Our daily lives of working or looking for work can be chaotic, we rush to finish projects and we live anxiously looking for the next interview. In the rush and chaos do we take the time to be quiet, to consider and plan? We likely know people who pray or meditate and no matter the philosophy driving them, they are giving themselves the proper time to consider their lives by taking quiet moments to reflect.

There are many books and suggestions on how to reflect amidst the noise, but for most it is just a matter of taking the time to stop the chaos, finding a quiet place and just thinking. Through this process we discover clarity and focus; answers we couldn’t find in the daily rush of life come to us. Using quiet time is not new, you know this. It seems that now is a good time for a reminder.

Find a nice place to be by yourself and if people ask what you are up to just let them know you need a little quiet please.

Quiet Please! The Value Of Silence At Work And During A Job Search is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Looking for a job by hunting for just the right job listing, while good for traffic figures on job boards and corporate websites, offer little real value to someone looking for work. Only 1% of visitors to corporate sites find a job that’s worth the time it takes to apply. One percent of them get called for an interview. The real purpose of the flow of resumes is to prove the value of the candidate who actually is selected.

Recruiters need job boards to produce lots of resumes that they then discard. This is how they prove that they’ve winnowed a big pile down to the best available. The fact is that no one has the secret of finding the right people in their hands. If they did, you’d know about it and could shift your strategy accordingly.

Like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. But never, never bet your next rent check on winning the online job search lottery.

If you really want a job, here are the four steps you must take:

1. Have A Clear Sense of What You Want To Do
   One positive thing about hunting for a job online is that it gives you a chance to clearly understand what you don’t want. That’s the first part of knowing what you do want. Stop whatever you’re doing and write a 50-word statement that describes what you want in a job. Put it under your pillow and sleep on it. If it still seems right in the morning, stick with it.
2. Identify 25 Companies that Do What You Want To Do
   This is where the web is really handy. Use one of the local search tools to identify companies in your area that either do the kind of work you want or employ people who do it. Really, the smaller the company, the better. Try to identify companies that seem to be growing. You can find out about this in the local business paper. If they have a fresh, new website, put an extra check mark by their name. They are showing real signs of life.
3. Go Visit All 25 Companies On Your List
   Seeing the companies and the people who work there will help you get a feel for the ones you like and the ones you don’t. Pay particular attention to the companies you liked most in your web research. At three companies a day, you should be able to visit all 25 in two weeks.
4. Pick Your Favorite One and Go To Work There
   Again, the smaller, the better. Show up, ask to see the owner or manager. Tell them that you’d like some work experience while you’re job hunting. Tell them you’ll work for free. At the end of a couple of weeks, if you want to stay there, make the following offer: “I’d like to work for you for the next couple of weeks. At the end of that time, please pay me what you think I was worth. If that is only a penny, so be it.

While I cannot guarantee that you’ll get the job of your dreams every time you do this, it really doesn’t take long to find work when you show up, deliver real value and offer to take all of the economic risk. Owners and managers are looking for people who demonstrate entrepreneurial behavior.

Keep Coming Back: Four Simple Steps To Get A Job is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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There are three ways to create an opportunity for salary raise negotiation:

• find a new job
• tell your employer you want a raise
• wait for your employer to offer one

To find a new job, you have to start looking first and chances are pretty good people in the office will find out about or sense your personal career project. If you are a good worker, play an important role and would be hard to replace, your employer will approach you prepared to offer ‘more’ to keep you on board. If you are offered a new job, you will be asked the amount you are looking for.

In either case I have always believed and have blogged here before that the best way to answer this question is to respond with, ‘based on what I have seen and learned about your organization, I am sure you will offer me an attractive and competitive offer.’ If possible do not give a number first. You will second guess yourself for the rest of your career wondering if ‘I could have gotten more.’

Telling your employer you want more is never easy. You have to be prepared with data, real data and Glassdoor is a great place to get the latest on pay bands in your field, industry and location. What better way to approach ‘the woman’ than with data that matters. Of course many of you can be prepared to remind her about the pay decrease you took ‘a couple of years ago’ and that you need to get back to that level.

