………

The one thing HR professionals seem agreed on is that the maximum mistakes their department makes is in the hiring process. In fact, recent research by recruitment and HR advisory firm Recruitment Roundtable says that only 50 per cent of all new hires are the right fit for their jobs.

This does not mean that half the intake comprises total duds. It’s just that a little bit of care would have ensured a better fit. “You end up with the passable instead of the best,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant D. Singh.

This matters but not too much when the economy is booming and candidates are tougher to find than jobs. But when the situation reverses — as has happened today, albeit temporarily — the warts in the selection process are there for all to see.

Recruitment experts say that the problem starts with the HR department itself. Nick Corcodilos enumerates the 10 Stupid Hiring Mistakes employers make. At No. 1 is the desire to get an exact fit and not a best fit. You want a certain portfolio of talents with the candidate. The chances are you will never get all of them. This approach is for specialised jobs and you must go out and seek rather than wait for applicants to reply to your ad. HR professionals within an organisation are notoriously deskbound; you can recognise a star who you want to have in your organisation only if you meet him in the field.

Corcodilos’ second “mistake” takes a further potshot at the HR department. The problem, he says, is that HR does the recruiting. “Consider that the person who first talks to a prospective hire is your company’s front line of communication with your professional community. What does an HR representative — even the best one in your company — really know about the work your department does?” His solution: if you want an engineer, get the engineers in your company to vet him.

“All these things work when you have the time and the resources to go about recruitment in a systematic fashion,” says Singh. “Over the past few years in India, it has been more of taking people in without many checks.” This has resulted in the recruitment of both dishonest (with a fudged track record and sometimes even a criminal past) and incompetent employees.

Today, IT and BPO companies are getting rid of the chaff. That’s good news. What is not is the fact that if business hadn’t hit a rough patch because of the financial crisis and the possible recession in the West, these employees would have continued on the rolls. “What is worse news is that companies are not using this opportunity to put systems in place,” says Singh.

If anything, companies have been shirking the responsibility. Most large organisations today believe in pre-screening. They give this job to an outside agency. HR professionals confess that one of the reasons for this is to avoid nepotism; it is standard practice in India to get as many jobs as you can for your extended family. (Curiously, it has become a best practice in the West also. But there the performance of those you bring in reflects on you.) But pre-screening may eliminate some of the deadwood; it doesn’t ensure the candidate fits your organisational culture.

Corcodilos is not alone in giving recruitment advice. The Internet is full of lists of top recruitment mistakes. It is a problem not for the company alone. The Recruitment Roundtable survey reveals that 40 per cent of all hires feel that they are misled to some extent during the recruitment process. The result: unhappy employees and post-purchase dissonance.

“We may have a window of six months to a year when the mad recruitment of recent times will slow down,” says Singh. “The wise will use the opportunity to put their house in order.”

FIT NOT FAT

A recipe for effective recruiting:

To save short and long-term costs, leading recruiting executives are redesigning their assessment and selection strategies to ensure that “best fit” talent is consistently identified and selected early.

• Reduce costs by better predicting “fit” and quality. Apply selection techniques that appropriately (and simultaneously) screen for job and organisational fit, as well as quality.

• Streamline assessment by improving sourcing before selection. Use sourcing practices that achieve higher initial state quality, easing preliminary assessments and long-term costs for high-volume positions while ensuring upfront quality for harder-to-fill positions.

• Place the candidate at the centre. Make candidate care as important as effective selection and implement “candidate-centric” practices.

• Apply risk-adjusted assessment practices. Differentiate investment in assessment techniques based on the turnover and quality risk carried with specific position types to maximise ROI.

Source: Recruiting Roundtable

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Tell it right

Write a resume incorporating two or three paragraphs about a problem you faced, the intelligent way you approached it and its positive outcome. Get feedback on the draft from people you know in your target field. Craft your elevator pitches; each one must explain why you’re looking for a job, what you’re looking for and prove that you’re good. Here’s an example of a 10-second pitch, “The company downsized, so I’m looking for another CPA position. I never thought I’d be looking for a job. I have always got great evaluations.” In the 30 and 60-second pitches, say more about the kind of job you want and provide credible evidence of your competence.

Quick scan

Identify 25 employers you’d like to work for. Focus on small, growing companies in your target industry within a reasonable commuting distance. Log on to major employment sites for companies you’ve never heard of with multiple job listings. These are usually small companies in growth mode. Email or phone the people in your network who are most likely to help you get a job, give your 10 or 30-second pitch and ask, “Do you know someone at any of these 25 companies, or elsewhere for that matter?” If appropriate, ask if your contact would review your resume and cover letter or do a mock interview with you.

