by Angela Copeland | Jul 20, 2015 | Advice, Newsletter
The job search process has changed tremendously in the last fifteen years. Twenty years ago, it wasn’t uncommon to walk into a business to present your resume for an opportunity. Today, a company might be surprised if you delivered your resume in person. In fact, most of your job search happens online.
And, interestingly, most of the tools you need to look for a job are inside your pocket with you right now – on your smart phone. In the Apple App Store alone, there are more than 500 apps available for download when you look up “job searching.”
Here are a few of the job apps I have on my phone today. Give them a try — they just might help!
LinkedIn – The app is a scaled down version of what’s available on the LinkedIn website. You can edit your profile, join groups, send messages, and apply for jobs. Best of all, the app allows you to search the contacts from your phone to see who else you know is also on LinkedIn.
Indeed – Much like the Indeed website, you’ll have the option to search and apply for jobs. You can also easily peruse employer reviews. This app is very straightforward and easy to use. It’s a great place to search for jobs if you find yourself looking during the day while you’re at work.
Glassdoor – Glassdoor works much like Indeed, but with added functionality. You can also search salaries by title and city. That’s right — you can find out how much certain positions pay in Memphis. You’ll also find sample interview questions to help you prepare.
Jobr – Jobr is a newer app that’s described as a “mobile job discovery and matching platform that connects corporate recruiters and hiring managers with a rapidly growing base of talented candidates. Companies can connect with a wide range of hard-to-reach passive, neutral and active candidates who are leaders in their respective fields and have matriculated from top universities.”
Jobr works for jobs much like Tinder works for dating. It’s an easy to use swipe app. I’m still new to this app and hope to share more about it with you very soon.
I hope you enjoy these apps. They can certainly enhance your job search. But, don’t forget the basics. Your smart phone is also a great place to send e-mails, and make real life person to person phone calls. Using your existing contacts to search is the most effective way to look for a job.
A recent survey by CareerXroads estimated that only 15% of people find jobs online. That means that 85% found them somewhere else — like through a friend or colleague.
The bottom line is — technology will help your search, but you still have to do the heavy lifting.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | Jul 14, 2015 | Advice, Podcast
Episode 60 of the Copeland Coaching Podcast is now live!
This week, we talk with Julie Lythcott-Haims in San Francisco, CA. Julie is the Author of the new book, How to Raise an Adult. She’s also a writer, motivational speaker, and educator. How to Raise an Adult is a provocative manifesto that exposes the harms of helicopter parenting and sets forth an alternative philosophy for raising preteens and teens to self-sufficient young adulthood. She also served as Dean of Freshman and Undergraduate Advising for more than a decade at Stanford University, and holds both a BA from Stanford and a JD from Harvard Law School.
On today’s episode, we talk about some of the rumored ways parents are helping their adult children look for jobs. We also talk about how to prepare your children for the working world, and for managers – how to manage employees who have been raised by helicopter parents.
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it for free on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. If you enjoy the program, subscribe today to the Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher to ensure you don’t miss an episode!
To learn more about How to Raise an Adult, visit Julie’s website at www.howtoraiseanadult.com.
by Angela Copeland | Jul 13, 2015 | Advice, Newsletter
When you picture your perfect company, what kinds of things come to mind? Do you value 401-K matching, extra vacation, or something more?
I graduated from college during the dot com bust. But, when the boom was still in full swing, companies raved about their amazing employee perks.
Things have changed a lot since then, but many companies are still providing extra benefits in order to lure in the best and the brightest. Many times, they’re targeting millennials — workers who crave more than just money.
This trend is especially true in the world of technology. And, Google may be the king of offering extras. Just look at this list of some of the things Googlers are provided at work:
- Free haircuts
- Free gym, and swimming pool
- Ping pong, billards, and foosball tables
- Laundry and dry cleaning services
- On-site medical staff
- Subsidized massages
- Special projects program
- Childcare
- Free food
- Shuttle service
- Guest speakers
At first glance, these perks seem amazing. And, many are. For example, who wouldn’t want free food at work?
But, reflecting back to my college graduation, I remember evaluating many companies with these benefits. In all honestly, I ran in the other direction the moment I’d see a list of perks like this.
“Why?” you might wonder. Well, it always seemed to me that these perks were designed to get you to stay at work longer. At some point, having so many social activities at your job can begin to blur the line between your time and your company’s time.
It made me wonder what my personal life would be like, or if there would be any left to speak of. Working in the world of the internet, this is a big concern. When you work on a website, especially if it’s consumer facing (and even more so if it generates revenue), you’re expected to be available 24 x 7.
You heard that right. The internet must always always work. It has to. No excuses. It’s like Las Vegas, a hotel, or a gas station. It’s one of those places you can spend money any time of day you like. In the case of the internet, you can also do it from anywhere in the world. And, as an employee for a website company, you’ve got to be sure everything works, all the time – no matter what.
As much as I’ve avoided these all encompassing work environments, my own career in the internet world — and in management have taught me a few valuable lessons.
I recently spoke about my personal experience with Sue Shellenbarger from the Wall Street Journal. I shared how after work activities strained a personal relationship with an ex-boyfriend. This experience was a lesson that’s helped me to advise others who struggle to find work life balance.
