What kind of resume should I use?
Wed March 24, 2010
Good Lord are there lots of experts out there telling us exactly what our resumes should look like!! There is the new "Guerrilla Resume" which is part resume, part brochure, part graphic art. It certainly sets a resume apart from the pack...with cool graphics, corporate logos, nifty elevator speeches (better know what that is!)...and any HR drone sorting through 300 standard resumes is sure to pick it out. UNLESS...

Unless you are applying to a company that mechanically sorts out resumes...then fancy graphics and complicated type faces get the resume dumped. So the FIRST rule of job hunting is..companies hire people NOT resumes.

If you see a job that interests you, research it thoroughly and try to find a personal connection BEFORE you send in your resume. Did someone in the hierarchy go to your college, come from your home town, share a common hobby or sport with you? Be aggressively imaginative because any resume that gets handed to the hiring people by an insider, and tracked by them, has an advantage over the fanciest, niftiest guerrilla resume money can buy. Whom do you know who might know someone who knows someone that works there...six degrees of separation is no joke. Because the competition is so fierce the personal connection wins out every time.

My next blog will tell you why you should become a nurse!

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Resumes: you have 20 seconds!
Mon March 01, 2010
Feel sorry for the poor HR people, they have to plow through hundreds of resumes per job offering! At best, they can give each resume 20-30 seconds. Their bosses are breathing down their necks to reduce that stack to a dozen NOW! Who will make the cut? Those who make the HR person's job easy. Insure that the top 1/3 of your resume proves you are a perfect fit for the job and at the very least you will get the interview.

How? First, put name, address and all contact info on two lines in a good sized type but DON'T waste space on it. Second, hone you personal statement down to a half a dozen lines or so specifically matching action verbs in the job description with action verbs of your skills and accomplishments. Don't use titles up there, they prove nothing, use quantitative and qualitative data to back up your success. Maybe you are the former Emperor of India but how much did you increase sales, reduce expense, improve customer service, expand territory? If you can't prove it, why say it? Make this power statement succinct and insure everything you state is proven in the functional and chronological lists that follow.

Finally, we all know you were elected most likely to succeed in high school, received a Rotary scholarship for good citizenship in 1947 and play the oboe but unless it had a direct bearing on the job you are looking at, no one really cares. Do list significant civic kudos, Nobel Peace Prize, Phi Beta Kappa, Knight of the Order of the Garter but only if they clearly illustrate your present sterling character.

Best yet, go to a job seekers' group where you can brainstorm with others, network, and learn what works; the person that tries to go it alone ends up alone. Build those relationships and it will not only increase the effectiveness of your job search but lift your spirits and improve your social life!

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Let Google Alerts Do the Work!!
Thu February 11, 2010
Want to know what jobs are opening up in your field of interest in the Tampa Bay area? Let "Google Alerts" do the work for you. Log in to Google.com and at the top select "more." When the list appears go to the bottom and select "even more." The word "alerts" will appear at the top. Left click. On the first line type in your job interest and geographical area, such as 'Career Coach Tampa'. If you use parentheses you will get only those postings that are specific to that phrase, if not, you will get postings for each word which will go on forever. Under type select "comprehensive," select frequency, number of emails and enter your email address. Presto!! You will get postings for your area of interest. Want to learn more? Come to the Job Seekers Workshop every Tuesday night from 7-9 at first Unity, St. Petes on 46th North and 4th.

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Twitter or Disappear
Mon January 25, 2010
It is as simple as that; increasingly, corporations are using social networking such as Facebook, Twitter et al to search for suitable candidates to fill job positions. Think about it, posting an ad in the paper or on line generates THOUSANDS of replies...resumes, letters...and the vast majority are not a match. So what is an HR person to do? Word search!!

Develop a job profile with strategically important action verbs then do a word search on the net to find resumes and profiles which match. If you were faced with a foot high pile of resumes and a boss breathing down your neck to cull the list, what would you do?

The people who get hired are the people who make the HR person's job easy so if you apply for a job think about them. What can you do to make the match obvious? A personal connection is by far the best way. Did anyone in that company go to your college, grow up in your town, play your sport, share your hobby? Sound silly? Any connection that you make is a connection the competition hasn't and it puts you at the top of the pile. Using your social networking site to market yourself is an example.

