Five "Business" Card Ideas for Job Seekers

If you are a job seeker, you probably know that networking is a required activity. You can’t just sit around, wishing and hoping someone will fall in love with your resume and call you up, begging for you to interview—no, skip the interview, just take the job! If you believe that, I have some swamp land in Florida that I’m selling at bargain prices…

While researching job markets, I came across an article announcing last September’s Mega Career Fair networking event in Philadelphia. When they said Mega, they meant it! As the article stated, last September there were over 60 exhibitors in three separate pavilions and over 5,000 job seekers at the event! Mega events are great for job seekers, since you meet a variety of employers face-to-face in one location. But how do you stand out among 5,000 other job seekers? In those situations, your resume is your calling card. What about networking events? You can’t just go around handing out your two-page resume to everyone you meet at the monthly Business After Hours.

The employed already have business cards to hand out, but what about the job seeker? You can distinguish yourself by handing out personal information cards, a new use for an old custom when meeting new people.

1. The same size as business cards, they contain your name, contact information and, for job seekers, area of expertise, skill and education. Subtle, clean and professional, they take the place of a resume at a networking event.

2. They are a way to collect business cards with valuable contact information for potential employers. It’s easy to get a business card when you hand a contact one of your own. You can have contact information that can get your resume into the hands of the person who does the hiring or can pass your resume on to HR.

3. They are a confidence builder. I remember taking a job that didn’t merit business cards. I had been a manager at my previous job, but the new job was a staff analyst position, without much outside contact. It was tough attending business meetings when others were passing out business cards and I had none. Handing out your own card levels the playing field.

4. They are a curiosity and talking point. The card itself is unique, and shows some creativity and initiative. Instead of just blurting out your 30-second elevator speech, the card speaks for you, which may prompt the recipient to begin asking for more information.

5. No more “cold calling.” It’s easier to send a resume to someone you met who showed some interest in you than by blindly answering job postings. The clearer the target, the better chance of hitting the mark.

Have you used information cards in your job search? How have they worked for you? Share your experiences with other job seekers in the Comments section below.

Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for phillyjobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients reinvent their careers for today’s job market. You can read more of her blogs at phillyjobs.com and view additional job postings on Beyond.com

Steve Jobs on Failure, Success and Passion

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

The world is mourning the death of Steve Jobs, and I think that it is important for us all to remember one of the great innovators of our time. He was crazy enough to think that he was able to change the world, and he set out to do just that.

I was so impressed by a commencement address he made in 2005 at Stanford University. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch it, you should. In his speech, he had some wonderful advice to new graduates and job seekers. He talked openly about his personal failures. He very candidly talked about what it felt like to achieve success and how devastating it was to be a complete failure.

He talked about how he got fired from Apple, lost almost everything and seriously considered leaving Silicon Valley entirely. Although it was a devastating blow to him, both personally and professionally, from that failure he was able to achieve something even better than he had ever imagined.

From the ashes of that failure, he was able to rebuild and explore new opportunities. Even though he eventually found his way back to Apple, he had found his passion all over again. I was touched by his viewpoint that it is the small moments in life that shape our destiny, even if we can't see it at the time.

Steve explained that it was these moments, these dots, that are the real things that matter. The problem is that you can't connect the dots going forward, but rather you can only connect them backwards. Even when it feels like we have lost everything, have failed miserably, we have to trust that it will all make sense at some future point. We just have to keep going.

In his commencement address, he talked about how we are all going to die, and that by accepting this and knowing how short our lives are, we should never settle for doing something we aren't passionate about. We are only in this world for a short time and we don't have time to waste living someone else's life.

These are great words, and for anyone who is struggling through job loss and trying to find their passion, it's great advice.

Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

I can only hope that we all stay hungry and stay foolish.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for PhillyJobsBlog and Beyond.com, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

Related articles

• Steve Jobs Resigns As Head of Apple (techcareersblog.com)
• Sorry About Your Job Loss in a Greeting Card? (healthcarejobsiteblog.com)
• The Secret To Making Customers Happy - It's Easier Than You'd Think (salesheadsblog.com)
• Could Amazon's Kindle Fire Steal Some Of iPad's Market? (techcareersblog.com)

Job Search 101 - Keep Your Search Organized

Looking for a job in Philadelphia can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it seems like it is just too hard, there is too much to do and when you aren't getting responses as quickly as you like, it is easy to lose hope and start to become frustrated.

They say that to make a task easier, you have to break it down into small steps. So, let's keep breaking down the job search steps, to make sure that you have all of your bases covered:

• Keep your search organized – Once you stop trying to paper the world with your resume, you will be sending out fewer applications, but devoting your time to the ones that matter the most. You can use your newly liberated time and energy to get your job search organized. When you are sending out fewer, but more targeted, resumes, it is easier to keep track of each application.
  
  
  Keep records of which jobs you sent in resumes for, along with a copy of the resume and cover letter you sent them. This way, even though you have tailored the documents for the particular job, you can easily bring the exact copies with you to the interview.
  
