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Goodyear Announces Closure of Plant in Union City

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Union City Goodyear plant in Obion County, Tennessee just announced that they’ll be closing the plant at the end of 2011. People cried, they reeled in anguish and they tried to think of what to do. Kandy Sanders, employed for over 20 years at the plant said she didn’t know what they will do, they have five kids.
Goodyear didn’t just let them go, they offered them a one-time exit payment of $25,000 or preferential hiring at another plant. If they got into another union shop they’d make comparable money and benefits. Also there are two federal programs that would allow the displaced employees to attend school for rehabilitation, free.
No exact date has been given and some workers have said they think the preferential hiring at another plant is the way to go, even calling it the lucrative choice. However, it’s well known that nobody is doing any hiring, and preferential hiring couldn’t take place until somebody begins hiring again. And, there is no other Goodyear facility in that area, so it would take relocating, which Goodyear doesn’t help with.
Goodyear Closing is “a Big Deal, a Very Big Deal”

Denise Reynolds, Tennessee Career Center tells us it’s a very big deal and people are freaking out. They’ve had other layoffs in the area now this, it’s going to hurt. She said the career center doesn’t want to speculate on what the job market is going to do, but looking in the paper there’s only four help wanted ads.
The union said they want a chance to sit with the company officials and talk about this. They want to fight for the jobs and try to make sure the plant doesn’t close at all; it’s not over, yet. The career center has assured everyone that before anything happens, the center will hold meetings so people can discuss their options and make informed decision.
This story is becoming commonplace around the US. There are a few people getting work, so maybe it won’t be too much longer before plants reopen and people go back to work. We can hope.
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Making Yourself Marketable for Today’s Job Market

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Many of us, in today’s employment market, may be looking for a new job or just looking to advance in our current career position. This can sometimes be a frustrating proposition. However, by taking a few steps to increase your job marketability, you may find yourself with your dream job.

There are many ways to improve your marketability, whether you are actively searching for a new job or just exploring your options. So what are the things you should be doing to improve your skills and marketability?

Look at your marketable skills. Are they in high-demand in today’s job market? The market has changed dramatically in just the past few years. Factors that come into play are such things as high technology demands, location changes and so on. You should educate yourself as to what the current market is demanding. Find out what the jobs are in the highest demand.

Keep your education on par with the job market. This may mean taking classes from online schools or even enrolling in a degree program to obtain new skills or just to make sure your current skills are keeping up with advancements. You may also consider attending workshops and seminars.

Consider expanding your actual job responsibilities. This will teach you new skills that will make you more attractive for advancement in your current position or a possible new job. This means you may have to step out of the comfort zone of your job and take a few risks.

Ask for feedback about your skills from not only friends, but other professionals. Your friends may tell you only the positive things you want to hear, but other professionals may provide a more realistic opinion.

And finally, make sure your resume is up-to-date and professional in appearance. Hire a professional resume writer if you feel it is necessary. These people can make your experiences and skills shine!

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Business Dress Codes Haven’t Changed Even Though Styles Have

February 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
how to dress for success in business part 2

Image by tiny banquet committee via Flickr

Dressing for work can be as easy as putting on a uniform, but when working in an office or other professional setting, people are left up to their own devices to decide what to wear. Surprisingly, this scan be an eye-opener to some of the older workers as younger workers just finishing college wear what they think is appropriate. Many times they think what’s okay for school is okay for work, but that’s not so.
Hemlines are still pretty high; women are wearing shorter dresses and skirts all the time. The mini skirt has never gone out of popularity, but it can be distracting to other workers and could be too revealing. Then there’s the tucked-in shirt that’s so rare anymore. It’s really become commonplace to see people looking unkempt.
Dress for Success in the Workplace

The hairdos of people today are very creative and even the color can be strange. If someone is working in a lawyer’s office, for example, bright pink hair might lend an air of ignorance or lack of tact about the person. And it can make the entire office seem unprofessional, too.
Many places don’t allow people to wear piercings in their face. Pierced ears are okay, but piercings in the eyebrows, nose, lips and other places isn’t accepted everywhere. They make clear studs people can wear to keep their piercings from closing up while at work, and some bosses recommend the person wear a band-aid over it.
Tattoos on women are more popular than ever before, too. A large, unsightly or rude image on a woman’s arm may not be the kind of look someone wants in their office. Wear long sleeves if necessary.
Dress business-like and modestly (no cleavage or man shorts), keep hair combed in a nice style, keep heels at a workable height; six inch heels may not work well. Try shoes with good support if standing for long periods is part of the job. Perfume is best left at home; strong colognes can make some people sick. Keep hemlines within 3 inches above the knee and always be clean.
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I Like Me

January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You need confidence to go on a job interview.  You need to be able to convey to a boss that you are the right person for the job.  You also need to be able to do this without nervousness, without making him feel that you are unsure of yourself.  You have confidence in your skills.  You have been trained well.  You did well in school and you are more than comfortable with every aspect of the career you have chosen.  This is important.  If you are knowledgeable and well versed in your career, you will not stumble over your words, and you may have more confidence when discussing the particulars of your job, as you know it like the back of your hand.

