Forbes Top Websites For Your Career (Includes JibberJobber); JibberJobbers Top 5 Websites for Job Seekers

Forbes Top Websites For Your Career (Includes JibberJobber); JibberJobbers Top 5 Websites for Job Seekers UPDATE: The five days after I wrote this post I wrote a series of WHAT TO DO on the Top Five Job Search Websites.  Here are those posts.  Read todays post for the background. #1: LinkedIn (Monday) #2 Indeed (Tuesday) #3 Idealist (Wednesday) #4 Google (Thursday) #5 JibberJobber (Friday) Below you can see ALTERNATIVES for each of these tools, as well as why I chose these 5 tools. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WITH THE SHARE BUTTONS ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE POST. Im thankful for being included in The Top 75 Websites For Your Career by Forbes.  Its in alphabetical order, and on their site they say they got about 700 different sites submitted to them, so they had to cut through about 90% of the submissions.  Thats cool that we made it in the top 10% chosen. What about the 75?  Jacquelyn Smith, one of the two people who put this together, says: it’s simply a compilation of nominated sites that we believe deserve some special recognition. Basically, they (2 people) went through the list and picked what they thought was good. Let me contrast that to something like the New York Times best seller list. The NYT list is based on sales through various channels (not all channels).  The list is somewhat based on facts and purchases and demand, etc.  Also, Amazon has their list of top 10, top 100, etc. which is based on actual sales.  In other words, customers are voting with their pocketbook, which can tend to give a more accurate of the TOP books sold.  These lists  can be gamed and they are gamed all the time (ever hear an offer to buy the $20 book and send in a receipt for hundreds of dollars of goodies?  They are trying to get their numbers up so they can say they were on the best seller list). As I went through the list of Forbes Top 75 Websites for your career, I thought my heavens, no one has time for 75.  And most of these are useless. Sorry, but most people are too busy for 75 websites.  Job seekers usually dont want to spend all day online reading, learning, etc. They just want a friggin job! Here are my top 5 sites are for a job seeker (in no special order, since these five sites need to be used as part of a strategy that incorporates different strengths from each of them): LinkedIn.  Everyone knows that networking is critical in a job search.  LinkedIn is the 8 million pound guerrilla in the professional networking space.  Get on it, use it.  Most people dont do it well.  Many unemployed people who havent been in transition in the last 5 years have no idea how important LinkedIn will be in their next transition.  Too bad they arent getting on and using it right now.  I am so convicted that LinkedIn is such a powerful tool that I wrote a book on LinkedIn, and have DVDs helping people learn how to use LinkedIn. Alternatives: None. Indeed. As I speak around the country there are two sites that everyone talks about: LinkedIn and Indeed.  Years ago it would have been Monster or CareerBuilder, but Indeed came along and ate their lunch.  Indeed is a job board aggregator.  The idea is that they get job postings from all over, and post them in one place.  You dont need to check multiple job boards, you simply go to Indeed, which has done all the work for you. Alternatives: SimplyHired, their main competition. I rarely, rarely hear anything about them.  Also, LinkUp, which is an aggregator that says they get jobs ONLY from company job boards, so they must be real jobs. Idealist. I love what Idealist is.  It is a niche site for a certain audience (socially aware professionals, non-profits, green-oriented, etc.).  It is big and successful.  It is part social, part job board, part networking, part blogs. Alternatives: you should be able to find something like this for your industry or profession. I would use Job-Hunt.org as a place to start looking for resources like idealist. Google. The big daddy of research.  Theres a reason why people say did you google it?  Every job seeker should spend time figuring out their target companies, target prospects, how to network in (who to talk to), competitive intelligence research, etc.    Alternatives: any search engine that is good, Yahoo Finance, Spoke, Glassdoor, Job-hunt.org and other tools to research deeper into companies and industries. JibberJobber.  I might have just blown the credibility of this list by putting my own site on here.  I know, a horrid idea.  But a job seeker (and someone who wants to manage their career who is NOT in a job search) needs to have a relationship management tool.  Everyone in the know (including the Forbes article authors) says to network.  