  
  It is also a good idea to keep a record of when you applied, when you had an interview and when you followed up. You might also want to keep notes of the main ideas discussed in the interview and any new information you received about the job or the job description.
  It works best if you write down your thoughts after the interview, when you are still going over how it went in your mind. You can write down your impressions of the company, how you think the interview went and if you think that this company will be a good fit for you. Write down an honest list of the things you like about the job and the drawbacks to it as well.
  
  
  This may seem like overkill, but if you get asked to interview at several different places, the information is easy to forget. It has been my experience that I will have a great interview one week, and another a few days later. And then, once the ball is rolling, I might have another one or two in the next week. Then nothing. Finally, after another three weeks of so, company number two calls me in for a second interview or, better yet, offers me the job. But, it never fails that the minute I accept a job, the other companies I interviewed with start calling to make offers as well.
  
  
  And while that is great, I have already made a commitment, and besides, I can't really remember what happened during those particular interviews or why one of them would be better than the other. By keeping these sorts of records, you can easily refresh your memory if you need to later.
  
  
  Keep an eye out for the next installment of Job Search 101.
  
  
  By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for Phillyjobs, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel. To read more of Melissa's blogs, check out Phillyjobsblog.
  
  
  
  

Job Search 101 - Create an Attack Plan

Looking for a job can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it seems like it is just too hard, there is too much to do and when you aren't getting responses as quickly as you like, it is easy to lose hope and start to become frustrated.

They say that to make a task easier, you have to break it down into small steps. So, let's keep breaking down the job search steps, to make sure that you have all of your bases covered:

• Create an attack plan – You wouldn't just pick stocks or investments at random, so don't trust your job search to random luck and good timing. Do some research about your industry and find out where the growth is. Take a hard look at the number of jobs available in your field and see where your next step is. Maybe you need to get a certificate or some additional training to open up new avenues?
  
  
  Sit down and ask yourself some of these hard questions: What jobs are available that fit your skills and training? What companies are the leaders in this field in your area? How would you find out about any of their job openings? Are you willing to re-locate for a job? Would you be willing to take a position that was a step down from your previous one? Can you accept a lower salary? Is there any additional training that can be had that would increase your job opportunities? Answering these questions will help give you a more defined idea of what position you should be looking for.
  
  
  Next, you need to take a look at your financial situation. How much available credit do you have? What would you have to do to get more? What are your assets? What is your monthly budget, and how much can you cut out of it? How much money do you need to cover your basic expenses for a month? How long can you afford to be out of work? These question will let you know how much you are going to have to compromise in order to find the right job. It may mean that you will need to look for a part time job in order to continue your job search. Or maybe, you might have to think more seriously about taking a lesser paying job. But, by asking the question and finding the answers ahead of time, you can get a clear picture and not let fear push you into making bad decisions.
  
  
  Once you have a clear idea of where you want to go next in your career and how long you have to get there, you should start thinking about your networking strategy. Are there any professional organizations you could join to meet people in the industry? Who do you know that works for a company you want to work for? Could you ask them for a warm introduction? Do you know others in your area or field who are also out of work? Would they be interested in sharing job leads with you? Think about where and how you can get out and network with other professionals. Networking is one of the best ways to find out about new jobs and just to stay current on what is going on with your industry.

Keep an eye out for the next installment of Job Search 101.

Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Be sure to visit PhillyJobs.com

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

Job Search 101 - Tune Up Your Resume

There's no doubt about it, looking for a job is stressful. In fact, many people can quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the process and as a result, they put off doing the things that they know they should be doing in order to find a new position. For many people, feeling like a task is too complicated mixed with a simple fear of failure, causes them to procrastinate and not be as effective as they could be.

The easiest way to overcome those feelings is to break down the large task and turn it into a series of small steps. The steps themselves are much easier to accomplish and it is always easier to convince yourself to “just do it”, when the job doesn't feel so big.

To make things a little easier, let's break it down into small steps, so that you can cover your bases:

• Tune-up your resume – It might take a little time, but do what you can to make it clear, concise and easy to understand. If you think that you need a little bit of help in making your resume the best it can be, consider using a resume writing service, like the one offered at Beyond.com. Or, if you are more of a do-it-yourself sort of person, read some of our past blogs filled with resume tips.
  
  
  Make your resume the best document you possibly can. This may mean writing and editing it, then putting it away for a day or two, then coming back to it with fresh eyes. This document is going to be your first impression and you best shot at getting an interview. Once you have your resume fine-tuned and you are happy with the information it contains, you aren't quite done yet. Using your resume as a guide, you need to create an internet friendly copy to be posted online to job boards and your Linkedin profile.
  
  
  The main things you want to change in order to make your resume ready for the internet is to remove your personal information. Your full physical address, your phone number and even the contact information of your previous employers should be removed. If you have been in the workforce for a long time, you will probably want to trim down your previous work experience to just the past 3 or 4 most relevant jobs.Think of your online resume as an advertisement.
  
  
  When companies search through the posted resumes, they are looking for qualified candidates to find out more about. Typically, an interested company will look at your posted resume, and if they are interested, they will ask you for a copy of your actual resume. Even though you want to be accessible to companies who are searching for new applicants, you don't want to have your personal information out there where it is easy for people with bad intentions to get to it.
  
