Feature Article: Converting your Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position: Tips for Success
Special Feature: Baby Boomers, Beware! Don't Let Your Resume Date You!
Bonus Feature: Marketing Yourself with Internal and External Promotions
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
We had not produced an issue of QuintZine directed at mature workers
since 2001, so we wanted to do so again, but we also had a couple of other good
articles waiting in the wings, so we've mixed up a lovely seasonal career potpourri issue
for your reading pleasure.
This will be our last regular issue of 2005. Sometime between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1,
we'll send out our annual year-end index (with some bonus features, no doubt).
Look for our next regular issue on Jan. 16.
Looking for a job to start 2006? Find jobs to interview for at our job portal.
To our readers who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and other December holidays,
we wish a joyous holiday season.
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Seasonal to Permanent
Converting Your Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position: Tips for Success
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Benefits to working seasonal and holiday jobs include the extra income and store discounts you may receive.
Even more beneficial is that if you have an interest, you can also set yourself up as a prime candidate
for converting that part-time job into a full-time position.
Seasonal and holiday work is a lot like temp work in that it's a great opportunity for job-seekers to get a
foot in the door. Yes, most holiday workers are hired with the promise of working only for a certain amount
of time. By making a name for yourself during those short months you are on the job, you may be able to
turn that holiday position into something permanent.
Baby Boomers, Beware! Don't Let Your Resume Date You!
by Deborah Walker
If you're a job-seeker of the Baby Boom generation, you may be feeling a little left out by the job market.
You're certainly not ready to retire, but the young recruiters you send resumes to don't seem to respond to
your skills and experience. If you're experiencing symptoms of age discrimination, you should know that
your resume could be the culprit, categorizing you as out of date and over the hill.
Marketing Yourself with Internal and External Promotions
by Teena Rose
Surveys have shown that up to 80 percent of those employed are unhappy.
Unhappiness results from being overworked/underpaid, a deteriorating relationship
with colleagues or management, or possibly, disappointment in oneself. If you
plan to sell your time and abilities, why not take complete advantage of your efforts?
Being in control of your career and promoting yourself can dissolve dissatisfaction
by providing more career options and opening more doors to opportunity.
Retired Worker International is a job site for U.S.
and Canadian job-seekers who have retired, but are
now actively seeking work on a part-time, temporary,
or casual basis. The site connects older workers
who want to work on a part-time, temporary, or project
basis with employers who are looking for the experience,
broad skill base, and value that mature workers deliver.
Here, you can search or browse job
listings, as well as post a skills summary (no resume
required), and you will automatically be notified
when your skills match a new job listing.
Rob writes: "I am currently one of many folks who have been
employed as holiday help. I took this job on a lark, but I have
found I really have a knack for retail and working with customers,
and I want to continue working past next month. What can I do?
Should I wait until after the holidays to say something?
What are my chances? Thanks for any suggestions."
Shonkaye writes: "I have read almost every book and article
regarding interview follow-up and while I have done well, I have
encountered a scenario that I have not encountered before,
maybe because I am not a professional interviewer. I recently
interviewed with a company. I was told a decision would be
made by the first of the following week and was urged to call if
I had not heard from the interviewer. I did. I called by 10:00 a.m.
on the day I was told and was informed she needed another week
to make a decision. While she was impressed, she wanted to see
if any other qualified applicants responded to the ad. Now, with that
being said, should I follow up on the same day the following week
-- which will be a full week?"
Anonymous writes: "I recently read an article of yours advising
job-seekers to not discuss salaries too early in the hiring process.
I would like to say that although I agree with your assertion, it is not
very relevant to the realities of today's marketplace. I am currently
looking for work as a business analyst, and the fact is that more
often than not employers want to discuss salary expectations
in the first interview. In fact, it is usually the 2nd or 3rd question
asked. I try to avoid answering these questions directly, but the
bottom line is what is on their mind -- employers want to know
what you are going to cost.
So, I was wondering if you have any advice for job seekers
like myself who are having these experiences?"
Maurice writes: "I just attended a job interview where
I forgot to get the business card of the interviewer. Would
it be okay if I go back there to ask for it? This was precisely
seven days ago."
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.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number
of workers ages 50 and over is projected to increase by
34 percent from 2003 to 2012, a net increase of 12.5 million
workers. During the same time period, the number of workers
ages 16-49 will increase by only 3 percent, a net increase of only
2.7 million workers. Monster and AARP realize the importance
and resulting impact of this workforce shift and are working together
to help employers navigate the looming labor shortage.
The jointly developed recruitment solution
includes a variety of collaborative efforts, including a dedicated
"50+ Worker Career Channel" and monthly
e-newsletters to employers and 50+ job-seekers.
If you're thinking about a new job, now's the time to
aggressively pick up your search. Many people slow down their
job search during the holiday months when in fact it's the best
time to look!
Here's why: Many companies implement a new direction or strategy
at the first of the year, resulting in a "first of the year" hiring
surge. With new-year business strategies mapped out, companies
start aggressively looking for resumes and interviewing new job
candidates in November and December.
Oddly enough, while employers start hiring, job-seekers often
decide to wait to mount their search until after the holidays,
feeling that no one will be hiring until then, which creates an
optimal job-seeking environment of more jobs and less competition!
Source: MAPP
According to a recent survey of ExecuNet's executive members,
84 percent of those polled said that age discrimination is a serious
problem in today's executive marketplace.
The survey also reported that:
65 percent had encountered age discrimination
in a job search -- up from 58 percent who expressed
that view in 2001.
73 percent had been unable to overcome interviewer or
employer concerns regarding their age.
94 percent felt their age had resulted in their being
eliminated for a particular position.
40 percent feared they would be forced into early retirement.
72 percent said they fear being victimized by age discrimination.
Another recent survey by exectivetalent.net reveals that senior executives in their 50s make
less money than senior executives in their 40s. It takes twice as long for over-50 execs to find
a new job compared with over-40 executives -- and three times longer than senior execs in their 30s.
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
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-Seekers
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* 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.
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Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number
of workers ages 50 and over is projected to increase by
34 percent from 2003 to 2012, a net increase of 12.5 million
workers. During the same time period, the number of workers
ages 16-49 will increase by only 3 percent, a net increase of only
2.7 million workers. Monster and AARP realize the importance
and resulting impact of this workforce shift and are working together
to help employers navigate the looming labor shortage.
