Tag Archives: Job Seeking

Try Again

August 14, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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If you’re willing to think through your answers and select the responses most likely to lead where you want to go, you can turn a potentially difficult interview into an honest, open exchange of relevant information. When you’re asked, “why were you fired?” don’t play victim or blame the person who fired you. Accept accountability for your role in the outcome and connect your strengths to what employers want and say they need. Why did Continue reading →

Ouch!

July 31, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Job applicants seem to complain a lot when they describe how they feel they’re treated during and after their interviews. I thought it only fair to get some candid perspective from prospective employers and the applicant situations that bother them. Here are just a few: Our interview committee was so impressed with a job candidate we wanted to make him an offer on the spot. The hiring manager insisted that we check references first and Continue reading →

Q&A

July 11, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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“I’m intimidating. I know it. I don’t like it. I’ve never known what to do about it. Believe me, I’ve tried. It’s my personality. My whole family’s like that. My mom’s direct and my father more so. My brothers and sisters are all competitive go-getters. We earned our stripes around the kitchen table. Every meal was a potluck of competing voices and spirited debates. We argued about everything you shouldn’t; from politics and religion, to Continue reading →

For Moms and Dads

July 4, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Moms, Dads, your grown kids are home for the holidays. Some of them are gainfully employed, making tons of money. They’re beautifully groomed, happy, healthy, generous, and kind to small animals. They’ve not only met your expectations, they’ve exceeded them. Others have returned home, not for the holidays, but for the duration. As kind, good, well groomed, respectful and generous they may (or may not) have been in the past, what’s been leeching out lately Continue reading →

The Biggest Struggles

June 27, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Many of you struggle with your job search because you don’t know the career direction that’s best for you. If you’d like to stop spinning and start mapping, pay attention to your interests and hobbies. Do you love music and hiking? You probably want jobs that enable you to work in harmonious places and open spaces. Do you like acknowledging others and organizing social events? You’re likely to enjoy coordinating projects and activities for the Continue reading →

Travel and Job Seeking

June 20, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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What does job search and foreign travel have in common? Having recently returned from a business trip abroad, I’m not only brimming with fresh perspective and chock full of new learning, I see connections I’d earlier have missed. The learning: Airline personnel, flight cancellations, impatient travelers. When the few are assigned the work of the many and there’s a critical intersection of the few, complicated by a critical interruption of the many, chaos reigns.  The Continue reading →

Selling Yourself Like a House

June 5, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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If you were getting ready to selling your home, and to buy one, instead of leaving a job and looking for onea job, I bet you’d do whatever you could , that was affordable and within reason., to be successful. If you were buying a home, you’d do the same. You’d begin wby doing a ith a full house inspection, eyeballing the interior and exterior of your space to figure out what works and what Continue reading →

School is Starting

May 29, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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There’s something about the sights, smells, and start of fall and the school year that can get the kid in you revved up for what’s to come. You have to repress that urge to run out and buy a new lunch box, backpack and notebooks, because you’d look a little silly, given your age and station in life. If you’re a job seeker, your search can feel more like the first day of school in Continue reading →

I Don’t Know What’s Wrong

April 3, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I think I have a great looking resume and impressive experience; that I’m reasonably attractive, smart, and have an outgoing personality. I’ve mailed hundreds of resumes and haven’t had one interview! I’m frustrated and losing confidence. I’m enclosing my resume for your review. I need help so don’t hold back. I’ve looked it over and here’s what I see that’s working in your favor: You have an impressive Continue reading →

Lost Cat? Found Job.

