YouTube CVs - the face of job seeking to come

Today's generation of job seekers have a greater range of options than ever to promote their various skills set - even if job opportunities have never been scarcer. Let's just hope that fortune favours the brave (not to mention the creative and the inventive). 

Top Tips for 2012 Graduates To Find Jobs

Clean up your online presence.
The first thing employers will do is to see what they can find out about you on the Internet. Are you ready for that? They may look at your Facebook page during the interview. Are you ready for that?

Look for WORK, not a JOB.

Don’t scare off employers by communicating that you’re looking for a job and all the traditional benefits that go with it. Make it easy for them to hire you by making it clear that you are happy to accept part-time, temporary, or contract work. If you are equipped to work from home, tell them that too. It may appeal to them.

Ditch the resume.

EVERYBODY is using a resume. In your initial contact with employers, make yourself stand out in a positive way with more creative tools that are marketing oriented and focused on the employer’s needs. It’s OK to have a resume to take to the interview. But first you have to get there.

Think.

Put yourself in the shoes of any employer you plan to contact. Why would they be interested in you? What exactly do you have to offer them? Show them in your first contact with them that you know about them, the type of work they do and the industry they’re in. NEVER send out lots of resumes in a shotgun fashion.

Why should we hire you?

Assume you’ll be asked this question during the interview and be ready to answer it. Focus on the key points you made in the material you sent to them. Those are what got you the interview.

Bite your tongue.

Talking too much in the interview is among the biggest mistakes graduates make according to employers and recruiters. The more prepared you are for the interview, the less inclined you’ll be to ramble on.

Do your homework.

There’s a wealth of information available on the employer’s web site. Amazingly, many graduates never take the time to thoroughly analyze this information and be ready to answer questions about it in the interview. It will also help if you can talk about some of the key issues going on in their industry.

Create your own job.

Instead of waiting for someone to offer you a job, consider what millions of graduates around the world have been doing for years; i.e. operate as a freelancer. The following will give you an overview of the world of freelancing:

• http://www.elance.com 
• http://www.odesk.com 
• http://www.vworker.com

Finally, you may get some business ideas at: http://www.springwise.com

Ron McGowan is the author of the international bestseller “How to Find WORK in the 21st Century”, currently in use at over 400 colleges and universities worldwide.
http://www.howtofindwork.ca

Not Looking at Anyone in Particular

by Oscar Duggan

For me the jury has alwasy been out on the value of market research - a case of lies, damned lies and statistics I suppose. Does the 'recent research reveals' catchphrase serve any purpose beyond filling up column inches of the newspapers, or giving bloggers something to blog about?

Still, every now and then you read something that confirms your worst suspicions; as well as delivering the consolation of knowing that you are not alone out there. Even if 47% of all statistics are made up on the spot, (No, I made that one up) it can still get you out of a tight spot, to have facts and figures to throw about when arguing a case.

So it is with interest that I recently came across the results of a survey carried out by Opinium Research in the UK. People and Things, it would appear, are the two main causes of workplace irritation. Grumpy colleagues and slow computers top the list, while 'thinking outside the box' was found to be the most hated buzz phrase.

Actually 'thinking outside the box' would appear to have toppled its rival, 'blue sky thinking' from the top spot it held in 2009, when the Internet Advertising Bureau (also in UK):

"surveyed 100 respondents all working within the internet marketing industry, via questionnaires and in-depth interviews, to form a top ten most hated cheesy business phrase list. The survey found that ‘blue sky thinking’ is the most hated phrase throughout businesses in the UK today, whilst clangers such as ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’ and ‘thinking outside the box’ had a high percentage of the vote and were considered highly irritable."

Blue Sky Thinking, I must confess is a new one to me. Perhaps it's just a tad too optimistic for people accustomed to the type of weather we get in Ireland, hence we don't use it.

Also, while not confirmed by any of these surveys, it is widely believed that the most loved phrase is telling 'you know who' where to stick it!

