Quickies

I enjoy Wednesdays. They have always been a good catch-up day for me. I like the idea of looking back at Monday and Tuesday to see what I didn't finish, and looking ahead at Thursday and Friday to see what I still have time to complete. Wednesday gives me a chance to make up for time that got away from me lately, and it also gives me hope of carving out some time to do what's important to me in the coming days. That is all good.

If you like this idea for your Wednesdays, please take it and put it to good use, starting now. You don't have to relegate this to just this one specific day of the week as I tend to. Maybe twice-weekly, biweekly or monthly catch up makes more sense for you. But an occasional day for review, planning and checking off a bunch of quickies can be a very good thing. Clears the head and the calendar, so I do recommend. Some of my Wednesday Odds & Ends:

• There was a bill being passed around Congress today, and an effort to stop it, regarding censorship and protection of rights to creative material on the internet. It was nicknamed SOPA and I didn't learn much about it, except it seemed to be written all wrong and many of my favorite and most-used websites were against it, so I felt after a little reading, I was against it too. That was an unexpected To Do for Today--usually I don't plan to research a bill or petition against it. But, check, got that done.
• Actually came to the SOPA info by first visiting craigslist.org. On craigslist I found out that job searches there are much easier than the larger sites I've been spending my time at. Only a couple of possibilities for me this week. Hey, that's plenty: just the right one will do the trick. So, check, learned something important and now I'll visit there more often.
• One of the job postings on craigslist sounded really neat, so I pulled together a cover letter with linked samples to send with my resume, within an hour, which brings up another bonus to local job listings. They are often posted by actual people, requesting a resume sent in direct response, and as such, are easier to apply for than most of what I'm finding on larger online sites like indeed.com, linkedin.com and careerbuilder.com. Check, cool-sounding gig applied for.
• Made sure I saved time for a little yoga practice. Wrote it down for Monday and Tuesday, never did it. Boooo. It's important to me. No excuses for that, I'm in charge of my own time now!
• Made sure I save time for a little personal/hobby writing. Wrote it down for Monday and Tuesday, never did it. Boooo. It's important to me.... --you get the idea.
• Called in a prescription and am now going to pick it up. Tomorrow it will be 0 degrees around here, so why not enjoy the luxury of choosing to get it a day early, when it's a balmy 20 something?
• Started some split pea soup in a big pot. Stock is stewing with veg and herbs and that bay leaf smells fantastic. Good day for soup....brrr.
• Set aside time on Thursday and Friday for more craigslist, yoga and personal/hobby writing. Will surely enjoy leftover soup and my warm home. I'm grateful for it. I know many jobless people aren't as lucky as I am, with a home, and a heat bill they can pay, and spouse's income that will help them survive for long with this measure of comfort. So, I also set aside time to reflect on, and write about, that.

How He Bot the Job, Part I

Case Study
Our man is Johnson, middle senior level manager of something not too technical. Let's say he's was a Senior Project Manager, Channel Partners Development.

He perused job listings in his category online at sites like LinkedIn, Career Builder and Indeed.com. Perhaps he should have expanded his searching, for more opportunities. Or not. Was he casting too large of a net and missing all the tasty local fish? Then again, what about government work? What about work-at-home or freelance jobs? Johnson felt the more he looked, in some ways, the less he found. He started not to know, exactly, what he was looking for anymore.

Johnson probably wasted a little too much time when he could have honed in his search approach right from the start. Here is a nice article on the topic with just enough actionable advice, so you don't end up like Johnson. I recommend you bookmark two or three of your favorite job search links, and save a couple of search terms on the sites that give you the best results. That way, you can search again the next time with a couple quick keystrokes. Also, follow a few companies you really like that list openings close to what you're interested in, but not quite. In Johnson's case, Sr. VP Marketing, Business Channels and Partners. That would be his boss, eventually. Check back on those companies for new postings each week.

Whenever Johnson found a position he wanted to apply for, he would inevitably run into the direction to click on a button that said either, "Apply Here" or "Apply on Website." Applying Here usually meant Johnson was on a site that allowed resumes to be posted, reviewed and submitted via that site. On LinkedIn, he had his entire profile, business connections, work history and more. On Career Builder and Indeed.com, his resume was posted and could be viewed by potential employers.

When Johnson would Apply on Website, he'd be transported to an employment application, which was sometimes housed on that company's website, and sometimes run by a robot program designed specifically for the purpose of reviewing and sorting applications and ranking the potential interest in the job candidates attached to them.  Here are a couple reads you might find useful as you approach the task of Applying on Website.

Don't Get Lost in a Database ... fpcnational.com

Resume, Meet Technology ...The Ladders.com

Make Your Resume Stand Out ... techrepublic.com 

Your to do for today might be to assemble good reading material on a useful topic. See above. And/or to give some serious focus on learning about something that will help move your purpose forward. Also see above. You have time for this now. Still, I'll whet your appetite for information with a brief overview of some things you should know about submitting an online resume, per the experts:

• Don't provide a complex document for uploading purposes. Even if you're a creative genius.
• Do use bullet points and put the most important results-oriented information up front.
• Do research the company you are applying to work for. Send a resume that has been tweaked to include keywords for them, and the position you are seeking.