March 31, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Do you remember the story about the fellow whose cat led him to the right job?  It went like this… Apprehensive young man desperate for career and already late for interview has a runaway house cat. After frenzied search, skirmish and surrender, young man and reluctant cat arrive at company’s formidable front entrance. Young man opens resistant door by clamping resume between teeth and wedging cat between sandaled feet. In time it takes to yell, Continue reading →

Five Fresh Tips

February 28, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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You’ve asked for more interviewing strategies and here they are: 1. Pay attention while walking around. If you have a chance to tour the facility where you’re interviewing, go for it. It’s a great way to get a read of the culture and a handle on your comfort within it. For example, if employees appear to move about in stony silence and the place is quiet as a tomb, the company might be a model Continue reading →

Five Fresh Tips

February 21, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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By request, I’ve prepared some interviewing tips for you. If you like these, you’ll get five more next week. Extraverts! Don’t talk too much! You’re so good with words you don’t seem to know when to stop using them and you’re talking your way in and out of great opportunities. Instead, stay on point and make your points calmly and succinctly. Don’t repeat yourself. And don’t interrupt. Sell yourself on track record and potential, not Continue reading →

Dealing with Layoffs

November 22, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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Here are just a few of the emails we’ve received from folks  asking for help when dealing with layoffs: I’ve just been laid off. What should I do? Take a deep breath. Go home. Make a plan. Take a deep breath so you don’t say something you’ll regret later. It’s a small world. The people you work with today can be the ones you’ll work with tomorrow, so be advised, speak with care. And, speak Continue reading →

Question: How do I find a job after prison?

November 1, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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Q: “I’ve recently been released from prison and want to get back into my profession. I’ve been trying to re-hone my skills but given my felony record am I just spinning my wheels? What do I say when I’m asked about the lapse in my employment A:You’re not spinning your wheels, you will find employment, and you will have some real challenges ahead. Let’s start with the first hurdles to overcome, and go from there: Continue reading →

Job Insecurity

April 12, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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Feeling insecure at work? Want some fear insurance? Make a plan. Everyone needs a strategy that’s ready to launch when necessary so that there’s no need to be afraid. “What if I’m laid off? Who will take care of me? Who will help me?” We get downright childlike when the “I don’t want to think about it” actually happens. It’s the grown up version of “I want my mommy!” It’s understandable that employers and employees Continue reading →

A Merger, An Opportunity?

March 22, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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American workers have been struggling with mixed blessings of merger and downsizing for over twenty years now. No wonder. It’s a challenge for any large system to rapidly expand and contract without putting unnecessary strain on the people who make up that system. I’ve been working with the emotional impact of these changes on employees since the early 80’s. Back then my clients were principally working in smokestack industries, companies located in Illinois, Ohio, andPennsylvania. Before long, financial institutions Continue reading →

Impression Preparedness

March 8, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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John Q. Employer is expecting you. He’s been interviewing for the last few weeks and he’s getting a little frustrated. He wants to hire someone and he’s determined to do it right. He’ll take the time he needs. It’s worth it to him. You were due at 2:00 p.m. It’s 2:15 p.m. and you are nowhere in sight.  You finally roll in close to 2:30, flashing a broad smile, extending an energetic handshake and brandishing several earnest excuses. You’re late. Continue reading →

Interviewers: Ace the Interview

January 11, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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Interviewers who see themselves in the driver’s seat,  need to check their side view mirrors. Their would be  passengers can afford to be selective about where and with whom they climb aboard. Job applicants can get mighty frustrated when they arrive at their interviews and are told “we’re busy, come back tomorrow.” Most of them are currently employed and find it challenging  to arrange time off without neglecting their ongoing responsibilities, and nerve wracking to explain their Continue reading →

The Spirit of Service

January 4, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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Don’t get me started on my telephone service. I’ve already blown too much time trying to report a telephone number that is out of order. It started last night when I received voice mail from an out of state client requesting an urgent consult. He asked that I return his call as soon as possible. I began the quest as soon as I received his message. His  line rang busy. It  continued busy into the Continue reading →

Job Search Gauntlet

October 19, 2010 by Joyce Richman
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A recent caller wanted to know how to search for jobs that are closer to somewhere else than to where he lives. I figure that if I’m going to tell him, I ought to share the same information with you. There are barriers to conducting an out of town search and ways to overcome them: Barrier: The prospective employer doesn’t want to interview someone who lives “somewhere else”. They don’t want to incur travel and Continue reading →