Category Archives: Getting Started

4 Important Things You Should Do to Land Your First Job (Guest Post)

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4 Tips for New Grads
Photo: pexels.com

Graduation is a time to celebrate, but also a time of uncertainty for new graduates  anticipating their future and looking for their first job. For your average employee, landing a job is already no walk in the park. Consider how much more challenging it is for fresh-out graduates who have little to no experience on their resumes? In their case, it’s easy to be left behind, dwarfed by the competition from experienced job seekers.

Fortunately, there are still ways for new grads to increase the chances of landing a first job they’d prefer. Follow the tips below, and ready yourself to enter the workplace.

 Your CV (Curriculum Vitae) or Resume

Here’s how you can write an effective CV:

  • Make sure to include the basics – Personal and contact information, education and qualifications, work history and experience (if you already have some), relevant interests and hobbies, and references.
  • Be clear and concise – As much as you can, always keep your CV short yet relevant. Research shows that “a short and concise CV that is no longer than one page is the preferred format for the majority of employers (42.5%).”
  • Customize your CV for a specific job – Generalized CVs typically won’t get you the interview. Upon identifying a great job that you feel confident and qualified to apply for, construct a CV specifically for that position playing up how you can meet the requirements.
  • Ensure that your CV is free of errors – A survey shows that 59% of recruiters will reject a candidate because of poor grammar or a spelling error. Furthermore, before sending it, check your CV over a few times to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes.

Research

Being a new graduate, the research skills you developed in college will be vital to your job search. Researching the industry you want to go into is something that will greatly benefit you. Reflect on your motivation for seeking a specific career path and your long-term view of the industry and your goals. Modify your cover letter to incorporate relevant research you’ve done to show that you’re the ideal candidate. Never arrive at an interview without looking first into the company’s history, what it is they actually do, and the image they are trying to project.

Networking

Often it’s about who you know and leveraging your connections to an advantage. Make use of Twitter and LinkedIn to demonstrate your interests and begin discussions about them. An ever-increasing number of recruiters and/or hiring managers are turning in to social media to find prospective employees. You never know who you may meet and what you may get into. Also, you might meet someone via social media in your industry that may offer some priceless tips on how to land a first job in that field.

Use social media to stay up on the latest industry news, and don’t post anything that may be off-putting to a future employer since they may well look you up online before offering an interview for a job. Keep your abilities and experiences up to date on your LinkedIn profile.

Internships

Many of us have been there, working our hearts out at an unpaid internship, long days and small jobs that no one else wants to do (all in the hopes the company will offer us something more secure at the end of it). But take advantage of your university’s link to valuable internships in your city relevant to your industry of choice. Even if the company at which you intern cannot offer you a full time position upon completion of the internship, you can make some valuable connections during this time—especially if you show initiative and do outstanding work during your time at the company.

As long as you keep your head in the game, you will be fine in your first job search. Know that a lot of the best roles may mean moving from where you to a different city or state, but keep in mind that the first job you’ll have doesn’t mean it’s for life. Many things can still happen and can lead you somewhere else, so don’t be afraid to face change. Like your post-graduation transition, use change as an opportunity to accomplish further achievements.

Once you land your first job, stick with the experience. Go into your new role willing to listen and learn, even if you find yourself doing tasks that don’t seem to utilize your degree. You never know the positive outcomes that any one role will lead to. Learning continues even after schooling.

About the Author: Michelle Dutcher is a social media manager with four years of related experience based in Quebec City, Canada. She furnishes quality content for her clients’ social media platforms to better engage their consumers. Michelle loves challenges and setbacks, using them to further fuel her drive. During her down time, she serves as an essayist for paperchoice.org.

What is your opinion of internships? Share about one that was valuable to jump starting your career. Comment in the “Start the Discussion” blank below.

 

Looking for a new job? Want to get what you want fast? Check out my book, Here Today, Hired Tomorrow (kurtkirton.com/hthtbook), and subscribe to my blog (kurtkirton.com) for free advice on your job search.

6 Tweaks You Should Make to Your LinkedIn Profile to Further Your Career

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Photo by Brenda Anderson
Photo by Brenda Anderson

A while back I was talking with a former pastor who now owns a senior caregiving company. The subject of public speaking came up. Without a lot of time to get deeply into it, I told him I might ask him later for his advice on being an effective compelling speaker. He smiled and remarked how sermons are now “content,” and pastors are now content creators. How true! I’d never thought of it that way. (Some more than others, I thought, my own pastor being a blogger and author as well.) Ah, the march of technology.

