I recently caught an segment of ABC’s Good Morning America called: Get a Job in January: 3 Success Stories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhVkcEAhQYE
In short, it covered 3 individuals all over the age of 50 who had been out of work well over a year each.
It was stated in this segment that 40% of those unemployed have been for over 2 years and are over 45 years of age and older.
A few of the highlights include:
*Embracing your “breakthrough moment”. Basically, most of time, we are reacting to fear and the real power of your search for employment is to overcome the fear and control it instead. If you’re in the market for a job and you’re letting your fear drive your decisions. Once you control the fear, you can get back to being the best you in the job search.
Don’t flood the employers with your résumé. Everyone who is unemployed is working every day at applying for every job out there and getting the same results. No call backs, no interviews, no jobs. This segment recommends that you stop applying and start engaging. Use non-traditional means like Linkedin.com; join groups within industries you have experience in or interest. Begin chatting about subjects you can contribute to. Employers have people online in these communities and you’re more likely to peak their interest in a much more meaningful way. Don’t forget that you also can make great connections within the professional organizations of your industry too and conferences are usually able to grant free tickets to tour exhibition halls where you can press some flesh and engage with companies looking for talent like yours!
Finally, this segment addressed what one “overqualified” candidate did to make “exceptionally qualified” a hiring managers’ dream. To find out how go to: Get a Job in January: 3 Success Stories.
I hope some of this helped you to come up with a few new job search strategies.
Happy Job Hunting,
Amy J. Campbell
The Résumé Lady