How the heck do you manage what goes into networking?  Names, numbers, dates, conversations, relevant information, follow-up information, etc.?  You need to have a real tool to do this.  Since HR and the company arent going to babysit your career anymore (ie, they arent giving you job security), you need to do it.  And do it means get on and use JibberJobber. Alternatives: Ill redeem myself by naming some competitors Career Shift, Clever Careerist (was named various things, including isabont and virtual job coach (or something like that)), Job Cannon are three in my space, and then hundreds of generic CRMs like Highrise, Salesforce, etc.  There, does that make up for naming my own company in this list? Heres why I think my list is better than the Top 75 from Forbes, and even the even narrowed down Top 10 they got from that list: These are 5 different types of sites/tools that are practical and high-value. They are really in five different categories: LinkedIn - Professional Networking Indeed - Job boards Idealist - industry- or profession-specific social+ environment (social+ means more than just social) Google - research and learning JibberJobber - relationship management Take those five categories, or types of sites what am I missing? If you were my friend and asked me how to get started in a job search or managing your career, I think those are five SOLID categories. They are the five youll need through the rest of your career. If Im missing one more it would be something for personal branding.  And my recommendation for that is blogging with a WordPress blog (alternative: typepad). What do you think? What category (or site) am I missing in my TOP FIVE? Forbes Top Websites For Your Career (Includes JibberJobber); JibberJobbers Top 5 Websites for Job Seekers UPDATE: The five days after I wrote this post I wrote a series of WHAT TO DO on the Top Five Job Search Websites.  Here are those posts.  Read todays post for the background. #1: LinkedIn (Monday) #2 Indeed (Tuesday) #3 Idealist (Wednesday) #4 Google (Thursday) #5 JibberJobber (Friday) Below you can see ALTERNATIVES for each of these tools, as well as why I chose these 5 tools. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WITH THE SHARE BUTTONS ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE POST. Im thankful for being included in The Top 75 Websites For Your Career by Forbes.  Its in alphabetical order, and on their site they say they got about 700 different sites submitted to them, so they had to cut through about 90% of the submissions.  Thats cool that we made it in the top 10% chosen. What about the 75?  Jacquelyn Smith, one of the two people who put this together, says: it’s simply a compilation of nominated sites that we believe deserve some special recognition. Basically, they (2 people) went through the list and picked what they thought was good. Let me contrast that to something like the New York Times best seller list. The NYT list is based on sales through various channels (not all channels).  The list is somewhat based on facts and purchases and demand, etc.  Also, Amazon has their list of top 10, top 100, etc. which is based on actual sales.  In other words, customers are voting with their pocketbook, which can tend to give a more accurate of the TOP books sold.  These lists  can be gamed and they are gamed all the time (ever hear an offer to buy the $20 book and send in a receipt for hundreds of dollars of goodies?  They are trying to get their numbers up so they can say they were on the best seller list). As I went through the list of Forbes Top 75 Websites for your career, I thought my heavens, no one has time for 75.  And most of these are useless. Sorry, but most people are too busy for 75 websites.  Job seekers usually dont want to spend all day online reading, learning, etc. They just want a friggin job! Here are my top 5 sites are for a job seeker (in no special order, since these five sites need to be used as part of a strategy that incorporates different strengths from each of them): LinkedIn.  Everyone knows that networking is critical in a job search.  LinkedIn is the 8 million pound guerrilla in the professional networking space.  Get on it, use it.  Most people dont do it well.  Many unemployed people who havent been in transition in the last 5 years have no idea how important LinkedIn will be in their next transition.  Too bad they arent getting on and using it right now.  I am so convicted that LinkedIn is such a powerful tool that I wrote a book on LinkedIn, and have DVDs helping people learn how to use LinkedIn. Alternatives: None. Indeed. As I speak around the country there are two sites that everyone talks about: LinkedIn and Indeed.  Years ago it would have been Monster or CareerBuilder, but Indeed came along and ate their lunch.  Indeed is a job board aggregator.  