Use Google to Search for Jobs on Craigslist

You can use Google to look for jobs on Craigslist by keyword.

Go to Google.com and type

site:[the URL of the Craigslist site for the city where you want to work] [keywords]

For example,

site:goldcountry.craigslist.org/ barista coffee espresso

If you don't care where the job is, just use "craigslist.org" instead of "goldcountry.craigslist.org".

One of the advantages of this is that an employer might post a job under any of several categories. This way, you don't have to move from page to page in your search.

As another advantage, you don't have to read through all the postings that don't relate to your search.

You can get Google to send you an email alert with your search results.

Just go to www.google.com/alerts and enter your search as shown above. Then adjust the settings and click on Create Alert.

You can change the alerts and their settings by clicking on "Manage your alerts."

You can create more than one alert.

Here are some ideas:

• Create an alert for each city or region where you would take a job. Just browse around the Craigslist site to get the URLs.
• Instead of having Google search just Craigslist, have it search the whole internet for your name (and variations on it). This way, you can monitor your reputation.
• If you want to keep up with the news about a particular company, you can set up an alert for it, too.

Gaming HR's Job Site Limits

Multi-talented people who qualify for multiple positions within large companies have a new reason to bypass HR and use networking to reach hiring managers. Large companies with online application systems create this situation by limiting the number of cover letter and resume versions applicants can use. This severely limits the number of positions to which one can apply.

For example, I applied for an Industrial Engineer (IE) position with a major Defense contractor. Their system stores only one version of an applicant's resume. When I applied for a Systems Engineer position, the system could only use the resume and cover letter I had crafted for the IE position.

• Sidebar: That's Systems Engineer, as in multi-disciplined, end-to-end technical managers of projects. IT Systems Engineers and specialists in other disciplines are generally not Systems Engineers, even though many companies give them the title.
  

This practice allegedly limits the ability of resume-spammers to apply for jobs for which they do not qualify. Counter-productively, it also limits companies' access to high value, multi-talented people. An applicant could apply for multiple jobs under the old mail-in paper filing system, but poorly implemented technology places a governor on the flow of applications.

When HR looks at my application for the Systems Engineering job in two weeks, they'll see the cover letter and resume for the IE job and say I'm unqualified. In fact, they'll ask, "Why's this IE applying for a Systems Engineering position?"

Had I replaced the IE version with my Systems Engineering version, the same thing will happen. In fact, when the IE hiring manager goes to retrieve the IE versions of my cover letter and resume, they will no longer exist in the database.

Even worse, if I applied for all the positions I have the skills for, HR might consider me a job-spammer and ban me from the whole system.

Using a generic version does not solve the problem. For many reasons, generic resumes do not compete with tailored, targeted versions.

The systems severely limit how often you can apply for jobs, even if you're fully qualified for each one.

I may have found a way around this limitation for some job sites. Some offer a way to upload supporting documents such as certificates, transcripts, copies of licenses, etc. One can upload a file containing a tailored cover letter and resume. My hypothesis: If the primary resume in the database gets past HR's screeners, the hiring manager will see your "supporting documentation."

Game HR's web application system if you must. Better yet, bypass HR through networking.

The New Resume: For Experienced Workers

Long-term worker, expect resume-shock.

If you haven't explored the job market in five or ten years, you probably need a whole new resume. What works best has not changed, but what's commonly recommended has. Throw out all your old materials about resumes.

• Older materials explain the Functional style. Recruiters and hiring managers reflexively ask, "what is the applicant hiding?" and give functional resumes a quick toss.
  
  
• Many older samples used paragraphs; but paragraphs have given way to concise bullet points.
  
  
• Your descriptions of achievements, employment history, and objectives may need a radial re-write..

It's not about me.

Your Achievements and Employment History sections used to describe what you did. Now, every description must state how well you did it or how it will benefit the reader.

The same applies to the Objectives statement. Replace it. First, the application or cover letter should make it obvious which job you want. Second, emphasize what you bring to the pot luck, not what you hope others will bring. Your resume is a marketing device, not a Request for Proposal.