Tackle tactfully

Follow up on the leads from your networking that are not among the employers you’ve targeted; deliver your 30-second pitch enthusiastically. After that, listen more than talk. Ask questions about the employer’s needs. If you have an idea, propose it tactfully. For example, “Listening to you, it seems that I could help you by doing X. What do you think?” If it would impress the interviewer, tell about your performance in your earlier companies. Visit each of the 25 employers’ websites and apply to any on-target jobs. Start your cover letter by mentioning your reference, if any. Then explain, point by point, how you meet the requirements in the listing. Your goal is to apply for 10 openly advertised on-target jobs by the end of the week.

Mail matters

Send a brief email to the CEO of one of the companies to which you wish to apply. Here’s an example: “I’m an operations manager who’s just been part of a downsizing at BigWhup Widget. I’m attracted to your company because I have experience in your industry, liked what I saw on your website and, I must admit, because I live just 10 minutes away. I’m attaching my resume. I’d welcome the opportunity to speak with you or a designee to see if and how I might be of help to you.” If, within a week, you haven’t heard from the people you’ve contacted, follow up. Leave voice mail, saying, “I’m the manager from BigWhup Widget who was just part of a downsizing and phoned you. I’m assuming that, not having heard from you, you’re too busy to respond. I can understand. But I know that sometimes things can fall between the cracks, so I’m taking the liberty of calling to follow up. If you are interested in talking to me or can offer advice as to where I should turn, I’d appreciate a call.”

You won’t hear back from most people you contact, but you’ll get at least one bite, most likely from an employer who has been thinking about hiring but hasn’t gotten around to it yet. Sometimes, an employer will find it easier to vet you, make you an offer and be done with it. If that’s the case, the time and effort you will have invested in your one-week job search will have paid big dividends.

Sources: The Telegraph Kolkata, India)

STAFFING SERVICES:-
There are also many more companies online offering home employment directly with no cost to you. Some of them are Outsourcing Services hiring home employees from their own websites. You will also see help wanted advertisements from temporary and permanent employment agencies looking for workers. You might consider employment agencies, staffing services, freelance websites, recruiters, help wanted classifieds or jobs search agents. An online search for virtual staffing services should provide many helpful online virtual staffing services that are looking for employees to work for their clients.

OUTSOURCING SERVICES:-
Many more work at home opportunities are available on the Internet with Outsourcing Services. They already have a large clientele and marketing system and are looking for more employees to help their clients. There are call centers, customer support providers and customer relationship management firms that pay people for customer support work done from home, telesales specialists looking for salespeople, virtual assistant agencies looking for virtual assistants, data processing services looking for data entry typists and many other outsourcing services are advertising for employees to work online. You will also see many online Outsourcing Services that advertise editing services and recruit editors to work for their online services, or writers, typists, accountants, etc. Many temporary agencies and freelance websites also advertise for workers who will work on outsourced projects for them.

HELP FOR CLASSIFIED ADDS:-
For recent classified advertisements look at http://FreshJobs.com and http://ExpertNetSurf.com. Recent classified advertisements with titles like Now Hiring, Help Wanted and Job Openings are posted in newsgroups, job boards, forums and message boards too. JobBoardMagic.com, Job-Search-Engine.com and JobLine.net check many job boards in their job search. You could also post your resume at http://HelpWantedSite.com and apply for jobs you like with your resume from their website. CareerBuilder.com, a large job and career website, and Jobvertise.com also provide this service free.

JOBS AT HOME:-
Home websites will send you recent job advertisements in a newsletter or ezine. You can join their mailing list or subscribe to their newsletters free at their websites. ExpertNetSurf.com is recommended for recent jobs at home advertisements in their free newsletter. Bassador.com, HomeJobStop.com and Telework-Connection.com also provide free jobs at home information in their newsletters. Email Alerts are also available from many job and career websites including CareerBuilder.com, HelpWantedSite.com and IHireAccounting.com

NEWS GROUPS IN INTERNET:-
Jobs are posted in Newsgroups at http://Google.com in newsgroups like alt.jobs.offered, misc.jobs.offered, biz.jobs.offered, us.jobs.offered and misc.jobs.offered.entry. You can find many recent help wanted advertisements in newsgroups and messages about them. You can also search for jobs. Many more jobs at home opportunities are listed in Yahoo Groups and MSN Groups.

JOBS IN THE HOME SEARCH:-
You can search for home employment with jobs search engines using keywords like at home, home, homebased, job at home, outsource, remote, telecommute, telemarket, telework, virtual, work at home, and work from home. JobLine.net will do a Job Search and/or Resume Distribution for a charge. These websites have jobs at home search engines:

- http://2Work-At-Home.com
- http://GenuineJobs.com
- http://Workaholics4Hire.com
- http://Work-At-Home-Land.com
- http://WorkAtHomeSearchEngine.com
- http://www.JobsAtHomeShop.com

DIFFERENT EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES :-
Employment Agencies have one of the largest selections of employers and jobs and they are professionally trained in job placement.

