The Official Blog of Jobaloo.com

After I saw this article on Monster.com regarding how to cope with a toxic boss, I did a quick Google search and discovered that there is a whole web site devoted to the theme.

Their theme is “We’ll help you cope with workplace toxicity”

This is a pretty thorough website. You can take their survey to see “How Toxic is your Boss” and top stories of toxic bosses as contributed by readers, as well as job coping skills should you find yourself in the position of having a toxic boss.

Do you have any horror stories of dealing with an out-of-control, dominating manager?

An article from Arlene Hirsch on Careerjournal.com outlines what to do when the interviewer invites you to tell them about yourself. Oversharing is not cool.

She breaks it down into 10 things that you want to focus on when that question is asked.

1. Start with the end in sight.
2. Take the time to establish rapport.
3. Sketch the big picture.
4. Focus.
5. Showcase your communication skills.
6. Highlight the benefits you’ll bring to the employer.
7. Spotlight the positive.
8. Provide details.
9. Disclose personal information cautiously.
10. Finish strong.

(Written by Teena Rose of Resume to Referral
Teena Rose is a certified and published resume writer and author of “The 20-Minute Cover Letter Fixer” and “Cracking the Code to Pharmaceutical Sales.” Use Resume to Referral for a high-end, high-quality resume and cover letter package.)

Sending a letter to a company, which may not have publicly advertised positions is called a cold-contact letter. You’re contacting them to introduce yourself with the hope that it may spark an interest and result in a warm lead (also known as an interview). For obvious reasons, a cold-contact letter will generate the fewest leads, so paying special attention to the content and adding a couple unique elements will increase your return rate.

Understanding the obstacles, too, will help you determine how to best handle them and result in additional responses to your correspondence.

Obstacles could arise from sending your cover letter and resume to a strained hiring department. Or maybe, a position doesn’t exist for you or your skill set doesn’t match their needs even if they were hiring. The point is, if you’re determined to conduct a cold-contact campaign, don’t be overly concerned when you receive few responses.

It seems cliché or redundant to mention researching the company before forwarding your documents, but it’s amazing on how many jobseekers fail to do just that. It’s pivotal that you take a “quality, not quantity” approach to your job search. Focusing your efforts on targeting, researching, and applying to a small and specific list of employers will generate a higher return from your efforts. By researching potential employers, you’re reflecting to the company that you’re serious about joining their team … so much so, that you’re willing to dedicate your personal time to learning about their company.

Unlike correspondence written a decade ago, the tone of letters has changed in today’s job market. Incorporating a conversational tone to your letter will help readers relate to you. It’s difficult to explain what exactly writing in conversational tone is other than to say it’s similar to how you speak. You’ll ditch many of the stuffy, stock fragments that once existed, such as, “Please find my resume attached in response to the position advertised in the Dayton Daily News.” Instead, start your letter with, “A few months back, I met with John Brickman at the business exposition in Vancouver. I was stunned by his knowledge of the robotics industry. I realized, after speaking with him for only a few minutes, that Jackman Technologies, Inc., was a perfect fit for my skill set — and let me tell you why.”

Don’t design the letter to have a heavy or light appearance. You’re shooting for something that is within a “happy” medium. When you’re finished writing, sit back and examine your words. Let it sit overnight, if necessary. Always analyze every fragment and sentence you’re using to determine if there’s a better or more effective way of presenting yourself. It sounds a bit obsessive compulsive, but unfortunately, you REALLY DO have just one chance to make a great first impression.

Ensure that you’re not wasting your time, or more importantly, the company’s time. If you’re a software engineer and the company you’re targeting outsources their entire system needs, then you’re wasting time vying for employment with that company. Know your viability factor before adding any company to your target list. Make a courtesy phone call, if necessary. If you place a call, ask for a contact name too. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Do your legwork before sending any cold-contact letter. Every jobseeker finds themselves sending this type of letter from time to time, yet do yourself a favor by cultivating the info you’ll need to design a letter that outshines those used by others. A good rule of thumb to follow is “be innovative, not imitative.”

A thread on Slashdot has people discussing what features people would like to see in the ultimate job site. There are some good ideas on there, things which we’ll consider trying to bring about here at Jobaloo.com. Here are some of the ideas that people want that I picked up on from the thread:

• No recruiters, no middlemen
• Easier, more specific job searching
• Ability to filter out and blacklist scams (Work from Home! Herbalife, etc)
• Being able to search a more specific area, (ie, “Sacramento” not the “Bay Area”)
• Not having to search across several job sites (The Indeed.com engine, which we use on Jobaloo, helps with that)
• Ability to post reviews/comments from current employees at companies who have openings posted.
• Suggestions for jobs/careers a smart person can look for without having a lot of experience.
• Make the jobs come to me. RSS feeds, etc
• Control over/Accountability for unsolicited offers or contact.