Waiting for your employer to come to you is also never easy. If you are in a situation where you took a pay decrease in the past couple of years and have market data, including anecdotal stories about companies raising salaries in order to compete and retain talent then be prepared to share with your immediate supervisor and/or HR representative. How you present the information matters, don’t act like you want a pay raise instead point to the stories and data as evidence of a changing market and that your company must be considering doing the same. The people you talk to will take the information forward because chances are they are in the same boat and want the increase as well. You’ve just provided ammunition to take the data forward.

Companies are more productive today because they have to be and this has resulted in the lowering of salaries and a decrease in the number employed. We are not close to the ‘bubble’ days of hiring but we are in a time when Quality Talent (see our book “Talent Force”) is scarce because they are heads down working. Look up, as it may be time to negotiate a pay raise.

Time For A Pay Raise? Three Salary Negotiation Opportunities is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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If you are going to interact with recruiters, you need to understand some of their basic beliefs.

Recruiters don’t really make hiring decisions. They winnow a big pile of resumes into a little one. They make judgments about who is fit for a job and who isn’t. Not the final judgment, mind you. Recruiters make the decors that narrow the list of prospects from 100 to 10. Then they rank and present the ‘short list’.

Recruiters belong to the category of people who can’t give you all of the help you need. They can, however, exercise a veto on your candidacy. Recruiters are gatekeepers and evaluators. Here are five keys to understanding what recruiters believe:

“For all jobs, there is someone who is good enough.”

Recruiters are evaluated on the percentage of open jobs that they fill. That makes them supreme realists. They are faced with overwhelming piles of information and high pressure deadlines. They are always willing to compromise job requirements in order to get the position filled. A recruiter’s reputation really rests on his or her ability to sell a candidate who is less than perfect. This means that your interactions with a recruiter always need to show your willingness to comply with their recommendations.

“Shorter resumes are better than longer resumes.”

Recruiters sift through huge piles of information. Just because you think that your illustrious career deserves three pages of single spaced detail doesn’t mean that anyone has the time to read it. Stick to the high points. If you can’t get your resume into a single page, get help. Boring a recruiter with too much detail is a certain path to being weeded out.

“The best person for a job is really the best available person.”

This is really a subset of the idea that for every job, there is someone who is good enough. Deadlines drive hiring decisions. They are not looking for the best candidate for the job. They want the best candidate for the job who is available to take it. A sign of a good candidate is the willingness to wrap things up in your current job quickly. Proving that you are invaluable in your gig makes you harder, not easier to place.

“People who aren’t currently working are not good enough.”

While being easily available is critical, being too available is the kiss of death. Recruiters view the unemployed as damaged goods. In some cases, they will not even look at the resume of someone who doesn’t have a job. If you are out of work, always have a project that you are pursuing that is work related, even if you have to volunteer. Never let the absence of a paycheck keep you from working. In most places, a project you do when between employers is called ‘consulting’.

“Hygiene, demeanor and dress are essential attributes of a great candidate.”

This ought to go without saying. Recruiters make a million judgments based on first impressions. A recent shower, a shave, clean clothes, shined shoes (really), business attire and deodorant (but not cologne or perfume) are the bare minimum. Good eye contact and clear evidence of preparation are the second layer. Well thought out answers to obvious interview questions are the third layer.

Getting a job involves a kind of warfare. Be well armed. Recruiters don’t have the final say on anything but they do winnow the pile of applicants. They are looking for a reason to reject you.

Five Myths Recruiters Believe That Impact Your Job Search is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Up until recently it was hard to see the career paths of others who have the same educational background or experience. The sphere of visibility many times stopped at the exterior walls of your company or companies where you previously worked. It was hard to gain any advantage of pattern recognition with such a small sample size.

As transparency has become more and more the norm, each of us are getting the Internet’s advantage which allows us to easily share information with other people, most of whom we will never know. This week LinkedIn announced they are using their database of experienced people and sharing the information with college age users so they can see possible career paths. What is great about this is that these career paths are numerous and validated by lots of people who have gone through a similar career experience.

