The President's Job Council Gets a Makeover

Makeover shows are all the rage in America…now the President has jumped into the act.

Today, President Obama announced he is revamping his job council by appointing GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt as the new chair to the council. It will be named the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. No word yet on whom else will serve on this council. The current chair is former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker who is said to be stepping down next month according to an Associated Press story.



According CNBC.com, Mr. Obama said, "We still have a long way to go, and my number one priority is to ensure we are doing everything we can to get the American people back to work.”

The President added that many businesses have created new positions, but still too many American’s are not working!

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as of December 2010, 14.5 million American’s were unemployed, which is down from 15.2 million a year ago. That means some 556,000 people landed a job. The December unemployment rate is down to 9.4 percent. 

So Dear Job Hunter wants to know what you think of this “makeover” and whom you think should be on this council?

Finally…is all of this a little too late?

Dear Job Hunter Wants to Know

How are employers viewing job candidates with decreasing FICO scores and tarnished credit reports?

Please post your comments. You can also email me privately at TrishHoffman@gmail.com.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Trish Hoffman

Disclaimer: Dear Job Hunter does not offer job opportunities, guarantee work or future employment opportunities. Sorry!

A Working Passion

In the Summer 2010 issue of Connecticut College Magazine I read an article by Rachel Harrington in the Lives section. It’s about Nicholas Leichter (Class of ’94), who founded Nicholas Leichter Dance, a New York-based contemporary dance company two years after graduation.

In the article Leichter is quoted as saying, “When you’re younger, you want to focus solely on passion. But as you get older, it’s really important to be multifaceted.”

Leichter says he would like to just dance and teach, but also must work on fundraising for his dance company. He apparently has passion for his work.

His story and that quote made me think… Can we spend our careers without being passionate about what we do every single day? Without passion, isn’t work…well, just work?

Webster defines “passion” as a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object or concept.

Webster defines “work” as an activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something.

So what if we connect the two? Let’s see if we can come-up with the answer...Working is an activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something with a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object or concept…

Wow!! I am not rewriting Webster, just looking for ways to make us realize passion prevails!

Another good example…I recently attended the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) conference where I met Dr. Michael G. McMillan. Dr. McMillan is the Director, Curriculum Projects at the CFA Institute in Charlottesville Virginia. He was on a panel moderated by Ginny Clarke, author of the upcoming book Career Mapping.

That panel underscored the importance of networking, education, career planning and developing a 10-second elevator pitch. Dr. McMillan stressed the need for having passion to excel in life personally and professionally. Without passion, it is just work!

Dr. McMillan joined CFA Institute in October of 2008 after more than a decade as a professor of accounting and finance at Johns Hopkins University's Carey School of Business and George Washington University's School of Business. Before that he was a securities analyst and portfolio manager at Bailard, Biehl, and Kaiser and Merus Capital Management in San Francisco, California.

Dr. McMillan said he always returns to academia. It’s his passion!

And therein is the lesson…you NEED to look for your passion!

In today’s shrinking job market with millions of people looking for work, it is hard to place passion at the top of the list when listing pro’s and con’s for a new job.

We better like what we do because we are spending an awful lot of time doing it!

A Dear Job Hunter recipe: Try mixing in one-third passion with two-thirds work, maybe that’s a step in the right direction and maybe, just maybe that’s when we’ll be good at what we do and our work will be good to us!

Please post your comments below. If you would like to comment privately, please email me at trishhoffman@gmail.com.

Trish Hoffman

Headhunters at Work: DO NOT DISTURB

From the mailbag...

Looks like Dear Job Hunter inspired a fellow blogger.

When I first reached out to LinkedIn to find out how its members can search for a new job while keeping their current boss from finding out, LinkedIn hooked me up quickly! Several of its chosen members, who work with the media on LinkedIn's behalf, were in touch with me...and continue to follow up...thank goodness!

That Dear Job Hunter blog post, LinkedIn, Locked and Loaded...But Don't Hit That Send Button, inspired blogger Joseph Higginbotham of "Higginbotham At Large".

Trish:

The question you asked Linkedin is one that I’ve gotten so often that I decided to go ahead and write a blog post about it.

From Joseph Higginbotham

Joseph took the angle of Headhunters, and whether or not its a good idea to contact one while looking for a job.

The answer is in my headline...NO...leave them alone.

Seems as though, headhunters only want to work with those who aren't actively looking for a job. They prefer to reach out to those who fly under-their-radar and have their nose to the grindstone.

So if reaching out to headhunters doesn't sound like the most effective route to take while job hunting...maybe you have a little birdie tell a huntheader you are!!!

