article by Nan Russell that really does a nice job of summing up how I feel about gained and perceived experiences. It’s so true. One can work at the same job for several years, and have no more experience at the job than one who has been doing the job for three months.
I think a key point to take from this article, a point that just resonated for me, is best said in the author’s own words:
Building experience is about the depth, diversity, challenges and learning you gain by offering the best of who you are at work. It’s about seizing and creating opportunities. And it’s about continual self-improvement and constant self-feedback.
Posted by Rebecca as Skill building at 9:30 AM EST
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