I have a confession to make. Up to this point in time I have been very careful about revealing my age. For the purpose of this writing, however I will mention that I am over the age of 50, so I fall into the category of older job seekers. Recently, I read an excellent article in Newsday about mistakes that older job seekers make. As a result, I have decided to put together my own list of mistakes which I have tried to avoid:

1): Don’t try to bluff your way around technical issues. The Newsday article referenced an individual who told a screening interviewer that he was technically savvy. As it turned out, the candidate in question did not even know about LinkedIn. I could almost hear the buzzer going off in the screener’s head (BUZZ….wrong answer….next). If you feel that you need additional training, please take the time to upgrade your skills, especially if you feel you need more experience on Microsoft Office. During the past few months, HempsteadWorks made me aware of programs that they have, at little or no cost, to help those who are out of work upgrade their skills. Alvin Toffler wrote about the accelerated rate of change in our society in his book, Future Shock. Mr. Toffler was way ahead of his time as he wrote the book in 1970. My point is that it is a small time investment when you are between jobs, and the benefits are huge.

2): Unless you are an expert, stay away from the hair coloring…

Read More

I am a big fan of the Biblical epics. Despite the fact that I have seen “The Ten Commandments” dozens of times, I will make sure to watch it the next time it is televised. As a result, I have decided that there should be commandments that also apply to job search.  Here are my 10 commandments of job search

1): Never Give up

Everybody who has written anything about job search always makes this point. This is why I feel this should be the first commandment. Let’s face it, there are going to be times that the phone will not ring, even after you have re-invented yourself, made new network contacts, or gone to a dozen job fairs. This is a normal part of job search.

2): If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t buy it!

There will be a time when you go on an interview, and you feel that the job is not right for you. If you get that feeling, pay close attention to it and proceed with extreme caution if you get an offer. Here is my thought. Are you really going to do well, and are you going to thrive at a job you really do not want to be at in the first place? Someone once told me that job search can be like shopping for shoes. Would you really buy a pair of shoes because they do not fit right? Just like the ill-fitting pair of shoes that look fantastic in the store, do you really want to work at in a position that makes you feel miserable? I am fully aware that the longer you are out of work, the harder it is to turn down an offer. Here is an extreme example, If you were laid off from a position where you worked closely with many people, would you accept a position in a one man office if it was offered to you? You may be glad to be earning a steady income again, however, how long would you happy at your new position, or how long would you be able to wear those ill fitting shoes? My points are as follows:

• Try to find some happiness in what you do for a living

• Never sell yourself short.

3): Use six senses when you are on an interview.

Read More

As I am going through the latest employment opportunities that my search agents have located, I received a call from my wife, reminding me that we have several recorded boxing matches that we have not watched. I checked through what we have recorded and found that, in fact, we have recorded about a half dozen boxing matches that we have not yet watched.

This brought forth a memory back from my days when I was employed as a Material Planner. We had finished a meeting early one day, and the Manufacturing Director asked what I was going to be doing over the weekend. “They have several good boxing matches on television”, I replied. As we have been very busy all week, I thought it would be a great time to kick back and catch those fights. The Director immediately responded, “I don’t understand why you and your wife enjoy boxing, Howard! It is a barbaric sport, people get hurt; there should be a law against it!” I took a second to think about it. I responded that there is a danger of getting injured with any sport, however I could not recall in recent history, where someone lost their life as a result of a properly sanctioned boxing match. Then, I asked the director what he planned to do over the weekend and he quickly responded: “Deer hunting.” That was the beginning of several years of spirited discussions over which was the least ethical pastime.

As I was recalling those days, I began to think how much the job hunt has been like a boxing match. Here are some similarities that I came up with:

1): In a boxing match, the crowd always wants to see competitors with a greater win percentage. In the employment market, prospective employers want to see candidates with a winning percentage of quantifiable achievements.

2): Just as a pugilist must train so that he is in top shape for an upcoming fight, a candidate for an open position needs to train himself so that he can perform at his best when he is interviewed. A fighter must make sure that he is in top physical shape, just as a prospective candidate for a job needs to be at the top of his mental game.

Read More

The world has morphed into something so complex, you need a roadmap to figure out a career path and how to get somewhere, but the journey consists of constant movement from point A to B and perhaps Z before you wend your way back to C, D or E.

Twenty years ago, reports from the world of media and employment stats revealed that most people would change careers—not jobs—five to seven times in their lifetimes and sometimes wear two hats at once. These truths we hold to be self evident.

The working landscape demands multitasking and constantly acquiring and upgrading occupational skills with formal training. On the job training, learning a job inside and out and then adapting to changes in that workforce, are no longer adequate. Most new jobs require and translate into a total career makeover. Some job titles haven’t even manifested themselves yet! O the possibilities!

Today, the worker must be a job warrior, think outside the box and then keep going, stretching, moving, turning and adapting to change skin like a chameleon…

It may sound like a simplification to say, do a self assessment and transfer your skills.

In depth, what that truly looks like, is a plan to assess what skills you already have and what skills in which you need to take a course to complete the roadmap.

That roadmap encompasses something like the thinking strategy illustrated in this example…

Read More

Ed. Note: Be sure to read Part 1 of “The Interview” here.

I have been through many strange experiences, however this has to be one of the strangest. I am about to have an interview with and extraterrestrial being and I am going to ask him about employment issues on his world? All because Great Britain may become a safe haven for extraterrestrials?

As I am writing this for the 405 club I did not want to deal with many other questions that raced through my mind, like, how far is your home from this world and what technology can you share with us. I jotted down some questions that I thought would be be interesting and thought provoking. The fifteen minutes went quickly. I dialed up the number that Charlie provided to me.

As my web cam connected, I could not believe what I was seeing. “Albert” had an elongated face, almost as if someone took his face and stretched it wide as if it were silly putty. I found myself fascinated by the eight nostrils, but I could not see the details clearly on my web-cam. In any case, I had to focus on the questions at hand. This was no time to freeze. I decided it was best to start with a simple introduction.

Here is how the interview went down.

HK: Albert, good morning. You can call me Howard.

Albert: Good Morning Howard. Sorry if I seem tired. Good news spreads really fast!

HK: Forgive me for being naive, but I the only good news is that there was a small decrease in the unemployment rate

Albert: Oh yes, Charlie had told me you wanted to focus on our labor issues and how our people contribute to our society. However this is a really big day for us. You have no idea how difficult it has been to find a place where our people could visit and remain anonymous. With Great Britain ceasing their UFO operations, it means we can finally live somewhere without the government following up on these..I believe you call them illegal alien issues. So my friends and I had a big celebration last night.

HK: Yes…. I imagine it would be a very good reason to celebrate. Albert, although there are so many questions I would like to ask, I know we do not have much time so I will get right to the point. How much do you know about the US recession and the high unemployment rate?

Albert: We check on many civilizations, so we know something about your country’s issues. We have solved problems like these through technology.

HK: Can you tell me how you utilized technology to solve your employment problems?

Read More