Job Search

Resume writing has become quite a big business. There are nearly 3,500 resume writers listed on Linkedin alone. With so many people out of work, the services of these business wordsmiths are in hot demand. Though my consulting practice includes resume writing for women, I’m pretty sure I have a different approach than many of…

It’s not news that stay-at-home Moms have a relentless, all-consuming 24/7 job. I laughed out loud when I once saw a cartoon with an exasperated mother asking her children: “Do you really have to eat dinner every single day?” Stay-at-home Moms are often dedicated volunteers as well—another job that consumes many of the evaporating hours…

Yet another reason to have a “Vitamin C” deficiency—employers want to hire people who are currently employed. (In 9 Lives for Women parlance that’s “C” for Confidence.) I was reminded of this form of discrimination when I read Diane Irwin’s Resumes of NJ blog post, “Do Recruiters Discriminate Against the Unemployed?”. Apparently they do, but it’s about as frustrating as saying men only want to marry women…

Reinvention can lead in many directions—not necessarily to a business of your own. You may want to use your skills in a new way, pursue a nagging dream (like the woman I wrote about who switched from financial services marketing to nursing), or get out of a less than fulfilling career rut that has persisted since about age 22. All these reinventions require a job search, and for those who got their college…

Linkedin can seem like a giant electronic wizard—a powerful force without any leaders in plain view. That’s why I was excited to find out that one of my former recruiting colleagues is now working “behind the veil” at the networker’s land of Oz.    This colleague gave me the opportunity to look learn more about…

Recently I received an email from a woman I know from my recruiting days. She is now looking for a new job, knows that I have many employer and general networking connections, and thought I might know of some opportunities that would fit her profile. In a brief email this woman said, “As you know, my background is in marketing, public relations, and fundraising. With your many contacts and connections, I hope…

You’re networking among friends, family, acquaintances, professionals in your industry and all your former colleagues.  You’re on Linkedin and you attend frequent networking meetings, too.  It may seem that you have all your job search networking bases covered, but you might not.  Most job seekers forget a major networking resource:  their school alumni associations.  Every…

Whenever Labor Day passes, I always feel we’re in the second “new year”. We never really lose that fresh start, “back to school” feeling in September—and most job seekers look to the fall months with renewed vigor. Right now you have at least three solid months for a strategic job search—before the business world slows down…

How do I get back into the workforce after so many years?  That’s a question I’ve been asked hundreds of times over the last decade.  It’s also a question that is perennially asked in the fall, when children go back to school and mothers have the time to think about major life changes.    Recently…

Your resume has to sell in 6 seconds. That’s the amount of time Ladders, the online job placement service, reports that recruiters spend with your resume.  I don’t know how they reached that conclusion, but it sounds about right for the “average” recruiter.    If it’s six seconds, sixty seconds or six minutes, you don’t…