To check-out more of Joseph's blog click here. Thanks Joseph, I enjoyed working with you.

For my readers, please remember to post your comments here and tell us what your biggest challenge is in YOUR job search.

If you prefer to comment privately please email me at trishhoffman@gmail.com.

Trish

Making Yourself Standout in the Numbers Game

While researching for today’s column, I found so many dismal stories about the job market…and for those searching for work I don’t have to tell you the market stinks.

According to Mort Zukerman of the Financial Times, one in six Americans are out of work…that means 6.7 million people! The longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to get a job…anywhere!

When the recession started in 2007, there were less than two job hunters for every job opening. Just twenty months later more than six people applied for the same job. Today, we are told we are in a better position with just 5.6 people applying for the same job according to the chart published by the Economy Policy Institute's Economy Track.

Are we counting all job hunters, even those who have given up hope? Is that sector of the job hunting market even traceable? Reports say Americans do want to work…there just aren’t enough jobs to go around, according to a story by Lawrence Mishel, who writes in The Huffington Post.

So how do you separate yourself from the pack and get noticed?

Last week I placed a good friend of mine, career expert Ginny Clarke, on Oprah Radio. Ginny appeared on the Derek Ashong Experience. Most recently, Ginny was a partner at the global executive search firm, Spencer Stuart. Today, Ginny is an executive consultant directing people to stand out in front of the pack during a job search.

The number one item on her list of things to do is to be sure to make your search for a job a full time job. Another must-do is to write your elevator pitch and get out there and network, network, network...so let’s get you started!

In Ginny’s blog she says, “One of the most important parts of managing relationships and effective networking is being able to tell someone about yourself in only a couple of minutes – the length of an elevator ride. What exactly would you say if you found yourself on an elevator or at a cocktail party with the hiring manager for a job you really want and you had 2-3 minutes?”

Ginny Clarke’s Do’s and Dont’s…

• Don’t try to cram your entire career into 60 seconds
• Do give highlights of most prestigious and recent roles, including company name and title
• Don’t assume people know or understand your space
• Do describe and quantify – industry segment, budget, revenues, employees, etc.

• Don’t oversell or ask favors – you are meeting for the first time
• Do be clear about what you think your strengths are
• Don’t be one-dimensional in your commentary
• Do offer an interesting personal fact about yourself

You can read more tips from Ginny at www.mycareermapping.com.

Please comment right here on Dear Job Hunter, or email me privately at trishhoffman@gmail.com

Trish Hoffman

LinkedIn, Locked and Loaded...BUT Don't Hit That Send Button

When you start a blog, you never know how it will be received. Will people read it? Is it relevant?

Well I got my answer pretty quickly.

It only took three hours for Dear Job Hunter to get its first question. There's no doubt that there are a lot of Americans that are in the same boat.

From a Dear Job Hunter Reader:

Hi Trish,

What a great blog you’ve started. It will be helpful to a lot of people.

I am currently looking for a job career change. I would like to know how to use LinkedIn when searching for a job when currently employed, especially when you know your employer looks at what their employees are putting on LinkedIn and facebook. I would like to be more open and say I am looking for opportunities, yet do not feel that would be appropriate. What’s the best way to approach this? From what I’ve been reading more and more headhunters are looking on LinkedIn for candidates. I want my profile to grab their attention!

Dear Job Hunter answers:

LinkedIn, Locked, and Loaded...BUT Don't Hit That Send Button!

I contacted LinkedIn for an answer to your question and while they don't actually respond to press inquiries, they did refer me to one of "their" people who is a true LinkedIn groupie...and I mean that! LinkedIn apparently has a focus group they use to respond to the media on its behalf. These are handpicked social media experts who have proven themselves on LinkedIn and elsewhere.

Dave Peck, of www.thedavepeck.com, says you may be able to create or use an existing LinkedIn Group to place your resume and information. However, after chatting for a few minutes, I asked, "is this 100% safe for LinkedIn members to be sure their current boss can't find their profile that states they are looking for a new job?" We decided, absolutely NOT!

So with that being said, Dear Job Hunter suggests that LinkedIn consider setting-up a private section for users to post their profiles, and then LinkedIn should allow those job hunting posters a setting that allows them to block those they don't want viewing their profile.

If you agree with this suggestion, please post a comment in the comments section below. Maybe we can get LinkedIn to make a change that's good for everyone.

And, if one of my readers already has a little trick they are using to protect themselves...jump into the conversation and give us insight into how to go about a successful job hunt on LinkedIn.

Trish Hoffman

You can comment directly here on this blog. For privacy email me: Trishhoffman@gmail.com.