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Are You a Job Hopper?

October 22, 2012 by

If you’ve sent out tons of resumes and haven’t heard back from any of them, maybe it’s because they consider you a job hopper. When you have hundreds or thousands of resumes to sort through, one thing that stands out is the fact that you’ve had way too many jobs in too short of a period of time. Employers call these people “job hoppers”, and it doesn’t look good in their eyes.

As someone who has been on the hiring end of things in start-up companies, I can tell you that it’s even more important to make sure you get the right employees from the start. Hiring and training employees is one of the biggest expenses we have. Hiring the wrong person can be a costly mistake.

Job hoppers come in all ages, but is even more common in those under 30. When you just get out of college and still don’t really know what direction you want to go in, that’s one thing. But too much beyond that and it doesn’t look good to the person hiring you that you’ve had 7 jobs in the past few years. I personally wouldn’t be willing to take a chance on that employee. As a business owner I’ve put too much time, sweat, blood, and money into the business to hire people who are just going to be fly by nights. I would prefer to hire someone who has shown more loyalty and stability.

Of course, there are all kinds of reasons why someone would have a series of jobs before the age of 30. The problem is that you probably won’t get the opportunity to tell me about them because your resume wouldn’t get that far. This is why I like the idea of the job fair, where you can tell the person face to face what happened. Be honest. But if you really want to settle down with a job and believe this company is going to be right for you, let the hiring person know that. And explain your swiss cheese resume before it gets tossed in the trash.

 


Filed Under: Job Search, Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Do Job Seekers Need Multiple Skills?

July 6, 2012 by

I was always told that being a Jack, (or Jill) of all trades was a bad thing. You should just focus on one thing and do it well. Seems like times have changed. Some employers are saying they are having a hard time finding people with the right skills because they’re looking for people with multiple skills. And that isn’t always easy to find.

There’s a new trend in hiring. Companies want workers who can handle several different jobs for a number of reasons. For one thing, it cuts down on hiring. Employers say they would rather wait until the right person comes along who has all of the skills they need. Sometimes this means speaking several languages and being proficient at several different jobs. They would rather hire one person to do all of the jobs than hire multiple employees to do each individual job. And they’re willing to wait for that perfect person to come along.

This puts a huge burden on those job seekers sending out resumes. Call center workers no longer just answer the phones. Now they also need to be able to sell when customers call in. For example, if customers are calling in to buy a kitchen appliance, the call center operators must be able to convince them to buy a warranty or utensils too. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Job Seekers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Resume Mistakes

November 25, 2011 by

Being on the other side of the hiring process, I have a file full of resumes I’ve kept through the years for potential employees and freelancers. I went through them and spotted some mistakes that caught my eye. I rarely hire based on a resume alone. These are all people I’ve met and networked with before, but keep their info on file as contact information.

  • Mixing personal and professional – Personal information is something that can come up in an interview. There’s no reason to have it on your resume.
  • Keep it clean – I noticed that many resumes had long paragraphs that were hard to read. Make sure there is lots of white space with info that is easy to read at a glance.
  • Using language specific to other employers – A lot of people in my file come from the entertainment industry, so I understand the insider terms. But don’t include language that only the last company you worked for would get. All companies are different. New job search, new, updated resume.
  • References available – That should be a given, so don’t take up space on the resume with it.
  • Team player – in this case, “show, don’t tell”. If you are indeed a team player, prove it with a concrete example of a situation in the past where you’ve been a team player and what the outcome was.



Filed Under: Resumes Tagged With: , , , ,

The Value of Older Workers

July 3, 2011 by

Some of the qualities employers say they want in an employee are dependability and experience. Both are qualities the older employee has. They also typically have a lower turnover rate. Older workers have years of life experience and knowledge that is appealing to an employer and makes them more valuable.

Some employers hire older workers as part of their diversity program. Some go out of their way to hire older workers because they relate to and mirror their customer base.

One of the problems older workers face is having outdated skills. This isn’t something that can’t be overcome. But it does take having a new perspective on things, and rolling up your sleeves sometimes again and again. This isn’t easy to do when you’ve worked your whole life and looked forward to slowing down a bit.

If you want to stay competitive, you’re going to have to embrace change and reinvent yourself. Look at your life’s resume as a changing document and as a learning experience..

Enroll in some classes in a community college to gain new skills. Get into a certification program. In other words, explore all of your options if you want to find a job in this new job market.



Filed Under: Job Search, Job Seekers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Underemployment at Record High

January 14, 2011 by

In good economic times many job seekers would pass up low paying jobs. But times have changed. With unemployment rates still over 9%, unemployment is a huge problem. 44% of job seekers have been out of work for more than 27 weeks and it looks like that won’t be changing any time soon.

So job seekers, whose unemployment benefits and saving are running out, have had to settle for taking whatever they can just to pay the bills.

Companies are slowly starting to hire, but the full-time jobs haven’t come back yet. They are hiring as they need, but the jobs are part-time. The good thing about taking a part-time job is that you are meeting people who could hire you in the future and you’re adding to your resume. You can also learn new skills that will help you in your career.



Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Job Competition Grows as Hiring Events & Employment Opportunities Dwindle

December 8, 2010 by

Fewer companies are participating in job fairs, which means fewer opportunities for job seekers. The competition is steep, so you have to be more proactive in your search to get ahead of the crowd:

SACRAMENTO, CA – With almost 1 in 10 Americans unemployed, the competition is steep at job fairs.

Competition aside, there are jobs available. A sales, retail and management job fair is being held at Sacramento’s Embassy Suites on Tues., Dec. 7 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Major companies including Orkin Pest Control, Carmax, Frito Lay, AFLAC, Aramark and State Farms will be interviewing applicants.

Mark McConnell, who hires in Central and Northern California for Orkin Pest Control, will be looking to hire up to 10 people at Tuesday’s event. But McConnell says he’s not in a rush to make all 10 hires. “If I can find one candidate today that would be perfect. I don’t need to find all 10 positions today at this job fair,” he said.

While job fairs are still popular, there may be fewer now than in previous years. John Stokes hires for Carmax in Roseville and says about 10 percent of his employees are hired via job fairs.

“There used to be many more job fair companies in the Sacramento area. I think as employers lowered their hiring over the last couple years, some of those companies also went out of business,” Stokes said.

Job applicants interested in sales, retail and management positions should come to the hiring event prepared with resumes, ready to interview and dressed professionally.

Tuesday’s event takes place at the Embassy Suites, 100 Capitol Mall in Sacramento.

By Kate Larsen, klarsen@news10.net

News10/KXTV



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