JobDig Blog Network

There's a discussion I think we need to have that I haven't seen elsewhere. I've been thinking about this for the last year or so, as the job market has gotten worse. The pink elephant seems to be those who are discriminated against for their age â€" specifically, the older worker (we can talk about age discrimination [...][Read Entry]

Harvard Business Review article: If you're a youngish entrepreneur or boss, hiring the best people probably will mean recruiting older workers. "Managing a colleague with ten or fifteen more years of experience than you can present unusual challenges of motivation,...[Read Entry]

I have presented hundreds of sessions on how to interview effectively. I believe that interviews give you a good feel for the cultural fit of the candidate.

They are not ...

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One of the common themes in the thousands of unemployment stories and stories about what they don't like about employers that job seekers have shared with us is employers behaving badly.

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Not a month goes by when someone fails to issue one of the following predictions:

1) The resume is dead!
2) Who reads resumes anymore?
3) Resumes have been replaced by a) networking; b) online branding; c) web portfolios; d) something else - maybe your LinkedIn profile?

The interesting thing about these so-called forecasts (usually via Twitter) is that they are always followed by a recruiter or HR manager who immediately refutes these assumptions by telling the world that yes, resumes ARE still a major part of the hiring game.

And, they add, there is no standardized replacement that "everyone" reads in lieu of a resume.

Even though resumes have evolved significantly from a mere chronology of your past, and managing your online identity IS critical to landing the job you want... resumes are consistently relied upon by the following groups:

• Recruiters, who don't relish the task of manually entering your employment data into their database, and therefore prefer scanning in your resume
• Interviewers, who need your chronology in front of them in order to make sense of it when they assess your qualifications--and who really prefer talking to you in person instead of staring at you on Skype
• Networking contacts, who would be quite lost if you handed them only a business card with your LinkedIn profile URL--because now they have the extra step of looking it up and then emailing it to a contact (who will then want your resume, of course)
• Hiring authorities, who may have just learned about you and want to "get your resume" into their hands--and will then circulate your resume (paper or electronic) around their office as proof of your fitness for the job they're about to post

Don't mistake the place of your resume in your quest: it won't network for you, it won't call employers on your behalf, and it won't magically land in the lap of an interested party without your facilitation.

However, it's also not going away anytime soon! You WILL be asked (and hopefully frequently) for a branded, value-specific resume that aligns with your career level and goals during a job search. [Read Entry]

You're interviewing for a job. After 20 or 30 minutes, you're asked: "Do you have any questions?”

The worst thing you can do is ask, "What is it your company does?” (Hey, it has happened.) The next worst thing you can do is say, "Um, nope, I don't have any questions.”

[See 21 secrets to getting a job offer.]

You need to ask some questions! Asking questions shows your interest in a company and makes you look smarter (smart people tend to be inquisitive). Asking questions gives interviewers a chance to talk about themselves, a thing most people love. Andâ€"this is importantâ€"asking questions is a way to find out if you really want to work for these people.

Bottom line: Don't make the interviewer do all the heavy lifting. Take an active role in the interview process and improve your chances of landing a job.

[See 50 tips for surviving your worst work day.]

So what should you ask? Here are 10 suggestions:

1. "Can you describe a typical day for someone in this position?” If your interviewer appears to be nervous or ill at ease, a non-abstract question like this is a good way to get the ball rolling.

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Last time I wrote about lying on your resume, I got a variety of responses, both for and against lying to get a job:

• People who get ahead are the ones who take some educated risks.
• Let's be real, if a CEO can get away with being hired and working for years with lying on resume so should any of us.
• Lying on a resume is just plain dumb. The trend seems to be to check an applicant's references out more and more, unless you are a burger flipper.
• Lying on resumes, regardless of your status, just does not cut it!

I don't think anyone should lie on their resume - even white lies that "only" stretch the truth. There is a good possibility that it will come back to haunt you. Is it worth taking the chance of not getting a job or getting fired later on?

Here's an example. I received an email from someone who had just received a job offer from a company where he had always wanted to work. It was the job of his dreams.

He didn't think about reference checking though and had fudged the dates of his last couple of jobs to cover a resume gap. He was in absolutely panic and trying to come up with a story to cover the "mistake" on his resume. He decided to be honest with the hiring manager, and was lucky that he kept his job offer, but that's not always how it works out.

More: Resume Tips | Resume Samples | How to Email a Resume

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It is harder to know who you are than it is to be who you are. Everyone says, "The important thing is to be yourself!”  I say that when I give them career advice. People like you better when you are being authentic. Gay people do better in their careers when they are out of the closet. [...][Read Entry]

Some random thoughts… School is starting.  For most kids, big whoop.  But for some, a real and true Big Whoop.  I don't know what to make about education nowadays.  We are spending more money on it, so I know we all care. I know venture guys who are big backers of online universities, like DeVry, [...][Read Entry]

I recently saw Barbara Safani's AOL article titled Resume Mistakes That Keep Hiring Managers Amused But Cost You The Interview. Barbara pulls some mistake examples from various sites and include things from typos to "subtle” humor. Go read the list of things.  I wanted to share this with you for two reasons: First, you MUST proof your resume, [...][Read Entry]

How to address a cover letter can be tricky if you are responding to a blind ad and don't have a contact person's name to include, or if you don't know the gender of the person you are addressing your cover letter to.

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Irina Shamaeva! Dave Mendoza follows up with a video: NJ Governor Christie Rips into Govt bureaucratic mess Over One Page Error. File this one under "Weird."[Read Entry]

By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Andria Corso In order to have a productive career discussion with your manager, it is important for you to prepare and think through some key items ahead of time. You want to be in full control of your career path and the best way to do that is to approach your manager [...][Read Entry]

At some point in their career, just about everyone is going to be job searching.   Even if you're not actively job seeking at the moment, one thing that can help expedite your job search when the time comes is to have connections that can help.

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CareerJournal article: Full-time M.B.A. applications have slumped after several years of increases. "Many full-time programs have seen a drop in applications, partly due to increased competition from schools abroad and because of increased difficulty securing visas and student loans." "At...[Read Entry]

In both interviews and one-on-one networking meetings, you want to have a good answer to "Tell Me About Yourself.”  Even if you are never asked the question, you want to find a way to work this into your presentation.  This is how you draw for the other person the picture you want of what you bring [...][Read Entry]

I love my iPhone. I never go anywhere without it and I'm not quite sure how I functioned before I got it. I use it for email, the web, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and much more.

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‘JT & Dale Talk Jobs' is the largest nationally syndicated career advice column in the country and can be found at JTandDale.com. Dear J.T. & Dale: I've been on three separate interviews in the past month where the hiring manager asked me, "What's your greatest weakness?” I didn't get any of the jobs, and [...] Related posts:

1. 6 Questions You MUST Be Prepared to Answer During Interviews By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Patricia Erickson Increasing your chances of getting...
2. Learning to Love the Dreaded ‘Greatest Weakness' Question ‘JT & Dale Talk Jobs' is the largest nationally...
3. In Interviews, How Do I Explain Why I Left My Last Job? Dear J.T. & Dale: I was discharged from my last...

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This is what I get in my email every day… a Google Alert on the work "layoffs”: I wonder about those 2,000 employees for the Royal Bank of Scott (RBS), or the 130 employees of USA Today… did they see the writing on the wall? Did they ignore it, like I did? Or were they busy working hard, [...][Read Entry]

CareerJournal article: You've got the letter with the job offer in your hands. But what if what's on paper doesn't match what you were initially promised? "Whether it's a discrepancy in salary, bonuses or responsibilities, some job seekers are finding...[Read Entry]