Some of them are Outsource Staffing Services or Virtual Staffing Services that have employee bases of their own. You can register with them and start working for them, too.

Register with these Employment Agencies, Outsourcing Services, Virtual Staffing Services and Freelance Agencies and they will help you find a job.

You will need a professional resumé and cover letter. You can make your own and upload them to the websites. You will also see many Resumé Services in this book that will design and distribute your resumés.

You should also have several professional references. It would also help you to take some classes or tutorials and add some Certifications to your resumés.

Some of these Services will provide a Customized Web Page for you with your CV (Curriculum Vitae) or Resumé, a Profile, References, Contact Information and Degrees, Diplomas and Certifications. You will be able to send prospective Employers to these Web Pages.

CLICK FOR DIFFERENT EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES:-

- AccounTemps http://AccounTemps.com
- Adecco http://Adecco.com
- AlpineAccess http://AlpineAccess.com
- AssistU http://AssistU.com
- CareersFromHome http://CareersFromHome.com
- ConnectCareers http://ConnectCareers.com
- ContractedWork http://ContractedWork.com
- CyberSecretaries http://YouDictate.com
- DeskTopStaff http://DeskTopStaff.com
- Elance http://www.elance.com/
- Electric Quill Http://Electric-Quill.com
- Elite Virtual Assistants Http://EliteVirtualAssistants.com
- Executary Http://Executary.com
- FlexibleSchedules http://FlexibleSchedules.com
- Global Staffing Http://GlobalStaffing.com
- HireAbility http://HireAbility.com
- HomeBasedSecretaries http://HomeBasedSecretaries.com
- HR-Dept http://HR-Dept.com
- Job Line Http://JobLine.net
- PhoneMagicInc http://PhoneMagicInc.com
- Prime Outsource Http://Prime-Outsource.com
- Professional Support Services http://ProfessionalSupportService.com
- Speedy Secretarial Http://SpeedySecretarial.com
- Staffing Services Http://StaffingServices.net
- Tad Accounting http://TadAccounting.com
- V Services Http://VServices.biz
- V Staff http://VStaff.com
- V-Staffing http://v-staffing.com
- VIPDesk http://VIPDesk.com
- VirtualAssistantJobs http://VirtualAssistantJobs.com
- VirtualAssistants http://VirtualAssistants.com
- VirtualAssistantsRUs http://VirtualAssistantsRUs.com
- Virtual Corp Http://Virtual-Corp.net
- Virtual Medical Staffing Http://VirtualMedicalStaffing.com
- VirtualResourceMgmt http://VirtualResourceMgmt.com
- VirtualStaff2CallCenter http://VirtualStaff2CallCenter.com
- VirtualStaffing http://VirtualStaffing.biz
- VOStaffing http://VOStaffing.com
- Workaholics4Hire.com http://Workaholics4Hire.com

FINANCIAL EMPLOYMENT:-

- AccounTemps http://AccounTemps.com
- BalanceYourBooks http://BalanceYourBooks.com
- Bookminders Inc. Http://Bookminders.com
- Financial Staff Http://FinStaff.com
- JobsInTheMoney http://JobsInTheMoney.com
- TadAccounting http://TadAccounting.com
- Wall Street Services http://www.wallstreetservices.com

TELECOMMUTING,JOBS AT HOME WITH JOB DATABASES ETC. ETC:-

- http://2Work-At-Home.com
- http://Bassador.com
- http://Outsource2000.com
- http://TJobs.com
- http://Workaholics4Hire.com
- http://Work-At-Home-Land.com

NURSING JOBS :-

- http://AllAboutStaffing.com
- http://HospitalJobsOnline.com
- http://Intelistaf.com
- http://IntegrityNurseStaffing.com
- http://ReadyRefer.com
- http://StaffingRemedies.com
- http://VirtualMedicalStaffing.com

BOOKKEEPING & ACCOUNTING JOBS:-

- AccountantsWorld http://AccountantsWorld.com
- AccounTemps http://AccounTemps.com
- Accounting & Finance Personnel http://AFPersonnel.com
- Ajilon http://AjilonFinance.com
- BalanceYourBooks http://BalanceYourBooks.com
- BankingBoard http://BankingBoard.com
- Bookminders Inc. Http://Bookminders.com
- Call An Accountant http://CallAnAccountant.com
- Financial Staff Http://FinStaff.com
- I Hire Accounting Http://IHireAccounting.com
- OutSource Your Books http://osyb.com
- Prime Outsource Http://Prime-Outsource.com
- TadAccounting http://TadAccounting.com http://TadTraining.com

Sources:http://www.freearticles.com/

There is a lot of the standard, corporate breast-thumping stuff. “Life at Reliance is challenging, fulfilling and exciting… People are central to Reliance’s growth strategy…”

Dig a little deeper into any of the jobs on offer and it starts getting curious. Secretaries are in demand. “Applications invited from young, smart lady candidates for the post of receptionist at our offices at Nariman Point, Ballard Estate, Worli, Bandra, Santa Cruz, Reay Road…” Is this a website meant for the whole world? Is it not necessary to mention Mumbai or India somewhere? Read further. “Apply online at www.ril.com within seven days from the date of the advertisement.” What date of advertisement? The penny drops? This has all the looks of a print ad transplanted on a website.

