Crank Up Your Career

Typos Tank Job Opportunities

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Thank you Marcia for this great story. Job Seekers take note; she provides several job search examples in her full article.

Courtesy of Marcia Yudkin, The Marketing Minute:

Occasionally I encounter marketers who insist spelling doesn’t matter. “No one really cares,” their argument goes. “Typos humanize the copy, and besides, everyone knows what we mean.”

Oh, really?

* In 2004, Judge Jacob P. Hart of Philadelphia slashed the fee due an attorney in half because of overabundant typos.

The lawyer lost $31,350.

* In Britain, DDS Media had to destroy 10,000 spelling game DVDs whose cover misspelled a popular TV anchor’s name.

* A Wisconsin-based editor paid an executive recruiter $1,720 to spruce up her resume and send it to 200 potential employers, only to learn that the resumes went out containing a section of gibberish. The editor sued the headhunter for more than $75,000.

* In 2005, a trader on the Tokyo stock exchange intended to trade 1 share at 610,000 yen, but instead placed an order for 610,000 shares at 1 yen each. The firm’s loss: around

$18.7 million.

* A spell-check service whose motto is “no more embarrassing errors” itself uses “then” where “than” is correct. Will potential clients really laugh this off?

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READ MORE: For additional stories about the high cost of typos and a checklist on how to avoid them, go to:

http://www.yudkin.com/typos.htm

Find out what happened when a would-be bank robber just couldn’t spell.

Exec Job Growth Hits Highest Level Since 2000

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Compliments of http://www.execunet.com

Recruiters Confidence at New Record as Executive Job Growth Hits Highest
Level Since 2000

Much to the dismay of companies striving to hire top talent during this
surging employment market, the business of recruiting and retaining
executives appears poised to grow even more challenging. ExecuNet’s
Recruiters Confidence Index (RCI) reached a new all-time high in December
amid expectations that executive search assignments will increase by more
than 20% for the second consecutive year in 2007.

According to the survey of 120 executive recruiters, 83% are confident or
very confident the executive employment market will improve during the next
six months — up from 80% last month. Confidence among recruiters has never
been higher in the history of the index.

Confidence In The Executive Employment Market
Next Six Months

Executive recruiters reported a 23% increase in the number of search
assignments they received from corporate clients during 2006 — this
represents the largest increase since the height of the dot-com boom in
2000. Looking ahead, search firms are forecasting a 26% increase in
executive-level job opportunities this year.

Recruiters’ short-term outlook also improved in December, as 82% said they
are confident or very confident the employment market will improve in the
next three months — up from 77% in the previous month. This bullish
assessment of the executive employment market is well supported by the
executive search industry’s own expansion. In December, 60% of all search
firms reported plans to hire additional professional staff during the next
three months, which is considerably higher than the number of firms that
added staff during the past three months (40%).

Executive recruiters who use ExecuNet tell us that companies are
increasingly turning to them for help as it becomes more and more difficult
to find and attract the best talent.

Jobs: Hot Picks for 2007

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

While Melissa and Joan Rivers pick what’s hot and what’s not for the red carpet during the award shows, the employment industry has it’s own predictors for what’s hot – and what’s not – in 2007. Here’s the hot list from Fast Company:

Fast Company’s Top 10 Hot Jobs for 2007 — including hot industries and not-so-traditional jobs:

Experience Designer: Work in the retail industry, creating a shopping experience unique to the particular store/product

Medical Researcher: Most coveted in the healthcare industry is research of cancer, Alzheimer disease, and the development of prosthetics

Web designer: According to Trendsearch.com, the profession is still developing, and 2007 will see a new era of web design

Security Systems Engineer: Employees in the protective services industry can expect to be in demand and a rise in salary in 2007. Individual with a head for engineering and computers can expect up to seven-figure salaries.

Urban Planners: Pre-fab one-level homes for baby boomers are changing the face of suburban America and boosting the demand for urban planners…

Viral Marketers and Media Promoters: Viral marketers are those who know how to build an audience from nothing with little more than rumor and excitement, like MySpace.

