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Long-term unemployment is generally defined as being unemployed for 6 months or more. No one ever intends to find themselves in that category, but it happens. It happens even to smart, experienced people. Brilliant people. I know because I've worked them and gotten them out of their unemployment. Job searching is a skill that has to be learned and it's certainly not taught in schools.

Here are several tips that will help you get off of the unemployment carousel...

Update your skills. Having out of date skills will kill your job search, especially if you are in technology, but even if you aren't. While you are not working, that is the BEST time to take classes, earn certifications, and so on. Not only will you get out of the house and be more productive, you ...

It's every job seeker's goal to find a new job as fast as possible. No one wants to spend one minute more on their job search than they have to, and I don't blame them.  I teach my clients a proven, three-step process that involves researching potential employers, making contact at your target companies and then applying as the last step.

Naturally, we're all looking for a shortcut, though. The job search express lane, if you will. This causes a lot of people to skip the first two steps in the process and go right to applying for the job without any research or contact with someone at the company. And as a result, their search ends up taking longer and longer.

Now, factor in being a 50+ job seeker, and the process gets even harder. I primarily work ...

In part one of this series, we laid the foundation for what you really need to focus on in order to convert your interviews into offers (hint: it’s not the resume). Here are the remaining three factors that you need to consider.

Give compelling examples of your past success. I teach my coaching clients the CAR format that easily pulls out accomplishments and keeps your answer focused and on point, eliminating the needs for the interviewer to ask follow up questions. Always be specific and brief and never give generalizations. One specific example is worth a thousand generalizations.

Ask thoughtful questions at the end of the interview. When given the opportunity, always ask the interviewer questions. Ask questions not just for the sake of asking but ones you’d actually want to know the answer ...

Many of my clients focus heavily on the role of the resume in their job search, believing that a better resume will get them the job. Sometimes that is the case, but let’s be clear here folks, resumes don’t get people jobs. Your resume will get you interviews (sometimes), but interviews are what get you job offers.

Time after time, the clients who get the best and fastest results in their job search campaigns are the ones who take a comprehensive approach and invest time, money and effort into improving their interviewing skills, as well as their resume.

Strong interviewing skills + strategic networking +referrals = job offers.

In this two-part series, I will outline five specific steps you can take to elevate your interview performance and increase the number of offers you receive: <...

If you've looked for a job at all in the last few years, you know that the recruiting landscape has changed dramatically. Many people still underestimate the role of social media in their job search though. If you don't have a clean, professional and value-based presence online, it will affect your job search results.

According to research done by JobVite in 2016, over 90% of employers now use social media in some way to screen job candidates before hiring them. This number has increased dramatically in the last ten years. In addition to viewing your profiles, they are also doing basic online searches to see what kind of results your name produces.

Let's take a look at some recent research and see exactly how deeply social media ...

Love them or loathe them, nearly everyone comes in contact with a recruiter while looking for a job. Maybe you've had one contact you when you didn't even apply for a job! That happens all the time on LinkedIn. As a former recruiter and hiring manager myself, I know that it's often a complicated relationship that job seekers have with recruiters. I read dozens of posts on LinkedIn from frustrated job seekers who bash recruiters and frustrated recruiters who bash job seekers. Have you seen those too!?

In my opinion, there is a simply a lack of understanding on both sides. Now that I'm out of the corporate world, my loyalty lies with you the job hunter and not the companies. And that's the way I like it! Therefore, my goal in this post is to help you, as the applicant, to ...

Having the right keywords on your resume and in your LinkedIn profile is the hottest trend right now for job hunters. There are a plethora of free articles online telling you that your resume will be tossed in the trash if you don't have the right industry-specific buzzwords. The same advice goes for your LinkedIn profile and having enough skills listed to boost its SEO performance.

Yes, it's true that many applicant tracking systems are scanning and parsing your resume for essential keywords that are found in the job description. "Keyword stuffing," as it’s called, is the practice of having a long list of keywords at the top of your resume. This will help you get past the applicant tracking system and get your resume ...

When I coach clients on LinkedIn, I always make the distinction that LinkedIn serves as a networking tool first, and job board second. Its primary purpose is to help you make new connections and nurture your current ones, in order to support your long-term career growth.

Since Microsoft purchased LinkedIn, we've seen a number of new features rolled out. The latest is Career Advice. This feature helps you to identify mentors within your industry who can provide advice, and possibly other connections. You fill out a short form about what type of advice you are seeking and LinkedIn will send you notifications with people who can support you. The concept of a mentor can be useful whether you are a job seeker, business owner, or otherwise.

With or without this feature, seeking out mentors in your line of ...

In the sales world, there is an acronym that is widely used to describe how to get a prospect to buy from you. It's KLT, or the "Know, Like and Trust" factor. It's believed that people buy from you when they know you, like and trust you. Some would say that's even more important than the quality of the product or service itself.

As I've said many times, a job search is identical to sales. You are the service and the employer is the buyer. The employer will hire the person that they know, like and trust to do a quality job (and who they believe will fit in with the culture).

This principle also applies to getting referred for a job. It has been proven time and time again to be the most effective strategy. Your network ...

 

I go through the same cycle with clients every year. November approaches and they get caught up with the holidays. They assume that no one is hiring.....and they wait. They wait and tell themselves that they're going to "go hard" in January with their job search.

Is this you?

Here's what people don't think about: the average job search takes several months, and that does not include preparation for a job search, such as updating your resume and LinkedIn.

Right now (when things are quiet and half of the office is on a holiday vacation) is THE BEST TIME to start preparing for your search. That way, when January comes you won't lose time like everyone else.

Here are three reasons why you should NOT postpone ...