I think it’s safe to say that the strongest content created, especially in the marketing realm, involves storytelling. And when it comes to your career, and advancing it, it’s important to market yourself as effectively as possible—be it via your attire, elevator speech, résumé, or LinkedIn profile. The latter will be my focus in this post. Let’s look at several tweaks you can make to help your profile get more of the attention you want.

1) Your Photo
Years ago when I first started using LinkedIn, I resisted the notion of having a photo. I thought it might cause connections or prospective employers to be shallow or judgmental based on a photo, and that omitting a picture would put more focus on my content than my face.

But, as a former supervisor of mine at a record company used to say about album covers, “People like to see people.” Since then, my attitude has changed, and I have to say I agree with that supervisor. Having a photo allows someone to get an extra sense of you as a person and a professional, beyond the written content that follows. They can start connecting by being able to “look you in the eye.” A photo also jogs people’s memory, putting name to face.

Resist the tendency to go for an “I look good in this one” photo that’s too casual, too dark, or has overlapping bits of others in the crop.” Use a clear, professional-looking, conservative photo on your profile. I’d recommend that your attire in it be at least business casual, if not formal interview attire.

If need be, dress like you would for an interview or at least business casual; get outside in good light; and (using at least a 5 megapixel setting) have a friend take 10 or 20 color shots of you. Use an area with a plain background and indirect sunlight so you’re not overly lit or squinting. Be sure to smile. Afterwards, with your friend’s input, choose the best one—something that showcases you as qualified and well put together. Crop it to a portrait orientation, upper chest to above your head, and upload your stellar new pic to your profile.

2) Keywords
Just like with résumés, recruiters will search LinkedIn profiles based on keywords. So your profile should contain keywords that have to do with the jobs you’re hoping to land. You can look at job descriptions at sites like Indeed or Careerbuilder to get ideas for the top keywords used to describe the positions you’re seeking. Then, using your updated résumé, populate that content into your LinkedIn profile.

3) The Summary
LinkedIn provides limited space in the Summary section (which is at the top of your profile page), so utilize this space the best you can. I recommend including the information below, since the Summary is the first section a potential employer will see. It can also be a great spot to reiterate keywords. Further, the Summary can help show others the “you” you want them to know, regardless of your work history.
1. Contact information
2. The summary paragraph from your résumé
3. 4 or so strengths
4. 5 or so selected accomplishments (your most important)
5. Software proficiencies (if relevant for the job you’re seeking)
6. Seeking – This will be 2 bullet points detailing where you’d like to work and what you’d like to do. (You can remove this section after you get your new position.) Here’s a sample:
Seeking:
• Dallas Area Target Position: FT accounting, ____, or ____ position in a solid, ideally medium to large-sized company.
• Sample Job Titles: ____, ____, ____, ____.

4) Volunteer Work
Including volunteer work on your LinkedIn profile is always a plus. LinkedIn now has a Volunteering Experience section in which volunteer work can be entered. When you’re on your profile, the access link appears toward the top. However, LinkedIn says that your colleagues cannot attach Recommendations for you to the volunteer work you enter here! And if you’re thinking about deleting volunteer work you set up like a job and recreating it in this Volunteering Experience section, know that you cannot move any Recommendations you have along with the corresponding volunteer positions.

So, until these issues are remedied, I recommend entering your volunteer positions as jobs, so that Recommendations can be written. Make sure to be detailed on what you did in each position. Not only can viewers can see how you’ve been able to apply certain skill sets in those positions, but supervisors or fellow volunteers can write Recommendations for you that will connect with the respective volunteer position.

5) Avoiding Age Discrimination
In your Education section, choose the “-” for the From-To dates for each of your degrees, and don’t enter the years. Ideally, include no more than your last 10 years of job history in order to avoid any potential age discrimination. But it’s a good idea to list as many of your past positions as you feel you need to show. Don’t forget to customize your public profile URL. This will make it shorter, better looking, and easier for you and others to remember.

6) Keep It Current
Make sure to update your profile information (via the Contact Information link under your total number of your connections) a few times a year as you have more achievements at your current position and especially when you change jobs.

