And don't forget, September is Update Your Resume Month. Keeping your resume up-to-date is an important part
of career activism.
Hundreds of the nation's leading career professionals have joined together to offer resume and cover-letter
writing, job-search advice, and career transition assistance to individuals who have been impacted
by Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers stand united to offer -- at no cost -- professional services in an
attempt to ease some of the pain that so many U.S. residents are suffering.
This totally volunteer effort anticipates servicing thousands of individuals who have lost their jobs as
a direct result of the devastation in the Gulf region. As such, the volunteers ask that only individuals who have lost
their job as a result of Hurricane Katrina register to receive these services.
Go to: Volunteers For Careers.
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Career Activist Quiz
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Career Activist: Someone who is proactive in planning, evaluating, directing, and controlling
his or her career rather than simply reacting as situations arise. (Some call this approach career
mapping.) A career activist has an enduring interest in understanding and achieving his or her full
career potential, while maximizing career marketability. The outcome is increased job
and career satisfaction, as well as personal fulfillment.
How to Stand out from the Crowd in a Competitive Market
by Frank Traditi
To stand out from the crowd, conduct your job search like a marketing campaign. The
traditional picture of job-seeking is that you look for open positions posted somewhere
and follow a formal application procedure to be considered for them. But with thousands of
job-seekers applying for only those positions that are advertised, the competition can be
overwhelming.
And then there is the Quint Careers Blog.
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
This directory of recruiters, headhunters, staffing firms and recruiting agencies,
is searchable by keywords, industry, and location.
Recruiters Directory also offers useful articles about working with recruiters, such as
Understanding How a Recruiter Works, Working With A Recruiter: What, Why and How, Selecting a
Recruiter, Job Seeker and Company, Working with IT Recruiters
Also offered are definitions of various types of recruiters.
Pete writes: "I have a post-secondary education in business, with a major in accounting and am
also a designated accountant (i.e., CPA). After six years working in this field, I have done well in all
the positions I have held and always have high praise from my managers/co-workers, but I find myself unhappy,
as most of the work does not interest me (i.e., either too easy for me or too stressful). Do you think a career
change is the answer to my problem?"
Lindsey writes: "I have a bunch of questions related to getting a raise. Is there a time of year that is
better for employees to approach their supervisors about a pay raise? If so, will it benefit employees
a great deal to wait until such time? How should I be prepared for the meeting? What are some common mistakes
workers make when asking for a raise?"
Greg writes: "I'm a recent college graduate, took part of the summer off to travel, and am now
in the job market ... and it is depressing, frustrating, and not what I expected. There are just not that many
job postings, and the ones I do like and apply to, I rarely hear back anything. I have had two phone
interviews. Help!"
Cathy writes: "I am having difficulty answering the question 'What are your career goals and how
do you see a career here meeting those goals?' I don't even know where to begin. Please help me!!!"
Career Directions Inventory at LiveCareer.com --
identifies your career interests (highest and lowest) and then tells you what jobs match your results in your highest
scored categories. Also includes workplace fit preferences using seven approaches to work (and based on Holland Scale).
Results are presented in text and graphic form. No cost to job-seekers for basic report.
Hospitality Resource Network --
a great site for job-seekers looking for work in hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos, and resorts.
Job-seekers can search job listings (by location and job type), post your resume, as well as career
advice. No cost to job-seekers.
123oye.com --
for job-seekers searching for jobs in the National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi, India
(as well as other parts of India). Job-seekers can browse job vacancy listings by job or location, and apply directly
to them. Job-seekers can also register for an email job alert. No cost to job-seekers.