  
  Keep an eye out for the next installment of Job Search 101.
  
  
  Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Be sure to visit PhillyJobs.com
  
  
  By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
  
  

Gifts to give friends searching for jobs

What do you give someone who’s on the job hunt for Christmas? While it’s the thought that counts sometimes putting thought into what they need instead of want can be an even better gift. Gift certificates are a great way to help with expenses and allow someone to choose what they want. No one will turn down a gift certificate to their favorite store but here are some ideas if you want to seem a little more personal.

$1-10 range

Post its Go ahead and splurge on the fun colors or ones with inspirational quotes. Job seekers can never have enough post its on hand for jotting down quick information.

Travel Mug Coffee keeps job seekers going. A travel mug will let them take it with them, give them a discount for bringing their own mug and is environmentally responsible.

Perfect Pen There’s just something about writing with a really nice pen but it’s hard to justify the extra expense when pinching pennies. Maybe the pen you buy your job seeking friend will fill out the application that will lead to their future career.

$10-30 range

Planner A really nice refillable planner will help a job seeker stay organized and on top things. Other similar or accompanying gifts would be a pocket planner, address book, or journal.

Dress shirt A nice shirt for attending interviews is always a good find under the tree for the job seeker in your life.

Business Cards Go online or to your local printer and have nice cards with their contact information printed to help them network.

$30 or more

Dinner for 2 What better way to connect with a friend and let them relax than to take them out to a nice restaurant and enjoy a good meal together? You don’t get more personal than being there in person.

Photo Session Help you favorite job seeker get ahead with professional head shots. Look online for a local photographer that will give them something creative instead of the same old studio shot. It will help their branding and their confidence.

Leather-bound Laptop bag or brief case This posh accessory will put a professional appeal on any job seekers arm. Keeping it all together in style will set them apart at the interview and organize all the things they need at the same time.

Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Check out PhillyJobs.

By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a writer and blogger for Beyond.com. She researches and writes about job search tactics, training, and topics.

Tax Breaks for Job Seekers

By now, you should know that social networking and personal branding can help you find a new job, but did you know that Uncle Sam can help to? It isn't widely known, but expenses you incur while looking for a new job can be tax deductible. In order to take advantage of this type of deduction there are a few things you should know. (Of course, you should contact an accountant or read the tax laws that apply to your personal situation at IRS.Gov before you file)

• In order to deduct job hunting expenses, you will have to file an itemized tax return. Additionally, your expenses need to be at least 2% of your adjusted gross income. On the plus side, there are many expenses you may have, both from the job you are leaving and the search for the new one, that can be deducted, making it a little easier to reach the threshold.
  
  
• You have to be looking for a job in the same field as your previous one. If you are changing job fields or you are looking for a job just out of college, you most likely won't qualify for the deduction. Also, if you have taken a break between your last job and the new search, you won't be able to qualify.
  
  
• You can write off just about any expense related to your job search. Resume writing services, professionals who assist you in perfecting your resume, job coaching, subscriptions to job boards and so on. Any newspapers, magazines or other subscriptions to keep in touch with jobs in your field can also be counted. You can even deduct travel expenses to other cities to look for jobs. The key is that you have to keep receipts and odometer readings for everything you are planning to deduct. It isn't good enough to have a credit card statement with the charges, you have to have an actual receipt.
  
  
• Starting your own business in the same field you have been working in is also tax deductible. The key is that it has to be within the same industry.

When you have been out of work for awhile, it is important to save money any chance you get. So find out how the tax laws apply to your situation and see if you can take advantage of Uncle Sam's help during your job search.

Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Why not check out PhillyJobs.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

Tips For Getting Back Into The Job Market

Many people who are finding themselves back in the job hunt, are people who have been working for the same company for a decade or longer. Re-entering the job market can be really, really hard. And the tried and true ways of finding a job no longer apply. So much has changed in the last 5-10 years, that it can feel like finding your way in a whole new world.

So, here is a helpful guide to the ways the job search process has changed over the past 5-10 years.

• Don't count on a resume to get a job- It used to be customary for a job seeker to print out many copies of their resume along with a cover letter to any company they thought would be a good fit. Then, the hiring manager for that company would look over the resume and give the applicant a call to schedule an interview. This doesn't work anymore. Blindly mailing out copies of your resume hardly ever gets you a job. It is a waste of time and energy.
  
  
• A resume is no longer a summary of your work experience and education history- Employers are not interested in reading through a detailed list of every job you have ever held. They want to know who you are, what you know and what you can do for their company today. Where you worked 10 years ago really isn't very important. Resumes now should be an advertisement including your relevant work experience and education. Emphasis your recent accomplishments and training.
  
  
• Don't expect to hear back from the company- Unless they are planning to ask you to come in for an interview. Occasionally, you may receive a form email saying that the position is filled, but don't count on it. Expect to apply for jobs and never hear anything back.
  
