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 getting all your ducks in a row, older job seekers, and the art of the executive interview. For extra credit, I’m pointing you to two new resources that just became available.

We’ll begin with two posts about getting things in order for your job search.

From the Wise Job Search: Are You Ready?
“You just got laid off from your job (Ouch!), and getting ready to begin a new job search. Are you ready?  What should you do first, and what tools will you need? Most people jump in, sending out resumes or contacting people unprepared. Usually they are ineffective, and sometime set themselves up to do real damage.  Get yourself organized and make a plan before you begin and your efforts will be much more fruitful. Here are 13 tools and tips to consider if you’re just starting out, or already well into your process.  You’ll need each of these:”

Wally’s Comment: This is a great checklist for anyone who’s hunting for a new job. Even if you’re not looking right now, this will give you an idea of what you need to have ready if your circumstances change.

From Alison Doyle at About.com: Creating a Target List of Companies
“If you don’t have a target list of companies – a short list of employers you would be thrilled to work for – it’s a good idea to research company information and create a list of companies to target in your job search. All the information you need is available on the web, and it’s easy to find detailed information about potential employers online.”

Wally’s Comment: You have two choices. You can hope that a company you’d like to work for finds you and offers you a job. Or, you can decide which companies you want to work for and make the first approach yourself. Which do you think is more likely to get you where you want?

Age and hiring issues have been in flux during this downturn. Here are two excellent posts about different aspects.

From the Wall Street Journal: With Jobs Scarce, Age Becomes an Issue
“Age discrimination in the workplace has long been a concern for the 55-and-older set. In this downturn, however, younger workers may have as much to fear as their more-mature colleagues.”

Wally’s Comment: There is nothing that scares a hiring manager more than the possibility that they might get sued. It leads to all kinds of irrational behavior. And, according to this post, it may be leading to a new kind of age discrimination.

From US News & World Report: Internships for Elders
“Laid-off baby boomers are taking internships to find new jobs and transition into second careers.”

Wally’s Comment: Reading this post was an “Aha!” moment for me. Internships are available in all kinds of organizations today and there’s no rule that only the young can use them.

From the Wall Street Journal: How to Master the Art of Executive Interviewing
“While job interviewing may not come naturally to everyone, the right preparation can make the difference between landing on your feet and hitting the street. Still, even the most experienced professionals often under-perform by overemphasizing their career progression and chronology or projecting only what they know, rather than focusing on the impact that their leadership has had on the organizations they’ve worked for and the lessons they’ve learned over time.”

Wally’s Comment: As you become more experienced, the nature of the job interview changes. Now when you get called in, the interviewer already knows the basics of your accomplishments and qualifications. He or she wants to get to know you and see if you fit the job you’re interviewing for. Your people skills are more important than ever and the first place you get to show them off is at your interview. It’s important. Double if you’re interviewing for a position where you’ll be supervising others. Are you ready?

Bonus

This week I noticed two announcements I thought you might want to know about.

The Come Recommended Site just came online. It claims to offer a new way to bring candidates and companies together.

Alison Doyle is the job search columnist for About.com. She also happens to have a post in this week’s selection. Alison has just released the second edition of her book, Internet Your Way to a New Job: How to Really Find a Job Online.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 7:46 am 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.