10 Things You Need To Do While You’re Unemployed

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CareerBuilder, Employment, job opportunities, Job-Hunt, JobSearch, Resume, Unemployed, Unemployment

By Jacquelyn Smith, Forbes Staff, www.forbes.com

If you’re unemployed and worried that employers will turn you down for taking on unimpressive work during the recession or for the large employment gaps on your résumé—you needn’t panic.  A new survey just released by the careers website CareerBuilder.com reveals that the vast majority of employers are sympathetic to such circumstances.

The nationwide survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive, on behalf of CareerBuilder, among 3,023 hiring managers and human resource professionals between November 9 and December 5, 2011. Not only does it offer unemployed job seekers some hope, but it also provides tips to help them land a new position.

“More than 40% of unemployed job seekers have been out of work for six months or longer,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “There’s a sense that such a long gap on a résumé negatively affects a candidate’s chances, but the survey shows that is not true. That’s very positive news for this group of job seekers. If you fill the gaps with activities and experience that illustrate how you are still developing your skill sets, the overwhelming majority of employers will look past your unemployment and focus on what you can bring to their team.”

Eighty-five percent of those surveyed employed reported that they are more understanding of employment gaps post-recession. Ninety-four percent said they wouldn’t have a lower opinion of a candidate who took on a position during the recession that was at a lower level than the one he or she had held previously.

Degree Required, but You Don’t Have One

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Education, Employment, Job descrimination, Job hunting, Job-Hunt, Lifelong Learning, Resume, Unemployed

By PHYLLIS KORKKI, www.nytimes.com

SOME job seekers harbor a secret that prevents them from applying for work they know they could do. Or they worry that if this fact comes to light in a job interview, it will explode and cause them to be led unceremoniously to the door.

Harvard Business Review Blog – How to Job Hunt With a Strike Against You

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Employment, Harvard Business Review, Job descrimination, Job hunting, Job-Hunt, Unemployed

by Maryanne Peabody and Larry Stybel, HBR Blog Network - HBR Blog

On May 28, 2011, the Boston Globe reported that Carney Hospital President Bill Walczak fired its entire staff of 29 health care delivery employees from a 14-bed locked unit for troubled teens. It appears that the hospital had violated patient safety in serious ways. Not all 29 employees were identified as having performed poorly. The president believed, however, that it was in the hospital’s best interest to staff the unit from ground zero.

Given the negative publicity surrounding lack of patient safety, Carney Hospital became an albatross company — a company with a negative reputation in the market. Innocent professionals who were fired had to then engage in a job search with a dead, stinky albatross called Carney Hospital draped around their necks.

Addressing the Albatross in the Room

Recruiters have a simple way of dealing with albatross job candidates: avoid them. Adding such candidates to the pool poses a risk, so most recruiters simply refuse to do so.

Deducting Job-Hunting Expenses

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Advice, Economy, Employment, Help, Internal Revenue Service, Itemized deduction, Job hunting, Job-Hunt, Tax, Tax deduction, Unemployed, Unemployment

Written by Kay Bell, Published February 13, 2012, Bankrate.com/www.foxbusiness.com

These days a lot of Americans find themselves pounding the pavement in quest of a new job, whether they’ve gotten the pink slip or expect to get one soon. The good news: The search may help you cut your tax bill — under certain circumstances, job-hunting expenses are tax-deductible.

 

New job, same field

First, your hunt for new work must be in the same field in which you’re currently or were formerly employed. Uncle Sam won’t help out if you decide to totally switch career gears.

Top 25 LinkedIn Groups ALL Job Seekers MUST Join

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Career, Career Rocketeer, Employment, Interviews, Job hunting, job opportunities, Job-Hunt, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Group, Resume, Unemployed

By Chris Perry – CareerRocketeer.com

One feature you job seekers may not know about or have fully explored is LinkedIn Groups. LinkedIn Groups are free to join, and you can choose to join up to 50 groups from a list of thousands of user-created groups for literally just about anything. Not only do these groups provide you access to connect with and contact fellow group members who could become future partners, employees, investors, customers etc., but the groups’ newly updated discussion board feature can provide more networking opportunities, answers to your questions and insightful advice, tips and support. You can also join the groups’ subgroups and contribute answers, comments and your own expertise to the groups’ discussion boards to establish your own online personal brand on LinkedIn.