A Reliance executive admits, off the record of course, that the website is mainly used to accumulate biodata. These are then put in a database, searchable on various parameters. This database is accessed whenever the need arises.

At the website of the ADA Group — the fiefdom of Ambani the Younger — there is a lot of corporate hardsell too. “At Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, we recognise the critical role that our people play in the success and growth of each of our businesses…” You are asked to submit your biodata, but there are no jobs on offer. They too must be creating databases.

The two Reliances are not alone. Barring some multinational company subsidiaries and people in the information technology space, the career sections of most corporate websites are purely decorative. This is unfortunate, because corporate websites are one of the most fertile and effective sources of recruitment.

According to a 2006 US study by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, over 50 per cent of new hires are sourced from the Internet. This is obviously a number that can only go up. Employee referrals — at 65 per cent — are still at the top of the heap when it comes to applicant source. But the company’s own website and general job boards — at 50 per cent each — occupy a joint second spot.

These numbers refer to the volumes of applicants. When it comes to the number of people actually taken on, the organisation’s own website leads with 21 per cent, followed by employee referrals (19 per cent) and general job boards (16 per cent). On the quality of the applicants, the top three are employee referrals, the company website and search firms. Social networking sites, the latest craze on the Net, did figure, but nowhere near the top.

The study has a lot of other ramifications. But it underscores the point that for the new-generation jobseeker, a company’s website is often the first point of contact for an employer. He can turn off applicants, if he doesn’t make the site attractive enough.

A more recent study by Potentialpark Communications, a market research firm based in Stockholm, finds that top-ranking employers — no matter where in the world they are — excel in satisfying job hunters’ most basic needs. They also provide excellent navigation. The study concludes that this is the only way to go if you want to attract young jobseekers, who have grown up with the Net. These sites also have add-ons like blogs and interactive quizzes. But the best career websites are the simplest.

For Indian corporate recruiters, who are beefing up their websites only now, here is a partial list of best practices from Steven Rothberg, president of collegerecruiter.com: Easy access from home page; easy-to-find job postings; easy-to-understand web pages; e-mail a friend feature; no login or registration required; and good manners.

Indian companies may have a lot to learn. The plus point is that they are all on the starting line together.

ONLINE LIONS:-

The best corporate career websites*

Deutsche Bank

ABN AMRO

USB

Deloitte

Philips

Intel

McKinsey

Lockheed Martin

Booz Allen Hamilton

Microsoft

BCG

Citi

Procter & Gamble

Accenture

Dell

Bank of America

Credit Suisse

Adidas

BNP Paribas

Johnson & Johnson

(*Survey for 2008 by Potentialpark Communications amongst MBA students and recent college graduates)

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

.
Titles can tie you down

Job titles such as “secretary” or “marketing analyst” can mean a different job
profile in different organisations. The same job can often have separate titles in various organisations and using such a title may well limit your being considered for such jobs as “office manager” or “marketing assistant”.

It is best to use broad categories of jobs rather than specific titles, so that you can be considered for a wide variety of jobs related to the skills that you have.

For example, instead of “secretary” you could say “responsible office management or clerical position” if that is what you would really consider — and qualify for.

The way up

While you may be willing to accept a variety of jobs related to your skills, you should include those that require higher levels of responsibility and pay.

In the example given above, it keeps open the option to be considered for an office management position as well as clerical jobs.

In effect, you should define a “bracket of responsibility” in your objective that includes the range of jobs that you are willing to accept. This bracket should include the lower range of jobs that you would consider as well as those requiring higher levels of responsibility, up to and including those that you think you could handle.

Even if you have not handled those higher levels of responsibility in the past, many employers may consider you for them if you have the skills to support the objective.

Skills that fit the bill

What are the most important skills needed for the job you want? Consider including one or more of these as being required in the job that you seek. The implication here is that if you are looking for a job that requires “organisational skills”, then you have those skills.

Of course, your interview (and résumé) should support those skills with specific examples.

Specifics pay

If you have substantial experience in a particular industry (such as in the computer controlled machine tools sector) or have a narrow and specific objective that you really want (such as becoming an art therapist with the mentally handicapped), then it is okay to state this.

