Above-average proficiency in the use of _______________ software programs required and additional working knowledge of ______________ software preferred.  While you may possess the necessary skills in several of the programs there may be one or two you haven’t used or perhaps haven’t even heard of before.

There probably isn’t any job searcher who hasn’t been frustrated by this scenario.  You have several alternatives:

• You could choose not to apply for the job.
• You could apply for the role in the hopes that your strengths in the other areas are so strong that the employer will overlook a stated requirement in the job description.
• You could apply and pray that no other candidate has experience with all the programs listed.  You rationalize that as long as the employer will need to hire an unqualified candidate to fill the role it might as well be you.
• You could go get the training needed to meet the requirements.  If that position is no longer available chances are a similar role with another company will come along.  In the meantime, you are now a more marketable candidate.

I was thrilled to discover New Horizons Computer Learning Centers: http://www.newhorizons.com/content/landing.aspx?id=1580&gclid=CJbGscf17q0CFYFgTAodPTyHtg.  You will find a catalog of available courses on their website.

Even though I have used Microsoft Office Excel on a daily basis in my prior positions, I decided to take advanced software training to improve my skills between jobs.  Their mentored learning program is truly awesome!  Each workstation has two monitors.  You can view and listen to video training on one monitor and you can practice on the other monitor.  When you have questions you can ask one of the instructors for assistance.   I really enjoy being able to set my own pace and replay the instructional videos as much as I want.  If you prefer more traditional classroom training this is also available.

I opted to purchase a training package that will allow me to take as many computer courses as I want over a stated period of time.  I’m training on a number of different software programs and taking classes for multiple experience levels.  I’m training on all the different versions of the software as well so that it won’t matter what version a future employer is utilizing.  The beauty of this is that you will know the differences between the versions and could provide guidance to a future employer when they are deciding whether to upgrade their systems.

If your budget doesn’t permit you to pay for training you may wish to check with your local unemployment office to explore any free available training.  You can also search the Internet for any free training.  I found the following information:

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/funds/sdfintro.html

http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/community-tools/job-skills/success-stories/

Just for the record, I’m not receiving any incentive to blog about New Horizons Computer Learning Centers.  I’m merely a pleased client currently in career transition who wishes to share my experience with other job searchers.

Please share any other training resources you know about or success stories you may have about how job training enabled you to find employment.

Rose Waltz
http://www.rosewaltz.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz

My first meeting was with a group sponsored by the outplacement firm.  It consisted of a dozen people and served as a job search accountability group where we discussed our applications, interviews and activity each week.  These people became good friends and helped me keep my search focused.

My next meeting was at the Southlake Focus Group in Southlake, TX.  I walked into a room with over 300 people who all had the same goal in mind–employment.  This group consisted of people from many different vocations and was amazing.  I witnessed people lining up at the front to announce they got a job this week and relating their stories.  Other people were announcing the names of companies where they were seeking contacts to assist them with getting interviews.  For the next three months I attended weekly meetings and both gave and received job leads and motivational support.  I also obtained information about upcoming training sessions related to resume drafting and refining interview skills.  This is where I found out about Crossroads Bible Church Career Transition Network in Double Oak, TX.

Crossroads Career Transition Network proved to be the turning point in my job search.  This group was led by 7 recruiters who possessed a lot of knowledge about job searching and what employers are looking for.   They volunteered their time to provide a free one day class.  They provided a complete review of my resume and returned it covered with red marks and comments.  I listened to Dirk Spencer from PSI Protech Solutions talk about Resume Psychology.  He had a whole new take on designing a winning resume and I was intrigued by his suggestions.  During the next few days I incorporated major changes to my resume based on what I had learned.

I continued to attend the two job groups and was enjoying them so much I added a third group which focused on my job niche.  This group provided targeted job leads and connections related to human resources.

I was still trolling the online job boards but now I was applying with my new resume and following up my application by obtaining connections at the companies from the job clubs.  It was the combination of my revised resume, the connections that I made and thinking outside the box that led to landing my new position.

When I mentioned the name of the company I wanted to work for at Southlake Focus Group one of the members told me the head of human resources at that company was married to the owner of a local wine shop.  He suggested I take my resume to the wine shop and ask if the owner could help me get an interview at his wife’s company.  I thought this sounded pretty odd and was about to discard this suggestion when it occurred to me that while I might be embarrassed walking into a wine shop with my resume, that I didn’t have anything to lose.  I had been hearing for many months that I needed to think outside the box.