Keep your backlinks current (a LinkedIn pet peeve of mine.) Backlinks are links to things like your website, portfolio, or blog that appear on your Contact Info tab. They are visible to LinkedIn members, but the fields shown depend on your connection to the viewer. Anytime you change one of these URLs, be sure to update the link to it on your LinkedIn profile. Google will index backlinks, helping your profile turn up in searches on your name. People who want to know more about you will be frustrated if they get “Page Not Found” when clicking a backlink.

Watch my video on this topic:

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Looking for a new job? Want to get the one you want faster? Check out my book, Here Today, Hired Tomorrow.

4 Things You Should Know About Job Loss & Staying Obamacare Compliant

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obamacare, health insurance, compliant
Photo by Brooke DiDonato

NOTE: All information herein is still current, just note that as of the tax year beginning January 2019 individuals will no longer incur a penalty for not having health insurance.

As you know, the Affordable Care Act requires everyone to have health insurance or a compliant health coverage option. Also known as Obamacare, the ACA was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and enforcement began in January of 2014. The amount of the fine (assessed when you file your annual Federal taxes) is determined by when a person’s work-provided insurance is lost, one’s household income, and one’s amount of time without coverage. But just to give you an idea, by 2016, the fine will be up to $695 per adult and $347 per child!

There are exemptions to the individual mandate, but for most folks, those who are eligible for affordable health insurance but don’t enroll or go without health insurance for more than 3 months (in a calendar year) may be subject to the fine. So staying compliant should be of interest to you if you don’t want your tax return eaten into or to be required to make a payment at tax time. So how does this work if you’ve lost your job after the open enrollment period for ACA health insurance?

First, let’s start with a few definitions/acronyms:
ACA – Affordable (health) Care Act
ESI – Employer sponsored insurance
MEC – Minimum essential coverage • (See what counts as MEC.)
SEP – Special enrollment period

1. Do I qualify? If you’ve lost your job involuntarily (eg. not quit) and that company was the source of your healthcare insurance, then yes. Know that your ESI must terminate before a subsidized ACA Marketplace plan’s coverage can begin. Anyone who is lawfully present in the US can enroll in a Marketplace plan, but not everyone can receive the tax credits. Even if you don’t receive tax credits, or if you have Medicare but you want a secondary plan, you can enroll in a Marketplace plan.
2. What happens if you lost your job before the ACA open enrollment period for this year begins–or after it has closed? Call the Marketplace at 800-318-2596. Explain that you’ve lost (or will lose because of your forthcoming layoff) your health insurance due to an involuntary loss of work, and ask for an SEP. That will give you 60 days to apply for a Marketplace plan. The 60 days begins the day of your qualifying life event (for example the date you lost your job.) Then go to healthcare.gov to choose a plan, having coverage begin the day after your ESI ends.
3. What is the deadline/timeframe? You’ll want to get on top of this quickly after your job loss in order to avoid going the aforementioned 3 months without health insurance. This will help you avoid the fine and also having to wait all the way until the next year’s open enrollment period. Now let’s say that you know the date of your last day of work at your job in advance, it is recommended that you go ahead and apply for a Marketplace plan. Time is also of the essence since, as mentioned above, your SEP begins the day of your qualifying life event—not necessarily the day you call to request your SEP.
4. Are there other ACA compliant options besides Obamacare or a costly independent policy? Yes. If you’re not already covered by your spouse’s health insurance, you could try to be added to that plan. Medicaid and Medicare, if you qualify. Christian Healthcare Ministries has a cost sharing plan that can help offset the cost of your healthcare. Here’s more information on how it works. Medi-Share is another similar option.

More information on this topic can be found here and at NHeLP, Kaiser Family Health, Center for Budget and Public Policy, Community Catalyst, Families USA, and Enroll America.

If you miss the December 15th deadline for ACA Marketplace enrollment, you still have a couple of options: Farm Bureau Health Plans and short-term coverage. Be aware the latter is less comprehensive than other types of insurance, and that both can potentially deny consumers with pre-existing conditions. (The Tennesseean p. 5D, 2 Dec. 2018)

My condolences on your job loss and best wishes on your choice of health coverage. For an Action Plan to help you get started on your job search, see this earlier article here at my blog. Thanks to Rachel Clifton at the Tennessee Justice Center for her help with the information in this article. Please comment if you have any additional helpful information to add. For a video presentation of this post, click the image below. And if this information has been helpful to you, please share it with your social network.

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Looking for a new job? Want to get the one you want faster? Check out my new book,  Here Today, Hired Tomorrow.