However, realise that by doing so you are narrowing your alternatives down as you will often not be considered for other jobs for which you might qualify.

Still, if that is what you want, it just may be worth pursuing (though I would still encourage you to have a second, more general objective just in case).

What you want

The most important part here is that you can clearly state what sort of a job you want and know what kind of skills and experience is needed to do well in that specific job. Even if you decide to change your job objective later, it is very important that you decide on a temporary one right here, right now. It will also make it clear to you what sort of jobs you should apply for.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to find a better job — or just find a job — you have lots of company right now. January is historically a peak hiring month. Many businesses operate on a calendar year budgeting cycle, so now they have money to fill vacancies or expand.

………………………………………

Now could also be the time to land your dream job. But first you have to know where to look and what to look for.

Is that too obvious? Job-finding experts say it isn’t.

“There’s a huge disconnect in society when it comes to thinking about careers,” says Elliott Brown, founder of Springboard Forward, a Belmont, California, nonprofit that provides career-planning services to low-income workers. “Our parents were told that you went to school and then you made a career choice,” he says. And for generations a worker could expect to be hired and retired by the same employer.

But the economy has changed. Today, someone will go job hunting at least eight times in his or her life, writes Richard Bolles in his classic career-seekers guide, What Color is Your Parachute?

The disconnect is that many people don’t understand or don’t want to believe that. The truth is that it’s not only a good idea to periodically re-assess your skills, interests and goals, but it’s also imperative to stay marketable. You should think of your career-search process as a long-term journey, Brown advises, with sojourns along the way.

How to discover a passion that pays? Read on for tips.

What to do first
There’s little mystery here, experts agree. You have to be honest with yourself — about your skills, what you like to do and what you don’t like to do. Susan W. Miller, founder of California Career Services, asks employed clients a seemingly simple question: When you’re having a good day at work, what exactly are you doing?

She follows up with: Among all the things that you do every day at work, what do you do best?

Take this test
Interview people who know you well. They can help sort out what truly engages you and what turns you off. They may have insights about vocations you never imagined and could remind you of important truths about yourself. If you struggle with percentages or the concept of compound interest flummoxes you, a career in finance is probably not your best bet no matter how passionate you are about making a lot of money.

Investigate jobs you think would suit you. Don’t just imagine that you would enjoy being a paralegal; talk to one.

Intern or volunteer to test your conclusions. Internships aren’t only for young people. If those positions aren’t available, companies are sometimes happy to take on unpaid workers for special assignments. Or a paralegal might let you shadow her for a day.

This can help validate your research and give you experience and contacts to “pivot into a new occupation”, says Mark Oldman, co-founder of Vault, a business information firm.

He recalls a banker who dreamt of a radio career, interned as a disc jockey and loved it so much that she quit banking for a full-time job on the air. Perhaps the most important tip of all: Set realistic expectations. Finding the career path that’s right for you could easily take six months.

Books that help
Bookstores stock shelves of career-planning volumes and new ones come out all the time.

What Color is Your Parachute? published in 1970, remains a bestseller, and author Bolles has spun off other titles aimed at teens and retirees.

Other sellers include The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Changing Careers, The Vault Guide to Schmoozing, Why You Can’t Be Anything You Want to Be and Passion and Purpose: How to Identify and Leverage the Powerful Patterns that Shape Your Work / Life.

There are guides for young adults, mid-career workers, women and workers with disabilities, for people interested in health care, event planning or finance, for fashionistas, bookworms, film buffs or people who care about the environment. There are volumes for English majors, sociology majors, math geeks and on and on.

Should you read all of them? Or any of them?
Don’t feel overwhelmed. The best advice is to browse and pick and choose. When you’re on the road to self-discovery, detours can be valuable — and free of charge with a library card.

Many of the books include exercises designed to tease out your strongest interests, like these from What Color is Your Parachute?

Draw a picture of your ideal life. With coloured pencils on a big sheet of white paper, sketch pictures or symbols to depict where you want to live and with whom, what your house or apartment would look like, and so on.

“The power of this exercise is sometimes amazing,” Bolles writes, because it forces you to think more creatively.

Think of everyone you know, have seen on television or have read about, and ask whose job would you most like to have? You might surprise yourself.

Websites that help
You don’t have to look hard to find career help on the Net.

Many authors operate companion sites for their books with tests, checklists, diagrams and links to courses and resources to help you find your path.

“I became enormously frustrated that people live paycheck to paycheck with no passion,” says Nicholas Aretakis, who wrote No More Ramen and runs nomoreramenonline.com. He calls it “the twentysomethings real world survival guide”.

Cued to young people struggling to “find themselves” as they leave college or their parent’s orbit, the website is sprinkled with anecdotes, to do lists and advice, including the pros and cons of grad school and how to become a Supreme Court justice.

