Feature Article: What Do Employers Really Want? Top Skills and Values Employers Seek from Job-Seekers
Special Feature: Quintessential Careers Internet Networking Tutorial: A Guide to Getting Connected Online
Bonus Feature: Posting Your Resume on Job Boards: The FAQs
Annual Report: Major Studies Poke Holes in Value of Internet Job-Hunting: A Quintessential Careers Annual Report 2003
Q&A with a Career Expert: Jeanne Knight
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
Quintessential Careers Celebrates 7th Anniversary with Ongoing Gift to Stetson University
What's New on Quintessential Careers
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
Did you miss us? Did you notice we took an extra week between issues?
We usually announce publication-schedule changes to our readers in advance, but
after our last issue went out, we made an 11th-hour decision to skip a week so
we had more time to work on the many goodies packed into this issue celebrating the 7th
anniversary of our parent site, Quintessential Careers.
Seven years. Lucky seven, we hope. We feel lucky to have such dedicated readers and visitors to our site,
The anniversary issue has traditionally been about Internet job-hunting since that's
a big part of Quintessential Careers' focus. We haven't skimped in that department.
We bring you a brand-new tutorial on Networking on the Internet (along with an updated and revamped
Networking section of the site), an article on posting your resume to job boards, and the third
edition of our annual report on the state of Internet job-hunting.
Our other big theme this issue is employability skills, and we offer a main feature that compiles
a list of the most sought-after skills and traits. Our Q&A subject, career and business
coach Jeanne Knight, also gives her thoughts on the skills in greatest demand today.
So, as we're popping the champagne cork and celebrating our seventh anniversary together, you might enjoy
our Thank You to Readers and Visitors.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Skills and Values Employers Seek
What Do Employers Really Want? Top Skills and Values Employers Seek from Job-Seekers
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D. and Katharine Hansen
Most job-seekers wish they could unlock the secret formula to winning the hearts and minds of employers.
What, they wonder, is that unique combination of skills and values that make employers salivate with excitement?
Every employer is looking for a specific set of skills from job-seekers that match the skills necessary to
perform a particular job. But beyond these job-specific technical skills, certain skills are nearly universally
sought by employers. The good news is that most job-seekers possess these skills to some extent. The better news is that
job-seekers with weaknesses in these areas can improve their skills through training,
professional development, or
obtaining coaching/mentoring from someone who understands these skills.
The best news is that once you understand the skills and characteristics that most employer seek, you can tailor
your job-search communication -- your resume, cover letter, and interview language -- to showcase how well your background
aligns with common employer requirements.
Numerous studies have identified these critical employability skills, sometimes referred to as "soft skills." We've distilled
the skills from these many studies into this list of skills most frequently mentioned. We've also included sample verbiage describing
each skill; job-seekers can adapt this verbiage to their own resumes, cover letters, and interview talking points.
To maximize your job opportunities, you'll need to cover a lot of ground. One way to do that is to post your resume
on all the best job boards, large and small. It may take some time, but it's well worth the effort. If you want
to save 60 hours of research and data entry, consider using professional resume-posting service like
ResumeRabbit.com.
After filling in one simple online form, they'll instantly post your resume on up to 85 of the top career sites at once.
Within minutes you'll be seen on Monster, HotJobs, FlipDog, Dice, CareerBuilder and more, where 1.5 million employers
and recruiters search for candidates daily.
Our new tutorial is a comprehensive guide to the many
ways you can use the Internet to connect with people
all over the world.
Why the Internet? Because of its global reach, you can
communicate with vast numbers of people that you may or
may not ever meet. They may be people who share your
interests and goals or just fascinating people with
whom you can strike up virtual friendships. They may
be people who can provide job referrals.
Why networking? It's the universally accepted best method
for getting a job, but there are lots of other reasons
to network. Fortune magazine calls online networking sites,
such as Friendster, "the hottest online trend," enabling
folks to connect with vast networks of other people for
social, business, and career purposes.
EssayEdge.com offers all users free access to over 300 admissions essays accepted by the United
States' top undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. The site's Harvard-Educated editors provide
expert admissions essay editing and consulting. EssayEdge.com also boasts the Net's most extensive free
Admission Essay Help course created by its Harvard-Educated editors.
And through the end of the year, Quintessential Careers visitors can save an extra $7.50 on all EssayEdge services!
Use coupon code: 98895665.
Hailed by The New York Times and The Washington Post as the "best application essay editing service" on the
Internet, EssayEdge will edit your application essays to perfection, giving you an edge over hundreds of applicants
with comparable grades and test scores.
