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a job hunt? A: Emailing the exact same resume to 10 or 20 employers. Customize what your resume says for each job, said Chad Austin, job placement officer at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Mich. A resume must mention your exact qualifications and certifications for specific openings, he said. Some employers hire third parties to sift through resumes, and they may be looking for six or so key words, Genest said. If the words don���t show up, your resume hits the trash. Job experts recommend researching wording for qualifications at http:///www.onetonline.org. Q: What are some things to consider about creating an image online? A: Make sure to be active on LinkedIn. Ford Motor, which announced it is hiring salaried workers, is expanding use of Q& A Genest warns this can be a trick question for you to open up about troubles. It���s not the time to answer: ���I���m a single mother with two children in school,��� or, ���I���ve been sick and out of work for one year.��� Instead, Genest said, talk immediately about your skills for that specific job. Q: Where do you look for work? A: Too often people might put all their luck on one strategy ��� say, asking families and friends to let them know about job openings, the experts say. Be diverse. File applications online. Go to job fairs. Consider how your skills can transfer to other businesses. Austin said career fairs are more about making a connection with someone in the company. Take the manager���s business card, jot down details about the conversation, send a letter to the person. It���s OK to apply for see GAIN AN EDGE . . . page 7 Take advantage of internal referrals the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that referred candidates were twice as It���s hard to job-hunt alone. likely to get interviews and You can click your comput- 40 percent more likely to be er mouse for hours on end, hired than candidates without but your applications will inside advocates. have trouble fighting through Some of the nation���s largest the competition clutter. companies even have special Unless . teams to fast-track internally Unless you have contacts in referred candidates through your target companies who the hiring system. will recommend you. Admittedly, this can be I recently was on a panel troublesome for job hunters with three employers who who have been unemployed agreed that internal referrals for a long while or who are are excellent vehicles to changing careers and don���t obtain interviews. know people in their target Hiring is time-consuming field or company. and expensive. Employers But it���s not an insurmounthave found they cut time and able problem if you rememcosts ��� and zero in on better ber the first sentence of this candidates ��� if they pay column. You may not think attention to people referred you know someone who can by their existing employees. see INTERNAL REFERRALS . . . page 7 A study by economists at By Diane Stafford The Kansas City Star (MCT) Drill down to what���s personally meaningful By Liz Reyer Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Q. I���ve been getting really restless with my job and have been thinking about a career change, moving into a role that would have more personal meaning. What should I be thinking about to pursue this idea? A. Consider your life goals and the investment of time and money you can handle to make a change. Let your mind settle down so that you can think this through without extreme emotions. If you���re preoccupied with dissatisfaction with your current job or overly infatuated with the idea of change, it���ll be difficult for you to draw sound conclusions. Think about what having ���personal meaning��� in your work life means to you. Does it pertain to the type of organization you work for or the role you have? For example, are you thinking about a change to a nonprofit or moving into a job at your current organization that provides direct service to people? Or are you feeling drawn to some type of artistic work? To what extent does the rest of your life reflect this values-driven need? Is your restlessness at work a symptom of a broader disconnection? If so, then changing your work will not be the solution you���re seeking. Also consider the aspects of your job that you���re satisfied with and the aspects that drew you to your career in the first place.Are these still attractive and important to you? If so, bring them front and center in your focus. If not, think about what has changed for you in the intervening years. Having reflected on the situation, you first need to decide if a career change will truly serve you.You may have realized that it���s more appropriate to focus on building inner satisfaction than changing external conditions.That���s a topic for another column. If you���re set on making a change, first and foremost you need to decide on what���s next.A career counselor or coach could help with this step, which requires both research and reflection. If that���s not an option, there are plenty of books on the subject that you could use. One tip: Notice feelings and physical energy levels when you think about different options - these can provide real clues about the fit of the options you���re considering. As you identify possibilities, talk to people in those roles to learn more about what they are like from the inside.A role may look inviting, but if it requires a lot of flexibility and you prefer predictability, it won���t be a good fit. Don���t be hesitant to ask people; in general, people are happy to help and are often flattered to be asked.Also gather information about education and training requirements, as well as salary information. If you have a family, keep their needs in mind. If you���re looking at going back to school while working full-time, this has time and money implications. Likewise, if your new career entails a pay cut, you���ll need to be sure your family supports you in this choice. Look both at the present and the future to make a solid choice for the next phase of your career. Liz Reyer is a credentialed coach with more than 20 years of business experience. Her company, Reyer Coaching & Consulting, offers services for organizations of all sizes. Submit questions or comments about this column at www.deliverchange.com/coachscorner or email her at lizdeliverchange.com. 2 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS ��� February 28, 2013 Volume 15 ��� Number 25 February 28, 2013 A publication of Conley Media social media to recruit techsavvy workers. LinkedIn is viewed as a standard tool now. ���If you���re not there, it���s like I can���t find you,��� said Liran Kotzer, founder and CEO of DoNanza.com, which aggregates freelance jobs for graphic designers, writers, those with experience in social media and video, and others. Kotzer said individuals also should write a blog about their own expertise. Many know they should be careful about their images on Facebook and Twitter. But what���s one key tip? ���Don���t tell anything bad on your past bosses,��� Kotzer said. A company isn���t going to want to hire you if they see you said something negative about a past employer ��� even if it���s true. Q: What about the interview? Any tricks to know? A: Some interviewers start out by asking: ���Tell me a little about yourself.��� ... from page 1 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS Gain An Edge Classified Sales Director: Kristi Wolf 262/670-1516 Account Executive: Donna Armstrong 262/513-2698 darmstrong@conleynet.com Story Coordinator: Dwayne Butler 262/513-2626 dbutler@conleynet.com Production: Patricia Scheel 262/513-2690 Distributed by: Conley Distribution 262-513-2646 ��2004 by Conley Media Waukesha County Independent and Locally Owned GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS is published weekly by Conley Media ��� Waukesha County, 801 N. Barstow St., Waukesha, WI 53186. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS assumes no liability for any error in copy or content. 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