“If you were a jock in college,” Aretakis says, “you may not make the PGA or the LPGA, but you could market yourself to sports-apparel companies”.

Along the same lines, job search sites such as www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com offer free assessment tests, articles on careers, research on hot jobs and bits and pieces about job training.

The My Interest Finder quiz on the californiacolleges.edu site asks you to rate how much you would enjoy conducting a symphony or performing hospital nursing duties or mapping the ocean floor. Other exams assess values important to you and match them with possible careers.

But if you’re honest with yourself and pay attention, you can learn something from almost any self-examination no matter how silly the questions might seem.

Consider these examples from the Princeton Review:

I would rather be a wildlife expert, or I would rather be a public-relations expert.

I would rather be a company controller, or I would rather be a TV anchor.

I would rather be an auditor, or I would rather be a musician.

Counsellors
Forget your high-school guidance counsellor; career advisers have gone upscale.

Private counsellors, who work out personalised plans for each seeker, may charge hourly fees of up to $200. Their services can include assessment tests, job market research, resume help and coaching sessions to calm interview jitters. Many nonprofit counselling agencies charge less than private firms.

The career centres at virtually every college and university are gold mines for befuddled students and alumni.

“You have no idea how many lawyers I see walk in my door saying, ‘I’m done’,” says counsellor Deborah Campbell at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Ditto for burnt-out nurses.

Like many counsellors, Campbell asks the people who come to her: What do you like to do in your spare time? What was your favourite class in school?

At Springboard Forward nonprofit counsellors, clients attend workshops to create career maps. These don’t necessarily include a destination, but they have what Brown calls “the components” — skills, interests, dreams — of what he reminds clients is going to be quite a trip.

“I tell people to relax,” Brown says. “It’s going to be a long journey.”

Sources:LOS ANGELES TIMES

• Handed to a networking contact who has volunteered to pass it on to a person of influence.

• A direct mail document sent to a specific person of influence at a company of your choice, most likely the head of the function where you want to work.

• An introduction to recruiters outlining the benefits to their clients on what skills, attributes and performance measures you possess.

• Attached to a completed employment application form.

• A point of reference and discussion during the interview.

A résumé is a very succinct document that can normally be scanned in less than 30 seconds.

The format used most in India, and most liked by decision makers, is the combination style. It lists your positions in reverse chronological order, coupled with a “projective” or “skills summary” positioned immediately under the name and address. This is a brief, powerful and impressive synopsis, or a snapshot of you. It separates the hard and soft skills to allow for easier reading, taking up the top three to four inches.

Accomplishments, accomplishments and more accomplishments is what you need to focus on in the professional experience section. Future employers are hiring performers, not couch potatoes or ride along.

Provide the name of the company where you were employed and its location on the left of the document and dates employed on the right. In the next line, emphasise the position you held by writing it in capital letters and then making the font bold.

List accomplishments, outlining each accomplishment based on STAR: Situation, task, action and result. Always begin sentences that have bullets with an action verb. This is where you can be very bold and confident about your abilities. However, do not embellish!

Try to quantify your accomplishments with percentages. To highlight a mass of figures that show progressive positive growth, I occasionally use tables. This attracts the eye. In short, the reader needs to look no further. You show in the table format that you are a performer!

Education follows. List the university, college or school, town and only the graduation dates in the right-hand margin. Emphasise the degree, not the academic institution. So many people make this cardinal résumé writing sin.

Finally, to wrap up the two-page document there are various other sections which are self-explanatory: Continuous Education, Languages, Awards, Membership, Affiliations and Community Involvement.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

High-Skills Careers

Four years ago, Laura Dobney of Avon, Ohio, was an office manager for a local doctor. Today, she’s a surgical technologist at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the top-ranked heart-surgery hospitals in the United States.

Dobney sets up instrument tables, hands tools to surgeons during operations and observes patients’ vital signs. Her new job pays 25 percent more than her old one did — and she loves it. “Most people aren’t even aware this job exists,” she says.

Anyone looking for a job today ought to follow Dobney’s lead. By switching into a high-skills career, the 41-year-old mother of two vaulted into one of the fastest-growing occupations in one of the country’s fastest-growing fields — health care — which, along with a handful of other industries, is expected to add over 1 million jobs by 2010. Most of these jobs will value brains above all else.

“The economy is in the middle of a shift away from manufacturing toward services — a trend that will continue for years,” says Alice Rivlin, an economist and former vice chair of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

Many of these new service jobs demand complex skills — and pay well for them. And because many can’t be shipped abroad, they offer long-term prospects. Luckily, almost anyone who’s motivated and flexible can take part in the shift — whatever their educational or professional background.

Ready to switch industries and get the training you need? One of these jobs is within your reach. For some, now’s the time to make the leap. In the so-called knowledge sector, for example, the demand for teachers is urgent.

