5 Things You Should Do Right Away to Get a New Job

August 5, 2008 RSS Feed Print
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If only a frog had wings...

You know how that ends, right? It pretty much sums up the "IF ONLY" thinking of many job seekers.

Instead of: "If I only had my R.N. degree"—ask yourself: What can you do next week to get a new job?

1. Rewrite your résumé. Why would you hire you? To answer that, you must research the company and understand their issues and needs. You will discover that the old kind of résumé is broken...and your new one will set you apart from other applicants.

2. Find and start taking two new classes. The first would be a speed reading course. There is nothing more valuable than increasing your reading speed and skills. The second would be a basic accounting class. The language of business is accounting—it will help you to understand some basics. Even if you don't like "business," chances are some "business" will be your employer.

3. Enhance your current job. The absolute best place to get a better job is simply to do better at your current one. Most jobs are bigger than the people who have them: What can you do to enhance your current job?

4. Practice your personal elevator pitch. Nearly every day, we are presented with an opportunity to share our personal story with someone—make yours something to remember. A few days ago, I was in a meeting with two people who did not know each other. One said to the other: "I know about your business, now tell me who you are." It was a revealing question, and he got a surprising, insightful answer.

5. Do something for someone else. Get out of yourself a little. Give someone else some help; maybe mentor. Here at JobDig, we put young sales reps in mentoring roles with brand-new reps. We have simply institutionalized that which we all know works: To learn it better, teach it.

G.L. Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and venture investor/operator/incubator/mentor. Two of his companies have traveled the entire success path from the garage to IPO. Currently, he is chairman of JobDig and his blog can be found at WhatWouldDadSay.com or at JobDig.com.

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does anybody know about how to find a place to live? i live in my car right now and i usually eat from fast food places because they have dollar menues. is there anyway to get a place to live that is cheap and i also owe a lot of money to the bank. people have said to file fro bankruptcy but i can't do that either. i don't have anymoney but the money i earn fro mowing yards and painting. i got this laptop from my brother when he passed away last fall. i've been stealing peoples wireless access and trying to find work on craigslist. most of those job posts are fake. i was trying to do a good job becuae i wanted to be somebody important like a docotr but nobody wants to hire on e unless i have a degree. something about being a resident or something. I just was curious i can't find websites on thos things. i was going to apply at a school and they want a lot of money and i can't afford that. i actually took one semestr but then we had to buy books and i couldn't do that. so i dropped classes and used the money to fix my car. i told my family about what happened but they told me to stop being lazy and go find a job. but i told them that i dont know how to do that. i said i have been looking for work but they said yeah right. maybe if your brother was here he would teach you a thing or to about work. by brother had a wife and kids but he died in a car crash and i always hear from my family about how i'm not as good as he was. my brother was a lieutenant in the navy and he flew helicopters. i tried to go into the navy but I couldn't go in because i had to have a degree. so i tried to go in as enlisted but they said I was overweight. i do okay for now. i try to stay healthy and order extra tomatos and lettuce on sandwiches and i even learned to make my own food with side orders from fast food places. i can cook in my car because i got one of those gas stoves for camping. but it is hard to sleep in because the police always tell me to move my car at night. they always wake me up and search my car. they keep asking me what the stove is for and i say food and they say yeah right. one time they threatened me and put me in handcuffs and said that i shouldn't lie to them and to tell them the truth. I told them i used it for food and they fnially let me go. i know that this was a really long comment but it is only because i don't have anyone to talk to . i told my dad but he does not want to talk to me. he is really sick right now and my mom told me to get a job. i said i am trying to get one but she said yeah right. things would be different if your borther was here. i was going to ask my sister in law if she could help me but i dont think that would be right. i used to see a thereapist but i had to quit because i couldnt afford that either. so i would just like some advice about getting work and finding a place to live. i was going to go to a shelter but those places are dirty and you can get robbed there sometimes. so i just wondered what do i do? thanks

Fred of CA 4:31PM January 25, 2010

Everyone has a resume. BUT not all people looking for a new job have a professional portfolio. I created one at personavita.com. Now I can list all my accomplishments and the projects I have worked on in one area. AND the project have been validated by my company. I create a URL and put this at the top of my resume so potential employers can link to it at any time. I can track how many times my portfolio has been seen. It's great.

A. Knight of GA 12:45PM February 17, 2009

Coming from you, high praise. I am kicking the dirt under my desk...

WWDS of MN 3:27PM August 06, 2008

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