Posting resumes to job boards is one of the major activities that job-seekers pursue on the current
job-search scene, and questions persist about how to post most effectively, how to get results, and
how to avoid some of the pitfalls of posting.
Instantly email your resume to 1000s of recruiters,
headhunters, and direct hiring companies! With the most
comprehensive and targeted network of recruiters on the
net, you can rest assured you have taken the steps
necessary to jump start your search. We are so sure
you will be happy that we guarantee our service!
Major Studies Poke Holes in Value of Internet Job-Hunting: A Quintessential Careers Annual Report 2003
by Katharine Hansen
The overarching finding of our first two annual reports has been that, while use of the Internet for job-hunting
continues to hold significant promise, job-seekers are frustrated by many aspects of the online job search.
This year some major players in the world of Internet job search have weighed in with significant studies
exposing some of the seamier sides of job-hunting on the Internet.
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our life-enhancing books . . . or one of our online inexpensive career courses . . . or one of our
professional quality job-search correspondence packages!
Jeanne Knight, credentialed as Job and Career Transition Coach, is a career
and business coach based in Boston, MA. See her Website.
In the Q&A we did with her, Jeanne Knight observes that many of the skills and qualities
that employers most seek "can be highlighted in a resume by carefully crafting accomplishments
and composing a summary section that emphasizes these traits. They can also be described in a cover
letter with supporting achievements and testimonials from managers and colleagues.
"In addition," Knight continues, "they can be weaved into those all-important 'success stories' and
enthusiastically conveyed during an
interview. Most importantly, the more you network and cultivate
relationships with other professionals and hiring managers, the more you have the opportunity to exhibit
these qualities in person and impress people enough to consider you a viable candidate or referral,
regardless of what's on your resume."
Read more of Knight's advice, including her list of the most employer-sought skills, the failure of employers
to tell candidates where they stand, the best way to uncover job leads, and the importance of interview preparation,
in our complete
Q&A with her.
To mark our new Internet Networking Tutorial, we salute one of the listed sites, Friendster,
an online community that connects people through networks of friends for dating, making new friends,
and helping your friends meet new people. Fortune magazine notes that "everybody looking for a job"
is using sites like Friendster.
Friendster enables users to create their own personal, private community, where they interact with people
connected through networks of mutual friends.
Launched in March 2003, the site already has more than 3 million users and has achieved "cult"
status, according to Time magazine, which describes the Friendster process this way:
You sign up, post a picture, and fill out a profile form listing your interests and whom
you'd like to meet. Then you start building your 'personal network' be begging your friends to sign up,
and begging them some more to invite their friends. Soon you could be connected -- by up to four degrees of
separation -- to thousands of people. Since you can e-mail and browse only the profiles of people in your network,
there's a lot of motivation to keep signing up friends and meeting new ones through the site.
Some users have boasted as many as 500,000+ people in their personal networks. "It's networking the
fun way," Time quotes a user as saying.
Based on years of research, the Jackson Vocational Interest
Survey (JVIS) accurately measures your interests, showing how
they relate to the worlds of study and work, and mapping out
your route to an interesting career.
Quintessential Careers Celebrates 7th Anniversary with Ongoing Gift to Stetson University
Quintessential Careers Publisher and Webmaster Dr. Randall Hansen, who is also a Stetson University
associate professor of marketing, and QuintCareers Creative Director Katharine Hansen celebrated
the seventh anniversary of their award-winning career Website with the presentation of the second annual
Quintessential Art of Business Purchase Award to Stetson senior art major Sean Erwin for his work,
"Holding On."
BrilliantSalesJobs.com --
a job site for sales professionals in the U.S. and Canada, where job-seekers can search job
listings (by keyword, job category, posting timing), as well as post your resume. Also
includes career tools and a meta job search. Free to job-seekers.
Cargo Jobs Online -- where
job-seekers searching for jobs in air cargo, marine cargo, customs brokerage, import, export,
supply chain, cargo shipping, and logistics and freight distribution can search job listings
(by keyword, industry, function, location) as well as post your resume. Free to job-seekers.
CivilJobs.co.uk -- a U.K. job board for the civil
engineering industry, where job-seekers searching for jobs from top civil engineering companies and agencies can
search job listings (by keywords, location, type) as well as post your CV. Also includes a job matching service.
Free to job-seekers.
CustomerServiceCareers.com -- where
job-seekers searching for customer service and call center jobs in all industries can search for jobs (by location, specialization,
type, experience, salary, more) as well as post your resume. Also includes links to various resources.