On my way home from the meeting I noticed a sign for the wine shop which I hadn’t paid any attention to before.  I’m allergic to alcohol and don’t drink.  I stopped at the wine shop but the owner was out so I spoke with the clerk and explained my mission.  She took my resume and I went home.

I knew the clerk gave my resume to the wine shop owner because the following day I received a call from a recruiter at the company where I wanted to work asking to schedule a telephone interview.  Over the next two weeks I had 7 in person interviews.  The final interview was with the Director of Human Resources who was the wine shop owner’s wife.

It turns out the company was looking for a Senior Benefits Analyst who could think outside the box.  The little wine shop maneuver got their attention and they hired me.

Rose Waltz                                                                         http://www.rosewaltz.com                                                                                                                                                                http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz

Why did you decide to work at __________ Company?  Note:  This gives the interviewer an opportunity to talk about them and shows you have an interest in them.

How would you describe your ideal candidate for this position?  Note:  I always ask this question early in the interview so that I can stress any experience I have that matches their ideal candidate.  Since most job descriptions contain a lengthy list of skills and experience they are seeking this helps you know what to zero in on during the interview. This information is invaluable when you prepare your follow up e-mail or letter after the interview.

Why is this position available?  Note:  This could produce some very revealing information.

What would you like to see as the first three things someone new in this position will need to deal with?   Note:  This may elicit any problems in the department you’ll want to know about.

What are the short and long term goals of this position?  Note:  This will give you an idea as to whether they expect someone to be able to walk on water or simply do a great job.

What is the most important contribution you would expect of new hire during the first six months?

What metrics and measures will be used to measure success for this position?

Who would new hire report to and what is their management style?

How would you describe your company’s culture?

What tools and resources will be available to assist new hire in performing this role?

What type of in house training will be available to the new hire?

Will any employees report to this position?

What is turnover rate at ___________ Company?

Have there been any layoffs at ____________ Company during the past two years?

Knowing what you know so far about my skills, work experience and educational background is there any reason why you feel I would not be considered for this position?   Note:  I always ask this question at the end because it encourages the interviewer to explain any concerns they have about hiring you so that you can address them and reassure the interviewer that you are the right candidate for the job.

Rose Waltz                                                                         http://www.rosewaltz.com                                                                                                                                                                http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz

 Niche Job Boards for Employee Benefits and HR Jobs:

1. http://employeebenefitsjobs.com/jobs/by_date.stm
2. http://jobs.shrm.org/c/search.cfm?site_id=1612
3. http://www.ifebp.org/Resources/Jobs%20and%20Resumes/jobs/
4. http://www.401kads.com/
5. http://www.pensionsjobsboard.com/advanced_search.php
6. http://www.peba.org/cgi-bin/jobline.asp
7. http://www.swba.org/jobbank.htm

Best of luck in your job search!

Rose Waltz                                                                         http://www.rosewaltz.com                                                                                                                                                                http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz

Go to “Jobs Home” and on the right side of screen it shows companies in your network and you will want to click on “see more”.  On the right side of screen where it says “modify search” look for the box marked “industry” and click on down arrow.  Choose an industry.  In the “limit search” box click the button for “all companies”.  In the “hiring” box check the box next to “only companies with jobs posted on LinkedIn”.  Then click on “search” in lower right side of screen. 

You will see a list of companies in the industry you selected and next to each one it will list the number of jobs available at that company.   Click on the number and details about that job will appear.  This is a simple and effective way to find companies in your field that have posted job openings.  It is much quicker than going to each company’s individual website to see if they have openings.  The first time I saw this I felt like a child in a candy shop.  For a job searcher, locating this information was like finding gold.

The LinkedIn Learning Center offers a ‘Job Seeker’ Users Guide that displays various tips to help you best utilize LinkedIn for your job search needs. Click on ‘Learning Center’ in the bottom navigation area of your home page. User Guides are found at the bottom left side of the Learning Center page along with other articles and video tutorials on how you can use LinkedIn to its fullest potential.

