10 New Rules for Today's Job Hunt

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Guess what? I got the dream job because I found the hiring manager can be BOUGHT! Graft really works! After I moved into my office, I presented the gold in my portfolio to the most insecure colleague I could find and was an instant SUCCESS! Because of the realities riding the current job markets, NO JOB IS PERMANANT... which means even full timers are really little more than TEMPS with benefits. If you discover you are in a gold mine, stuff your pockets with nuggets while they are in reach because you will NOT be there long enough to reap rewards for being squeeky clean honest and floating on a cloud of altruism. The goodies are there only for those BOLD ENOUGH to grab them QUICKLY! Good luck, all you harvest time wannabees. Its not Kansas anymore and maybe it NEVER WAS...

GuRuForYou of NY 8:31AM November 22, 2010

Of course, it doesn't hurt if you are open to off duty social interaction. This type of resume' appeal NEVER goes out of style because sex is just too basic for anyone to forget. Sexy people are ALWAYS at the top of the list unless its your wife or husband who selects who will work with you.

WacjobJunky of NJ 8:12AM November 22, 2010

Anyone trying to find a job in the business world must be comfortable with computers and software. It's amazing how many people do not have adequate computer skills. If you are one of them, please take a basic computer course at your local college. Another reason you may not be getting hired is because you may not have relevant experience. There are all sorts of online schools and academies that can provide specific job training. For example, the real estate industry, as badly battered as it is, is still hiring people who have computer skills, marketing knowledge and know something about real estate and related businesses. Online schools like RealEstateSpecialtyCareers.com offer quick, affordable training so that you have definite skills to offer an employer. Whatever your field of interest, make sure you have marketable skills.

J.R. of FL 10:11AM August 27, 2010

Ooops....I was actually referring to Unnym Ploid of MA's comment here, not the article above. Sorry!

Doesn't matter of VT 12:05PM May 18, 2010

Incredible article! Thank you. Always opt for being yourself, stress-free, depression-free, living up to your own expectations instead of society's or anybody else's. You can't go wrong for respecting yourself.

Doesn't matter of VT 12:04PM May 18, 2010

Work advice columns remind me of jargon-laced PUA (pickup artist) publications. At heart, both are fear-mongering. They say if you are yourself, and act human, you will fail. Their advice is innately shaming, urging you to become a robot while appearing not to.
Per the "dating game," guys are sold "killer" techniques that "never fail." Both are impossible. No tactics always succeed. They see feelings as dangerous and negative. Yet what constitutes success? If a lonely guy beds a woman who is so insecure that she needs "her men" to be James Bond in all situations, he will be alone again as soon as he feels human again. One nanosecond of his being insecure and she's gone.
Both are doomed. She seeks someone to keep her from feeling self-doubt. He buries all doubts to create an illusion so he's not alone.
Better to be comfortable in one's imperfect skin. If a particular woman doesn't like him, so what? Others will. Why be who he isn't? That's living suicide.
Similarly, who REALLY wants to work for a company that insists you act perfectly all the time? What company brags about its "face-paced environment that requires multi-tasking"? Driving while texting is dangerous. Jobs that stress workers are poorly designed!
Shows like THE OFFICE are popular because we all ARE human, despite pretending otherwise. The person interviewing us might be wearing underwear that is two days old because s/he was too busy-drunk-tired-etc. to change. All must poop to live. So why must interviewees be impossibly focused, will all-the-answers, etc.?
Sure, "some" tips may help in getting hired. It's probably not good to interview in pajamas. Still, most advice just increases worry. Few men will toss an attractive woman out of bed for eating animal crackers. Good companies will not expect applicants to be zombies.
Job-hunting had been compared to actual hunting. We're told to wear the right camouflage, use the right lures, track the right tracks, and not step on twigs. But there is farming, too. And supermarkets.
Even desperate people need to know there's not just ONE job or interview or "god-like" determiner of their fate. Better to crash-and-burn on your own terms while seeking jobs/dates than live someone else's life and definitions. Ultimately we are who we are. If you get hired by a company that demands you be Amish and you're not, what happens when they spot you during lunch listening to an iPod?
Put forth your best authentic self. If some don't like it, others will. The ugly duckling COULD have spent its life trying as a duck...or refused, discovered they were a goose, and flocked with those more fun to be with.
"Banksters" and corporate-owned politicians created this financial crisis. THEY should be changing, not us.
And remember: Corporations that created this crisis (off-shoring jobs, gaming financial regs, etc.) were filled with folks who'd acted "perfectly" during interviews.
Be yourself in interviews.
And vote out all incumbents!

Unnym Ploid of MA 11:55PM May 16, 2010

I often wonder what the real purpose is of these endless 'How To' lists of job search/career advice?
It seems that there is a redundancy of information that, essentially, falls on deaf ears, blind eyes, and numb brains, on how to play the 'Job Search Lottery' game. In this game the rules are written, and revised - almost at whim, by the Job Search Industry's major players, to keep people thinking that they will make progress in their campaigns.
People are trapped by a system that occasionally rewards the 'compliant', and never rewards the 'creative contrarians'.
How about writing lists of the devious practices that 'The System' (and its players) uses to manipulate, and demoralize, the unemployed?
Too many people are being duped into playing by fast and loose 'Rules' that keep putting the onus on the unemployed to 'Sell' themselves, while the insiders keep devising more ways to disqualify these people. It's an insidious, unethical, game, in a broken job search system!

Dream Job Maven of NJ 10:21AM May 16, 2010

I have been searching for a job over a year now, and I also have been thinking outside the box. Going back to school has brought me the respect that I needed for this difficult job market. Where will I fit in our jobless economy if I don't brush up my job skills? By just taking a couple of classes it made me feel better about myself, and made me some new younger friends as well. I don't qualify for social security benefits yet, and staying home all day is depressing!

Mrs. D. Palazzolo of MI 10:18AM May 16, 2010

To thrive, a company needs to have a healthy mix of employees: experienced and new; creative and analytic; big picture thinkers and detail wranglers. With the exception of the first, none of these characteristics are linked to chronological age. Energy and physical health is not necessarily linked to chronological age either--many 50-70 year old workers have far more energy than their 20-30 counterparts. Mike Hanson's comment about older workers being less well and unable to meet project deadlines plays to an inaccurate stereotype. I have never been in a work situation in which an 'older' worker didn't get the project on time--or even, ahead of schedule. Older workers have a work ethic--or work focus--which younger workers don't always have--as many other things compete for their attention. Companies who seek a broad mix in their employee pool should be rewarded with generous tax breaks. This might help offset the higher pay which seasoned workers SHOULD receive. In the end, the American economy will not thrive unless people of ALL working age are productively employed.

Margaret Wolfson of NY 9:12AM May 16, 2010

It may look bad for us oldies, but let me tell you that a new graduate with a 5-year Bachelor's degree in construction management, and a college-era DUI, seems to be offically, permanently, unemployable. What does society expect clever young graduates to do?

mom of CA 2:49PM May 15, 2010