The Importance of Social Networking for Your Career in Today’s Career Market

As the job market continues to change, you have to change with it. In today’s modern society, that includes registering with several different various different social network sites. At the time we author this article in July, 2011, the main two sites are Facebook and LinkedIN. I am sure if you checked back with us in 1 year, these two names might be entirely different – but for now, these are it. Here are a few pointers to help you with this process:

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Human Resource Jobs and Employment – What it Takes to Become a Successful Human Resource Manager in Today’s Marketplace.

What is a Human Resource (HR) Manager? Essentially, an HR Manager is one the key personnel members responsible for serving as the key liaison between employees and employers, to make sure both sides are treated fairly. Like a coach or a team leader, an HR manager is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and integrating staff members in accordance with organizational goals and objectives. Moreover, the HR Manager is responsible for diligently ensuring the employees are compensated adequately and fairly and fixed into suitable roles within the company. This may also include additional duties, including preparing advertisements for new employees, screening resumes and applications, providing employee supervision and evaluations, retraining employees, and offering mediation services for struggling employees as well as firing employees that are not meeting standards. Depending on the particular field, industry, and experience level, the HR Manager may also be responsible for a broad range of complex and advanced tasks and activities in conjunction with the CEO, COO, CIO and CFO.

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Tips For Your Federal Resume

Here are 6 Key Points to support Federal Jobs Positions. It was authored by one of our Nationally Certified Professional Resume Writers:

1. Include the Job Positing Number: It is mandatory that your resume include such information such as the job number, grade and title of the jobs you are interested in.

2. Include all of your educational qualifications in chronological order: When applying for Federal positions, thoroughness is crucial. Be sure to start from high school to college, and include name and city of each institution, and the type and year of diploma/degree received. Don’t forget to highlight the grades that you received and any awards.

3. You must specifically mention the major subjects and total credits you have earned: The Federal Government like big blocks of information. Remember, this is NOT a civilian resume. At some point, you may be tempted to make use of bullet points to highlight the information, but this will NOT pass muster for a Federal Resume.

4. You should explain things in great detail: DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT! A federal resume will be anywhere from 2-4 pages so be sure to provide a comprehensive description of the all the work you performed.

5. Keep the Flowers in the Garden: A federal resume is not like a civilian resume in that constant adjectives and flowery words are frowned upon. That is not to say that every sentence and paragraph should start and end the same, but think of this as more of a novel – less of a screenplay.

6. Include personal information such as your full name, mailing address with ZIP code, any phone numbers, Social Security Number, reinstatement eligibility and civilian grade, including the job series and dates that you held the previous position.

Can Age Discrimination Affect You?

As a matter of law, individuals over the age of 40 makeup a “protected class.” Basically the government has created laws to protect older people from being discriminated against based on age. While a person cannot be discriminated against because they are too young, the federal government has instituted safeguards to prevent people over 40 from being discriminated against based on the age. Nevertheless, it happens all the time.

Due to layoffs and terminations, the applicant pool is rising quicker than usual as the market continues to wane. And, with the competition for the few available positions becoming fierce, employers have their choice of the litter when deciding whether to hire a new employee. Many people over the age of 40 with 10, 15, and 20+ years of experience are finding that they are being terminated, and that these same companies are recruiting employees half their age at a severely reduced salary. In short, employees over the age of 40 are losing their jobs at an alarming rate due to companies closing their doors or just downsizing.

It is as if older employees are being relegated to early retirement just because the market is flailing – nothing can be more unfair. As a result, many MBA and senior level managers, sales representatives, doctors, lawyers, etc. are taking positions well-below their skill-level just to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. These “seniors” are left to look for jobs that are being filled by people in early to mid-20’s Very few companies want to hire a person age 50-65, no matter how much experience they have or how low of a wage they are willing to accept. As one key recruiter provided: “The most important job tool an older applicant must have is a solid resume.”

Free Resources:

www.eeoc.gov

www.dol.gov

www.ada.gov

Are you interested in joining the Navy?

The United States Navy (USN) is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy has about 330,00- personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 284 ships in active service and more than 3,700 aircraft. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world and also has the world’s largest carrier fleet, with 11 in service and one under construction. The 21st century United States Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in such areas as East Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. It is a blue water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward areas during peacetime, and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it an active player in American foreign and defense policy.

The Navy is actively recruiting entry-level, mid-level and senior-level applicants! To Learn More, please visit http://jobs.navair.navy.mil/resume.aspx

THE ART OF A RESUME

If you want a job, you need a resume. It’s that simple. Even if your best friend’s mom is the CEO of Viacom, you still need one. More specifically, you need a Professional Resume. Sound easy? It’s not. Unfortunately, by the time the majority of people realize they should seek the assistance of a professional resume service, it seems like it’s almost too late. By then, they’ve already combed the Craigslist, Monster and Dice job listings and sent their defective resume to tens, if not hundreds of potential employers. Fast-forward to several weeks later and unsurprisingly – still no interviews. But it’s never too late! At this point, there are two options: Take the time to learn how to properly prepare this superior career tool or just hire a professional resume service to do it for you. Look, this is your career we’re talking about. One spelling or grammatical error will drop your resume into the circular filing cabinet (a.k.a. trashcan). In fact, if you don’t include the key search terms employers continuously use for popular online job search engines, then they won’t even have a chance to SEE your resume! You can’t hit a homerun if you don’t get to step up to the plate! While we strongly recommend contacting a professional resume service, we know some of you are adamant about doing it yourselves and we are here to help. Read on for a few important tips. Also, please review our sample resumes to get a more detailed idea of what your resume should look like.