Meeting new people, especially a potential new boss, can make you a little nervous.  Before going on the interview take some time to take inventory of yourself.  You know you can sell your skills, but can you sell you?  Do you like yourself?  Do other people like you?  Are you easy to talk to?  Are you a good negotiator?  Are you someone people can come to and you can help with a problem?  These are all important skills in getting a job.  There are a lot of people out there who may be knowledgeable about your career.  The difference could very well be in your ability to let the boss know you are the right person for the job.  Let him know that you work well with others.  Let him know that you take criticism well and learn from it.  Let him know that you can taken on a problem and figure out a solution with very little guidance.  These are extremely important qualities to a boss.  A self motivated, highly trained individual, who works well under pressure and works well with others is a blessing for any company.

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Earn More With a Degree

January 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Did you know that you could make a million dollars more in your lifetime if you just had that degree? Most people don’t realize that there’s that much difference, but having a college degree is still very important for most job fields. You’ll have better opportunities than someone who doesn’t have a degree, and you’ll be more qualified for careers that are more prestigious and better paying. You have a lot of options to get your degree, too. You can go to school in the traditional way, or you can earn your degree online. There used to be a stigma about the quality of online degrees, but that’s generally been lifted. Many good, accredited schools offer degree programs online that are just as good as the programs offered traditionally.

If you’re looking for a place where you can find out a lot about different schools and degree options, you should consider earnmydegree.com. It can provide you with a lot of opportunity for research into the schools that you might want to think about getting involved with. Find out how much they cost, what kind of work will be required of you, what type of accreditation they have, and other factors. If you really want to get a good job, you should get a degree. You can build a career and a life off of a degree, which is much harder to do if all you have is a high school diploma and a minimum wage job.

College degrees don’t guarantee you a great job, of course, but they’re definitely helpful when it comes to having opportunities in life that you wouldn’t otherwise have. Don’t be afraid to go back to school and try something new. It might be hard for a little while, but that degree will make everything worth it in the long run.

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Resume Tips: Keyword-Driven Titles and Headings

December 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Because many employers are receiving as many as several hundreds of resumes for each job that they post, it is essential that you find ways to hook the attention of the prospective employer quickly. If your resume can catch the attention of the employer within a glance as short as five seconds, then you will be much more likely to land the job. One way that you can do this is to use headings, job titles and other keywords that specifically relate to or match whatever jobs you are looking to obtain. For example:

>> Instead of “Accounting / Recordkeeping”, you may want to put “Managing Both A/R and A/P Accounts”.

>> Instead of “Computer Skills”, you may want to put “Computerized Applications for Accounting”.

>> Instead of “Administrative” you might want to put “Departmental Recordkeeping and Administration”.

Keyword-Driven Titles and Headings

These types of tags make much more sense because they are specific to the type of job that you are trying to land, and they actually explain your specialized experience and what type of job you are applying for.

Which set of these headings do you think will be the strongest if you are trying to land a accounts payable or accounts receivable management position? Make sure that the keywords, headings and titles that you use in your resume actually strengthen your character, and know that details do really matter when it comes to this type of thing. Make sure that you are strengthening your position in your resume rather than being broad or non-descript when talking about your experiences and your capabilities.

Above all, keep in mind that your resume is designed to sell you. It should promote your strengths, skills and capabilities as quickly and concisely as possible in order to attract the attention of your prospective employers quickly and effectively.

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Resume Tips: Choose the Right Resume Design

December 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

When it comes to glancing at your resume, employers are likely going to make snap judgments about who you are. If they see skills or job titles on your resume that are unrelated to what they are looking for, then the odds are good that they are going to make an immediate bad assumption about your qualifications. If you do not want employers to think that you are unqualified for the job or jobs for which you are applying, then you need to find ways to stand out to them.

Employers do not have time to read everything on your resume, you really only have a few seconds to capture their attention. What this means is that you need to take steps to make your resume friendlier for these quick-moving employers so that they can quickly skim your resume and actually find what they are looking for. The design of your resume is a great way to get the ball rolling, because your resume design can highlight all of the most important details about your skills, your experience and your education.