The idea is that they get job postings from all over, and post them in one place.  You dont need to check multiple job boards, you simply go to Indeed, which has done all the work for you. Alternatives: SimplyHired, their main competition. I rarely, rarely hear anything about them.  Also, LinkUp, which is an aggregator that says they get jobs ONLY from company job boards, so they must be real jobs. Idealist. I love what Idealist is.  It is a niche site for a certain audience (socially aware professionals, non-profits, green-oriented, etc.).  It is big and successful.  It is part social, part job board, part networking, part blogs. Alternatives: you should be able to find something like this for your industry or profession. I would use Job-Hunt.org as a place to start looking for resources like idealist. Google. The big daddy of research.  Theres a reason why people say did you google it?  Every job seeker should spend time figuring out their target companies, target prospects, how to network in (who to talk to), competitive intelligence research, etc.    Alternatives: any search engine that is good, Yahoo Finance, Spoke, Glassdoor, Job-hunt.org and other tools to research deeper into companies and industries. JibberJobber.  I might have just blown the credibility of this list by putting my own site on here.  I know, a horrid idea.  But a job seeker (and someone who wants to manage their career who is NOT in a job search) needs to have a relationship management tool.  Everyone in the know (including the Forbes article authors) says to network.  How the heck do you manage what goes into networking?  Names, numbers, dates, conversations, relevant information, follow-up information, etc.?  You need to have a real tool to do this.  Since HR and the company arent going to babysit your career anymore (ie, they arent giving you job security), you need to do it.  And do it means get on and use JibberJobber. Alternatives: Ill redeem myself by naming some competitors Career Shift, Clever Careerist (was named various things, including isabont and virtual job coach (or something like that)), Job Cannon are three in my space, and then hundreds of generic CRMs like Highrise, Salesforce, etc.  There, does that make up for naming my own company in this list? Heres why I think my list is better than the Top 75 from Forbes, and even the even narrowed down Top 10 they got from that list: These are 5 different types of sites/tools that are practical and high-value. They are really in five different categories: LinkedIn - Professional Networking Indeed - Job boards Idealist - industry- or profession-specific social+ environment (social+ means more than just social) Google - research and learning JibberJobber - relationship management Take those five categories, or types of sites what am I missing? If you were my friend and asked me how to get started in a job search or managing your career, I think those are five SOLID categories. They are the five youll need through the rest of your career. If Im missing one more it would be something for personal branding.  And my recommendation for that is blogging with a WordPress blog (alternative: typepad). What do you think? What category (or site) am I missing in my TOP FIVE? Forbes Top Websites For Your Career (Includes JibberJobber); JibberJobbers Top 5 Websites for Job Seekers UPDATE: The five days after I wrote this post I wrote a series of WHAT TO DO on the Top Five Job Search Websites.  Here are those posts.  Read todays post for the background. #1: LinkedIn (Monday) #2 Indeed (Tuesday) #3 Idealist (Wednesday) #4 Google (Thursday) #5 JibberJobber (Friday) Below you can see ALTERNATIVES for each of these tools, as well as why I chose these 5 tools. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WITH THE SHARE BUTTONS ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE POST. Im thankful for being included in The Top 75 Websites For Your Career by Forbes.  Its in alphabetical order, and on their site they say they got about 700 different sites submitted to them, so they had to cut through about 90% of the submissions.  Thats cool that we made it in the top 10% chosen. What about the 75?  Jacquelyn Smith, one of the two people who put this together, says: it’s simply a compilation of nominated sites that we believe deserve some special recognition. Basically, they (2 people) went through the list and picked what they thought was good. Let me contrast that to something like the New York Times best seller list. The NYT list is based on sales through various channels (not all channels).  The list is somewhat based on facts and purchases and demand, etc.  Also, Amazon has their list of top 10, top 100, etc. which is based on actual sales.  In other words, customers are voting with their pocketbook, which can tend to give a more accurate of the TOP books sold.  