Working with the Hudson Institute, a think tank that analyzes work force trends, we’ve identified five fields among those likely to offer the most growth in the near future. Within each, we’ve picked one job apiece for high school graduates of any age (HSG), experienced white-collar managers (WCM) and recent college grads (RCG). Here they are:

Health Care
As waves of baby boomers hit 60, their medical needs are sure to increase. The result: The industry expects to need at least 1.7 million workers by 2010. And the supply of qualified workers is unlikely to meet that demand, says Graham Toft, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Surgical technologist (HSG)
Interested in doing what Laura Dobney does? It helps if you get an associate’s degree in applied science (study while you work). It’s also wise to pursue professional certification from the Liaison Council on Certification for the Surgical Technologist by completing an accredited program and passing a national exam.
Average salary: $35,000* — higher for those at major hospitals and in specialty surgeries. (For more, see AST.org, the website of the Association of Surgical Technologists.)

Health care administrator (WCM)
Management skills are key in this job, in which you coordinate health and medical services at hospitals and group practices, and supervise personnel. “This job typically requires a business background or clinical experience,” says Nancy Tichy, a Cleveland Clinic human-resources director.
Average salary: $70,000. (For more, see www.MGMA.com, the website of the Medical Group Management Association.)

Registered nurse (RCG)
About 13 percent of the country’s nursing positions are vacant, a rate that’s likely to grow. “Many older nurses are retiring, creating opportunities for women and men,” says Barbara Blakeney, president of the American Nurses Association. Advances in health care are also a factor. To become an RN, you must complete a two-, three-, or four-year accredited program and pass a state board exam.
Average salary: $49,000. Nurse-anesthetists can earn more than $125,000. (For more, see the American Nurses Association website, NursingWorld.org.)

*To determine the salary range for jobs in specific geographic locations, check the caluculator, at swz.salary.com

Technology

Technology underpins everything from ATMs to fighter jets. The computer and data-processing fields alone are likely to produce nearly 1 million jobs by 2010, says Hudson Institute researcher Haley Glover.

Computer troubleshooter (HSG)
Boost your odds of being hired to maintain and fix computers — as a salaried worker or as a consultant — by getting the appropriate certification.
Average salary: $30,000. Push your annual wages to $100,000 by working in a hot growth area (security, for example), says Neill Hopkins of CompTIA, the country’s largest information technology trade association group. (For more, see CompTIA.org.)

Equipment product manager (WCM)
The telecommunications equipment industry is expected to grow eight percent this year alone. At Plantronics, which makes communications headsets, the hottest job is product manager — guiding new equipment through the manufacturing process. You’ll need prior experience, and completing a two-year certification process helps (sample study area: finance for the nonfinancial manager).
Average salary: $90,000. (For more, see AIPMM.com, the Association of International Product Marketing and Management’s website.)

Video-game developer (RCG)
Demand is high for programmers, animators and those who create music and sound effects. Studying computer science and graphics in college helped Michael Agustin, 23, a programmer at game maker Edge of Reality in Austin, Texas, enter the field. “I also started a game organization on campus and invited professionals to speak, which was great for networking after graduation,” he says.
Salary range: $40,000 to $200,000, based on experience. (For more, see IGDA.org/breakingin, the website of the International Game Developers Association.)

Security
Terrorists, computer hackers, identity thieves and others are a continuing threat. This means that demand for a wide range of protective measures — from security personnel to fingerprint identification devices at airports — is rising rapidly.

Security-equipment installer (HSG)
As the complexity of security systems increases, more people will be needed to install, monitor and maintain them. Certification by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies is a plus but not essential, says Ann Lindstrom of ADT Security Services, the country’s largest installer of electronic security devices.
Salary range: $23,000 to $52,000, based on experience. (For more, see NICET.org.)

Quality-assurance manager (WCM)
At Drexler Technology, which makes counterfeit-resistant cards that store personal information about their owner and display the data at border crossings, Seok Ng, 46, is the company’s quality director. She joined Drexler three years ago after a decade in the auto industry developing automated rearview mirrors. “This job takes enormous organizational skills and a deep passion for the end-user,” says Ng, who manages 21 people.
Average salary: $70,000. (For more, see www.ASQ.org, the website of the American Society for Quality.)

Researcher for private investigator (RCG)
Increasingly, companies and law firms are looking into fraud, phony insurance claims, acts of sabotage and other illegal activities. Many private investigation agencies hire researcher apprentices, who, after three to five years, are eligible in some states for an investigator’s license. “You have to have a passion for uncovering the truth and getting to the bottom of things in this job,” says Rick Norris, 29, a private investigator intern at Brown and Associates in Orlando, Florida.
Salary range: $25,000 to $50,000, based on experience. (For more, see www.PImagazine.com, the website of PI Magazine, a trade publication serving the industry.)