That's tough for long-term cogs of giant machines where managers rarely communicate the significance of the work. Restating my duties as accomplishments with numbers and results, and figuring out my work's significance from 10, 15, or 20+ years ago required a lot of research. But it has to be done.

Value propositions are in.

Look at the job description and at the company's mission and objectives statements. Figure out the business case for the job. How do the job requirements support the employer's goals?

Then consider your abilities that match the job requirements. Why does the employer want somebody with your skill? What is the value of your skill? Ask and re-ask what happens for the employer if your skill provides that value. Stop when you get past your sphere of influence, and take a step back. Now you can state the value you will bring by doing what you do.

Don't claim the VP's accomplishments. State that your redesign saved the final $2 million that made selling doohickeys profitable, but don't claim to have saved the Division (unless you really did). For example, if the required life of a satellite was seven years, you could describe how you contributed to on-board diagnostics that extended the life to 15 years.

Specifics build a case for the truth of your claimed abilities.

Set a time limit to avoid agism.

By the way, only go back ten (plus or minus) years. If you haven't lost the skills you had in ancient history, they've probably become obsolete. I break that rule. I divide my employment history into Recent Employment and Early Employment (>10 years ago) and go back all the way. I enjoyed and want to return to those older jobs. Without the older jobs, I can't support some of my claimed abilities. However, if I can support my claim to be qualified for a job based on my recent employment history, I chop out the Earlier section.

Let the shoe fit the foot.

This goes to tailoring your resume for each position. The combination format allows me to sort my Accomplishments so the most relevant skills appear at the top. It also allows me to delete distracting, irrelevant skills.

If you apply for a variety of jobs on a corporate site, however, they probably limit the number of versions of your resume. In that case, you have to keep each version of your resume longer and more general.

Less is more, but more is more, too.

Starting out, one page is reasonable. Short and relevant is best. A lot of technical managers want details, though. Making them get out a magnifying glass is not the way to do it. A veteran engineer who organizes a resume with lots of headings gets the "core competencies" across in a 15-second reading. If that 15-second read catches the hiring manager's interest, the applicant will probably get away with two or three pages.

Apart from the part about job objectives, Barclay's podcast provides a great overview.

Note: Most European employers and many American professions such as academia and research require curriculum vitae (CVs), not resumes. All I know about CVs is that they can run many pages.

Conclusion.

The worst resume mistakes of 2011 include describing what you want or what you have done. Every statement of proposed value, accomplishment, or history should demonstrate how you will support the employer's business. Keep it as short and as simple as you can, but include enough to support each claim you make.

For a good audio over view of resume writing (except that he still uses Objectives instead of Value Statements), visit The Job Stalker - PodClass III - Resumes.

Middle Aged and Long-Term Unemployed? Eight Ways to Mitigate Discrimination

Reference:
Employers Shun Long-Term Unemployed

Candice Arnold

Oct 22, 2010

Hiring managers want young applicants who already have jobs. Though federal law prohibits agism, discrimination is human nature. Recruiting people who have less knowledge and wisdom, who have the greatest financial obligations, and who least need new jobs seem foolish and unfair. But it happens.

• During lay-offs, the least productive get booted first, so slackers are over-represented in the market. Employers increase their odds of getting great employees by favoring those with jobs.
• Being "wanted" -- that is, being retained during a bearish job market -- gives workers perceived value. The challenge of "stealing" employees away from other employers excites some recruiters.
• Less-than-stellar job seekers have a harder time finding new positions due to their weaknesses, and they often don't look as hard for new work. Employers increase their odds of getting better workers by favoring those recently laid off over the long-term unemployed.
• The average income tapers off after 45 and declines after 50, partly because of obsolescence and partly due to negative perceptions of mature workers as costing more in overhead due to health problems. 