When an employer looks at your resume, he or she is going to want to be able to pinpoint attention on the things that truly matter. If your potential employer glances at your resume, then they should be able to see the skills, the abilities, the keywords and the other information that is most important to them. Make sure that the design of your resume supports this. The design of your resume can have a profoundly positive impact on your ability to be called in for job interviews by showing employers that you do have the skills, the talents, the education and the experience that they are looking for. A little bit of fine tuning in the design of your resume can really go a long way for this purpose.
 

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Resume Tips: Creating Content that Sells

December 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The actual design of your resume should definitely be capable of grabbing the attention of a prospective employer, but a principle that is even more important when crafting your resume is to create content that is going to sell. The content of your resume, including descriptions of abilities and skills, is really what is going to determine how many different job interview invitations you are going to generate. The types of content and information in your resume will also influence what level of salary you end up receiving. Make sure that you pay close attention to how you can re-work your resume to create content that truly sells.

Creating Content that Sells

If your resume says something like “Maintained accounts receivable and payable records”, then you might try to rework it to say something like “Worked directly with company’s Chief Financial Officer to manage more than 1,000 accounts in accounts payable/receivable”. Do you see the difference? The specifics in the second sentence play a truly essential role in showing a prospective employer what you are truly capable of. You did not just maintain records, but you managed 1,000 accounts, a much greater feat than your original resume wording let on.

Which one of these examples will present you as having a higher level of skills and being more qualified? The better writing is going to lead to more job interviews and better salary rates. As this and similar examples are going to demonstrate, when you elevate your capabilities in your resume, you make them stand out. A little bit of creative working with your resume can turn it into a professional document that really sells you as a viable candidate for the job rather than droning on about the same skills that every other resume in the pile highlights. Standing out is essential in getting the attention of your future employers.

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Resume Tips: Using Power Words

December 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

When you use numbers and figures to describe your responsibilities and your achievements, then you will be able to greatly expand upon and elevate the image that you create for yourself. Using quantifying and numbers is going to create vivid images in the mind of prospective employers when they are reading your resume. When you make general statements on the other hand, then the entries you include in your resume will be easily skipped over and therefore easily forgotten. The more specific that you can be when it comes to describing your duties in your resume, the better off you will be.

Using Power Words

Another strategy that is going to end up being important when it comes to crafting your resume is to use power words and power verbs to control the image that your prospective employers develop of you. These power words and power verbs should absolutely match up with the level or the position that you are looking to achieve. If you want to move into a management position, for example, then you are going to want to strengthen your image by using as many management-related and management-oriented words as you possibly can. Rather than using terms like “gave work assignments”, you will want to use terms such as “directed work flow”, and rather than “worked with entry level clerks” you will want to say “Supervised and trained entry-level staff”. Each of these examples shows how you can use the right words to have a profoundly positive impact on your resume and the message or messages that it conveys about you.

Go over your resume with a fine toothed comb and try to spice up your content from section to section using power words and power verbs so that you can show prospective employers exactly what type of position you are destined for.

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Resume Tips: Identify Important Key Words in Job Ads

December 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 18: U.S. Federal Reserv...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Another important thing for you to do when you are crafting your resume is to learn how to analyze the specific keywords that employers are providing in their help-wanted ads and job postings. This is a true key when it comes to creating the most powerful possible resumes for your job search. For example, let us say that you found the following job posting for an accounts receivable management position:

“Seeking an experienced A/R manager for overseeing accounts, managing billing, collections, training accounting staff, training clerical staff, developing status reports and preparing monthly balance sheets. AA or BA Degree and 2 years experience minimum required.”

Although this is a small ad, it contains a number of specific keywords that you are going to want to address when you write an appropriate resume for this particular job. You can use the same types of keywords that you find in these job postings in order to make your resume align with specifically what the employer is looking for. Create headings that apply to the job posting, as long as your skills actually align with these skills and talents.

Keywords:
A/R Management
Billing
Collections
Balance Sheet
Management Status Reports
Supervision of Accounting Staff
Supervision of Administrative Staff

When you use these keywords in your resume, your potential employers are going to see them and realize that you have the specific skills, talents, experience, education and other qualifications that they are looking for. Make sure that your resume aligns as closely as possible with the job posting so that the prospective employer is going to recognize the merits in your application and consider you for an interview. Your resume should absolutely be custom-tailored for each and every single job that you apply for in this way.

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