Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about research findings on job hunting, online job search basics, virtual internships, and life lessons from Marty Nemko and Simon Cowell.

From Liz Wolgemuth at US News and World Report: New Study Reveals Secrets to Finding a Job
“Most career advice is highly subjective, offered by experts rather than researchers. A new study, however, suggests that there are methods and activities that can maximize your chances of success. Researchers at the University of Missouri studied the efforts of 327 job seekers, ages 20 to 40, and found that developing and following a plan at the start of your job search, and having positive emotions later in the job search had a significant impact on success.”

Wally’s Comments: Good research here. Doing some planning in the beginning of your search can have a big impact.

From Alison Doyle at About.com: Online Job Search
“Sometimes, I’m not sure how people even know where to begin looking for a job online. That’s especially true if you haven’t had to job search in a while. A job seeker I spoke to yesterday had no idea, first of all, how much information was available online and, secondly, where to begin to look for a job.”

Wally’s Comments: To help you with your planning and show you the basics of online job searching, this is THE source. Learn or review the basics of online job search, check out the resources, and discover how networking may fit into your plan.

From the Wall Street Journal: An Internship from Your Couch
“Virtual internships, while relatively rare, are becoming more common, career experts say, fueled by improving technology and the growth of social media. They are most popular among small to midsize companies and online businesses. More than one-fourth of 150 internships posted on UrbanInterns.com, a site that connects small businesses with part-time workers, are labeled virtual, where the work typically involves researching, sales, marketing and social-media development.”

Wally’s Comments: This is new to me, but it seems to fit the times and it seems to work.

From Marty Nemko: What I’ve Learned in Six Decades
“On career: If I haven’t acquired wisdom in this area, I’m in trouble. I’ve been a career coach for 25 years. Here are some things I’ve learned.”

Wally’s Comments: Marty’s post includes both life lessons and job search lessons.

From the Mail Online: Simon Cowell: A letter to my shallow, reckless, cocky younger self
“First things first, how are you? On second thoughts, don’t answer that. I know exactly how you are feeling. It is the early Nineties and you are frustrated, exhausted and worried sick. Life at this moment is not great. Yet just a few years ago, you felt like you were the king of the world!”

Wally’s Comments: This is a great piece. Definitely worth a read.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.