  
• Resumes have to be digital- 99% of jobs applications are going to be online. Because of this, your resume needs to be in a digital format. Having a typewritten, paper copy is not going to do the job. The best bet is to just start over using a computer word processing program. Make sure that you add keywords to your resume to make it stand out to employers. A digital, scanner friendly resume is invaluable to your job search.
  
  
• Computer literacy is a must- If you aren't comfortable with using a computer, find a friend or relative to give you a crash course. Almost any employer is looking for employees that are familiar with using a computer to at least access the internet and email.
  
  
• Your experience matters less than you think- It used to be that employers were looking for the most experienced, most highly trained employees they can afford. Not any longer. Employers are looking for dynamic people who can make a difference for their company today. They aren't very interested in what you did back in the day. To impress them, show them what you bring to the table and how you can help their company rather than trying to impress them with your years of experience.

• Develop a social network- If you don't have one already, sign up for an account on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. Play around with them and figure out how to use them. Ask your friends or family member to help you out. Developing a strong online presence is very important. You can use your social network to find out about job openings and get recommendations from friends.
  
  
• Many interviewer and hiring managers may be younger than you- Often, recruiters and hiring managers are people who are fresh out of college, or have only been working in a professional capacity for a few years. You are going to have to get used to it. If you don't want to be judged by your age, don't do it to them. It is easy to talk down to people younger than you without even realizing it, so be careful.

Getting back into the job market is hard, but it can be very rewarding to. Don't get discouraged. Changing is just a part of growing, it is uncomfortable and can hurt a little, but it's worth it.

Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Take a look at PhillyJobs.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

Living The Laid-Off Life No More, Part II: Electric Boogaloo (The Conclusion)

"I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition."

Read Part One here.

Last week I announced to you that I was leaving the Laid-Off Life for greener pastures, or at least to go work the fields. It’s been a long, hard road from Laid-Off to Newly-Employed. By government definition, the 'long term unemployed' is anyone who has been out of work and looking for new employ for over a year. I outdistanced that statistic by nearly 150%, having been 'In Search Of...' for 16 months. And, in some strange way, I am taking all of you with me into the land of office chairs, coffee makers, and casual Fridays. The thing I can hang my hat on the most is that as I was sitting here alas these last 25 weeks doling out advice is that truly following the advice I’ve meted out is what got me to where I’m going. And that comes as validation of the work I’ve done to share with you what I know.

But that’s a misnomer. I haven’t been sharing with you what I know. I’ve been sharing with you what I’ve experienced. I’ve said time and time again that I’m no expert; that’s what the actual experts at PhillyJobs.com are for. All of the guidance I’ve divvied out comes from what I’ve learned rolling down the Laid-Off Life Expressway, truths and realizations I’ve come across both through research and from my own Adventures in Wonderland. And the lesson I impart to you is that if I can do it, so can you.

So, previously on '24', I spoke about all the things you can do to get your résumé noticed and be considered worthy of the next step: the interview. That’s when the real work starts.

Before you even look up the directions of how to get to the interview, you must do all the research you can on the company again. Make sure you know as much as you can. Do research on your interviewer. Find out where they went to school and learn something about the strong programs-of-study or the football team. Find out what their interests are and casually slide them in to conversation. Find them on Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn (but don’t contact them, just glean information). Try to get a feel of what kind of person they are so you know what to expect. Do the same for anyone you may interview with. Be up on what the company does and where they fit in within their industry. Be able to answer simple questions from your interviewer like "Tell me in your own words what you feel like we do here at Strickland Propane." Dress appropriately, and shake hands professionally. And make sure you leave the room with an outstanding final impression. After the interview, do your own post-mortem, figure out what you did good and not so good, and email your interviewer a thank-you note. Want a great way not to get the job? Don’t follow up with a thank you. For a second or third interview, lather-rinse-repeat. Keep on the company if you don’t hear back and make sure they know just how much you want the job, and more importantly, why they should want you.


And when you finally get that job offer, congratulations. It’s hard out there, and you should be very proud. Just make sure it’s where you want to be. Crunch the numbers, petition for opinions. Talk it over with your family. Make sure it’s right for you, and not just better-than-nothing (if you have the option). Often being depressingly-employed can be worse than unemployed. You don’t have to jump at the first job that comes your way if something just doesn’t feel right about it. Be sure it’s what you want. The funny thing is always that as soon as you find one opportunity, several more can be right behind it, so other options may soon be available. When I accepted this new job of mine, I got three more phone calls that same week about job opportunities and freelance work. The grass may not always be greener on the other side, but there is always a different lawn right in the next yard. And if you currently have a job you are unhappy with, there is no shame in looking for a better – or even just different – one. The economy is still tough even though the recession apparently ended last year. Don’t feel like just because you have a job and eight million or so fellow Americans don’t, that you’re obligated to just sit down shut up and be happy with what you have if you are not happy with what you have. Be smart about it, but if you don’t like your job, find another one. Don’t settle for something that’s killing you inside little by little.