These lists  can be gamed and they are gamed all the time (ever hear an offer to buy the $20 book and send in a receipt for hundreds of dollars of goodies?  They are trying to get their numbers up so they can say they were on the best seller list). As I went through the list of Forbes Top 75 Websites for your career, I thought my heavens, no one has time for 75.  And most of these are useless. Sorry, but most people are too busy for 75 websites.  Job seekers usually dont want to spend all day online reading, learning, etc. They just want a friggin job! Here are my top 5 sites are for a job seeker (in no special order, since these five sites need to be used as part of a strategy that incorporates different strengths from each of them): LinkedIn.  Everyone knows that networking is critical in a job search.  LinkedIn is the 8 million pound guerrilla in the professional networking space.  Get on it, use it.  Most people dont do it well.  Many unemployed people who havent been in transition in the last 5 years have no idea how important LinkedIn will be in their next transition.  Too bad they arent getting on and using it right now.  I am so convicted that LinkedIn is such a powerful tool that I wrote a book on LinkedIn, and have DVDs helping people learn how to use LinkedIn. Alternatives: None. Indeed. As I speak around the country there are two sites that everyone talks about: LinkedIn and Indeed.  Years ago it would have been Monster or CareerBuilder, but Indeed came along and ate their lunch.  Indeed is a job board aggregator.  The idea is that they get job postings from all over, and post them in one place.  You dont need to check multiple job boards, you simply go to Indeed, which has done all the work for you. Alternatives: SimplyHired, their main competition. I rarely, rarely hear anything about them.  Also, LinkUp, which is an aggregator that says they get jobs ONLY from company job boards, so they must be real jobs. Idealist. I love what Idealist is.  It is a niche site for a certain audience (socially aware professionals, non-profits, green-oriented, etc.).  It is big and successful.  It is part social, part job board, part networking, part blogs. Alternatives: you should be able to find something like this for your industry or profession. I would use Job-Hunt.org as a place to start looking for resources like idealist. Google. The big daddy of research.  Theres a reason why people say did you google it?  Every job seeker should spend time figuring out their target companies, target prospects, how to network in (who to talk to), competitive intelligence research, etc.    Alternatives: any search engine that is good, Yahoo Finance, Spoke, Glassdoor, Job-hunt.org and other tools to research deeper into companies and industries. JibberJobber.  I might have just blown the credibility of this list by putting my own site on here.  I know, a horrid idea.  But a job seeker (and someone who wants to manage their career who is NOT in a job search) needs to have a relationship management tool.  Everyone in the know (including the Forbes article authors) says to network.  How the heck do you manage what goes into networking?  Names, numbers, dates, conversations, relevant information, follow-up information, etc.?  You need to have a real tool to do this.  Since HR and the company arent going to babysit your career anymore (ie, they arent giving you job security), you need to do it.  And do it means get on and use JibberJobber. Alternatives: Ill redeem myself by naming some competitors Career Shift, Clever Careerist (was named various things, including isabont and virtual job coach (or something like that)), Job Cannon are three in my space, and then hundreds of generic CRMs like Highrise, Salesforce, etc.  There, does that make up for naming my own company in this list? Heres why I think my list is better than the Top 75 from Forbes, and even the even narrowed down Top 10 they got from that list: These are 5 different types of sites/tools that are practical and high-value. They are really in five different categories: LinkedIn - Professional Networking Indeed - Job boards Idealist - industry- or profession-specific social+ environment (social+ means more than just social) Google - research and learning JibberJobber - relationship management Take those five categories, or types of sites what am I missing? If you were my friend and asked me how to get started in a job search or managing your career, I think those are five SOLID categories. They are the five youll need through the rest of your career. If Im missing one more it would be something for personal branding.  And my recommendation for that is blogging with a WordPress blog (alternative: typepad). What do you think? What category (or site) am I missing in my TOP FIVE?

