High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 8 Things Productive People Do During the Workday: "It may be hard to swallow, but there’s nothing productive about piling together a slew of tasks in the form of a checklist. Take a less-is-more approach to your to-do list by only focusing on accomplishing things that matter."

• 6 Tips for Working the Room at a Networking Event: "Be attentive. Networking is about active listening to learn about other people. Ask about how they got to where they are today, their accomplishments, current situation, challenges and needs."                                                         
• Are You Working "In" or "On" Your Career?: "[C]areer success also comes from paying attention to the amount of time we spend working "on" and "in" our careers. When we don't find the right balance, we struggle, or even worse, we have professional set-backs."


• For a Good Job, Learn How to Spell: "Your email, cover letter, application and résumé are often the first impression you make. Spelling and grammatical errors suggest you don't care enough about the job to double check your work, or worse, that you lack attention to detail."


• Is This Bad Habit Draining Your Energy?: "Next time you are tempted to show up at your boss’ office with a list of demands, which need to be paid in full before you can do you job, think hard about what you can do to change your own performance – despite the circumstances." 

How Technology Is Changing the Job Search

If you haven’t been in the job market for a while, you may be in for a few surprises. Technology has changed many aspects of the job hunt—from how we network and find out about openings, to what employers are doing to make better hiring decisions. The following are just a few examples.

Video interviews
Video interviews are easier to schedule and can cut transportation time and expense for employers. They are used often, especially for first-round interviews. Make sure to send your resume and other materials in advance. Video interviews are typically held in a recruiter’s office or other professional environment, so arrive early to allow time to learn how to use the equipment. Dress professionally, as you would for any other interview, and during the interview, be sure to make eye contact with the camera.

Social media
LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are fantastic social media tools for increasing networking opportunities. Social media is also helpful in uncovering possible job opportunities and obtaining important news regarding specific companies. For example, by following a company on LinkedIn, you can find out critical information about that company, like new acquisitions, agency hiring, key employees leaving, etc. Read between the lines, and you may be able to figure out what possible jobs are available and anticipate upcoming hiring needs.

Employer computer systems
In today’s job market, computer systems are often used for screening resumes. This makes it even more crucial that your application or resume target specific jobs and relay key information and terms important to your profession. These will then match to the job requirements when the system scans your application and/or resume.

Four Steps to a Successful Federal Application

One of the biggest misconceptions about obtaining employment with the federal government is that it is the same process you go through in the private sector. Although there are similarities, there are glaring differences in the process of landing a federal job. Let's look at a step-by-step process that you will need to go through in order to land that job with the federal government.

Step 1 - Determine your Target Position
Just like in the private sector, it is best to have a target position in mind when you begin your federal search. Keywords are just as important in a federal resume as in the private sector. The biggest difference is that when you submit a resume in the private sector, it is probably scanned by a computer. However, in the federal government, a person reviews your resume to determine your level of qualification.

Step 2 - Read the Job Posting
The federal job posting can be intimidating and overwhelming. However there are some key areas to look in the job posting to get the most important information. To find key words and the key skills you want to highlight in your resume look in the Duties and Responsibilities section, the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) section, and review the job description. In addition, before you begin to write your resume, click on the link that takes you to the Qualifications Questionnaire. This questionnaire will give you valuable insight about what must be contained on your resume.

Step 3 - Prepare a Federal Resume
This is where the differences between the federal government and the private sector stand out the most. The federal resume is a completely different ball game from the private sector. The federal resume is longer and more information-intensive - it is typically 3 to 5 pages long. You must include details such as employer address, month and year of employment, salary, hours worked per week, and supervisor name and contact info for each job on your federal resume. When listing education, you must include the school name and location, month and year of completion, number of credit hours, and GPA.

Step 4 - Track your Progress
If you have completed your application through USAJOBS.gov, then you can track the status of your application. Be prepared for the process to take a bit longer than standard private sector companies. Remember that making it to the "Cert List" is only one step along the way. Once you are deemed as highly qualified and put on the cert list, the hiring authority has the discretion as to whether or not they will call you for an interview. Keep in mind, no matter how much they want to hire you, if you don't make the cert list (i.e. your resume is not up to federal standards) the hiring authority can not move forward with you as a candidate.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Social Arbitrage

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In this video Keith Ferrazi discusses "social arbitrage" and the beneficial impact of introducing two of your contacts and facilitating networking.

Learn more in the video below:

How Long Should Your Job Search Take?