Talent Agents: As fame rises for performers and athletes, a new arena opens for their managers, promoters, and general go-to guys. These are some of the most competitive positions in the entertainment industry.

Buyers and Purchasing Agents: The future of the retail industry lies in the hands of the buyers and purchasing agents, according to Trends Journal.

Art Directors: There will be a high demand for the 20 – 30 age demographic for jobs involving painting, lights, cameras, and action.

News Analysts, Reporters, and Bloggers: Publications with an online division now hire three levels of correspondents: print new writers, online news writers, and bloggers.

Read more:
http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2007/01/top_jobs_2007.html   


 

Sending your resume: What’s in a Name?

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Today I received an email:

“Dear Ms. B-V (the person did spell out the last name…):

I have been searching for a job, sending out resumes and smoke signals all over the country only to find my search in vain. I read your suggestions and advice on how to land an interview, techniques to get employers to return your call and Top 10 Secrets to Turn Networking Pain to Career Gain. Which brought me to the conclusion that I would make a good candidate for your company….”

You would? I don’t think so. Here’s why:

1. I am NOT Ms. B-V. So the writer addressed the email to the wrong person – even though the writer said they read my article.

2. They attached this note (complete with several grammatical errors) and their resume, on top of the full e-zine (where the article appeared). Instead, they could have mentioned the article and name of the e-zine in the note. That way, their note and resume would have downloaded much faster – and have been more relevant.

(Speaking of grammatical errors, you may have noticed I used “they” rather than he or she in order to protect the gender of the writer. This advice is advice anyone can use. :)) 

3. Why would reading my article draw them to the conclusion that they’d be a great candidate for my company? Nowhere in the article did I say I was hiring (I’m not – so don’t get any ideas).

4. If this person truly read my article, they would have been referred to me through someone I know (my article was about networking) AND they would have used my correct name.

It’s A-OK to try a cold-call approach. But there is a right way to do it.

1. Research the company!

2. Make sure your experience would be a right fit: During your research, did you discover a problem you could solve for the company? If so, convey your value when you send your email.

3. When writing your email, spell check it before you send it. And have a friend read it to ensure there are no additional grammatical errors.

4. Address your cover letter to the the right decision maker – using the correct name (and spell it correctly too).

5. One better – talk to your friends, family, alumni – your network – to see if you already have a connection to the right decision maker. If you do, ask your friend’s permission to get connected. Then it’s a warm call – not a cold one.

Good luck!

The Career Manifesto

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Soon it’s 2007 – how do you plan to manage your career? Here are some tips from Michael Wade, Execupundit (www.execupundit):

    1. Unless you’re working in a coal mine, an emergency ward, or their equivalent, spare us the sad stories about your tough job. The biggest risk most of us face in the course of a day is a paper cut.

    2. Yes, your boss is an idiot at times. So what? (Do you think your associates sit around and marvel at your deep thoughts?) If you cannot give your boss basic loyalty, either report the weasel to the proper authorities or be gone.

    3. You are paid to take meaningful actions, not superficial ones. Don’t brag about that memo you sent out or how hard you work. Tell us what you achieved.

    4. Although your title may be the same, the job that you were hired to do three years ago is probably not the job you have now. When you are just coasting and not thinking several steps ahead of your responsibilities, you are in dinosaur territory and a meteor is coming.

    5. If you suspect that you’re working in a madhouse, you probably are. Even sociopaths have jobs. Don’t delude yourself by thinking you’ll change what the organization regards as a “turkey farm.” Flee.

    6. Your technical skills may impress the other geeks, but if you can’t get along with your co-workers, you’re a litigation breeder. Don’t be surprised if management regards you as an expensive risk.

    7. If you have a problem with co-workers, have the guts to tell them, preferably in words of one syllable.

    8. Don’t believe what the organization says it does. Its practices are its real policies. Study what is rewarded and what is punished and you’ll have a better clue as to what’s going on.

    9. Don’t expect to be perfect. Focus on doing right instead of being right. It will simplify the world enormously.

    10.If you plan on showing them what you’re capable of only after you get promoted, you need to reverse your thinking.