Select ‘Search Answers’ to the left of the LinkedIn Search box at the top of any page on the site. Search for a topic like ‘job search’ to read comments and advice from your fellow LinkedIn peers and experts. Find out what has works and doesn’t work for them.

Browse the LinkedIn Blog and its archives for articles, videos and success stories on how LinkedIn has helped others in their search for a new job or career.  Go to http://blog.linkedin.com/?s=job+search.

Select ‘Job Search’ to the left of the LinkedIn Search box at the top of any page on the site. Click on ‘Advanced’ to build searches that can help you find jobs posted exclusively on LinkedIn’s job board and other jobs posted out of the Web.

Utilize the JobsInsider feature included in the LinkedIn Toolbar. This will help you identify inside connections you already have that work for the companies that are hiring.

Job Search Tips

1. Advanced Search Fields
2. Keyword field – Enter any keywords to search on; the field at the top of the page searches the entire job listing.
3. Location – Limit your search to jobs in a particular area or country.
4. Experience Level – Limit your search only to jobs that require a certain level of experience.
5. Search jobs posted – Limit your search only to jobs posted within a certain period of time.
6. Job Title – Limit your searches to particular job titles only.
7. Company – Limit your searches to jobs at a particular company.
8. Job Function – Limit your searches to jobs with one or more primary job functions. Use ctrl-click on Windows, or cmd-click on the Macintosh to select more than one industry at a time.
9. Industry – Limit your searches to jobs in one or more primary industries. Use ‘ctrl+click’ on Windows, or ‘cmd+click’ on the Macintosh to select more than one industry at a time.
10. Sort Results by:
    1. Date posted – Show the most recently posted jobs first.
    2. Location – Show the jobs found in alphabetical order by location.
    3. Company – Show the jobs found in alphabetical order by company.
    4. Job Title – Show the jobs found in alphabetical order by title.
    5. Degrees away from you – Show jobs posted for companies in which you have the closest degree of connections first.
    6. Keyword Relevance – Show job postings weighted based on your keywords.

Special types of searches:

1. “QUOTED” searches – If you would like to search for an exact phrase (for example: “product manager”) you can enclose the phrase in quotation marks.
2. MINUS searches – If you would like to do a search but exclude a particular term, type that term with a – immediately before it (e.g.: -sales). Your search results will exclude any job containing that term.
3. OR searches – If you would like to search for jobs which include just one of two or more terms (for example: Marketing OR Advertising) you can separate those terms with the upper-case word OR.
4. AND searches – If you would like to search for jobs which include two terms (for example: finance AND director) you can separate those terms with the upper-case word AND. However, you don’t have to use AND – if you enter two terms (for example: finance director) it will assume that there is an AND between them.
5. PARENTHETICAL searches – If you would like to do a complex search (for instance, finding advertising sales or marketing jobs) you can combine terms like this: marketing OR (advertising AND sales). This will find people who have marketing in their profiles, or have advertising AND sales in their descriptions.

There are many slideshare presentations about job searching on LinkedIn.   Slideshare is one of many applications featured on LinkedIn.  These presentations are free and contain excellent job search information.  Check out: http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?q=+job+searching+on+Linkedin&submit=post&searchfrom=header&x=51&y=11.

Rose Waltz
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz
http://www.rosewaltz.com

In addition to researching the company to learn about their products, services, competitors, profits…….  and  thoroughly reviewing your resume to make sure you are able to answer questions about it, the most effective method of interview preparation is to write true stories outlining how you have handled certain situations in the past.  Past performance is the best way to predict future behavior and employers are most interested in what you will do for THEM.   Being able to provide examples of your performance could make the difference between getting the job or remaining unemployed.

Think back over your career and jot down in brief outline form enough information that will enable you to rapidly think of intelligent responses to an employer’s questions.   Outlining your stories is better than writing out paragraphs because if you attempt to memorize a response you run the risk of forgetting what you meant to say or appearing over rehearsed.  Since you don’t know what you will be asked, it is a good idea to prepare at least 20 stories.

Be prepared with stories covering the following topics: 

Problem Solving;  Decision Making;  Initiative; Achievement/Drive; Handling Details;  Oral Communication;  Conflict Management; Coordinating/Leading Others;  Managing Stress or a time when you failed;  Technical Expertise.

An example of my own FISO (Facts, Impediment, Steps, Outcome) story in the problem solving category:

Facts—Client was demanding we change our process.