There are a ton more ideas at the thread. It’s worth a read, and if you have further comments or suggestions you’d like to share, feel free to leave a comment or send us an email.

Here is a good article from Marshall Loeb at Careerbuilder which outlines some good tips and strategies for job interviews. It is actually information based on a new book “Don’t Blow the Interview,” which was published last month.

The book is focused on helping you, the applicant, really be able to stand out in the crowd of potential hires that a company has to choose from. It’s a nice fit with this site, as we’re here to help you stand out in the crowd. Some strategies from the book as mentioned in the Loeb story are things we’ve talked about here on Jobaloo.com, such as using an email address that is professional appearing, not one that is childish or silly. Another good tip is making sure your cell phone voice mail message is concise and professional. A friend of mine does a great British accent, and did her voicemail message in that tone. While she wasn’t applying for jobs, some people did call her on business matters and ended up getting confused as to the identity of the person they were trying to reach. It was a bit comical, but comical is not what you’re looking for in your job search.

There are good sample questions that you want to be prepared to answer during an interview. Some of these would be the following:

* What accomplishments are you most proud of?
* What was the last book you read (or the last movie you saw)?
* Why do you think you are qualified for this position?
* Also some sample behavioral questions:
* Are you the type of person who loves to win or hates to lose?
* Are you aggressive or conservative?
* How do you relax?

There are some additional tips in the article and book about how to handle things if your interview takes place in a restaurant. He mentions that once lunch is over, it’s over, don’t try to extend things…you might delay the person from whatever they have to take care of next and that would hurt your chances for sure. He does recommend that you follow up. Your follow up letter should include the following:

* Thank you for your time
* An expression of interest/enthusiasm
* Why you are a good fit
* What you can contribute
* Reference to points discussed during the interview
* Restatement of any follow-up agreement

It appears that this book is one that you’ll want to have, or at least take some time on your next trip to Barnes & Noble to sit down and review if you’re in the job market.

Going a little light today…

An article from Kate Lorenz on MSN today outlines 10 of the most annoying co-worker types. These are all supposed to be real-life examples:

1. The manager who tried to get employees in another department fired for eating bagels that were reserved for an event the next day.

2. The co-worker who constantly e-mails the person who is sitting right next to her.

3. The co-worker who sits in a crowded cubicle area and insists on putting every conversation on speaker phone, including the exploits of the night before.

4. The boss who cut his fingernails while standing in his employee’s cube.

5. The co-worker who steals other people’s food from the lunch room refrigerator and then acts baffled when asked about it.

6. The co-worker who changed his job title to look more important without approval from his boss.

7. The boss who swears at the top of his lungs and occasionally throws his chair or phone down the hall.

8. The co-worker who walks up and randomly scratches other people’s backs.

9. The co-worker who was caught sleeping on the job more than once and would insist he was praying.

10. The co-worker who every morning would greet her fellow employees (before they had any caffeine) with, “Are you ready for another fun and EXCITING day?!”

Number 8 is definitely the most creepy. I know a guy like that, except he’s into the massaging the shoulders thing. Never turn your back on this guy. This same guy, when someone brought their infant into the office, he immediately tried to hold it, and when rebuffed of that effort, he leaned over and LICKED the baby’s cheek. Needless to say, all children have been kept far away from this character since that day. However he still sneaks in the back massages. Within the last month, he got me, I had to stand up out of my chair so that he would stop.

This article from Laura Morsch on Careerbuilder.com has some good advice when it comes to word usage on your resume and cover letters. She is basing her article on the book The Elements of Resume Style Which you can see (and order) to the right below.

I’ve personally noticed that perhaps every 10 years or so, “buzzwords” and phrases come in and go out of style when it comes to job searching. I cringe at some expressions I used 10 years ago when applying for a job and even some jargon and descriptive phrases I used on my most recent job search (end of 2004) are of the type I wouldn’t use if I were looking for a job now.

Here are a few of the examples cited in the book and in Morsch’s article. Perhaps in the past you might’ve used the generic phrase Experience working in fast-paced environment to describe your ability to work efficiently and make quick decisions. It’s much better to be specific and show how you’ve been able to do that.

The better phrase to use might be Registered 120+ third-shift emergency patients per night.