Can You Disclose Your Criminal History on Your Resume?

Can You Disclose Your Criminal History on Your Resume?The biggest danger of writing a resume is the potential for employment law and policy violations. In fact, there are now even federal laws which mandate you to disclose certain types of information on your resume. Unfortunately, this is often not done. However, what should you do if you have to disclose your criminal history?If you've just been convicted of a crime that is listed on your resume, you will need to disclose it on your resume. You don't have to list it on your application, but you must list it on your resume in some way. The most common way to do this is by writing a list of all of the convictions on your resume and then listing them in order of their length.For example, if you were convicted of 'Arson of a Building', then write down that you were convicted on the first sentence. Then write down the conviction on the second sentence. On the third sentence, write down the conviction on the fourth sentence. After that, write down the conviction on the fifth sentence. And so on.What you want to avoid doing is including the last sentence of each conviction as if it were part of the first sentence. This is a common mistake because you need to be sure that your criminal convictions actually go into the first sentence of your resume.In other words, you don't want to have sentences like: 'Sentenced to five years of prison for arson.' Instead, you want to write sentences like: 'Sentenced to five years of prison for attempted arson.'If you're convicted of a crime while you were still employed by someone else, you may be able to skip disclosing it on your resume through a federal background check. The best place to find this information is by going to your local police department. Request a criminal report to get the information on the employer.In general, however, you will have to disclose your criminal convictions on your resume. This means you may have to keep your criminal history a secret from future employers. This can put you in a tricky situation when trying to land the job you want.By following these basic methods for writing a resume, you will be able to successfully get past all of the potential problems. When you follow these tips, you will be in a great position to reveal your criminal history and still get a great job.

Separating Your Professional and Personal Lives is Easier Than You Think

Separating Your Professional and Personal Lives is Easier Than You Think Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management.  Betsy Jacobson There are many reasons to keep your professional and personal lives separate and unfortunately, it’s easier than ever to blur the line between the two. Crossing the line is as simple as having a corporate mobile phone dinging when you go home or having personal social media accounts where you’re connected with some of your coworkers. So what’s the problem? When you don’t define clear boundaries you open yourself to a host of issues like missing important personal moments, negatively impacting your well being and your work output, and allowing colleagues too much insight into your personal life. Situations like this can be avoided by setting and managing clear boundaries. Why is it important to set boundaries? Protect Your Professional Image Even in the modern day workplace it’s important to maintain your professional image. Drawing the line and being mindful of potential conflicts of interest is always the best practice, especially when it comes to social media accounts. Leave Work At Work When you bring work home, you’re not able to be truly present home and may miss out on some pretty important moments. In addition, separating work from home allows you to relax and prevent burnout which can influence your productivity. The three most common areas where our professional and personal lives collide are social media, the phone, and email. It’s important to have separate accounts for each communication channel. Even though juggling multiple accounts can seem overwhelming, it’s almost always the best solution and it’s more simple than you think. Here are some ways to manage your accounts with ease: Social Media Leave LinkedIn and Twitter for your professional life and Facebook for your personal life. If you need Facebook for work purposes, make sure it’s a page for your business and not a profile. If you must have duplicate accounts, tools like LastPass make it quick and easy for you to switch in between profiles without having to remember and type in login information. Phone Nobody wants to carry around two phones, but you also don’t want to conduct personal business on a corporate phone. Luckily there’s a solution. Tools like Tresta, a cloud-based phone system, allow you to utilize a business phone number on your personal device. Meaning your business calls will come through to your personal device when you set them to.   And they’ll be clearly marked as professional calls. In addition, you can dial out via a mobile app that uses the business phone number from your cell phone.That way your personal number stays private and your professional and personal phone calls are kept separate, all on one device. Another way to avoid bringing work home is to have work-related calls sent elsewhere after hours. You don’t even have to send them to voicemail, answering services like PATLive take calls 24 hours/day with a live and friendly agent so that your callers are always well taken care of. Email Never use your business email or computer for personal emails and vice versa. Do you have your work email account set up on your personal phone? Turn your push notifications off.   That way you’re not tempted to pick up your phone and flip through as new emails pop up. We’re all guilty of allowing our professional and personal lives to cross paths on occasion.   But it’s simple to set up a system to keep them separate. Follow the steps and you’ll be happier, healthier, and a better employee. This guest post was authored by Jamie Lowary. Jamie Lowary is the Channel Relations Manager for Tresta, a cloud-based telecommunications company. Tresta’s easy to use interface allows users to create a completely custom call flow configuration so you can work wherever the day takes you.