All this has got me thinking about how Job Seekers are faring under conditions of mass unemployment. Has not having to turn up to work every day produced a state of blissful nirvana in all of us? Something only dreamed about during the hectic years of the Celtic Tiger? Have we come to accept, that the lack of security that we came to depend upon our jobs for, has at least put is back in control of our lives, how we organise our time etc?

We've put together a short questionnaire to find out what's the biggest irritation among Job Seekers in the current climate. Please help by registering your opinion and telling us how you feel. It's completely confidential. Only the results of the survey will be shared. Participants will not be identified as a result of taking part.

If you want to view the survey in a new window click here.

Results Summary          Read the Responses

The 7 Must Read SlideShare Presentations for Job Seekers

Here's a link I came across recently while going sorting through a backlog of unread e-mails. It's from SlideShare, 'the business media site for sharing presentations, documents and pdfs'. It's called The 7 Must Read SlideShare Presentations for Job Seekers. 

Before confining it to oblivion I thought I would share JSU members and blog readers. Click the link to view The 7 Must Read SlideShare Presentations for Job Seekers. 

Draft Action Programme - Getting Us Back to Work

This is a briefing paper prepared by The Job Seekers Union. It calls on the Government to take steps to stimulate a return to work for the hundreds of thousands of unemployed people in Ireland. We welcome people's comments and observations. The purpose of this draft action programme is to stimulate public debate with the view to formulating a more comprehensive strategy at a later stage. We welcome input and advice from all quarters regardless of background or belief. The Draft Action Programme is also available as a PDF download.

The Job Seekers Union is a voluntary organisation established by unemployed people to help themselves survive the unemployment pandemic that is sweeping across Ireland. The primary aim of The Job Seekers Union is to get people back to work.

There are currently over 400,000 people out of work in Ireland. In contrast there are very few vacancies. The reality for most jobless people is they are not going to find work in the current economic environment unless something significant changes.

The Job Seekers Union calls upon the Government to take the following steps:

1. Stimulate the Flow of Money in the Irish Economy:

a. Establish a National Enterprise Fund to create a dynamic lending environment by purchasing a substantial portion of bona fide loans made by the Banks to private sector businesses. This would ensure a constant source of working capital flowing to the Banks for onward lending to business. The effect would be to stimulate business activity and create a positive employment environment. Since this is based on bona fide loans which are repayable, it would not be a cost to the tax payer.

b. Establish a Domestic Debt Consolidation Agency to support re-structuring of personal debt thereby reducing domestic repayments and increasing disposable income. This doesn’t increase the amount of debt in the economy, but merely re-structures it to take advantage of lower interest rates.

c. Establish National Debt Re-Structuring Fund to purchase a substantial proportion of re-structuring loans made by banks to domestic families to ensure Banks have the funding to available to consolidate domestic debt. Since this is based on bona fide loans which are repayable it would not be a cost to the tax payer.

d. Introduce/enforce legislation to ensure business to business debts are paid in a reasonable time (60 days); unpaid debts over a certain period (90 days) to incur penalty interest payable to creditor.

2. Establish a Patriotic Savings Fund and encourage individuals and corporations at home and overseas to invest in Ireland

3. Promote Consumer Spending

a. Introduce positive measures to stimulate domestic spending:
i. Reduce VAT rate to 17.5% to level the price playing field across the Island of Ireland
ii. Aggressively market the concept of ‘patriotic consumerism’ to encourage spending in the Domestic market and on Irish produce
b. Introduce legislation to allow private tenants to renegotiate leases and take advantage of reduced rent levels. This would increase the disposable income of tenant households.
c. Encourage Public Sector to help stimulate economic activity through patriotic purchasing
d. Introduce a Home Improvement Grant scheme to stimulate the building sector
e. Establish a National Scrappage Assistance scheme for capital, white and brown goods to stimulate economic activity through replacement with environmentally friendly products

4. Protect existing jobs and promote job retention:

a. Abolish 60% employer redundancy rebate which is currently compensating/encouraging employers to make staff redundant
b. Introduce legislation to allow for wage re-structuring. In this way employers and employees could agree to replace a proportion of ‘Fixed cost wages’ with an equivalent productivity payment or equity participation. Support this with a Wage Re-structuring Grant that rewards employers and employees for improvements in productivity performance.