Another example might be the following. Instead of… “Excellent written communication skills”

You could describe HOW you showed those skills… “Wrote jargon-free User Guide for 11,000 users”

The article also gives a list of 25 “nice-sounding but empty words” that you really should avoid using on your resume in the future.

I saw this post from Joel Burslem a few months ago and found it interesting.

He explains a little bit about RSS and how this technology is really transforming the internet and making it more of a “pull” environment. (You “pull” only the information you want off the web, rather than having it all “pushed” at you.)

He explains that it can be used in a job search too.

Many of the large job sites these days provide RSS feeds of the search results. Monster, Hotjobs all allow you to plug in your occupation keywords, desired work locations and preferred industries and allow you to subscribe to the results. Even Craigslist, a popular online community, allows you to subscribe to its job board postings.

So, in my case, I’ve subscribed to the feed of all new job listings for “communications”, “marketing” in “Portland, Oregon”. Using a feed aggregator, a software application that provides a consolidated view of all my subscribed feeds, I can instantly view all the latest job postings from all the job sites in one place on my computer.

If I see something that fits my qualifications, I can immediately jump on it and send in my cover letter and resume. The bottom line is: Using RSS feeds, I won’t miss out on that golden job opportunity because I didn’t catch the posting in time.

So, if you’re like me and on the market for a new job - throw out that newspaper (well, recycle it at the very least) and keep an eye on the feeds. And remember…a little good fortune never hurts either. Wish me luck.

He then provides links to the RSS feeds of a few major sites as well as some of the major RSS Readers as well.

Don’t forget that we have an RSS feed here at Jobaloo, so you can subscribe and always get the latest blog entries brought to you. If you put your email address in the box to the upper right, you’ll get the latest entry in your email inbox each morning.

There’s been some buzz out there in the job hunting world about new Federal Regulations that are going into effect this week which some feel could make online job hunting a bit more difficult. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has implemented a new regulation entitled the Internet Applicant Recordkeeping Rule.

What is this all about? Well, here is the part that has some concerned:

The OFCCP’s Internet Applicant Definition

According to the final rule, an individual is considered an “Internet Applicant” when four criteria are met:

1. The individual submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies;

2. The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular position;

3. The individual’s expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the basic qualifications for the
position; and,

4. The individual at no point in the contractor’s selection process prior to receiving an offer of employment from the contractor, removes himself or herself from further consideration, or otherwise indicates that he or she is no longer interested in the position.

Anne Fisher at CNNMoney.com has a good look at this change, and how the term “expression of interest” in point number three has some feeling that this will be an excuse for employers to keep the pool of applicants as small and random as possible, basically because the applicant must meet the stated qualifications pretty much word-for-word. She lists out some ways to make sure you don’t get excluded:

• Follow the company’s instructions.
• Spell out your qualifications clearly.
• Keep your resume up-to-the-minute current.
• Target specific companies and visit their web sites often.
• If someone is referring you for a job, make sure you — and they — understand how to do it.

(She fleshes out these points more in the article)

So the bottom line here appears that starting now, you need to be very specific when applying for jobs online. Adjust your resume to show your exact qualifications for the job you want to apply for. Outline your experiences and interest in the position very clearly in your cover letters. (All of which are things you should’ve been doing anyway.)

An article from Marvin Walberg tells us that Email can’t land the job. He encourages face-to-face meetings and networking wherever possible to make a strong, lasting impression.

While that’s sound advice, it’s also important to remember that while email might not land you the job, it could very well prevent you from getting the job as well, if you mess things up.

Email can be a powerful tool for contacting prospective employers. In many cases, it is going to be the first line of contact that you have with them. If you’re responding to a job ad, either in the newspaper or online, you’re likely going to need to email them your resume and cover letter and in so doing will need to compose an email introducing yourself and stating why you’re contacting them.

Consider the following ways you could flub things up by not paying attention to detail:

• Grammatical errors in the introduction letter.
• Sending the email, but forgetting to actually attach your resume and cover letter.
• Attaching the resume, but not in the format requested by the company.
• Getting the address wrong, and having the email either bounced back at you, or sent to the wrong person.
• Being too “casual” in the email.

These aren’t difficult things to get right. But you’d be surprised how many times people get on of these things wrong, and thus promptly eliminate themselves as a potential candidate for the opening.

If you’re about to apply for a job, and are a little shaky about attaching your resume and want to make sure you’re doing it right, feel free to test it out on us. Compose your email, attach your resume and send it admin-at-jobaloo.com. We’ll take a look at it to make sure you’re doing it right.