Interviewing idiots

Interviewing idiots In case youve never noticed, I rarely interview anyone for this column. Most of my sources are family and unsuspecting friends who complain that I make everyone look bad. But it is not true. It is true that they THINK I make them look bad, but in fact, I could rip them apart in my column, and I do not, in the spirit of being invited back for Thanksgiving and Birthdays. Recently, I have taken up columnist tasks that require me to interview strangers. And, like the courtesy I give to my family, I do not trash the people I interview. But I am at my breaking point. Some people are so incredibly stupid about their career that I actually struggle to make them seem intelligent during the interview. So here are two interviews from smart people who are career idiots. (But first, a caveat: I am making the people anonymous. Many readers generously send stories from the field. And really, I love to hear from readers. I learn a lot. So you should know that if I think youre an idiot and decide to write about it, I will at least disguise your identity.) Career idiot number one: The Apprentice. Not all of them. Just the unlucky one I interviewed. He really did not have a career, which was, undoubtedly, the cause of his ridiculous antics on the TV show that eventually got him fired. But he decided to make a career out of getting fired by becoming a public speaker. Here are things you need to become a public speaker: 1. Something to say. This guy had nothing. Except to tell me that he was available for speaking. 2. You need an ability to answer questions from the press so that your name gets in the paper and people recognize you and hire you as a speaker. He did not answer my questions, which were all softballs. And he even asked to see the notes I was writing so he could edit them. I laughed. The lesson from this career idiot is that if you must be a poser, pose carefully. When you first start being something new, (for him, a public speaker) you need to pretend you are that person so people hire you as that person. But do some research before you start pretending. At least learn the basics of how to conduct yourself, and what people will ask of you. Career idiot number two: The painter whose identity I probably dont even need to hide because you dont know him because hes never sold a painting. He makes a lot of money as VP of Something Big at his tech company and he gave notice six months before his wife quit work to have a baby. He is starting a career as a painter. He has no idea how to get his art to the market, or how many pieces hell have to sell to support his family. But he says he has to be true to himself, and painting is his dream. He says he feels trapped at his current job. This is the picture he paints of trapped: He wanted to move across country, so his large and generous company let him set up remote office in his new home. He hates the long hours of his lucrative job, and his company would let him go part time, but he doesnt ask for that because he doesnt want to like his job. He fears that if he liked his job he wouldnt quit to do his art. Here is the lesson from career idiot number two: Take a big-picture look at what you have. It might be a lot better than you realize. Remember the first time you woke up next to the love of your life, and up close, in the morning, their face looked splotched and scruffy and gross? Well jobs are like people; they never look great up close so you need to pay attention to the big picture. This guys big picture is that he has a great job for supporting his new family and painting on the side, and if hes really an artistic genius then he can make a bundle painting and quit his job. I hate to be a buzz kill here. Im not saying that I dont like dreamers. I do. I like people who reach for careers that are fulfilling but difficult. But just because the odds of success are low doesnt mean you have to make them lower with poor planning.