The job hunt, as I’ve mentioned, is about selling yourself. That’s one reason they say it’s a full-time job in itself. Everything you do, everything you present as part of yourself – telephone conversations, job applications, résumés, cover letters, portfolio – are all pieces with which you sell yourself and promote the brand of 'you'. Always remember that anything that people see is what they judge you on. Be professional. Write professionally. Speak professionally. Don’t be stupid with the things you post on Twitter and Facebook; they may come back to haunt you. And make sure you have a professional sounding email address. No one who replies from HelloKittyLover@hotmail.com gets a job (unless you’re applying at the Hello Kitty store). You are constantly selling 'you' to the potential employers out there. Make sure they’re interested in the commodity known as 'you'. The sooner you realize your job search is really just a PR campaign with the goal to market 'you' and get 'you' a job and make an employer want to be in the business of 'you', the better off you’ll be.

For many, including myself, the job search is long, tedious, difficult, and depressing. I’ve said many times in my columns that the one thing you need to remember is that you are not alone. Millions of Americans are also unemployed, with millions more underemployed or 'marginally employed'. It’s hard out there. The best and brightest among us are in the same shaky boat. I know they are just words, but try to stay positive and try to stay upbeat. The search can beat the strongest of us down. Work hard when you can, and take time away from the search when you can. Consider looking for work in another city: the change of scenery may do you some good. Lean on your support system, whether it’s family or friends or even former co-workers. There are so many of us out there looking that you must come to the realization that your unemployment situation is often not of your own fault. The right opportunity just hasn’t presented itself yet. It will, with patience and work. And take rejections with several grains of salt. Keep your chin up and remember that there are a lot of people going through the same things you are. Try to keep from spiraling down an unemployment depression cycle. You are not alone. Unemployment – for the time being at least – is the new normal.


So how did I do it? How did I finally find my next position after 16 months of long-term unemployment? Patience, of course. Good fortune. Serendipity. Hard work. And doing the smart things. I found this particular job through a listing on PhillyJobs.com (Srsly. I’m not just saying that because they’ve been allowing me to keep the lights on for the last six months). I applied through the website’s application, but what got me the job was doing more. I found the company on LinkedIn, and found the President. I googled his name and the company name and found his work email address. And then emailed him directly. I told him I applied for the job online, but that I wanted to contact him to tell him how interested I was in the job and what hiring me would do for them. They were impressed by my initiative (see how easy?) and asked me in for an interview. A good first interview (using all the tips I mentioned above including the research and preparation with the appropriate thank-you emails and follow-ups) led to a second interview which led to a job offer. And it all came about because of using very simple extra effort to show them that I was really interested in the position and found a way to stand out from the crowd. It’s not a huge secret a lucky few are privy to; but the sad fact is that only a very few take the time to make the effort. It’s not rocket science people, just do it. And keep doing it.

So, I guess that’s the end of the chapter entitled 'Laid-Off Life' for now. I started writing this column weekly around the start of the baseball season, and here we are nose-deep in the playoffs. I’ve been imparting my tidbits of wisdom for 25 weeks, and I thank you for allowing me this soapbox from which to speak. I’ve said over and over that I’m no expert, just a guy with experience over expertise, sharing my stories with an audience of fellow travelers. My job was to tell you what the search has been like for me, and hopefully within that you’ve found some scraps of advice to which you can relate and use successfully in your own search. If I found a job worthy of 'yes', so can you. Patience my friend, patience.

I’ll leave you with a bit of sage wisdom I wrote in a previous column: "Prepare as best you can to walk out the door and face the world, adjust to challenges as they come at you, and do the best you can. And sometimes, on those worst of days, when you feel you’ve tried your best but failed nonetheless, someone will point at you and say 'That’s my guy'."

Good luck, keep in touch. And I’ll be back from time to time to impart more wisdom your way, if the powers that be allow me to do so. Thank you, friends.

Michael Hochman, employed person.



Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook

Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional who has finally found a full-time job after 16 months of full-time job hunting after an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael is happy to be rejoining the rat race as a slightly older, slightly smarter rat.

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"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey

Living The Laid-Off Life No More, Part I

"Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again." - Billy Joel

Well, after nearly (500) Days of Unemployment, your friendly neighborhood columnist is leaving The Laid-Off Life for full-time employment. Monday-to-Friday, 40-hour week, health-insurance-and-401(k) kinda stuff. The Laid-Off Life will now be The Newly-Employed Life, at least for an audience of one. Excuse me if I throw myself a party.

How did I get so lucky, you ask? Simple. Persistence, hard work, smart work, laboring through rejection, staying focused, and doing the little but often overlooked things that help you get an interview and get hired. I’ve been pushing these concepts for many months now, the ways you can and must make the extra effort. Many of us – myself included – are excellent interviewees. But you’re never going to get to show off that talent until you get your résumé noticed and are heard above the din. Let’s take a look back at a collection of the things that not only I have been doing, but the things I’ve encouraged you to do as well. Class, please open your textbooks and follow along.

Use social networking and its tools to the best of your advantage. Be on Facebook and Twitter and follow/friend/like all the job-hunting sites to keep apprised of jobs, leads, and news. 'Like' PhillyJobs.com and your specific Beyond.com interests on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Do the same for all the great organizations out there like HireFriday, TweetMyJobs, and TweetAJob. Sign up for job tweets, and read all the useful columns and stories they provide and repost.