Free to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
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Irene writes: "I've been unemployed for a month and just accepted a temp-to-perm position this past Friday.
Here's the catch: Friday afternoon I've already received two more calls for much better positions (after accepting
the temp job). One is through a family member, and I am sure to get that position. The other is also a good
possibility. With a potential few interviews during my first week of the temp-to-perm job, how do I pull all
of this off? The temp position is 99 percent sure to go perm with good attendance...and it's
an 8 to 4:30 position. Is there a way to schedule interviews around this? (especially when I have
to dress up?)"
Mark writes: "What qualifications do I need to become a chemist? Is it financially viable?
Pros and cons of this career? Where in the world can I follow my career?"
Anonymous writes: "I believe the career portfolio is an important job-search tool; however, many of my co-workers
are not convinced. I want to know some statistics that will reveal that many employers are actually interested
in interview candidates who come to the interview with a career portfolio. I am a business technology teacher
at the secondary level, and I teach my students job-readiness skills.
We will be creating career portfolios in all of
the classes I teach this fall. I would like the other teachers to do this as well. I am the business department
chair, and I want to provide some information that explains how powerful a tool the career portfolio really is.
I have visited lots of sites, but I do not see info that tells me which businesses in particular are using
or want their applicants to come with a career portfolio. Can you help me to help my students and other educators
at the secondary level?"
Chris writes: "I just finished reading an article you wrote regarding interview preparation. You briefly
mentioned potential employers using assessments and testing for personality and skills to help in their hiring decisions.
I am curious to hear your honest opinion on the subject of assessments that attempt to measure potential --
assessments that are supposed to be able to predict a candidate's job performance and potential for growth
and advancement."
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Since this issue talks about sought-after skills, it's worthwhile to note a recent survey by The Conference
Board that found that the impending retirement of experienced baby boom workers is likely to create
widespread skills shortages in many companies. The survey also noted that companies will need to create
succession plans so that invaluable knowledge can be passed on to future corporate leaders.
Read
the full press release about the survey.
Employee pay raises are projected at about 3.6 percent for 2004, according to a recent survey of
1,276 companies by human-resource consultants Hewitt Associates. Salary increases in 2003 averaged 3.4 percent
and were the smallest in 27 years. Similarly, in a poll of more than 1,700 companies, Mercer Human Resource Consulting
found average pay raises in 2004 would be about 3.5 percent. That marks the third consecutive year that annual pay
increases have fallen below 4 percent. Employers also are becoming more frugal with bonuses and other spot
incentives. Company spending on performance-based pay was only about 8.8 percent of payroll this year, down
from 10.8 percent in 2001, Hewitt found. Another survey of 1,160 small companies by the National Federation of
Independent Business found only 10 percent plan to give raises in the next three months. Pay freezes are thawing
because employers are somewhat more optimistic the economy will turn around. The Hewitt study found only 2 percent
of companies are expected to have a freeze next year, down from 8 percent in 2003. One possible factor behind
the cautious approach is that overall compensation costs are climbing. Benefit costs rose 6.3 percent for the year
ending June 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, in large part because of the continuing rise in the costs
for health insurance.
With this issue, we begin a continuing series of job-search tips for mature workers from
Certified
Career Coach Marilyn J. Tellez, M.A.:
No. 1. WHO AM I? A job search begins and ends with YOUR answer
to this question. As a mature job- seeker, spend as much time as needed on answering this question BEFORE the job search
begins. Write out an autobiography of who you are, where you have been, what you have done; especially about the WHO.
Don't be concerned with details, spelling or grammar; just write out the story of your life....to be continued...
College students and new grads should check out this e-book,
The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need:
How to Find -- and Get -- The Job or Internship of Your Dreams!
The book contains must-read contributions from 149 of North America's top employment experts
and is available risk-free for 90 days.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Dealing with a bad boss
* Don't wait by the phone: Following up on all job leads
* Dining etiquette
* New series: 10 mistakes to avoid in: resumes, cover letters, interviews, salary
negotiation, career change, networking, job-search
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Quintessential Careers Announces Career Coaching
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
searching for your ideal career or job?
seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
Quintessential Careers Advertisements
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Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
for those who have been asked to give a speech and
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Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
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career-related topics.
The overarching finding of our first two annual reports has been that, while use of the Internet for job-hunting
continues to hold significant promise, job-seekers are frustrated by many aspects of the online job search.
This year some major players in the world of Internet job search have weighed in with significant studies
exposing some of the seamier sides of job-hunting on the Internet.