Tips For Using Resume Writing Services in Utah

Tips For Using Resume Writing Services in UtahResume writing services are a wonderful alternative to filling out an application form, but there are also some things that you can do to make it that much easier. This article will outline some of the important tips that you should be aware of when you are submitting your resume.First of all, it is a good idea to make sure that your resume is actually as polished as you would like it to be. Some people go overboard with the application of the special effects and end up getting something that looks ridiculous, even if they follow the basic rules. While this is often a risk that you have to take, it does not make the rest of your resume look bad.By no means is a great resume going to require a single word added to it. Make sure that you know exactly what you want your resume to say. Do not be tempted to add a small paragraph about why you are qualified for the job, even if you do in fact have strong references to back up your statement.One other tip to keep in mind when creating a basic resume is to keep it as simple as possible. In other words, you do not need to try to be clever. Instead, you just need to provide your personal information in a straightforward manner. If you add some nice style to the document, then you might be able to make it more appealing to a hiring manager, but do not go overboard with your efforts.Even after you have given your information away in a form that is as uncomplicated as possible, there is still the matter of choosing a format for your resume. When looking at resume writing services, make sure that you ask questions such as what kind of resume format they offer. What kind of templates are available? How much money are they charging for their services?After you have settled on the format that you want, then you should look into some of the various online resume services that are available. After all, these are the people who are going to be doing the legwork for you and helping you craft the best possible document that you can possibly create.The next thing that you should consider is the idea of a general resume. These can be applied to a number of different fields, but the most common field that these are used for is the military. You might be surprised at how useful they can be, but it can also be a bit daunting to people who do not know how to apply them correctly.The final consideration that you should think about is the amount of time that you can spend on your resume. This is one of the most important decisions that you are going to make when you are taking the time to create a resume for yourself. If you cannot devote a great deal of time to your resume, then you should probably reconsider the idea of using resume writing services. Instead, you should devote some time to the process and you should be able to come up with a very impressive document in no time at all.

COTJ Reviews YouTern Internship Search Website

COTJ Reviews YouTern Internship Search Website 99 Flares 99 Flares The problem: The major job boards arent helping your internship search at all.  Is the Marketing Internship you saw on that big name job board for real, or is it some dude in his basement just looking for free labor?  What you need is a helpful online community, run by Recruiting and HR industry professionals who KNOW what a good internship looks like.  Whether youre paid, not paid, or being offered college credit for your hard work, your internship experience should be heavily based on mentorship.  Where can you go to find variety, expertise, and a knowledgeable community? The answer: YouTern.com What is YouTern? YouTern is a website that offers internship seekers access to positions available at start-ups and entrepreneurial companies.  Theyve also done a fantastic utilizing social communities like Twitter Facebook, as well as using their own blog to present helpful employment related resources.  What separates YouTern from some other similar websites is that they were founded by experts with over a decade of experience in online recruiting start-ups.  Honestly, I cant stress enough how important it is to have industry professionals running a site like this. YouTerns My Account Section For all intents and purposes, this section is your internship search dashboard.  EVERYTHING youll need to find an internship can be found in the My Account section of YouTern.  What will you find here? My Profile This section is critical.  Youll not only load up basic personal information (Location, contact, etc), but youll also fill out the important detailed information of what kind of internship, if it should be virtual, etc.  Awesome! My Resumes YouTern makes it easy to upload multiple resumes, in case you have different resumes for each field youre interested in. My Intern Alerts Go through this section to select the specific type of internship youre craving.  YouTern will automatically send you alerts when those EXACT positions are available.   Alerts can be sent daily or weekly. My Applications Here is where youll see which positions youve already applied to.  What I want to highlight here is YouTerns helpful tips to internship seekers.  Its a great touch on their site and a very helpful reminder to seekers. Saved Internships Saved Searches I always stress about organization in the job search.  Saving specific internships that interest you will be a huge timesaver.  Youll see what you like about that specific internship and look for it in others.  The Saved Searches option is also a great tool.  Identify a few searches that target your desired results, then you can automatically click those searches to see which new internship positions have sprung up. YouTerns My Account Page YouTerns Blog:  TheSavyIntern As mentioned earlier, YouTern does a great job of establishing a helpful community.  Their blog already has over 150 internship related blog posts.  Here are three recent posts that I love: Twitter Job Search for Not-so-Dummies 10 Most Desired Characteristics of a Small Team Intern What 3 Job Seeker Types Scare Recruiters Away Whats Being Said About YouTern? Other notable mentions for YouTern: Mentioned as a “Hot Start-up” by Sprouter Named a “Top 5 Online Communities for Starting Your Career” by Mashable COTJs Final Words What I love most about YouTern is the variety of internships, the ease of use and functionality of their website, and how almost every page includes helpful tidbits.  YouTern understands what constitutes a solid internship experience, and wont work with companies that will leave you hanging. Set up your FREE profile on YouTern, upload your resumes, and finally begin your internship search!  Simply go to http://www.youtern.com/, and click on Register up top to the right! Want to learn more?  Check out the YouTern FAQ or read their About Us section.

