TheJobBored

Should you hide your tattoos when going in for a job interview?

According to this article the conclusion a lot of people are coming to is an emphatic YES!

Add tattoo removal as another growth industry in this crappy job market.

They’re not in Oregon, apparently. Anyone else got some state-specific numbers?

Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 12.1 percent in March from 10.7 percent (as revised) in February. The state’s unemployment rate has risen rapidly and substantially over the past nine months, from a rate of 5.9 percent in June 2008.

Source article here.

Apropos of our recent discussions of Twitter and it’s usefulness in the job search, it’s important to remember that, as with Facebook, you have to watch what you say.

Read the following cautionary tale from I’m Not Actually A Geek:

A lucky job applicant tweeted the following:

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

This tweet caught the attention of Tim Levad, a channel partner advocate for Cisco. To which he responded:

Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

Might be a good idea to not immediately share your post-interview impressions on teh Twitter.

Unless of course, they’re extremely, extremely positive. Then it could be helpful… they don’t know that you know that they’re watching you. They think, “That guy was so jazzed to work for us, he twittered all his friends.”

Then again… maybe they wouldn’t like you sharing their private business practices or interview practices with the world.

Sigh… modern gadgetry… why must every useful new tool also have a minefield of potential pitfalls?

This a shout into the void. So we have twitter trends. And Twitter proximity search. Can we not combine the two? I want to know what people are “trending” within 5 miles of me!

If you have career or job search question you would like answered on this blog, click here to Ask Brian.

Reader Cee has a question very in tune with our times.

I landed a job after a lengthy search in Feb. Having been a high flyer and self employed for 15 years I needed a change, but it was very difficult finding employment in this climate. So, although I found a menial job I value it enormously. Trouble is, its the wrong job in the RIGHT company. I took a sales role, absolute last resort, I hate working shop floor, but as I said I was getting desperate. I see a lot of potential for career progress with this company, they encourage it — offering funded study and vocational in house training. Basically, I would love to work within an office role with more creative responsibility - anything to get me off the shop floor. I’m currently demonstrating enthusiasm and passion for the job. Without sounding arrogant, I know I have a ton to offer, and this sales role is not for me (bores me to death), I undersold myself to get it. Oh The irony. Now I need to make them see all the assets I kept quiet about. How?

My question is — how do I play it from now on, they are recruiting for a couple of creative positions now, but I am only half way through my initial three month probationary period . Is it too soon to start asking for a role transfer?! I want them to see an ambitious creative individual invested in company progress, not a flaky dissatisfied person who is an inconvenience, since they did just hire me, and would have to rehire to fill my slot. I feel its an ambiguous step and I want to be sure before I leap.

Brian answers after the jump… [Read more →]

I usually don’t get talked into shilling for companies on this blog. But this resource is too good not to pass along.

FedEx Office (most of us will remember them as Kinkos) is offering free resume printing this Tuesday, March 10.

From the press release:

The company invites customers to take advantage of this one-day event by visiting any of its 1,600+ FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers in the United States during regular business hours.  This offer is good for 25 black-and-white resume copies per customer and is only valid for orders placed and picked up in-store.  Customers may place orders by submitting their resume in printed format or as a digital file, and the copies will be printed single-sided on resume-quality paper.

PS. If you’re a FedEx Office executive or PR rep, drop me an email. I’ve got a business proposition for you relating to resume printing.

If 2008 was the year everyone and their mother showed up on Facebook (literally, my mother!) then this year is the year that Twitter is really taking off.

I don’t have the space or inclination to introduce you to Twitter or how it works (simple google searches should give you a nice rundown of how to join the twittering masses) but I do want to explore using Twitter as a job search tool.

The most important reason is that job searching (and job posting) on Twitter is still in it’s infancy. So, first movers might be able to pick up some quick leads and opportunities before the masses catch on.

How To Job Search On Twitter

There are basically 3 main ways to use Twitter as a job search tool.

First, and most basicly, you can use Twitter to shout your job search into the void. Posting, “I am such and such professional in such and such place looking to get a job as an XYZ,” is the most obvious way. It seems the most useless way right now… but it might become more valuable in the coming months as more and more employers do keyword searches on twitter to find candidates.

So, it won’t hurt to put yourself into the Twitter stream. I would suggest posting general descriptions as well as specific skill or experience descriptions. For example, saying you do sales… well, ok, there’s probably a lot of people who do that. But tweeting that you specialize in telecom sales in Latin American markets (and speak spanish) might cause you to show up if someone searches for more specific skill sets. So do general tweets as well as narrow tweets. Can’t hurt. [Read more →]

Americans’ Online Search Behavior Points to Significant Increase in Personal Financial Turmoil.

Not really a surprise, right?

A new CareerBuilder.com survey finds that nearly 40 percent of the 3,000 HR reps and managers polled plan to make administrative cuts at some point in 2009.

Furthermore, 65 percent of those who plan on cutting costs are also scaling back on company events like social gatherings and picnics. Sixty-one percent will curtail business travel.

Benefits, Perks To Be Trimmed in 2009. Via Cheezhead.

As resume writing professionals, we hear everyone’s tale. It’s the nature of what we do. Everyone is unique and everyone is different and everyone has a reason why they need a new job now!

We are like doctors in that way. Everyone is a good person who deserves to be saved. We want to save everyone. And like good doctors, we do our best to help all our clients. We listen, and we do our best to help. That’s what makes our job rewarding.

So share your personal sob story of job search woe with us.

But…

But keep it out of your job search and interview process.

Telling an interviewer about why you really, really need the job is job-search-death. We all think our personal cases and our personal stories are so much more important and valid than anyone else’s.

But especially in times like these, trust me, they’re not. [Read more →]