Daves Here asked:


Ok, to make a long story short, ive been looking for a month, after i was laid off due to the company closing. Ive been out around 4 days a week putting in applications everywhere-ive lost count as to how many ive put in to tell you the truth. Sitting around drawing unemployment is not my style-i need a job. Its driving me nuts.
Anyways-something just hit me. Where i worked at last was a guy with the exact same first and last name as mine, yet we were not related at all. While a nice guy on one side, he really was not the ideal employee and had been written up several times and was always in some sort of argument with management or other employees.
Is it possible that companies im applying at are calling my past employer-asking about me and they might be getting confused between the two of us? Could they be giving these companies im working at a bad review, because they are getting the two of us mixed up?
I know all that is a long shot………..
Also, i have a job interview today with a company i really want to work for. Should i possibly bring this up somehow? Should i tell them that if they call my previous employer to make certain they ask about the right “Joe Smith” (not my real name) because there was two of us there by the same name? Or would that sound dorky?
We do have different middle names, so hopefully this will help.
I just dont want to sound like some little kid blaming “the bad Joe” for breaking the lamp. Hahaa.
I do think i will bring it up as a side note, just to be safe.
A whole other issue that just came to mind is the fact that the plant we worked at closed, but the corporate office is still in town with mostly a whole other crew of people who have never met me. This is the address and phone number i put down on my application. They probably have my employee records-but would know nothing first-hand of me. My immediate supervisor-he retired around the same time i got laid off and moved out of the state.
Im certain it all will work out in the long run.

chimichanga asked:


I’m a professional with a resume and I perform well in interviews as I have been told by interviewers. Looking for something above and beyond the norm that will kick me over the edge.

mely asked:


I have never worked an actual steady job. I have been a babysitter on call for too long and am now I’m appling for my first job. what advice can you share with me. I have applied to 6 places in the mall so far. What should I do to make my job search better and Improve my chances of getting a job and what advice can you share in regard to filling out job applications correctly.
Thankyou

Catherine Z Jones asked:


Ronald Reagan once said: “A recession is when your friend loses their job. A depression is when you lose yours.”

We’re hovering on the edge of a recession and having well honed job hunting skills is something which is increasingly important for American and European workers.

Just out of interest – Americans get frantic about a possible recession when the unemployment rate goes over 5%. However, in many European countries, the normal unemployment rate is closer to 10% – this is largely due to different measurement standards and a higher percentage of people receiving government assistance. On the other hand, it is a lot harder to fire someone in most European countries.

Our first piece of job search advice is to examine your monthly income versus your expenses and also to look at the rate at which you will go through your savings if you become unemployed.

Obviously, the longer that you can afford to spend looking for a job before you burn through your saving, the better off you will be in the long run. While you look for work, you may be able to do freelance work, if this is applicable to your field. In fact, in some fields, such as copywriting, editing and programming, you can make a good income on the side this way.

Our next piece of job search advice is to get all of your ducks in a row when it comes to job hunting. Get your resume or CV into shape and come up with cover letters which explain exactly why you are the best candidate for the position. After any interview, send a thank you note – write one at the same time as you write your cover letter and prepare it for mailing in case you land an interview. Take it with you and mail it on your way home from the interview.

Get organized with your job search. Make good notes of your activity so you don’t duplicate your efforts or forget things.

You also have to be prepared to put in the effort required to find a new job. You’ll be making a large number of phone calls and sending out a lot of resumes each week. You’ll also have to spend plenty of time following up on all of these calls and resumes. Remember that volume is the name of the game here. Don’t make the mistake of focusing on just one job and feeling down if you don’t get it.

You’ll have to be flexible enough to accept temp-to-hire positions or if necessary, work through a temporary agency or staffing company. You may have to relocate – look at the positives of the situation.

If things are slow, then think about enhancing your skills by getting additional certifications, taking classes or getting any additional training needed to get a leg up in the job market.

Last of all, keep an eye out for jobs which are both publicly posted and non-posted. Remember that even in good economic times, less than 20% of jobs are publicly posted. Talk to people and ask them about positions which are not advertised. You can safely assume that any job which is posted online is being deluged with applicants.

Here’s more job search advice as well as advice on using  job search engines to find work.



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Paul Megan asked:


Job search advisors . . . they’re the one thing you can count on when you’re looking for a job. They seem to come out of the woodwork with recommendations on how to conduct your job campaign. But could they be blowing smoke?

Most of the time the advice you get, even from professionals, is way off course. That’s because it’s usually a rehash of old fashioned job search ideas totally out of tune with what’s happening in the sophisticated 21st Century job marketplace.

For example, I’ll bet the first piece of advice you get is what to do with your resume. Everyone seems to focus on the value of having an award-winning resume that touts your work history and other credentials. I call that advice blowing smoke.

Or other job search advisors will recommend companies where you should apply for a job. Or they’ll refer you to advertised job openings that could be right for you. I call this blowing smoke.

Still other job search advisors will tell you their secrets for conducting an interview . . . how to dodge the tough questions . . . how to upstage the interviewer and take control . . . how to be a tough negotiator, etc. Blowing smoke!

Why am I so critical of traditional job search recommendations and advice? Well, first of all, it has nothing to do with the good intentions of your advisors. They’re doing their best to be helpful. The problem is they’re disseminating misinformation. They’re advising you about strategies that are out of sync with what’s really going on in today’s job marketplace.

Just take your resume, for instance. In today’s marketplace it counts for very little. First of all, employers aren’t going to hire you on the basis of what you did for someone else. They want to know how you’re going address company issues going forward. You can’t do that in a resume.

The, there’s the misinformation about interviewing. If you think you’re going to capture an employer’s attention and beat out the competition by answering all his/her questions accurately and jumping through all the hoops with ease . . . or negotiating by making sure you get your demands are on the table right upfront . . . well, you already lost before you even got started!

You need a new plan. One that will guide you through today’s real job marketplace. One that replaces last century job search advisors with exciting, proven alternative job search strategies and innovative non-traditional career advancement advice u . . .that get results for you . . . fast!

If you follow the easy, step-by-step techniques outlined in the revolutionary alternative job search system, you can be meeting face-to-face with qualified hiring decision-makers in a matter of days without all the resume and mass-distribution and interviewing hoopla. And you can be entertaining high-paying job offers in as little as two weeks!

You’ve got to check this out!



Content provided by JobXpresso