Post your résumé online and Tweet it on #HireFriday and #FF hashtag lists. Find a great site on which to post a public résumé to send people to, like on Beyond.com and great portfolio sites like WritersResidence (where I host my résumé). Make sure you make your résumés keyword-friendly, simple to find, simple to read, and simple to peruse. Make yourself a personal business card.

Use your own social network to stay up on goings-on in your industry, or in the job market in general. And the hard truth is that the number-one best way to find a job is through real-life or social-life friends. Don’t be afraid to hit up all of your social network friends about your job search. They may have a job at their company available, or they might be passed on a job by a friend that they are not interested in but you may be, or they may hear of something around that you’d be perfect for. Or maybe they have something they can even hire you directly for! Everyone – everyone – in your life should know you are looking for work because anyone could be the key to that elusive opening.

Augment your favorite job search aggregation sites like CareerBuilder, Monster, or PhillyJobs with smart searches through Craigslist. So many good jobs are listed there because it’s a) easy and b) cheap. Don’t forget to keep looking through newspapers (and their websites) because their job classifieds are still relevant. And search the trade magazines in whatever field you are in for jobs that may not be listed elsewhere. Trade journals are a much-underutilized source of job listings, and info about your industry.

Use LinkedIn wisely. Use it to find companies that you’d love to work for, and see who works there and if you share LinkedIn groups. Group what now? Go join all the LinkedIn groups that you can that apply to you. Industries you’re in, interests you have, alumni groups of former employers and schools. Not only can you get tips on jobs you might not find elsewhere, but if you find a company you’re targeting for work, you can find employees who share a group and contact them directly because you share a group. You never know when you can get an 'in'. And when applying to jobs, use LinkedIn to research as many aspects as you can about the company and use the information you find in applications, follow-ups, and interviews. LinkedIn is where the adults are. Use it.


Smartly and surgically find reputable placement and temp agencies to help in your job search. They don’t get paid unless you do, so they are on your side. There are agencies that specialize in temporary or freelance work, and others that stick to a specific industry. Contact them, and ask to join their bullpen of talent. And keep on them to make sure you’re name is constantly on the top of their placement lists. Many of their jobs are freelance or part-time but can easily turn in to full-time opportunities. Take advantage of this. And while you’re job searching, file for Unemployment Compensation benefits. Contact your state UC office and make sure you are getting everything that you have coming to you legally. And don’t believe the news hype: there are still plenty of UC benefits out there to be had. Food stamps? You’re not too good for it. Apply, and if you qualify, that’s another hundred bucks or so a month off your plate. Take freelance jobs if you wish, take part time jobs if necessary. Just because finding a job is a full-time job doesn’t mean that you have to start living out of cardboard boxes in the ally behind Subway.

When applying to jobs, do so smartly. Customize your cover letter to the job you’re applying and the person you’re applying to. Do the research and make sure your emails have someone’s name on them; that they are addressed to a particular person. Keep your cover letter short, and use it as an intro to your résumé, not as a rehashing of it. And make sure your résumé is targeted at that specific job. Highlight what makes you best for the job, and gives the reader information specifically molded to easily and simply show that your skills and experience match the skills and experience of the job you’re applying to. And sprinkle your résumé with keywords, even ones directly lifted from the job listing. Chances are, your résumé will be read by a keyword-searching computer before it ever gets to a person.

Don’t be afraid of cold-calling (or cold-emailing) companies you are interested in working for. Find email addresses online on Google and LinkedIn. Find people you know at the company on LinkedIn, or find people that work there on Twitter and follow them. Then email them and tell them how much you love their company and not only how much you want to work there, but why they’d be better off with you than they are without you. That’s a key when talking to companies about positions: it’s not about how great the job is or even how great you are. Don’t tell them what the company can do for you, but what you can do for the company. Every point should reinforce the fact that you can make them better. You’d be surprised how often cold calls or cold emails get results (foreshadow!). What it shows is that you want to work there, you are interested in them, and who doesn’t love that?

So, my friends, that’s a good, concise look at many of the things I encourage you to do to help attract attention to your most wonderful qualities and to your résumé for a greater chance of catching the eye of someone who wants to know more about you. In Part II of 'The Laid Off Life No More', we’ll touch on what to do once you’ve snagged that ever-elusive interview, to set you on the path to full-time employed person.

Sorry boys and girls, that’s all we have for story time today. So, much like 'Back To The Future', we’ll pick up right here with 'Part II: Electric Boogaloo' in the next column. (After Friday October 15, 8amET, click here for Part Two: Living The Laid-Off Life No More, Part II). But you will have to supply your own hoverboard.


Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook

Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional who has finally found a full-time job after 16 months of full-time job hunting after an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael is happy to be rejoining the rat race as a slightly older, slightly smarter rat.

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"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey

5 Rules For Making a Change Today!

I keep a Buddha piggy bank on my desk to have a place to put loose change in, but also to remind me every time I look at it that “change comes from within”. Silly, I know. But, self change is hard. Really, really hard. We all have things in our lives that we would like to change. For some it could be to become more motivated in their job search or careers, for others it can be as simple as making a stressful part of the day easier. No matter what it is that you are trying to change, it always has to come from inside, and it is always part of a process and not something you can do over night.

