By Kevin M
Even with hints of economic recovery in the air, getting a hired into a new job has never been harder, even for the fully qualified. I know many people who are or have been on extended periods of unemployment in the past year and one common theme is that the usual methods of getting hired aren’t working.
Getting a job is largely about getting noticed, and the best ways to do that are to approach employers in ways most other job seekers aren’t using. Try one or more of these and see if your luck doesn’t improve.
Continue reading Five Unconventional Ways to Find a Job →
Employers are on tight budgets right now and we need to work outside the box just to get noticed. Think of it as though you’re starting a new business and you’re working to build a customer base by giving out free samples.
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By Kevin M
Now might not be the best time to make a job or career change, but does that mean you have to sit where you’re at and just tough it out until better times come along and open up the doors of opportunity? Well, don’t go quitting your job, but there’s plenty you can (and should) do right now to get yourself prepared for the day when…
Start preparing yourself now for the place you want to be when the economy starts to creep back—many of the best opportunities will come as the elevator begins to rise, and pre-positioning yourself for that moment is something you don’t have to wait to start.
Continue reading Staying Motivated When You’re Stuck in Neutral →
By Kevin M
One of the driving purposes of OutOfYourRut.com is the identification of career and business opportunities, primarily for people engaged in one line of work but seeking entry into another.
In that vein, a noteworthy article appeared on Yahoo! Finance yesterday, 10 Jobs With High Pay and Minimal Schooling Required! written by Michael King. The article lists 10 careers that don’t require a bachelor’s degree for entry, but pay wages which are generally above average.
There are several articles with this same theme here on OutOfYourRut.com, either as full reprints or by excerpt, but in this time of career transition for so many people, it’s one worth revisiting often. The jobs appearing on each list tend to be at least somewhat different from one list to another, either because of the time of compilation, or the orientation of the source.
Continue reading Ten Well Paying Jobs Without a College Degree →
By Kevin M
Right now I know a substantial number of people who are looking for a job, but can’t think of a single one who’s found a job through the major internet job boards. Perhaps this has been your experience as well.
Earlier this summer, a CNN articleThe Hidden Job Market (Jessica Dickler, June 10) took a look at the impact of internet job boards on the employment world and came to conclude what so many job seekers are finding out on the front lines. Real life results aren’t living up to the promise.
Continue reading No Luck on the Job Boards? You’re Not Alone →
STRATEGY #4 TO SURVIVE A DOWN ECONOMY
By Kevin M
When ever the economy turns sour, there’s a general tendency to stay on current jobs as long as possible, under the belief that it’s better to stay where we’re established than to go to another company where we’ll be the new/low man on the totem pole. In addition, an often reflexive response to the news of a job loss, or an impending one, is to immediately seek new employment at competing firms within the same industry.
On the surface, these strategies have merit. In the former, we hold on as long as possible, hoping that either we’ll keep our current situation as long as possible, or maybe we’ll even out last the downturn. It seems to make sense to stay in the same career and in the same industry—after all, that’s where our skills are concentrated, and where we have the greatest income potential. But do these represent the best strategies?
Continue reading Changing Careers in a Recession →
By Kevin M
Maybe you or someone you know isn’t having much success in finding employment, and while the poor state of both the economy and the job market are primarily to blame, use of ineffective search methods may be contributing to the frustration.
Yahoo! HotJobs ran an article on Monday, Deceptive Targets in the Job Hunt:
5 Methods That Waste Your Time. In the article, Caroline M.L. Potter zeros in on five common job hunting strategies which are either outdated, completely ineffective or even counterproductive.
Continue reading Useless Job Hunting Methods →
By Kevin M
In 10 Ways To Survive in a Down Economy (published on Christianpf.com June 1) we listed ten strategies to help you deal with the bad economy. Last week we took a closer look at Strategy #1, now we’ll outline Strategy #2:
2. Move outside your comfort zone. Network outside your career orbit; you never know where the next opportunity may come from, or who might assist you in getting there. Pigeonholing yourself into a single job or industry may prove to be a strategic miscalculation in the future.
Continue reading Strategy #2 to Survive a Down Economy: Network OUTSIDE Your Career Orbit →
