Gone Job Hunting

I recently returned to Minnesota to celebrate my birthday back at home. I was determined to put my boat in the Mississippi River and restore some semblance of my former life. I had a couple of friends that have also been having their challenges as well in this economy. My friend Jim had lost his job in the end of January at the same time that I did. His wife Kathryn was holding down the financial fort while he was looking for his next job opportunity. As I made travel arrangements back to Minnesota... more

How can you manage your time if you don’t know what you should be doing? Unless you have a personal assistant, a time management management system is your best bet. The first things to organize are a to-do list and processing incoming e-mail13181318s. The To-do List You can use the old school approach or online programs to create a To-Do list. The Hand-Written List ·         make a list at the end of each day ·         as you go through the day, mark down new to-do items... more

Have you been in the job market longer than you originally thought possible?  Has the “I’ll get a job by the end of the week, month, next month, before the holidays turned into fictitiou this spring?” There are many reasons for being: the second pick, just missed it, there were so many qualified candidates, or the “I didn’t really want that job anyway” syndrome. Meet John Job-Seeker. John is frustrated that he is approaching his six month anniversary in job-seekerville. He finally decided... more

  I’m not quite sure how con artists and job scammers know when a person is unemployed and looking for work, but all of a sudden I began getting all sorts of email13181318s requesting me to accept the inheritance of some Sheik without any beneficiaries, or to manage financial transactions for some foreign company that is “beginning” to do business in the U.S.  If you are currently job-hunting then you are undoubtedly getting these also.  Don’t fall for these ploys; they are designed to... more

Eligibility 1. You must meet the State requirements for wages earned or time worked during an established period of time referred to as a “base period”. (In most States, this is usually the first four out of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the time that your claim is filed.) 2. You must be determined to be unemployed through no fault of your own (determined under State law), and meet other eligibility requirements of State law. Filing a Claim You should contact... more

As a Job-Hunter, you will be getting form rejection letters. Copied below is an actual rejection letter that I received yesterday.  It exemplifies just how depersonalized the process of job-hunting has become in corporate America today. Enjoy the read.   From: Human Resources [hr-mmm@invalidemail13181318.com] Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 2:04 PM To: JP Professional Job-Hunter Subject: Quality Manager-0900024 at 3M Attachments: current_email13181318_in_html.html   Dear JP Professional Job-Hunter:   Thank... more

Mothers of Job-Hunters are impacted by today’s growing unemployment landscape. My mother has spent more sleepless nights and time praying for my speedy re-employment than I did.   Upon informing my mother of my job displacement, I received a deluge of Mom snail-mail13181318. I had to sift through her weekly care packages of “helpful” JobHunter newspaper clippings. She clipped and sent a full spectrum of exciting job opportunities, including: jobs that are high-pay with high risk, the fast-food... more

You just lost your job. You just survived the first 72 hours of shock, grief and finally what next? You may rationalize, I have a cushion: money in savings, investments, a severance package and unemployment.  Why not take a little time off?  I deserve it!  Relax. Recharge. What do I want to do next? What colour is my parachute? What am I passionate about? Should I start a business? Wake Up And Smell The Economy! The New Economy is lean & mean. It is a highly competitive market with an ever-shrinking... more

Your resume and cover letters are squeaky clean, free of grammar & spelling errors. You researched relevant job posting sites.  You posted your profile to these sites You are the perfect person for several perspective jobs.  Bring on the interviews.  Let’s land one of those jobs!  Wait!  Before you pass go, you need to know about electronic screening and that keywords are the most important part of your online postings. How2 Pass Your Screen Test Online job sites use electronic... more

Your financial picture is your top priority. Do you have a safety net?  Are you in a high-demand profession?  Were you given a generous severance package and substantial accrued vacation time?  If so, Lucky You!  If not, apply this approach: sum of your financial resources / pessimistic estimate of time unemployed = your budget reality.   Set up your unemployment account Don’t wait until your severance or vacation pay is used up.  You may find that your State has a waiting period or delay... more