In a recent article at Psychology Today, listed rules for making a change, and I thought that they would be a good place to start.-

So, here are 5 Rules For Making A Change In Your Life:

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  Change is frightening- Anytime you decide to make a change in your life, no matter how small it is, there is always that voice in your head that tells you not to do it. That it won't work, why things are better the way they are. Letting go of a habit that has been a part of your life for a long time is scary. Don't let the fear get the better of you. Everyone resists change, so try to set a realistic goal and be prepared to work through the fear.
• 
  
  Change has to be positive- Unless you are changing something for yourself, it just wont work. Be sure that the change you are making is going to be a positive thing for you. Changing something to make someone else happy isn't a good enough reason, and you won't be able to stick to it. Don't beat yourself up about your lack of progress or not having reached a goal quickly enough. Enjoy the process and enjoy the results. If your goal is to get all the laundry done by a certain day, when you reach the goal, be sure to spend some time enjoying it. This will help your brain associate meeting the target with good feelings and will make it easier as you keep going.
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  Slower is better- You can't change the world in a day, so don't think that you can make a lasting change to your life over night. Change takes time, and setting small goals will keep you motivated and on the right track. Be sure to reward yourself for little accomplishments so that you won't get overwhelmed and give up.
• 
  
  Practice is necessary- Practice, practice, practice. Many experts say that it takes 30 days to turn a new routine into a habit. Keep practicing, even when you backslide or forget, just keep trying. Eventually, you won't even have to think about it anymore, the change will have become part of your new habits.
• 
  
  Small successes are big- Reward yourself at all points in the journey. Don't fall into the trap of punishing yourself for not achieving enough, because all improvements are big successes. Try breaking down your big goal into lots of smaller ones, so that as you move along the path, there are plenty of places to stop and pat yourself on the back.
  Making a change can be frightening, difficult and hard to maintain, but if you are persistent and keep at it, you will be able to make the new practice a habit.

Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Take a look at PhillyJobs.com!

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

The Laid-Off Life: Old Logos Never Die, They Just Get Rebranded

A lady once asked renowned industrial graphic designer Raymond Loewy, "Why did you put two 'X's in 'Exxon'?"
"Why ask?" he replied in return.
"Because," she said, "I couldn't help noticing."
"Well," he responded, "that's the answer."
- Alan Fletcher, The Art Of Looking Sideways

We speak a lot about personal branding when we’re positioning ourselves for job hunting. Whatever we present ourselves as – our résumé, our portfolio, our cover letter, what we wear to an interview – becomes our 'brand', the impression people remember about us in a concise thought.

Social Media expert Lon Safko once said, "We don't control our brand; our customers do." And that’s the truth. We can present ourselves any way we choose, but it’s not the impression we give, it’s the impression those we’re trying to affect receive, and those could be very different messages. Because, believe me, once your brand is out of your hands, it's like trying to take pee out of the pool - you can't undo it.

Companies spend millions and millions of dollars trying to affect our impressions of them, to solidify their brand in our eyes, minds, and, almost more importantly, in our hearts. Sometimes we control our message, sometimes our competitors control it. It’s all about perception. Macs are for hip, trendy people; PC’s are for stodgy business people. Dunkin’ Donuts is for the working man; Starbucks is for tree-huggers. Red Roof Inns are for thrifty travelers; Super 8 Motels are for the transient. University of Phoenix is a progressive new form of education; ITT Tech is for dropouts. Do your best, but what people feel a company’s brand is – or what your personal brand is – is the impression you leave.

You may not have a personal logo (unless you’re a creative like a graphic designer or typeset artist, you may), but a corporate logo is often the lasting impression a consumer gets from a company. A logo can express so much in one design, be it the Golden Arches of McDonald’s, the dot-matrix simplicity of IBM, or the colorful text of Google. And that’s why companies change logos with the times to reflect new environments, new design sensitivities, or new directions (or occasionally to distance themselves from old public impressions – see: Altria née Phillip-Morris, or eliminating, well, stupid names – see: Yahoo née Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web).

All of the well-established companies in the grid below have extraordinarily world-wide recognized logos, but they have taken a winding path to where they are now. How many of the companies below can you recognize from their original logos?

(Note: Some logos altered to remove the company name. Click on the graphic to see a larger version. The answers are at the bottom of this page.)

Quiz: What Companies Original Logos Are These?

In completing this quiz, what impression did you get from the logos above? How different are the impressions you get from the old logos than the ones you get from the current, established, recognizable logos? It’s no wonder that companies spend a fortune on logo design and implementation – and protection.

So think about how this relates to you: what impression does your personal brand give potential employers? How much of the impression you wish to impart is in your control and how much of it do others control? You may not have a logo, but everything you do and everything you present constitutes your personal brand. Read over your resume, your cover letters, your attachments and additional materials you’d use to apply for a job and ask yourself what is your brand and how does your brand stick out above your competitors?