To get around negative stereotypes of agism and long-term unemployment, consider the following:

• Were you a less-than-ideal employee? What specific steps can you take to become more valuable? Be merciless in your self-evaluations, but once you create a corrective plan, put the criticism behind you. Failing to forgive yourself saps your energy for the hunt and undermines your countenance during interviews. Adding to your skills and your character adds to your attractiveness as a potential employee and builds confidence for interviews.
• Were you in the right career? People who love their work produce more, put more into developing relevant skills, and live more fulfilling lives.
• In investment, diversification spreads risk. The same principal applies to vocations. Do you have a back-up career plan? To what other careers could your skills transfer?  Spend a portion of your time preparing for and pursuing your second choice.
• Increase your perceived value by either volunteering or by getting a less-than-optimal job*. Employment, even underemployment, shows initiative. Volunteering shows energy and involvement, and it might lead to a temporary job or new career. Both can help you develop skills and can present networking opportunities.
• Take classes to refresh existing skills, build new skills, obtain certification, get out of the house. Improve your value to hiring managers by proving you're not an old dog who can't learn new tricks.
• Use a resume style that de-emphasizes your age and status. Consider using a professional resume writer. Which will cost you more: a professional resume, or delayed re-employment?
• Maintain your appearance. Naturally, you want to groom and dress for success during the interview, but have you considered how your health affects your appearance? Try not to skimp on medications you might need. Boost your energy and maintain your health through exercise and superior diet.
• Maintain your countenance. 
• Release feelings that need catharsis in a safe setting
  
• Build your spiritual life
• Do those things (above) that build your self-worth
• Teach yourself to think positively (even if you don't believe it)
• As a last resort, pretend you're an actor and fake it.

Middle-aged and long-term, unemployed job seekers increase their odds of successful hunts by understanding why such discrimination happens and then taking steps to prevent those effects.

* Before seeking or accepting underemployment, check the effects on your unemployment insurance claims. Public Law P.L. 111-205 (see H.R. 4213 or H.R. 4213 ) prohibits states from penalizing under-, temporary, or part-time employment by reducing benefits. Some states, however, have yet to adapt to the new law. 

Copyright 2010, Richard Wheeler. Permission granted for personal or non-profit use. 

Four Unconventional Job Search Strategies

Has your job search made you feel under-qualified and obsolete? 
AP article* hints that it may not be your fault.

Before the recession, 18 unemployed people competed for every 10 jobs. Now, there are 46.*

Unemployed workers surfing the job market face a string of towering waves.

More competition. The most obvious wave is the number of other applicants. As with recent tsunamis, however, this is only the first wave in a chain.

Stiffer competition. A Widget Technician (WT) competes against other WTs. As the population under the Bell curve increases, it includes a greater variety of WTs, including those who are less experienced or competent and those who are more experienced or competent. Obviously, the WTs who convince ACME Widget Manufacturing that they have the better skills will get the jobs. So the first wave of better-qualified competitors results from the larger pool.

Competition from above. Since Master Widget Technicians (MWTs) compete for fewer MWT jobs, more of them remain unemployed. More MWTs, therefore, apply for lower-level WT positions. The WT has to compete not only against other WTs, but also against more experienced and skilled MWTs.

Job consolidation. Employers down-size not only due to a lack of business, but also to increase their ability to compete in a shrunken marketplace. They cut workers and expect remaining workers to take up the unmanned tasks and work harder, longer, and smarter. ACME Widget Manufacturing wants a Master Widget Technician who also has internal Widget Technician Trainer experience and Lean-Six Sigma Black Belt certification. When the former MWT from Consolidated Amalgamated looks at ACME's job descriptions, he faces not only a scarcity of jobs and a surplus of competition, but also a much higher bar.

Stricter requirements. The push for efficiency drives employers to minimize learning curves for new employees. To achieve this, they want greater experience, a better match between the resume and the job description, and greater familiarity with the company's way of doing business. As a result, more employers cross-train and reassign their groomed, existing employees.

