When you’re not the office favorite

Posted on September 26, 2011
Filed Under Corporate Policy, Employment, Keeping your Job, The Workplace | Leave a Comment

I was recently speaking with a friend who disclosed his dissatisfaction about a situation that has been going on at work for some time. My friend, a rather hard and fastidious worker is one of two employees working in the front office/logistics-side of a small business. Much to his dismay, his counterpart is not only lackadaisical—spending most of the workday on Facebook and passing work onto my friend—but is the owner’s favorite employee. Without a sympathetic boss or HR department at his disposal, my friend has found himself in a rather tight spot, one with which many employees can possibly relate (though, perhaps not to that degree). I have a number of suggestions that employees stuck in situations similar to my friend’s may be able to put into practice despite feelings of hopelessness. Read more

To tweet, or not to tweet…

Posted on September 22, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Keeping your Job, Social Network | Leave a Comment

Although we may not all be faced with this dilemma, social networking, and specifically uncouth or insensitive tweets have been landing some rather big names in hot water recently. From Kenneth Cole, (who, via tweet, appropriated of the revolution in Egypt as a means to highlight a new line of clothing) to long time comedian and onetime voice of Iago, the sycophantic parrot from Disney’s movie Aladdin, Gilbert Goddfried (who was let go as the “voice” of Aflac because of some unequivocally offensive tweets during the Tsunami in Japan). Admittedly, most tweeters on Twitter do not receive the same kind of scrutiny such high-profile celebrities do. This fact aside, each Gilbert Goddfried, Kenneth Cole, and every tweeter’s mis-tweets Vault blogger Cathy Vandewater singles out in a recent post called The Top 10 Twitter Firings and Fallouts, point to a broader, more pervasive issue with Twitter and other social media and networking sites of which every employee and job seeker should be aware. Read more

Four tips for finding a federal internship

Posted on September 19, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Federal Employment, Finding a Job, Internship | 1 Comment

Two years ago, I immersed myself in the world of federal internships. I waded through over one hundred agency websites, compiled a database of hundreds of federal student programs, and sought to learn everything there is to know about federal internships—which agencies have them, the differences between agency programs, and, perhaps most importantly, how to get a federal internship. While the federal government’s pseudo-comprehensive job resource, USAJobs.gov, has a sister site for students, USAJobs.gov/StudentJobs, which boasts valuable resources for both students and educators, it fails to capture every student opportunity available at any given moment in time. That is, while federal law requires that agencies publicize all vacancies for full-time permanent positions (many of which are advertised via USAJobs.gov), no law exists which requires agencies to do the same for internships. This means that while some agencies may choose to use USAJobs.gov as a means to advertise student vacancies, many do not. In turn, this fact can make it difficult for students to find vacancies unless they know where to look or have connections within a given agency. There are a few things students can do, however, which should help ease the burden of finding a federal internship. Read more

Dear Sir or Madam…

Posted on September 15, 2011
Filed Under Cover Letters and Resumes, Employment, Finding a Job | Leave a Comment

Some advice I typically impart to students constructing cover letters is that their greeting should not only be congenial and exude professionalism, but it should also be addressed to the hiring manager who will be reviewing their application documents. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, a cover letter should act as an enticing welcome mat, drawing in its reader, prompting him or her to investigate what lies beyond. One of the best means of drawing someone into your cover letter is to make it personal. By addressing the particular hiring manager who will be assessing the strength of your application package in your cover letter, you personalize your message, giving the impression that you composed your cover letter with him or her in mind (of course, what follows your greeting must be compelling, as well). If this is the case, though, are names of hiring managers even possible to find? Read more

How to incorporate temporary work into your resume

Posted on September 12, 2011
Filed Under Career Change, Cover Letters and Resumes, Employment, Finding a Job, Recession | 1 Comment

During breaks from college, like many students, I spent my time working miscellaneous short-term, seasonal jobs—one summer I helped remodel bathrooms and kitchens, the next summer I installed decks and hardwood floors, landscaped, and remodeled homes, and the next two summers I was a Summer Associate at a medical malpractice defense firm. Additionally, before and after each job ended, and even on days I had off from each job, I substitute taught for a local public school system. After I returned from studying for my graduate degree, I again sought out temporary jobs, which could sustain me throughout my job search. I worked at a local non-profit, remodeled basements, and contracted short-term work wherever I could find it. While it is no surprise that I have to choose which positions I list on my resume, deciding which experience is relevant can be difficult. Even more difficult, however, is deciding how or whether to list short-term temporary work, the listing of which could set off flags in a recruiter’s mind. Read more

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