OBJECTIVE

Keep it to one sentence, spanning no more than two to three lines, basically informing your future employer of your career goals. Be specific about your skills. And this is NOT the time to be humble. If you have strong communication skills, state it; if you’re an accomplished leader, state it. When it comes to the job title, be careful not to be too specific unless you are absolutely sure you know exactly what you want to do. Or you can tailor the job title to each position you are applying for (but be VERY careful not to mix and match the job titles and potential employers!!!)

PROFILE

This is one of the most integral yet overlooked sections of the resume. If an Objective is your tag line, the Profile is your introduction. It tells the employer what you feel are your strongest qualities, and what to have to offer to the company. We have found it to be most effective for a resume to contain anywhere from three to six bullet points under Profile.

PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

If you’ve got it, flaunt it! If you were an integral member behind a large merger, it should be in the resume. If you’ve achieved or exceeded your sales quota, this is where it should be. But let us caution you: Do NOT confuse professional achievements with job duties. You were required to perform your job duties; even though YOU may think those duties were extra important, it may not be considered an achievement.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

This is the most important section of any resume. While there are variations of style, font and substance, generally, it should be in chronological order. It should contain the employer name (unless it’s confidential), the years of employment, job title, and job descriptions. Not only is this section the most important, BUT it is the portion of the resume that most do-it-yourselfers get WRONG. It is NOT a report, it is NOT a summary, and it is NOT a paragraph; it is a DESCRIPTION. The best advice we can give you is to review as many samples as you can. (Feel free to take a look at some of our samples!)

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

If you’ve authored 50 different articles or publications, you should put them on a separate sheet which is NOT attached to your resume. On your resume itself, indicate “Additional articles or publications available upon request.” If you have more achievements then you can count on both hands and feet, the same rule applies. Depending on the extent of your education and professional training, these can usually be grouped together. If you’ve taken a zillion ongoing education and management or sales training courses, you do not have to list all of them. You may include a statement such as “Select List” or similar verbiage.

PAGE LENGTH

Ask any two professional resume writers, and they will tell you two different things. With that said, trust us: one page max. Your interviewer wants to have one page in front of her or him and one sheet only. (Think of it this way – if a potential employer loses the second page of your resume or it becomes detached for some reason, do you think he or she will take the time to call you and ask for another copy? Or if the potential employer has 20 resumes to go through and it’s 5pm on a Friday. When he or she comes to your 2-page resume with 8 pt. font and .25” margins, do you think your potential employer will be happy? Exactly.

Will the Government ob Market Bounce Back and How can You Find a Job!

The federal job market WILL bounce back and you need to be prepare to submit your resume. The federal job market is still one of the best sources for employment in the United States, and worldwide. At the current time, June 2011, the unemployment rate has reached a near all-time high. While the average unemployment rate is around 10%, some states such as Nevada, Arizona, and Florida have reached upwards of 15%. Nevertheless, the government is still a fully functioning group of agencies that require employees to function – that’s where you come in.

Whether you are seeking employment in the federal, state, or local government, there are opportunities if you know how to find it. First, make a strategy. Are you seeking full-time or part-time work? Are you willing to travel, and if so how far? What salary are you willing to accept? These are all very important questions that you must be able to answer before you start applying for jobs. Otherwise, who cares if a government agency is willing to hire you when the job is 30 miles further than you are willing to drive and pays less than half of your minimum base salary.

Another important factor to consider is what have been the hiring trends for the specific agency and geographic location you are targeting. If for example, the agency had laid off more employees than it has hired or is in the middle of a hiring freeze, it may not be the best strategic move to focus your job search in that direction. Conversely, if the organization is currently and actively seeking new employees, than it is crucial to strike while the iron is hot!

It is also important to note what the estimated start date is for the position. There’s no point giving notice to your current employer if the position you are seeking will not commence for another 8 months (The government is a bureaucracy, and bureaucracies move slow, so 8 months is a pretty accurate estimate).

Finally, be sure that your resume contains all the necessary information listed in the job announcement. Sure, KSAs are no longer required as SEPARATE documents, but most job announcements require information to be include in the resume that is similar, if not identical to KSAs. And, if your resume does not contain sufficient responses to these “KSAS,” you can guarantee your resume will go to the bottom of the pile, if not the trash. If you are having problems with the resume, it is always best to retain a certified resume writer that focuses on federal/government resumes to assist you with the process and give you the best shot at success.

Good Luck!

Corporate Attorney Jobs – Finding Legal Jobs as a General Counsel, In-House Counsel or other General Corporate Positions

Whether you are a litigator, trial attorney, or recent graduate for many attorneys, they find the most satisfying role is that of a corporate attorney. Unlike working in a law firm, working for a company comes with a whole range of challenges. Working for a company instead of a law firm is a trade-off. Instead of grinding out billable hours, you will be developing and executing strategies to support organizational goals and objectives. Here is a list of different types of legal corporate positions in today’s business world:

General Counsel: A GC is a very important role to any company or corporation . By definition, a General Counsel is an attorney who works in a corporate or governmental legal department. The job of a general counsel lawyer is varied, depending on the employer. In a corporate setting, this chief legal officer often reports to the chief executive officer. Instead of reporting to the senior partner attorneys, you will be working in general counsel government jobs usually report directly to the head of the agency for which they work.

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