I met with a client today who asked me to estimate how long her job search would take. I was quite honest with her. I told her that "experts" estimate that for every $10,000 you command in salary, your job search should take a month. In other words, if you will be making $50,000, your search should take about 5 months. That is nothing more than "guestimation" in my mind.

As unpredictable as a job search may be, there are ways to make that job search as efficient, effective, and  short as possible. Most likely, the amount of success you achieve in your search is comparable to the amount of effort. However, here are some additional strategies for shortening your job search that I shared with my client earlier today.

• Obviously a big factor in the length of a job search falls down to good, old-fashioned supply and demand. Before you embark on a new job hunt, do your research to ensure that there is in fact a market for your skills in your geographic location. 

• A multi-pronged approach is always the most effective method for job searching. Many people focus on surfing the internet for job openings. While this should be part of your approach, it should not be the ONLY method you use. Integrate social media, attending networking events, and developing a strong professional referral network to your efforts to increase your chances. 

• You must have an online presence. Many recruiters are not immediately posting their jobs. They prefer to use networking, referrals, and social media first, before they post a job and have to wade through hundreds of candidates.

• Dedicate yourself to making job hunting a full-time job. You should be spending 30 to 40 hours per week on the job search. However, this does not mean sit at a computer and surf job boards all day long. Schedule time to get out and network, make phone calls, gather information, and conduct research on target employers.

• Make the extra effort to target and focus your job search. Before you send a resume and cover letter, take the extra time to research the company's needs and find a way to demonstrate how your skills can solve their problems. Take the extra effort to customize your job search - you will send out fewer resumes, but each one will be more effective.

Three questions to help you lean in to work-life balance

Sheryl Sandberg made a splash near the beginning of the year with the release of her book Lean In, her manifesto for women to redefine their career away from a "having it all" mentality to one of personal responsibility and designing a life that allows for both work and family.

The difficulties that face women have long been studied and reported, and a recent poll indicates that women still feel at a disadvantage professionally despite headway they have made and changes in the workplace. Making intentional decisions about one's career is important for anyone but is especially important for women. The tension between professional and personal-life obligations can create a sense of imbalance and unhappiness. Consider the questions below to put clarity and intention around work-life decisions:

What are you willing to compromise and not compromise for work and family? While there is no such thing as perfect balance in one's life, being able to set boundaries and stick to them - whether it is always being home for dinner or achieving a level of professional success - will give you a value-based foundation on which to make your decisions and "draw your line," increasing your life satisfaction.

Where are you feeling supported and not supported? In both your personal and professional life take some time to think about the level of support you feel. Where would you assess it on a scale of one to ten? If it below an eight, consider why it is that way how much of it is environmental or personal? Put yourself in a place of empowerment and design some actions from there.

What would help you achieve more balance in your professional and personal life? Alongside deciding what to compromise and not compromise, consider what choices you can make to help you achieve the balance that you want to achieve. It could be a decision of asking a partner to be more of a presence with family-related chores or it could be that you delegate more time at the office or even work from home. Put a critical eye on how you do things to see if there is any room for adjustment.

While there is no question that the American workplace needs to do more to accommodate women, use these questions to strengthen areas of your life that are weak and to design a life that leads you to feel accomplished personally and professionally.

High 5 Weekly Career Transition Roundup: Career Change, Reaching Your Full Potential, and More

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 9 Steps to Change Careers and Get the Life You Want: "People who are called to their work do it not solely for financial gain or career advancement, but for the fulfillment that the work brings. My work feels like a drug now -- I have to have more of it, and I can't wait to jump out of bed in the morning to get to it. I want that for you, too."

• Are You Only Pretending to Be in the Right Job?: "People who think they know everything there is to know about their job are at risk of getting old, jaded and inflexible. The world is constantly changing, and there are always new skills and insights to learn. If you don't feel this way, you're in the wrong job."                                                          
• 5 Ways to Subversively Stand Out in Your Job Search: "You've likely seen statistics or heard people talk about how much more difficult it is to get a job when you don't have a job. It’s ironic, but some employers do prefer to hire people who are not actively looking for work because they are already employed."


• Why Most People Don't Reach Their Full Potential and How You Can: "I think an extraordinary life is for everyone, a famous life isn’t.... I don’t believe the falsely hopeful idea that 'you can be anything you want.' I believe the infinitely better idea that 'you can be the best version of you.'"


• 4 Simple Career Advancement Strategies: "[T]hose best positioned for success will have the social savvy to tailor the content of their message based on the interests, values and knowledge of those receiving that message."