Want to know more? Sign up for the First Unity Church, St. Petersburg's Job Search Workshop that meets every Tuesday evening 7-9 in February and March. No fee, an offering is optional.

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Don't go it alone!
Thu January 21, 2010
I have had nightmares about getting fired and being unemployed and I have a feeling I am not the only one for whom this is a waking nightmare as well. It is about loss but also about meaning and self worth. The number one secret to a successful, fulfilling job search is DON'T GO IT ALONE! First, there is the obvious support of a group, people going through what you are going through. It also gives your partner and family a break, after all they are anxious too.

Their are the benefits of widening your network, the more people you know you are job hunting, the quicker are your chances of getting employed.

There is the vital importance of expertise. Your old resume and cover letter, and what you think are good interviewing skills, don't cut it anymore. Job search groups have access to the up to the minute data and HR professionals who can teach you what you need to know, like how to market yourself on Twitter.

Finally, once you get hired, it is your opportunity to help others by sharing your success. After all, it takes a Job Search Group to beat unemployment! There is a group starting at First Unity, St. Pete's that will meet every Tuesday night from 7 to 9. Don't go it alone.

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Powerful News Job Search Workshop in St. Petes!!
Wed January 06, 2010

JOBS ON THE Q INTO BLOG

Fantastic news for the St. Petersburg area, First Unity Church on 46th N and 4th is starting a top notch Job Search/Career Transition Workshop and Group on Tuesday, February 2nd from 7 to 9pm. For eight consecutive Tuesday evenings, Pegotty Cooper, a career coach who specializes in mid-life career transitions, and Larry Labelle, CEO of Trainingtamers and founder of many of the groups now flourishing in Hillsborough County, will guide us through a complete Job Search program which will bring us to the head of the line.

With literally thousands of resumes out there in our area, recruiters take only seconds for each one. Larry knows how to make your resume a stand out. With jobs getting more and more specialized, Pegotty will help you clarify your skills and passions and channel them into a perfect career. Ask any HR professional and you will learn joining a job search/career transition network vastly increases the chances of you getting the job you want and shortens the time it will take. Plus, it means you do not have to go it alone.

Interested? Please email me at fsbaldwin@gmail.com for further information. After 8 weeks, you will not only have complete control of your life and job search, you will have made some wonderful new friends along the way.

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Never burn a bridge...you'll need them all.
Sat December 12, 2009
It is natural, when one is fired, downsized, whatever they call your exit, to get really pissed. Don't!...ALL of the contacts which you have made in your last job are opportunities to find your next one. Keep connected, especially with your old boss who is probably feeling at least a little guilt, so that he/she is a network connection. Send old friends "Holiday Greetings" with a little letter telling them what you are up to. Spread the word how fantastic you are and what you are looking for. Get as many people as possible joining in on your search. That keeps you way ahead of the game. Every bridge is a passage over troubled waters, never burn a single one!

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Introduction
Tue November 24, 2009
Three years ago I moved here from the New York metropolitan area for three reasons: weather, a great LGBT community and the Tampa Bay area was booming, the “economic engine of Florida” an LGBT guide to the 50 best places to live proclaimed. Well the weather is still great and so is the LGBT community.

Today, in the Tampa Bay area, we have over 100,000 people unemployed and 57% of those with jobs feel so insecure about them they too are actively applying for jobs. That is the bad news. The good news is that Tampa Bay area leads the nation in job search groups and resources.

Nearly thirty years ago, when I was the rector of a suburban Episcopal church, many people in my parish and community lost their jobs because of the Savings and Loan disaster. I felt they needed a reason to get up in the morning, get dressed, get out of the house and network with others in the same boat so I created the Career Forum.

Little did I know instead of retiring to Florida, as a trained life and career coach, I would be doing the same today. I now attend and lead many job search groups. So when myQmunity approached me about starting a blog to pass on what I know, see and hear about the job hunt, it seemed like the right thing to do.

In the coming weeks I will pass one what’s hot and what’s not in a constantly changing world of job search but I can say this right off the bat, the old cover letter, chronological resume and one-line search will get you nowhere. It is a challenging journey but if you do it right, you are way ahead to the crowd!

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