However, it would not be a good idea to think of a career path as a linear route because too many variables will arise that will disrupt the straight line or throw up barriers and detours.  However, think about a career path as a subway map. Like a subway ride, you will get from point A (today) to point B (end of your career) but you will likely change trains, go out of the way for a little while, have to wait at a station or two for the next train, and sometimes sit in the heat, cold or the dark while the train is stalled or waiting for another train to pass or get out of the way. Even so, like it is valuable to study a map before going somewhere unknown (even Google Maps or MapQuest are not perfect), the same can be said for studying the career paths of others to see if you recognize patterns applicable to you, or for when you feel lost, you can see how someone else found their way forward.

Your Career Is A Subway Map: Why It’s Ok To Branch Out is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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One friend likes to buy, fix up and re-sell old cars while he also has contracts with a major telecommunications company to sell their hardware and solutions. Another friend has 10 websites where he makes extra money through advertising. And yet another makes money selling for a number of websites in a number of different fields.

Is this the new career – working a little bit here and there to make a living?

Back in college my good friend Bob and I called it scammin and jammin – whether we were running tickets for the Armadillo world headquarters, buying clothes from China to resell or running ski trips so we could go for free, we did what we had to do to make it. The common denominator between these efforts became clear; All these ‘work’ examples were fun. There was no ego, just pursuing activities that were fun. There was no comparing cars, houses or anything – work was/is the pursuit of activities enjoyed.

We seek work because we need it to sustain us – to pay bills. But do we ever think about sustaining ourselves through work we enjoy? Maybe we should measure our work by closing our eyes, thinking about it and see if we smile. If we do….well you get the point.

I’m smiling right now thinking about Willie, The Talking Heads and Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin late 70’s. For those who don’t have a clue look it up. But for all those shows, they were free for me – I was simply scammin and jammin.

Scammin and Jammin: The Face Of The New Career? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Here are five of the biggest myths when it comes to job hunting:

A great resume will get you a job.

Resumes have only one purpose – to get you an interview. Unless you are fortunate enough to be in a career that is in heavy demand (nursing, for example), you have to ace the interview to get the job. The real test comes when you show your sparkling personality to the various people who interview you. A resume should be memorable. If it doesn’t make you nervous, the person who reviews it might not remember it. Use your resume to stand out.

Companies busily search online resume databases for just the exact right person.

The people who scavenge databases for people are mostly looking for reasons to eliminate you. The person who gets the job is rarely the best qualified. It’s more likely to be the last person standing; the one who is left after everyone else is eliminated. While being different gets you eliminated more frequently, it will also leave you standing more frequently. Make your resume into something that people can not feel mediocre about.

You get a job by reading online job ads and applying.

It’s more realistic to think that reading about jobs online is something you do until you are really ready to get a job. You should notice that none of the reputable job boards make any claims whatsoever about the likelihood that you’ll get a job using their service. That’s because you won’t. Do forty hours of practice interviews with your family and friends. Know your answers cold. Deliver them with charm and timing. Be ready.

Who you know is the only thing that matters.

These days it’s better to focus on “who knows you”. Social media gives you the ability to develop a reputation far beyond the confines of your town and your social circle. This is a real change in job hunting. Using LinkedIn and Facebook, you can expand your network. Find news items that are relevant to the kind of job you want; shorten the URLs and send them out on Twitter and Facebook. Become a resource. Get known.

All of the really great opportunities are in the hidden job network.

All of the really great job opportunities involve people who didn’t know that they had a job opening. They create a job because, after meeting you, they can’t imagine running their company without you. In other words, the great opportunities are the ones that you make for yourself.

A potent resume designed to be memorable, great social network development, practiced interview skills and an eye for what this particular company needs are the real elements of success. While everyone else is out there hunting for the elusive job, you can create your own opportunities. The biggest myth of job hunting is that you can only find it if it exists. The truth is that you can (and should) make your own opportunity.

