Expert Career Advice for Job Seekers
Who is Peter Weddle?
Peter Weddle is a recruiter, HR consultant and business CEO turned author and commentator. Described by The Washington Post as "... a man filled with ingenious ideas," he has earned an international reputation, pioneering concepts in Human Resource leadership and employment. He has authored or edited over two dozen books and been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The National Business Employment Weekly, and CNN.com. Today, he writes two newsletters that are distributed worldwide and oversees WEDDLE's LLC, a print publisher specializing in the field of human resources. WEDDLE's annual Guides and Directory to job boards are recognized for their accuracy and helpfulness, leading the American Staffing Association to call Weddle the "Zagat of the online employment industry."
Weddle's Syndicated Content:
Next Practices
The Web is crowded with articles extolling the best practices for finding a new or better job. I've contributed a few of those missives myself. Recently, however, I heard a fellow describe best practices as "stuff that used to work." In other words, by the time something has become a best practice, it's likely also to have become obsolete. What's the alternative? Next Practices.
A Safety Valve for Mom's Rule
It's all the rage these days. If you're in transition, you have to be using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. But why? The rationale seems to be that if you can just reach a person - no matter how distant and tenuous the link - you can depend on them to help you land a job. But, stop and think about it. If you were in their place - if you were a friend of a friend of a Web contact - would you risk your reputation and credibility to stand up for someone who was essentially a stranger? I doubt it, and that reality is the invisible flaw in online networking today.
A Multitude of Hope
Today's job market is a cold and indifferent place. It feels as if it is operated by uncaring organizations that are guided by a quest for machine-like productivity rather than by the bonds that join us one to another. I believe that's wrong. I'm certain that America's working men and women deserve better. I'm also certain, however, that they won't get what they deserve unless they put up a fight.
Search Budgeting
The job market has suddenly gotten a lot more crowded. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, half a million people came back into the market last month, lured by the news of an uptick in hiring. How can you stand out with so many others around? Search Budgeting - the strategy of focusing your job search where it does the most good for you.
Job Search Outside the Box
New research to be published shortly in Psychological Science reveals that the connection between our minds and bodies is much stronger than previously known. The best way to be more creative in a job search, therefore, is to behave the way we want to think.
The Networking Gap
Every year, WEDDLE's conducts the Source of Employment (SOE) survey, which probes the activities and preferences of both job seekers and recruiters. We use it to identify what's working and what's not in the job market and occasionally, to pinpoint an overlooked opportunity for job search success. That's the certainly the case with the networking gap at job boards.
Don't Transfer Your Soul (or Your Talent)
Taking a job offer from an employer you barely know is like ignoring the terms and conditions vendors impose when you make an online purchase ... only worse. If a product is defective, you can usually return it. When an employer turns out to be bad, however, there is no such recourse. And, the harm can be long lasting.
Change the Epilogue of Your Job Search
The new scourge of job seekers is serial unemployment. You fight through the frustration and anxiety of one job search, land a new position and six months or a year later, you're handed another pink slip and find yourself right back where you started from. It's an increasingly prevalent plight for white collar and blue collar workers alike. There is a way to protect yourself, however, if you change the epilogue to your job search.
The Job Seeker With the Dragon Tattoo
By now, you've probably heard of Stieg Larsson's best sellier, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. For those who haven't yet read the book, it's (sort of) a murder mystery intertwined with the self-identity quest of a young woman with distinctive body art. While all of the plot's secrets are revealed by the end of the tale, one question is never addressed: what's the meaning of the dragon tattoo? The answer is especially important to job seekers.
How to Succeed in Applying for a Job
There are now over three million job openings posted on job boards and social media sites on the Web. And, the conventional wisdom is that applying for those opportunities is simply a matter of clicking on the Submit button. Unfortunately, however, there's a bit more to it, at least you want to get interviewed and possibly hired.
The Standout Skill
Do you want an advantage in the job market? There is one skill that CEOs today believe is both in critically short supply and critically important to their organization's success. If you have this skill, it is virtually certain that you will get the attention you deserve from employers, regardless of your profession, craft or trade. What is this standout skill? Leadership.
Job Search Entrepreneurism
Personal branding is all the rage these days in job search books and seminars. According to these sources, you can't be successful without a strong brand. It's good advice, but also only partially true. While a strong brand is necessary for success, it cannot produce that outcome by itself. What's needed is a more comprehensive approach that I call job search entrepreneurism.
Optimize Your ROL - Your Return on Luck
According to Jim Collins, the author of Great By Choice, the difference between companies that are merely good and those that are considered great is often how they use luck. Good and bad luck happens to every company, he believes, but only those that optimize their return on luck - their ROL - are able to excel. I think that's true for job seekers as well.
The Sound of Silence
A chart topping single way back in 1966, the Sound of Silence is a haunting song about a dark time in this country. For many job seekers, it aptly describes the experience of applying for jobs in today's troubled economy. They send off their resume, and all they get back from employers is a thundering nothing. Fortunately, however, it doesn't have to be that way. There are steps you can take that will produce a response.
The One Word You Should Avoid in a Job Search
In today's highly competitive job market, the worst word you can use is "can." I realize that's a stunning turn of events for a people who have historically seen themselves as the "can do" nation. Nevertheless, what employers now want from candidates is a verb they believe has far greater potential. The word they want to hear is "will."
The Smart Resume
Faced with increasingly more able competitors around the world, employers are now seeking workers who can make a difference on the job. They describe these individuals as "A" level performers or with the more general term "talent," but what they really want is nothing more (or less) than smart workers. How can you prove you deserve that description? First, of course, you have to be at the state-of-the-art in your occupational field. Then, you have to promote that fact using a smart resume.
An Investment of Caring
There's a view these days that successful networking is based on a very simple mathematical formula. A lot of contacts equals a lot of employment opportunities. If that were so, however, all of those who are now feverishly connecting, friending and following would be happily ensconced in a new job instead. Networking is important in a job search, but what many people are doing today is "notworking" and, as a consequence, wasting their time.
Make Yourself Indispensable in Today's Economy
A college economist recently opined that we have entered the era of "the disposable worker." Employers can and will toss out workers whenever they no longer need them or can find someone better. What he didn't say, however, was just as important. We have also entered the era of "indispensable talent" and that gives all of us the power to find and hang onto the job of our dreams.