Job Searching: Should I take Any Job to Have a Job?

Work is work, right? Well, sort of.

Being employed to meet your financial obligations and provide for your family is so very different than having a career or a profession that you are passionate about and can't wait to wake up to do every day. So taking a job, to have a job can provide a means to an end, but may not provide you all that you are looking for in a career.

If you must work, a job that provides skills in training with a reasonable wage is the best case scenario. Continue to highlight your newly found job skills and expand on them to build a stronger resume and ultimately get a better job leading to hire wages. Sometimes taking a job that is just completely outside of your skill set provides you personal satisfaction and can be equally beneficial.

Volunteering, while unpaid, can strengthen your skills and help you build numerous networking relationships. Taking a job to learn a new trade, make business connections and increase your exposure or awareness to a particular industry are all great reasons to take a job.

The caution with taking any job, especially one where the money seems too good to be true - it probably is. Taking a job just for the money, comes at a cost; a cost that you may not immediately see. When considering a position be sure to evaluate responsibilities, areas of authority, working hours, location, benefits, drive time, the people you would be working with, etc.

The best advice is to take a job ONLY if you have to. Patience and perseverance will ensure that the right job will eventually come along.

Job Searching: Standing Out in a Job Search

Standing out in a job search can mean one of two things. You really nailed the first impression or you didn't and everyone else is talking about it. Standing out for the right reasons requires patience, perseverance and practice.

Patience: Take your time to dress the part, look for the right opportunity to speak and use silence to your advantage. When dressing the part, make sure you dress one level above the position you are seeking. Use your manners and be courteous when speaking to others - you never know who is standing next to you. I once stood right next to my interviewer in an elevator; turns out he was lost and I gave him directions to the job fair and ended up following him all the way to the table. Be sure to use silence to your advantage - don't interrupt and don't over speak. Silence demonstrates patience for the process.

Perseverance: Don't give up. Finding a job is work and it takes time to create and foster the right leads. When you feel yourself getting down about the process do a little volunteer work. Helping others will make your troubles seem less significant and again you never know who might be standing right next to you.

Practice: Repeatedly, over and over again and then a few more times ask yourself the most dreaded question in all of interviewing: So tell me a little bit about yourself. If you don't know the answer - you better make one up. A couple of things to remember:

1. Keep your answers professional and succinct. Tell the interviewer your name, 3 strengths and how they make you the right person for the job and let them know you want to work for such an amazing company.

2. Keep your response positive and upbeat and stay focused on your accomplishments.

3. Allow for the interviewer to process your response before jumping in and adding more qualifying statements.

Standing out in a job search (for the right reasons) is not difficult - being prepared, positive and professional will go a long way in getting you an interview.

Monthly Blog Schedule: December/ January

In our commitment to keep our blog interesting and a resource to you, we've decided to create monthly blog topics to help focus our energy.

The next few months are as follows:

December - Job Searching

January - Interviewing Basics

If you have any specific topics you'd like us to focus on, please comment or shoot us an email and let us know - laura@seekinghr.com

Check back soon for our next post: Standing Out in a Job Search

Our Dearest Apologies!

OK - I know we have failed miserably in keeping this blog going. Over the past year, the team has tried and tried and tried and well - I'm not sure we all tried hard enough. In August 2010 we had set out to start writing just five to seven entries a month and well three months have gone by and now we have successfully managed to stockpile a few entries. We are committed to making this happen. I have a philosophy in growing the business and much of it has to do with accountability. Say what you intend to do and then write it down. I am now saying out loud, "I am committed to this blog" and I am writing down my commitment and sharing it with all those who care to keep me on track. I can't promise to write every day, but I will try to write at least several times a month. If you would like a rant on a specific topic, feel free to leave a comment.

By way of introductions, I'm Leanne King, Owner and President of SeeKing HR. I started the company four years ago and we have been steadily growing in our consulting services. Jennifer "Jenn" Swisher, Director of HR Services, joined the firm in April 2011 and she has nearly 15 years experience specializing in recruitment, selection, employee development and HR program management. Jenn's industry experience includes healthcare and manufacturing. Most recently, we added Crystal Krueger, HR Advisor, to the team. Crystal has about 8 years HR Generalist experience. She has a wealth of knowledge in staffing large scale construction projects. Crystal also brings medical billing and office management expertise to the firm. Laura LaChaussee, Marketing & Communications Manager, has been with the firm since 2009. Laura is highly experienced in corporate branding, proposal design and social media. Darla Zaiontz, Accountant, provides our administration and accounting support. She is a wizard in Excel.

We all work flexible schedules - so feel free to leave a reply anytime day or night..

I really hope that over the next several weeks and months we can all find our voice and a routine to post more timely entries. Your encouragement is welcome.

- Leanne King

Interviewing Basics

Whether you are an employer searching for great talent or a potential employee seeking the greatest of opportunities - interviewing basics are essentially the same. Interviewers and Interviewees are both nervous. The interviewer wants to make a good hire. The interviewee wants to land a job. Here are few strategies that can help you regardless of which chair you occupy during the interview process.

• Greet the other person with a warm and friendly smile, introducing yourself by stating your first and last name.
• Shake hands firmly, web to web, hold for several seconds and release.
[Gentleman] - no death grip.
[Ladies] - practice shaking hands with another man; this will help you get comfortable with the grasp and appropriate squeeze. Never use the fingertip handshake unless you happen to be interviewing with the Queen of England - in which case don't forget to curtsy.
• Make eye contact. You don't have to have a staring contest just be sure to focus in when responding.
• Be sure to repeat the person's name throughout the interview.
• Remember to breathe . . . it's just an interview.

Keep in mind that interviewing is just a conversation. The objective is to learn about the other person/company. The easiest way to learn about another person is through relevant dialogue - questions and answers.

More tips on interviewing

Top 10 Strategies for Networking to Gain Employment

Having been in the business of helping people find jobs for a number of years and frankly, been a job hunter myself - here are our Top 10 Strategies for Networking to Gain Employment.

10.	Talk to people at your church and find encouragement through prayer.
9.	Send birthday cards to your friends, family and business associates – not emails – real cards in the mail with a stamp. It is important to stay in touch all the time, not just when you might be job hunting.
8.	Visit with your Doctor, Dentist, Hairdresser or Professional Service Provider. Several years ago while my husband was getting examined in the emergency room, the nurse found out that I was in HR and proceeded to tell me all about her husband’s qualifications as a great mechanic. We exchanged information and ultimately forwarded the husband’s resume to a large firm that was hiring mechanics.
7.	Visit with other parents while attending your child’s (or other family members) sporting or school events. You can develop a tremendous referral network with like-minded parents.
6.	Participate in social networking sites. Be careful to keep your entries and contacts professional.
5.	Attend professional and industry association events. Try to meet several new people at each event and follow-up with them within a couple of days.
4.	Consider getting a hobby that encourages team participation (e.g. golf, playing cards, scrabble club, etc).
3.	Contact previous employers or former customers. If you left on less than good terms . . . see Numbers 10 and 9 above and try again in a year.
2.	Volunteer – it’s good for the soul and the economy.
1.	Attend business events where you have no real purpose for being there. In the HR industry, we often attend construction pre-bid meetings simply because we are meeting people generally outside our area of expertise. We are not seen as competitors and generally walk away with new contacts.

For more on connecting – creating meaningful, dynamic and resourceful relationships I highly encourage you to read the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi – it will change your life.

Trial Run

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