Is your resume holding you back

Is your resume holding you back Searching for a new job can be frustrating, especially when you are sending in your resume but not getting many call backs. Dont fret test yourself! In other words, lets take an empirical approach to finding a solution. Here are four tactics for figuring out if your resume is holding you back: Establish a baseline You may not be very interested in a job that you are well-qualified for but you need to submit your resume to a few of these openings to make sure your resume can pass that level. If you get callbacks then move back to the job postings that you really want and take a look at the next step. If you dont get any call backs then there is a larger issue at hand. It may be time to get a professional review from a friend in the industry, a colleague in your network or a career coach. Beef up your checklist Its time to be very thorough and re-check your resume. Use the list below to make sure there isnt something glaringly wrong with your resume thats causing hiring managers or recruiters to toss it. Do the following: cater the resume to the job description include a custom cover letter change your summary title to match the job title match keywords in the job description to your resume proofread every word and sentence for spelling and grammar use a modern format keep a consistent font type and size insert adequate white space and make it inviting to read Some of those are quick but some arent. At this point, you need to take your time and thoroughly go through each one. The truth is that if you dont spend adequate time on resume fundamentals then you are just wasting your time and good job opportunities! Look at your strategy, not tactics If you arent getting callbacks after submitting your resume and youve checked it thoroughly you may be inclined to think professional resume writing is what you need. Actually, a professional resume writer gives you better writing but not necessarily a better job application strategy. People rarely apply for a job they are fully qualified for so a strategy is required to determine how to approach each job. The list above contains the fundamentals table stakes so an error or omission doesnt hold you back. However, its your strategy that will help your resume stand out and get those callbacks.  Do the following: address the critical parts of the job description tell a compelling story show that you have exceeded the expected results display your x-factor that separates you from others express why you are so interested in the role You may have additional challenges/obstacles that need to be addressed. Remember, its about strategy here and you need to get inside the mind of the recruiter, hiring manager, and anyone else who will be passing judgement on your resume. Your secret weapon = cover letter Your secret weapon (besides networking) is your cover letter. Many job applicants pass on an optional cover letter or re-hash a generic, poorly personalized one. There are many things you can do in a cover letter that you cant in a resume: show your passion explain how the hiring manager should interpret your resume present a unique experience or skill that qualifies you call out the results that most closely relate tell your personal story and how much this job means to you Your cover letter is a requirement, in my eyes, because it is difficult to get a quick overview or your full story from just a resume. Knowing that other applicants arent using a cover letter is another good reason it shows you cared enough! In conclusion, stop wasting your time applying for jobs with a resume that is poorly written or has a poor strategy behind it. Get those things in order and view each job submission as a test to see what resonates in the marketplace. Dont just stick to jobs that you really want either there may not be many good ones that come along so find other ways to test your resume changes.