Five Myths Of Job Hunting is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Regular conversation doesn’t happen in thirty-second chunks. A typical networking conversation tends to flow more like this:

YOU: Hi, I’m Jane - and you?

HIM: I’m Carl. Nice to meet you, Jane. What brought you here tonight?

YOU: Oh, my friend Maggie is one of the organizers. I’ve never been to a meetup before. How about you?

CARL: I come to this group occasionally, and always have fun when I do. So, are you a marketing person?

YOU: I’m an event planner, so I’m in the same vein. I didn’t see any event planning meetups so I tagged along with Jane at this marketing one.

CARL: So, what sorts of events do you work on? Do you work for yourself?

Nobody in this little drama gets more than ten or fifteen seconds of airtime before the microphone (virtually) shifts back to the other person. This is how the standard back-and-forth between two new acquaintances tends to unfold. So, where’s the moment for the interminable Elevator Speech? There isn’t one. Imagine if Carl and Jane had met one another this way:

YOU: Hi, I’m Jane – and you?

HIM: I’m Carl. It’s nice to meet you, Jane. What brought you here tonight?

YOU: Oh, my friend Maggie is one of the organizers. I’ve never been to a meetup before. How about you?

CARL: I come to this group occasionally, and always have fun when I do. So, are you a marketing person?

YOU: I’m an Events Planner. I work for High Point Events, a national event-planning firm, and I’m the local person here in Springfield. I plan and execute events from bar mitzvahs to corporate sales offsites, everything from choosing the venue to arranging the content, audio visuals and budget to create an unforgettable emotional experience for the participants. I work with most of the big hotels in town and many of our largest employers, from XYZ Labs to Charisma Confections and many others. I’ve been in the business for eight years, and I love what I do.

CARL: Wow….that’s outstanding. Gosh, you know what, I just spotted my old boss coming in – I’ve got to go say hello. Nice to meet you Angela — er, Paula? Sorry — have a great evening!

What went wrong? Jane’s carefully rehearsed Elevator Speech let fly into Carl’s face like a blast of bug spray. Most of us would rather be poked in the eye with a sharp stick than subjected to a new acquaintance’s audio business spiel. That’s why Elevator Speeches are so annoying for the recipients — they’re one-way aural assaults. Real conversations don’t include blocks of commercials that sound the way Jane’s Elevator Speech does. We can do better.

We can stay in a natural networking conversation and convey a bit of our business or career information by way of a less intrusive self-intro, called a Bumper Sticker. A bumper sticker is short — like the bumper stickers we put on our cars. It’s brief and pithy. It says just a little (not a three-fold brochure’s worth) about what we do on the job. It leaves the listener, if he or she is interested in our what-I-do-all-day story, in a position to ask us for more details. If the listener isn’t interested, that’s okay too! The Bumper Sticker doesn’t force information into the hapless newcomer’s ear canals. It says “If you want to know more about my job, just ask me.”

Here are some Bumper Sticker examples to illustrate the concept. Each one is an answer to the question “So, what do you do?”

• I’m an events planner - I specialize in big out-of-town events, like sales meetings.
• I help manufacturers get their process costs way down by simplifying how they build things.
• I run marketing, site content and PR for a very cool jobs-research site called Glassdoor.com.
• I’m the CFO for an organic chocolate maker here in Springfield.

A Bumper Sticker intro has five advantages over an Elevator Speech, namely:

• It lets the listener, rather than the speaker, decide how much information is enough and how much is too much.
• It keeps the focus on the two people in the conversation (or three, or more) rather than on anyone’s job description (which may well be the least interesting thing about you, in any case).
• It doesn’t hijack the conversation and turn it into a sales pitch, or run the risk of appearing to do so.
• It gives the new acquaintance just enough information to remember “Oh yes, Jane, the event planner.” It doesn’t overwhelm the listener with detail or sales-y overkill.
• It is polite!