Because - trust me - you don't want your brand in someone else's hands:


(Logo quiz answers at bottom).

Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook

Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional still in search of full-time employment after 15 months of full-time job hunting, thanks to an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael will gladly accept any job offer you may have for him. Any. Really. Please give me a job??

"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey

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(Click on company name for current logo)

a: IBM (International Business Machines)
b: Shell Oil
c: Kodak (initials of Eastman-Kodak Corporation)
d: Pepsi-Cola
e: Starbucks
f: Canon cameras and copiers (in the original Japanese: 'Kwanon')
g: Xerox
h: Nokia
i: Apple Computers (Isaac Newton sitting under a tree)
j: Ford Motor Company
k: LG (in it’s original 'Lucky Cream' Lak-Hui logo before merger with Goldstar)
l: Microsoft
m: FedEx (the full name 'Federal Express' was dropped in 2000)
n: Walmart (the one-word-no-hyphen name was official as of 2008)
o: Volkswagen
p: Mercedes
q: General Electric (note the original stylized G-E)
r: Boeing
s: Mazda
t: Firefox from Mozilla

The Laid-Off Life: Browser Envy

"The Internet browser is the piece of software that puts a message on your computer screen informing you that the Internet is currently busy and you should try again later." – Dave Barry, humorist/columnist

Is your Internet slow? Is your Internet busy? Have you reached the end of the Internet and need to start over? Well, just go to giveusallyourpersonalinfo.com and we'll fix your computer right up over our personal Internettes.

The problem with most computer users is that their computer is not slow and confusing, it is that they are slow and confused. Despite calls for a return to sending 'classic' mail and filling out applications in person, 99% of your job hunting will be online. And if you're gonna spend that amount of time online (and of course not on Facebook or YouTube or ICanHasCheezburger), you need to browse smarter and better.

Have you been using the power of your browser to help you search for jobs more efficiently and with greater organization? No? Well, you have no excuses. Let's talk browsers, job hunter.

First, quick: what browser are you using?

If you don't know, I'm sorry but a) how did you find this website and b) why are you wearing leg-warmers and Jams?

If you answered Microsoft Internet Explorer, please go to the back of the line. Unless you have a specific reason for using IE (like you work at Microsoft or you’re online at the public library), you should not be using the grandma of browsers. Ever. No, not then. Never. Just stop now before your IE crashes both our computers.

If you answered Safari, you’re a Mac person (or a crazy person, or likely both). I’m sorry, but you’re in a minority since only 4.3% of you out there use Macs. On the good side, most viruses aren’t created for Macs since there’s so few of you. The bad news, developers don’t care about you.

If you answered Opera, you’re either an anarchist or you’re web browsing on your Wii and I can’t help you.

But if you are one of the 63% of web users using Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome browsers, then you know about the power of add-ons. Third-party add-ons are probably among the top reasons that the market-share for Internet Explorer has dwindled from nearly 85% in 2004 (when Firefox was introduced) to merely 30% as of August 2010. I don’t care what industry you’re in, that’s a huge loss of share.

Like applications in the Apple Store, for most anything you need, there’s a Firefox add-on for that, whether it be to make your browsing faster and easier, or to make your layout look prettier. And there are several great add-ons or extensions made just for job hunting. If you go to the Firefox Add-On homepage, you can search add-ons for 'job search' or 'employment' or 'jobs' and find a bevy of helpful extensions and toolbars like JobSpeaker (a search organizer), Indeed Job Search (a job aggregator), DoNanza (for freelancers), Search4Jobs (an extension for Monster.com), oDeskJobs, and JobsBridge. And these add-ons work great to help you aggregate from your favorite job-search sites like PhillyJobs.com.

There’s also a myriad of tools to help your social media job search with add-ons for LinkedIn (Companion for Firefox), Craigslist (CraigZilla), and of course Twitter (TwitJobSearch, JobTweet, and more). There are also a plethora of extensions for Google Chrome as well. Not as many, but as Chrome’s popularity increases, more and more third-party developers will create versions of their add-ons for Chrome.

Do yourself a favor… first, if you’re not using Firefox or Chrome, start doing so now. Secondly, take a browse through the Mozilla add-on site and give a few of these job search helpers a try. And don’t stop there. There are so many tools in add-ons that make life on the web so much easier and smoother, like Hyperwords, CoolPreviews, Paste Email, Undo Closed Tabs, Stop AutoPlay, Ad Block Plus, and my favorite, Lazarus (which I’d be lost without). Making your browsing experience simpler, faster, and less frustrating will only lead you to more job opportunities for you because you'll be browsing just that much smarter.

(PS: I also highly highly suggest installing a utility program to clean unwanted files and registry errors to speed up your computer and your browser. My recommendation is the wonderfully-useful 'CCleaner' program from Piriform, as well as their defragmenter called 'Defraggler'. Do it now.)

And in the end, that's the goal, for things to be simple so you don…


Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook

Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional still in search of full-time employment after 15 months of full-time job hunting, thanks to an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael will gladly accept any job offer you may have for him. Any. Really. Please give me a job??

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"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey