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Does Fear Hurt Your Job Search?

By: Tim Tyrell-Smith

January 31, 2009

Sick to your stomach. Shaky. Perspiring. On edge. Heavy breathing. Or no breathing at all. Everyone reacts to fear differently. What are the outward signs that something has you afraid?I was on a few planes this weekend and was reminded yet again of the fear people have of flying. You can see it in their eyes, in their posture and in their hands (as they squeeze the daylights out of their partner's hand). They are glancing nervously out the window looking for signs of damage and they are acutely aware of the actions of flight attendants.As irrational as it seems, air travel scares the daylights out of some people. After all, it is incredibly safe to travel by plane. Safer than driving a car...

By: Seth Godin

January 30, 2009

Every day, you do a hundred or a thousand jobs, some of which are occasionally handled by specialists. You make a sales call or give a presentation or answer the phone...you design a slide or create a simple spreadsheet. You get the idea.When you are busy being a jack of all trades, you're competing against professionals. The recipient of your work doesn't care that you are also capable of doing other things. All she wants is the best she can get.I'll define a professional as a specialist who does industry standard work for hire. A professional presenter, for example, could give a presentation on anything, not just the topic on which you're passionate about...

By: Peter Weddle

January 29, 2009

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the time required to find a new job has gone up less than a week in the last six months (July-December, 2008). In other words, in the worst job market in 80 years, job seekers are, on average, taking less than just seven days more than normal to find work. Now, please, don't misunderstand me. It takes a whopping 10.6 weeks or almost three months to find a job these days. That's a long period of searching by anyone's account, and I'm not for a minute diminishing the frustration and anxiety it causes. But, if it's only taking seven days more to find a job today than it did during the much better job market of even two years ago, then the duration of a job search is NOT due to the economy. Something else must be causing the problem...

By: Michelle Goodman

January 28, 2009

The New York Times raised an interesting point on Friday: Though many employees at companies shedding staff like dead skin now find themselves saddled with two and three times the workload they once had, many others find themselves embracing the busywork they used to dread for lack of any other work on their plate. As the New York Times writes: "...now, when business is verrry slow and the possibility of layoffs icily real, looking busy is no joke. In retail and real estate, restaurants and law offices, many workers are working hard to look necessary -- even when they don't have all that much to do."According to the article, some retail workers now find themselves folding, folding, and then folding clothes some more, both to pass the endless expanse of time...

By: Eve Tahmincioglu

January 27, 2009

I’ve been asked to review some resumes recently and I was amazed at how sad and uninspiring they were.One resume included the fact that the job seeker was laid off recently, and that they organized a manager’s files. Another said the person answered phones and acted as a sales clerk. The resume also included a temporary and permanent address.First off, no one wants to knows the soap opera of your life in your resume. Leave off the layoff story and the variety of addresses. Pick one address for god’s sake. And come to think of it, don’t include your address on the resume at all. Your phone number and email address is just fine...

By: Roberto Angulo

January 24, 2009

With a financial crisis in full swing, rising unemployment, and consumer confidence and market indicators at their lowest point since 2002, it’s hard to find a silver lining in this cloud hovering over us. But despite this current climate, the New Year should bring opportunities to college students who are about to enter the work force. An aging population, government spending on defense and infrastructure and even the financial crisis will translate into opportunities for college students and recent graduates. The question is not about having opportunities, but about how many opportunities.Baby boomers, roughly 77 million of them, form the largest living generation and they are starting to retire. Some will delay retirement, but the trend is inevitable and it will create opportunities...