SalesCareersOnline.com --
a job site directed at sales and marketing professionals, where job-seekers can
search job listings (by keywords, industry, and location), post your resume,
register for a job-search agent, and find career resources and tools. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
An article by Tim Brennan suggests that there's a difference between top candidates and top
employees. In conversations with recruiters and employers across Canada, Brennan writes,
"we have compiled this list of the characteristics of top candidates:"
Good resume
Good skills
On time for interview
Prepared for interview
Good communicator
Enthusiastic
Great first impression
Aggressive job-seeker
Interested in interviewer
Interested in company
Good follow-up
Poised and confident
Respondents, however, gave a somewhat different list of characteristics
of top employees:
Highly motivated to work
Competent
Do more than required
Do not make excuses
Anticipate problems
Solve problems
Take initiative
Learn quickly
Committed
Focused
Consistent
Strong team player
Loyal
The lesson for job-seekers? Strive to be both a good candidate AND a good employee.
Erin White of The Wall Street Journal Online recently addressed the question of how long
to stay in one job. "For decades, conventional wisdom held that hiring managers preferred job candidates
with years of experience at their companies," White wrote. "Employers wanted candidates with stable track records
who had demonstrated loyalty and commitment to their firms.
"Then the technology bubble came and it seemed workers were job-hopping every six months in
search of the next opportunity. Many employers sought bold risk-takers and didn't care whether
candidates had hopped around. Some companies even shunned workers with a long history at one company,
for fear they would be too wrapped up in an 'old economy' culture. When the bubble burst, many workers continued
to hop as mass layoffs and bankruptcies made it difficult to stay in one place for very long," White wrote.
Noting that the consensus on longevity has seesawed so much that it is hard to tell where the consensus lies, White
observed that "Some workers are penalized for too many short stints on a resume, while others are
labeled 'stagnant' for staying too long in one place."
White noted that a recent survey by executive-search firm Korn/Ferry International showed that 47 percent
of respondents said that two years was the shortest acceptable amount of time for a senior executive
to stay at one company.
"Even if you do stay two years," White noted, "a consecutive series of two-year stints still
will raise red flags with hiring managers. The yardstick varies by age and profession, too.
Employers tend to like longer track records in financial professionals, for instance, but sometimes
tolerate more job-hopping among technology workers. When you're younger, hopping around is more
acceptable than when you're older."
But White also pointed out that staying too long in a job can be just as detrimental as stints that are
too short. White cited "more than 10 years at the same company" as a possible indicator that "the person is stalled
in his career and isn't expanding his skills aggressively enough." White also noted that, "Other times the fear
is that no matter how qualified the candidate is, he won't be able to adapt to a new company if
he has been at another one for so long."
As gasoline prices make another jump following recent hurricanes,
WorkOptions.com founder
Pat Katepoo offers suggestions for making a request to telecommute.
Four Steps to Getting Your Manager's Approval to Telecommute:
1. Put your request in writing. A written proposal should detail your
work-from-home schedule, which job tasks will be done off-site, and how communication
with the main office will be maintained.
2. Don't get personal. Present the business case for telecommuting.
The spike in your gas bill and a lengthy commute may be motivating factors for telecommuting, but
leave those out of your proposal. Emphasize instead the employer pay-offs; double-digit productivity
gains are typical for remote workers. Note that by working from your home office, you'll have
fewer interruptions and social distractions, allowing greater focus on job tasks.
3. Propose two days a week of telecommuting. This starting point preserves a reasonable amount
of office "face time," yet is sufficient to prove the merits of working off-site. It's also strategic;
if your boss objects to your initial request, you'll have room to negotiate to one day a week.
4. Emphasize a trial period. A trial period of three to six months
allows your manager to say "yes" to your proposal without committing to a long-term
arrangement. Then it's up to you to deliver measurable results to show that an extension is warranted.
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:
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Trends/Tips in Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Sticky Job Interview Situations
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* Offbeat Ways to Pay for College
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-Seekers
* Baby Boomers Beware
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Quiz: Marketing Yourself
* Marketing Yourself with internal/External Promotions
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Converting a Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Career, College, and Job-Search 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.
Ad: Quintessential Careers Career Coaching Services
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?
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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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we can prepare an English-language CV for you that conforms to the CV traditions of your target country or countries.
Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
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Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
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