Finding Employment

Many people will tell you that we're in a sort of economic recession, which can make a job search more complicated. While this is partly true, it's not going to be the main reason why you do or don't get a position that you seek. For every company that is downsizing, closing its doors, or outsourcing to other locations, there are just as many companies that are growing and expanding daily. The most important part of finding and getting jobs and employment is your resume. Having a polished, unique resume can mean the difference between getting hired and being overlooked.

While unemployment rates stay steady, there seems to be a great need for new employees in a variety of careers. If you are one of the people seeking a new position, you need to ensure that your job search includes a special focus on providing unique resumes to each company that you apply with. It doesn't matter what field you work in, or what level of employment you are applying at, all employers take resumes very seriously. Unless you're getting a job at McDonald's, you need to make sure that your resume stands out from the crowd, and that it appeals to the specific position you are applying for.

You might think that entry level employees don't have enough experience to need to create different resumes for different jobs; this isn't true. There are a few different elements to finding jobs and employments that anyone can use to make their resume stand out above the rest.

· Use keywords from the employment listings that stand out, to appeal to the employer
· Focus not on your abilities, but on how your abilities affect or will affect the employer
· Provide examples and evidence that you are the best person for the position
· Be direct and concise. Don't beat around the bush or allude to your abilities, spell it out for them.
· Be sure to answer the question "What can YOU do for US?"; this will make the company feel like you're paying special attention to them.

In times like these, where it seems like there's a constant fear of losing jobs, having a polished resume is going to increase your chances of getting, and keeping, a good job. We've all heard it before; inflation is rising, spending is decreasing, which makes companies need to expel extra employees and cut costs to save their business. You need to compile a resume that stands out from the crowd, to ensure you're not on the chopping block. Focusing on the tips in this article will guarantee good results in your resume writing; whether you've written a resume before or not, these tips will make your resume writing a breeze.

Finding employment and having a successful job search is very dependent on your resume. If you don't have a resume that screams "I'm unique. Pick me!", you might as well not bother applying. Especially when the economy is slow, you need to focus on making sure that you'll land the job you want, and be willing to do whatever it takes, including taking the time to polish your resume until it shines.

Conditions of work have changed dramatically in the past 25 years. I remember how thrilled I was when in 1972 I landed employment out of college, with the whopping salary of $9,000 per year. I was a budget analyst for a small city government, but we didn't have a computer. We worked out the city budget with desktop calculators. In my next job the situation was much the same. If we needed to make multiple copies of a document, we used a mimeograph or ditto machine. We had to get written approval to use the xerox. We didn't get word processors until the late '80's, and then only the clerical staff were allowed to use them. It wasn't until the '90's that my employer issued personal computers to all staff and set up an internal e-mail system.

Technology changed everything, of course. It made work easier and increased our productivity by many times. Salaries got higher. But it brought about another major change in work conditions that I and many others had never expected: downsizing. Companies no longer needed in fact, couldn't afford so many high-priced workers. So while in the past you would expect to take a job as a permanent employee and spend all your working years with one employer, today you have to plan on working in several different jobs during your career. You might always be on renewable contracts without ever becoming a "permanent" employee of a firm. Even in academia, the idea of tenure is becoming a thing of the past.

While this is a pain in the neck for the employee, it isn't bad for the economy. If businesses are free to retool their staff to meet the needs of a rapidly changing market, they'll be more competitive and the whole economy will do better which translates into more jobs. Job insecurity does have benefits for the employee, too. It forces you to keep on your toes and continue learning as technology and needs change. It also requires that you plan ahead. You can't rely on your company to give you a pension and good health insurance over the long term if you'll only be with that company a few years. You need to start managing your finances so that you have a nest egg to hold you over during periods, perhaps several months at a time, when you're between jobs, as well as in your retirement years.

I worked for a government agency but, like private corporations, it went through its own painful downsizing a few years back. Many folks like myself, who had expected at least ten more years with the agency, suddenly found themselves on the job market again, competing with people in their twenties and thirties. Lots of them still had to worry about paying off mortgages and financing their children's college education. Panic time.

Recently I interviewed a dozen or so colleagues who had been downsized out of their jobs but successfully settled in satisfying new careers, to see if their experiences offered any lessons. They had differing professional backgrounds and went into a variety of second careers, from jobs very similar to those they had left behind to forays into teaching and independent small business. But I did find some factors in common.

Most of them did a great deal of self-examination before they started marketing themselves. They figured out what they had really liked and really disliked about the work they had been doing, then focused in on jobs that would let them to do the things they liked and did well. The idea of doing something they really liked and excelled at - and having more fun at it than they had at the jobs they left - gave them enthusiasm and confidence to start their job searches. And that, of course, made them come across better to new employers. One secretary friend, for example, decided that she loved typing and shorthand but really hated the administrative parts of the job. With the advent of the PC, typing and shorthand are no longer sorely needed skills for many employers, but she found one market for them. She learned to use the stenographic machine and became a court reporter, a field much in demand in our litigious society.

Another common factor among these folks was their lack of concern about status. Some of them had risen to responsible management positions with all the perks that accompany them. In the jobs they sought, they would be contract employees with no seniority, smaller offices, nobody to supervise, and more hands-on "grunt" work than they had done in years. That didn't phase them. In fact, some of them found it refreshing to be relieved of the headaches of managing and back to technical work they found stimulating. I'm one of those. Though I'm earning less as a business writer than I used to as a manager, I"m no longer losing sleep over personnel issues.

A final factor was that they had taken pains to keep in touch with friends and coworkers from over the years. This gave them a wide network of contacts who were pleased to do what they could to help out a friend. And in many cases, it was these friendships that opened up the new job opportunities.

Greatly as the employment market has changed in the past 25 years, it's likely to change even faster in the future with the astounding technological advances we see all around us. It pays to be prepared for the possibility of having to seek work not just once but multiple times. In a growing economy, this isn't a fearful proposition if you plan ahead. Keep learning, understand what kinds of work you like and do well, maintain your friendships, and have an open mind about the directions your career path might take.

So, here we are in 2009 and you are wondering what career path you should choose? Well, I'd pick one now if I were you. Where should you turn for information to help you make a good decision? Well, why not turn to your local colleges and take a look or why not look at the Department of Labor for their statistics?

The industries that you might wish to work in or where you might wish to look first might be where there are shortages are things like medicine, aerospace, maintenance, training, teaching, all with huge shortages now only to get worse, thus they need people and solutions. There are also big shortages in transportation, nursing, air traffic control, police and law enforcement too.

If you cannot stand the thought of working for someone else why not consider self-employment working for yourself. Maybe you can start a business that can solve some of our nation's problems and make money at it too. We have issues with resources too like water. There are pollution issues to be solved, etc. and lots of opportunity for entrepreneurs and solution providers.

You know it's almost as if you have to decide to go get brain washed and get a major degree to satisfy an employer or you need to go start a company. If you can continue going to school without being brain washed you will actually be very valuable; valuable to your own business or a fast moving start-up company.

If decide to work for yourself and are picking which degree to get, consider the degrees that are always good and combine them, something like Engineering and Entrepreneurship is a good combo or law and business, good too. Maybe you should learn Chinese if you can handle symbols? The World is getting closer together you know. Well, go ahead and continue your research online and think on it.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

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