Financial Services

As baby boomers near retirement and switch from building assets to managing them, they will help drive this sector’s growth. The result: 350,000 jobs by 2010.

Claims adjuster (HSG)
Of course, not all finance-sector jobs involve investments. Property-casualty insurers, for example, need people to work with policyholders in evaluating losses and settling claims. “Many companies will train you from scratch,” says Karen Burger of the Insurance Institute of America, which offers training toward an Associate in Claims (AIC) designation.
Average salary: $43,000. (For more, see AICPCU.org, the website of the Insurance Institute of America.)

Financial advisor (WCM)
White-collar workers with finance, economics or business backgrounds can make the switch to financial advisor, says the Hudson Institute’s Graham Toft. Just be aware that the public now demands high standards. Many consumers expect at least Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification.
Average salary: $78,000. (For more, see FPAnet.org, the Financial Planning Association website, and www.CFPboard.org, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards website.)

Financial analyst (RCG)
Financial analysts review investment opportunities for large institutions by evaluating corporate balance sheets and gauging a company’s potential. A business administration degree with a concentration in accounting or finance is desirable, as is a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Average salary: $67,000. (For more, see AIMR.org, the website of the Association for Investment Management and Research.)

Knowledge
People who can gather data, organize it and deliver it clearly to others are much in demand, says the Hudson Institute’s Haley Glover. What’s called the “knowledge” sector of the new economy includes schoolteachers, seminar leaders, data managers and product designers. The sector also overlaps into other industries.

Medical records technician (HSG)
Increases in boomer-related medical needs will require more people to handle health care data. The demand for knowledge workers to assign codes to hospital procedures is already creating 10,000 jobs a year, says Linda Kloss, CEO of the American Health Information Management Association.
Average salary: about $40,000. A manager of these employees can earn up to $100,000. Certification from AHIMA is preferred. (For more, see AHIMA.org.)

Seminar leader (WCM)
Some of the hot new jobs will be entrepreneurial in nature. One example: starting your own seminar business or creating instructional materials for your employer to help colleagues and new hires. Have a professional expertise? Create and run a seminar series on your own.
Average salary: $50,000 or more, says June Davidson of the American Seminar Leaders Association. (For more, see ASLA.com.)

Technical writer (RCG)
Confused by the owner’s manual that came with your camera, car or computer? Think you can come up with something better? The challenge is to create clear, well-organized instructions to help corporate users and consumers manage technology and operate equipment. “To enter this field, you need to be a good writer, well organized, and comfortable with technical subjects,” says Maurice Martin of the Society for Technical Communication.
Average salary: $43,000. (For more, see STC.org.)

Sources: Readert’s Digest

Here are some tips to make your online job search more successful. These suggestions come from Daryl Hulme, vice president of human resources for HotJobs.com, and career communications expert Barbara Nixon.

• Stay fast — respond to job postings in a timely manner. Employers are making their hiring decisions a lot faster these days.
• Use the application process, as opposed to the interview, as your first step in the door — and make it count.
• Follow online instructions and employer requirements carefully.
• Include words on your resume that will enhance your chances of being identified by recruiters conducting online searches. Make sure you spell them correctly; job search programs won’t pick up misspelled keywords.
• Demonstrate through your resume that there is a candidate-job match. Clearly communicate your skills and qualifications as they relate to the job profile.
• Be specific about your career history.
• Consider organizational culture fit. If you prefer a structured and predictable environment and the employer needs someone who can operate with flexibility and in an ambiguous environment, the fit might not be there.
• Demonstrate professionalism — err on the formal side. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
• Avoid the deadly dozen resume mistakes (height, weight, health, gender, marital status, number of children, religion, ethnic origin, date of birth, reasons for leaving previous positions, photos, and salary history)

Sources: Reader’s Digest

• Stay fast — respond to job postings in a timely manner. Employers are making their hiring decisions a lot faster these days.
• Use the application process, as opposed to the interview, as your first step in the door — and make it count.
• Follow online instructions and employer requirements carefully.
• Include words on your resume that will enhance your chances of being identified by recruiters conducting online searches. Make sure you spell them correctly; job search programs won’t pick up misspelled keywords.
• Demonstrate through your resume that there is a candidate-job match. Clearly communicate your skills and qualifications as they relate to the job profile.
• Be specific about your career history.
• Consider organizational culture fit. If you prefer a structured and predictable environment and the employer needs someone who can operate with flexibility and in an ambiguous environment, the fit might not be there.
• Demonstrate professionalism — err on the formal side. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
• Avoid the deadly dozen resume mistakes (height, weight, health, gender, marital status, number of children, religion, ethnic origin, date of birth, reasons for leaving previous positions, photos, and salary history)

Source: Reader’s Digest