Sue writes– “She advises clients in her current work as a career coach to pay attention to the impact of job-related socializing on spouses and partners, and to consider turning down events that risk damaging those bonds. Ms. Copeland also advises clients to manage their off-work time based on their long-term personal priorities and life goals, rather than the day-to-day pressures of work.”
To read Sue’s entire piece and to learn more about how these issues personally impacted me, check out the Wall Street Journal here.
In the end, the most important thing is this. Take the time to evaluate what’s really important to you. Don’t trade in your personal life for something silly like free haircuts or free lunch. After all, lunch is never really free, right?
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
by Angela Copeland | Jul 10, 2015 | Advice, Media
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “How to Change Careers Later in Your Life.”
This week, a reader reached out to me with a question many people are facing. She says, “A friend is seeking to leave education after 13 years and re-enter business where she worked as a tech writer. She teaches math and computer science and is incredibly detail-oriented, smart, concise and reliable. … I was wondering if you had any advice for someone changing careers – or going back to a career after a decade-long hiatus.”
This is such an excellent question. Many people face this issue later in their career, when they want to do something new or return to a previous career field. They face two main challenges.
To read my entire article, and to find out how you can overcome these challenges, visit the Memphis Daily News website here.
by Angela Copeland | Jul 7, 2015 | Advice, Podcast
Episode 59 of the Copeland Coaching Podcast is now live!
This week, we talk with Stefan Figley, Chief Operating Officer at Jani-King International in Dallas, TX. He has also been the Chief Marketing Officer at both Latium USA and Merry Maids, and was the Director of Marketing at Terminix.
On today’s episode, we talk about how to be a stand out leader, the pros and cons of starting your marketing career at an agency, and what it’s like to work abroad. We also talk about Stefan’s previous career as a professional tennis player and the unique ways he brands himself on LinkedIn.
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it for free on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. If you enjoy the program, subscribe today to the Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher to ensure you don’t miss an episode!
To learn more about Jani-King International, visit their website at http://www.janiking.com/.
by Angela Copeland | Jul 6, 2015 | Advice, Newsletter
I hope you had a wonderful and safe weekend. Over my weekend, I really started thinking about something. What are you an expert in? How many things have you truly mastered in life?
For example, you must know how to cook a little in order to survive day to day. But, is your food the quality of a professional chef? If your job disappeared tomorrow, and you were told the only job available to you was cooking in a restaurant, how would that work out?
Similarly, you might like to travel – domestically, and maybe even internationally. But, how good are you at booking travel? Do you know about all sorts of hotels, travel visas, and the best restaurants?
In both of these examples, the chances are pretty good that you would much prefer to be the customer. You probably aren’t a professional chef, or so skilled with travel booking that you could take it on as a full time job.
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Well, this is what I was thinking…
Was it is that you ARE an expert at? After graduating from college, I became an IT project manager and business analyst at FedEx. Some of the things that make an IT project manager good at their job include:
- Very well organized planner
- Ability to write business requirements
- Good at leading meetings, and mitigating conflict
- Understands the software development life cycle
Now, let’s contrast this list with what makes someone good at looking for a job:
- Well spoken, and presents well
- Comfortable explaining own work history
- Good at presenting online, in both a resume and LinkedIn profile
- Great at networking with people at other companies
This is a short list of just a few things. But, they’re clearly very different skills. The skills needed to be a good project manager are in many ways different than those required to be a great job seeker.
And, to become a true expert at something, you do it every day. This is what happens with your full time job.
But, when you’re tasked with something you only do rarely, like planning a luxury vacation, you either get by doing the minimum with your existing skills, or you contact a professional to help you. You know you’ll never be the best at it because you don’t do it all the time. And, that’s okay because your career’s future doesn’t depend on how well you cook, or how great your travel reservations are.
Unfortunately, when it comes to job seeking, this is not the case. How good you are at job searching can have a major impact on your future — both in the type of job you have, and the amount of money you make. But, how can you be an expert at something you only do once every five years (for as short of a time as possible)?
So often, job seekers fail to recognize this core issue. I hear from people who say, “The companies just don’t like me!” Or, “They must not think I can do this job!”
You know, the job seeker could be totally right. The company may hate them. The company may completely think they’re unqualified. Or, judge them based on some part of their work or personal history.
Alternatively, it’s equally possible (if not more so) that nobody’s seeing the job seeker’s resume at all. It’s possible that the resume never makes it out of the online system (otherwise known as the “applicant tracking system”). Did you know that very often, a human never even sees your resume?
Does the fact that you don’t have a lot of practice looking for a job mean that you aren’t good at doing the actual job? No, in fact, in might mean just the opposite. If you haven’t looked for a job much, it could be because you’ve been really happy at your current job – or because hiring managers have always recruited you first.
So, it’s possible that you’re really great at your job – but, not so great at finding a job. As I mentioned above, they’re two different skill sets. Does that make sense?
Anyhow, before you give up on your search – or get too frustrated (or take a fallback job), try to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. That frustration you’re feeling is probably not a reflection of how good you are at what you’re doing. It may very well be with the job searching process.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
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