5. Promote Job Creation:

a. Support private sector organisations wanting to increase their work force by grant assisting salaries/wages for first 12 months for created new jobs.
b. Give income tax relief for bona fide expenditure on domestic services such as cleaning, gardening, child minding and so on
c. Reduce the Back-to-Work qualifying period 6 months on Job Seekers Benefit/Allowance. Continue benefit support for a Back to Work period of 24 months to allow new self employed people to establish themselves.
d. Introduce legislation to allow business tenants to renegotiate leases and take advantage of reducing rent levels and thereby reduce overall cost.

6. Reduce minimum wage to €7.00 to improve Irish competitiveness and encourage job retention/creation

7. Replace standard Job Seekers Benefit/Allowance with a Tiered Payment Plan that encourages participation in ‘Good For The Country Activities’ such as self employment, community employment schemes, training, and voluntary work.

a. Start basic payment at €100 per week; bring it up to €200 for participation in ‘Good For The Country Activities’.

8. Strengthen the concept of Local Community:

a. Promote local community activities; encourage people to get involved:
i. Garda Reserve/Neighbourhood Watch
ii. Sports and Social Clubs
iii. Neighbourliness

9. Establish of a new Community Employment Board:

a. Set up Job Clubs/Networks in every town across the country
b. Identify local community based projects capable of getting people back to work locally
c. Set up local Community Co-operatives to undertake the local projects identified above and offer local employment to people
d. Pay people working on the Community Co-operative schemes 50% premium above standard Job Seekers benefits

10. Increase Capital Spending to stimulate economic activity:

a. Accelerate school building programme, improvements in transport infrastructure, improvements to communications infrastructure
b. Divide public tenders into smaller tranches to allow Irish domestic businesses to win them
c. Encourage Bartering as a non-cash way of increasing economic activity

11. Encourage innovation

a. Establish Enterprise Centres across the Country to offer free start-up advice, serviced office and workshop facilities.
b. Relax legislation, bureaucracy and red tape to allow people to start home industries such as baking, back-yarding, jam making, sandwich preparation, sewing, car maintenance and so on.
c. Encourage Banks to provide zero interest Start-Up Loans to individuals to set up small businesses including self-employment and help contribute to the investment cost of premises, equipment, transport, furniture and other tools. Include these loans within the gambit of the National Enterprise Fund above.

12. Encourage re-training, higher level education:

a. Introduce a Re-Training/Education Allowance as an additional payment to encourage Job Seekers to pursue training. Introduce a once-off Qualification Payment for successful completion of a training programme.
b. Encourage participation in Sales and Customer Service Training to promote overall economic activity and stimulate a service led recovery.

13. Establish a National Volunteer Scheme and pay additional benefits to encourage participation in do-good activities at the national and community level

14. Sell Ireland overseas:

a. Develop an ‘Irish’ brand identity
b. Tidy up the Country, promote Ireland as the Clean and Green part of Europe
c. Introduce Grants to encourage investment in tourism
d. Target the Irish Diaspora

15. Encourage inwards tourism

a. Abolish Airport Taxes for non-residents
b. Reduce employers PRSI on inward tourism and domestic tourism activities
c. Reduce employers PRSI on export oriented activities

16. Balance Economic Activity Across the Regions

17. Promote the concept of the ‘Island of Ireland’ and encourage cross border activities

18. Stimulate Green Economy

a. Establish ‘Green Grant’ scheme to encourage and support, and give a fiscal advantage to all environment friendly and energy efficient activities
b. Introduce heavy penalties for pollution, litter and environmental damage

19. Invest in and Promote Public Transport; encourage private enterprise to provide public transport

a. Establish a National Transport Board to consolidate all public transport activity
b. Establish a Dublin Transport Authority to consolidate all public transport in Dublin
c. Encourage Car Free areas in our cities and major towns

20. Extend recycling activities to encourage economic activity and support the National Scrappage Scheme

Copyright © The Job Seekers Union, 2009