Networking events to help you ride out the storm
September 4, 2010 | Posted by Randy Woods
While assembling a list of job search events this past week, I've kept one eye on the breathless coverage of Hurricane Earl as it freaked out half of the Eastern Seaboard and thought about how the media so dearly loves to predict the end of the world. Even though the National Hurricane Center had been saying at least a week in advance that Earl would be give just a glancing blow to the East Coast, the news media treated it like the second coming of Hurricane Katrina. Sure enough, here we are, watching Earl spin itself out in the Canadian Maritimes, exactly as predicted, leaving little more than some heavy surf and a soggy start to the holiday weekend. Around the same time, the Labor Department came out with the latest report on unemployment claims, and I couldn't help think of those silly weather reporters waiting for an Armageddon that never came. Sure, the unemployment rate rose slightly, from 9.5 to 9.6 percent for July, but, once again, those who had been paying attention knew that this increase would occur due to a large amount of people re-entering the job-search arena as the last of the temporary U.S. Census jobs
- Post a comment |
- E-mail |
Your step-by-step guide to getting your next job
September 3, 2010 | Posted by Paul Anderson
In my recent post about how to get a job in today's market, I promised I would teach you how to create a one-page marketing plan to help you stay focused, goal oriented and organized in your job search. With today's information overload, it's too easy to get distracted and work on lots of different opportunities, yet make very little, or no progress in accomplishing your goal. If you're currently in transition in your career, your primary goal might be to get employed quickly at a company that's aligned with your values and interests. A good marketing plan can help you get there. Our ProLango marketing director Jason Flores has put together a document that we've been using successfully with our clients in career transition. It consists of six sections: Career Search Goal, Target Companies, Approach Strategy, Marketing Materials Needed, Market Research Required and Additional Training Needed. Let's dissect each element in detail: Career Search Goal: A successful marketing plan starts with a goal. You need to know where you're going before you can get there. A good goal is S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic and Timely). From a psychological perspective, it's also helpful to state your goal in the
- Post a comment |
- E-mail |
More behind-the-scenes hiring tips and jobseeker mistakes
September 2, 2010 | Posted by Paul Anderson
LeMaster Daniels is a 100-year-old CPA firm with offices across Washington and Idaho employing more than 300 professionals in the fields of taxes, audits, business valuation, litigation, cost reimbursement, corporate accounting and more. With the acquisition of Prospera Wealth Management, it also offers services in the wealth management field. A quick check on its career page shows that the company is currently hiring accounting professionals, a senior auditor and tax managers. I recently interviewed Wanda Todd, head of recruiting at the firm, about its specific hiring practices. Like many firms, LeMaster Daniels hires new graduates and lateral transfers. Let's start with the student program. "If I wanted to work for LeMaster Daniels, I would make sure to get an offer long before I graduated," says Wanda. To do this, the firm encourages students to participate in Beta Alpha Psi (an honorary organization for financial information students and professionals), attend the career events their schools put on and meet the company representatives. The firm has dedicated 10 employees to actively focus on recruiting interns. The internship can last six to eight weeks either in the summer or through the tax season. For lateral transfers - also known as professionals with experience
- Post a comment |
- E-mail |
T-Mobile turns to social media for seasonal hiring
August 29, 2010 | Posted by Randy Woods
Late August is not a time most people are thinking about "ho, ho, ho" and mistletoe. But at Bellevue-based T-Mobile USA, the holiday season is just getting under way as it prepares to make its seasonal hires in the next few weeks. This year, the wireless communications giant is establishing a stronger social media presence in the local job market with a new Job Search and Share application on Facebook, which can plug job seekers directly into the company's careers page. Launched about two weeks ago, the interactive app enables users to see the latest online job listings at T-Mobile and search for jobs in any of 17 career categories. What makes this different from a regular career search tool is that the app can be added as a tab on job seekers' home pages. Once the tab is added, viewers can receive news feed updates about T-Mobile jobs on their Facebook walls and comment on them. September and October is when T-Mobile usually ramps up its seasonal retail hiring, so it expects the Facebook app to get a lot of use in the next few weeks, says Christina Hong, brand/sourcing coordinator for T-Mobile. To view the app, visit the
- Post a comment |
- E-mail |
UW, Virginia Mason are hiring, but competition is fierce
August 26, 2010 | Posted by Paul Anderson
While the health care industry is definitely hiring, competition is fierce and out of hundreds of applicants, only a handful are getting interviews. Understanding how companies function and communicating your value in accordance with their needs can greatly increase your odds of getting noticed. I recently interviewed representatives from Virginia Mason Medical Center and UW Medicine regarding how each company does hiring. While they share similarities in what they look for in candidates, knowing their different hiring preferences and approaches to recruiting can make the difference in getting your foot in the door for an interview. How many jobs are available? UW Medicine has 20,000 employees in seven major units, all of which are hiring right now. There are currently 140 openings at Harborview Medical Center, 250 openings at UW Medical Center and the rest are spread among Northwest Hospital, UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW School of Medicine, UW Physicians and the Airlift Northwest division. Virginia Mason has about 5,000 employees, and a quick search on its website shows a little over 100 openings. How are the jobs advertised? Each company lists opportunities on its own website. In addition, each advertises openings on NWjobs.com. UW Medicine also leverages the Seattle Times
- Post a comment |
- E-mail |