Impediment—Client indicated this might be a deal breaker and my employer was unable to accommodate client request.

Steps—Conference call with client and their attorney.   I acknowledged that because they were all busy people we would concentrate on what we could do for the client instead of what we couldn’t do and I outlined several options.

Outcome—Client selected one of the outlined options.  Problem solved.

I review my stories before each interview and if I’m asked about my problem solving skills I relate how I handled the above scenario.  This type of answer is much more effective than just assuring the interviewer you are great at problem solving.

Please create your own FISO stories and try this approach on your next interview.  Please post a comment on my blog letting me know how this worked for you.  If you have any other suggestions please share for the benefit of other job searchers.

Best of luck in your job search.

Rose Waltz 

http://www.rosewaltz.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz 

After attending countless seminars and reading job search books and information posted on the web these are my conclusions:

1.  Linkedin–A complete profile on this site loaded with relevant key words, professional recommendations and group memberships is critical for a successful job search.  You will want to add a lot of connections.  Search recruiters have told me they use this site as their candidate pool when seeking to fill positions.  Just today I received an e-mail from a recruiter about a job as a result of my Linkedin profile at:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/rosewaltz.  The  job search feature is very helpful, especially if you download the JobsInsider tool found at bottom of page which will tell you if any of your connections can help you get the job.  This works when looking at jobs posted on the major job boards.  It is also important to write recommendations for others and post answers to questions to demonstrate you are a giver and not just a taker.   Answering questions gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as an authority in your industry.

2.  Twitter–A regularly updated microblog with intelligent, work related tweets is recommended.  I tend to follow people who post information helpful to my job search and people are starting to follow me which I find humbling.  I have been told it is important to use your own name so that prospective employers typing your name into a search engine will find you. 

3.  Facebook–I found a job search agent on this site that has provided good job leads.   It is best to keep content professional when seeking employment.

4.  Just the other day I was told that Amazon.com is also useful in a  job search.  Write positive reviews about books in your field of expertise.  This will showcase your writing ability and establish your expertise in your industry.

5.  I personally like the visual cv.  If you go to:  http://www.visualcv.com you can create your own visual cv for free.  This is similar to a resume but this site provides you with the ability to demonstrate creativity that greatly exceeds the scope of a resume.   It also has a job search feature.  I was surprised by the number of hits I’m getting at:  http://www.visualcv.com/rosewaltz.

6.  Having your own personal website to showcase your resume on the Internet is also important according to search recruiters.  I chose to go to:  http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/Home;jsessionid=677BFB8E07061279A331CCD7FF55F08C.TC60a?__reuse=1242413757786 and use the 1&1 website builder to create my website.  Just click on web hosting and then Microsoft hosting.  I would recommend this method to build a website because it is easy to use, it is inexpensive, they offer a large selection of templates to choose from and the end result looks very professional.  They also offer some free bells and whistles called CGI’s (Common Gateway Interface) you can choose to utilize such as a website counter, date/time display, survey, feedback form, guestbook and forum.   You can view my website at:  http://www.rosewaltz.com.

7.  You will want to make sure you have a profile on the major job search boards such as Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, Indeed, Dice…… You will also want to utilize any niche websites for your particular industry.  If you post your resume on job boards it is important to refresh it at least every 2 weeks because employers may only search for new resumes.  You will also want to sign up for job search agents that will e-mail you with any new jobs posted that match your profile.  This is very handy and saves a lot of time.

8.  I have also heard that it is a good idea to have a MySpace profile.   The rationale is that the hiring manager or recruiter may be younger than the candidate.   If they search for you on MySpace and find your profile this might provide reassurance that you are in touch with technology.

9.  Zoom Info is another site you may wish to utilize.  They currently have information on 5,058,676 companies so it is a good way to research a prospective employer.

10.  When I registered for unemployment benefits the gentleman I spoke with also recommended using Plaxo.com as part of my job search.  This site states that it’s a dashboard for seeing what the people you know are creating and sharing all over the open web. You can hook your Pulse account up to all the places where you create or share stuff (your blog, Flickr, Twitter, Yelp, and more than 30 other sites).  At a seminar this week someone mentioned that this site will automatically update one of your contacts e-mail addresses in your address book if they change their e-mail address.

Best of luck in your job search.