Down-shifting openings. Promoting people from within has an unfortunate side effect of shifting openings to lower levels. When ACME trains a WT to fill their MWT position, a WT position opens. The opening has shifted down one level. If ACME replaces the Widget Technician with a Widget Assembler, the opening downshifts yet another level. Eventually, the job description locks out the laid-off WT from Consolidated Amalgamated because he's over-qualified.

Inflexible qualifications. Whereas hiring managers previously considered an applicant qualified with an 80% match between the resume and the job description, employers now hold out for a 100% match. Human resource specialists say employers who increasingly need multi-skilled employees aren't willing to settle for less. They'd rather wait and hold jobs vacant.*

Fear of commitment. U.S. employers not only ship jobs overseas for cheap labor, but increasingly contract work out to staffing agencies.** Using temporary personnel reduces costs of benefits and makes getting rid of people easier and less expensive if they don't work out or if the economy does not support the position. As a variation on outsourcing, employers increasingly assign lower-level tasks to avoid losing high-value employees.

Deteriorating opportunities. Available jobs pay less. The National Employment Law Project claims that higher-wage industries represent 40% of jobs lost during the recession but only 14% of new jobs during the recovery.***

Advice for the Job Search

1. Give your resume writer more ammunition.

• Take advantage of seminars and training programs that your unemployment agencies offer. If you can afford it, pay for your own training. 
• Look for free Internet tutorials, podcasts, and videos. 
• Hit the Interned and the public library. Read everything you can to increase your workplace skills. 
• Collect wallpaper. Professional certifications or degrees not only make you compete better, they also open up new options.
• As you study, write it up. Taking notes and writing reports make more of what you read stick in long-term memory. As you can create a portfolio of blog entries (as I am doing) or e-books, you position yourself as an expert as a side benefit of increasing your skills.

2. Working out issues, increasing your faith, and strengthening your character will increase your confidence during that job interview, keep you motivated during your job search, and make you a more valuable employee.

• Study self-help books.
• Take time for introspection. What personality traits or character flaws may have put your managers more in the mood for putting you in the lay-off list? What can you do about it?
• Go to candid friends, family members, former managers, and former co-workers and ask for the top-five issues they wish you would work on. Before you defend yourself, just bite your tongue. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. (Proverbs 27:6)
• Go to church to network -- not just professionally, but also socially and spiritually.

3. Volunteer your best skills.

• Employers want applicants who don't just sit on their butts.
• Getting out into the community keeps you balanced, gives you purpose, and boosts your mood -- a valuable benefit during that next employment interview.
• Staying involved with other people builds your networking and your social skills.
• Exercising your workplace skills keeps you fresh, widens your perspective, and might even lead to a different and more rewarding career.

4. Change your focus. Working to increasing one's qualifications requires time and energy, takes away from time to look for a job, and repulses some people.

• For a quick transition back to employment or if you just can't stand learning, aim low. Since the job descriptions have changed, you may find your match in a lower level position. It's not fair, but the set-back in pay and grade will cost you less than continuing unemployment; and during the next interview, it will help you avoid embarrassing questions about gaps in your employment. 
• Since many employers offer training benefits, a lower-level job will give you a better chance to broaden your skills and get back to your previous level once you have a job.
• You may find another occupation to which your skills will transfer and that might be far more satisfying.

Standard advice for the unemployed focuses on finding jobs, networks, and personal branding. The job market, however, pressures today's job seekers to undertake far more substantial and challenging strategies: changing who you are.

* Rugaber, Christopher S. Unemployed find old jobs now require more skills. Associated Press. Posted by bestlogicstaffing. October 12, 2010, 5:16 pm.
** Madden, Kaitlin. Who’s Hiring This Week, you missed it we got it. The Career Guide. Wednesday, October 13, 2010.
*** Anonymous. Data Brief: A Year of Unbalanced Growth: Industries, Wages, and the First 12 Months of Job Growth after the Great Recession. National Employment Law Project. March 4, 2011.

Copyright 2010, Richard Wheeler