More on Johnson and how he changed his resume to make the bots that scanned it happy, tomorrow!

Shouting Down the Cyberhole

It's like Wishing Down the Wishing Well. Except not that cute.

With the prevailing mode of re-employment these days being the online seek and apply, I must say, I thought I would be, but I am not, a fan.

It's convenient, easy-to-track, and as a bonus, a perfect method for a writer and marketer like me. If you have a good resume and know how to tailor it for the positions you're applying for, you're one step ahead. If you have a great cover letter and know how to tailor it for the audience you're appealing to, you're two steps ahead. If you have a specific set of job search terms and yet some flexibility in your salary range, job title and position requirements, well, you should be a half a mile out by now.

These are the things I felt I had going for me as I approached the wishing well with my pouch full of shiny coins. Not just pennies. Bigger than that. I've invested a great deal in my job applications so far. Some of these journeys, once you click on "Apply Here," really take you on a trip which you might start to regret once you get all in there. You begin by uploading your resume, simple enough, and next thing you know it seems like they're asking you if you want the red pill or the blue pill. Two hours later you emerge with an automated form email saying they received your 5-page essay application, resume, cover letter, list of past clients and psychological test answers, but it will take them several weeks to review your qualifications along with those of the several hundred other candidates who applied from across the globe, online, faster than you, and all the internal company candidates as well, including the guy everybody loves over at the Boston office, you know him, the one with the touching stories about when he was recovering from his injuries in Iraq...

Okay, it must the water at this well because I'm being far too cynical, too soon. But I will say this. There is a LOT to learn about the online job application process, and it's best we learn it asap. There is resume parsing going on, and application keyword searching, and all sorts of other efficiencies that take much of the legwork out of the initial review process for recruiters at companies and employment agencies. It's how you get sorted, ordered, and possibly not even considered.

The worst part to me, though, is how often I'm left without a direct contact for follow-up purposes. Almost always. This, I think, stinks. I really miss submitting my resume and cover letter DIRECTLY to a PERSON who I can call to follow up with in a week or so. That person might be too busy to have even looked at my application yet, or that person might still be reviewing resumes and not ready to answer me yet, or that person might be glad to hear from an eager candidate who is saving them the trouble of calling themselves and thus reward them with an interview on the spot. This part of the job application process is something I'm having a hard time dealing without. Case in point:

A few weeks ago, over the holidays, I applied for a job I would, literally, be soooooo perfect for. I applied via LinkedIn. I heard nothing, not even an acknowledgment of receipt of my resume. I sent a great cover letter. Fraught with anxiety over the timing, and not wanting to be overlooked in the holiday hustle, I found the right contact email on the company website and followed up a couple days later with an even better (what have I got to lose?) letter saying, I really want to talk with you about this job, so please don't let my resume go unanswered. I got Nothing. Now, over two weeks later, I am wondering, do I want to work for that company, if this is how they handle their business and/or treat people who are so enthusiastic about applying for professional positions they advertise?

Except, I really do. I still am enamored with this job possibility. I can't get through to a contact, though. There are no phone numbers for corporate offices listed anywhere; everything is attached with individually owned retail outlets. I've already somewhat stalked, a little, via postings on twitter and a question on facebook. It looks like they are automated, so no response there. Perhaps I have to let go. But it's a darn shame. I felt so sure... whatever pill I took, it feels like I got smaller, and from a distance I can see myself shouting down the cyberhole where I sent my sincere and very on-point inquiries. I feel like I wasted my my biggest, shiniest penny. Hellloooooo, is anybody down theeeeerrrrrreee?

What do you think I should do? (comment!) I've looked up other people in the company on LinkedIn, and again, can find no clear way to directly contact anyone, without busting through and trying to connect, though I don't know them. I could call nearby outlets and just ask if these people ever stop in or have office numbers (it's a franchising operation). Should I give it up? My gut was telling me for days and days, they totally should hire you, Faith, you are going to help this company grow and grow with it. My intention was to nail down a clearly mutually beneficial arrangement. The position is still posted. There are two other positions in other areas of the company along with it. Could it be they are this slow and this remiss when it comes to contacting people?

Out of 10 applications since December 2, I have received 8 "We got your application" notes with no further news. I've only received 1 rejection.  I see that those 8, 6 of the jobs have been closed. That means, out of 10, I heard absolutely nothing from just this 1. My next ToDo4Today: get a new stack of coins. Meaning, reapply myself! My goal: don't take either pill. Make a sammich. Stay normal.

I'll share tips about about resume parsing and application keyword searching tomorrow.