Try a Bumper Sticker in place of an Elevator Speech at your next networking outing. If you’re on the fence, try holding your breath for thirty seconds and see how it feels. Thirty seconds, as it turns out, is an eternity. Remember that the point of networking is to create relationships, not to thwart them before they’ve begun, and you may swear off Elevator Speeches for good.

Elevator Speech Out! Bumper Sticker In: Advice For Career Networking is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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I was recently helping a senior executive in a job search. I made the referral to a search firm who had the perfect job for this executive. The recruiter was very enthusiastic and quickly scheduled interviews that accommodated the candidate’s scheduling needs. The CEO changed his schedule and others on his team in order to meet the candidate’s request. The candidate flew in, interviewed and received a true first-class experience with the best of everything. The feedback was positive and the CEO wanted to continue on with the discussions but was “troubled” by something that he couldn’t put his finger on.

After a week, the CEO and the recruiter were talking and the CEO said that he had figured out what was bothering him; he had been left with the feeling that after all of the accommodations that had been made for the candidate a spirit of gratitude was missing. The candidate came across as being too self-centered and disconnected to the culture of the company.  The CEO told the recruiter that a thank-you note from the candidate after the interview could have rectified the feeling and would have gone a long way. The sad part was the candidate really wanted the job and had no idea that this small detail could have made the difference in getting the job.

It’s a small example, but it is a real example that the small stuff does matter.  So think about what you can do to come across as someone who is detail oriented, and is thankful for the small things that are done for you. Don’t miss the opportunity to show the company, whether you want the job or not, you are appreciative of the experience and the time and energy they expended on you.  That lasting impression could be the difference between what the people you meet say about you, or not say about you in the future.

Why You Should Sweat The Small Stuff In A Job Hunt is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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I’ve been at my job five years, and there are aspects of the job that I love and others I hate. It’s a job I could do in my sleep, and there aren’t really any opportunities for advancement. At the same time, I’m well paid and the benefits are fantastic. The leadership team is great and my manager has been very good to me. On the other hand, salary increases have been tiny for the past two years. It’s a family-owned company and the business is about as recession-proof as you can get, so I’m grateful for that. For the first few years in the job, I was learning a lot, but I’m pretty well versed now and the learning has tapered off dramatically. I basically drift through each day, dialing it in and doing what the job requires and no more, since the opportunity to get a significant pay increase is basically nil. Part of me wants to look for another job, but another part of me says “You’re about to vest in your 401(k) matching contribution, and why leave a stable environment for an unknown one?” What is your advice?

Thanks,

Fred

________________________
Dear Fred,

Management consultants tell their CEO clients, “Innovate, or die.” When my great-granddad pulled barges down the Chicago Canal, it was possible (and almost guaranteed, for many people) to do a job that required little to no intellectual heavy lifting and involved no complex problem-solving. Today, in the Knowledge Economy, people who don’t stretch themselves to climb bigger and bigger hills and who don’t learn on the job fall behind. They lose muscle tone, you might say – they’re just not as sharp, inquisitive or creative in their thinking as people whose jobs require them to untangle thorny issues every day.

There’s another issue worth pondering, too, one that you may not have thought about. Many people would say that it is unethical to accept a hefty salary and do as little for the company as you say you are doing. Can you feel good about yourself when you drift through each day, going through the motions, in a company that you say has treated you extremely well? I am certain that you hold yourself to a higher standard than that in your outside-of-work relationships, Fred. Apart from the mental and professional stagnation that you’re experiencing, don’t you want a job where you get up every morning full of enthusiasm, dying to get to work and dig into the interesting issues the company is facing? When you find that next assignment, it will be better for you, better for your employers (the old and new), and better for the currently-unemployed person who will get your current job when you move on to greener pastures. You are way too young, Fred (whatever your age) to go to sleep in your career. Two years in a rut is two too many. Get your job-search engine up and running again, Fred, get into your next challenging assignment and pave the way for a sharp, deserving someone to take over the role that isn’t making your heart beat faster anymore.

Best,

Liz

Is It Ethical To Stay In A Well Paid Job And Just Coast Through? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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