June, 2013 | Journey

Apps – The New Calculator in Your Tool Belt

By Rachel Rudisill on Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Apps aren’t just for editing photos, managing your calendar, or playing games. A recent article on itbusiness.ca features 10 Android apps for skilled trades. The article overviews apps ideal for electrical calculations, calculating dimensions, HVAC calculations, drywall calculations, and more. Check out this helpful list of apps whether you’re a plumber, pipefitter, steamfitter, sprinklerfitter, electrician, welder, or construction worker.

Share with us in the comment section below what apps help you in the skilled-trades profession.

Current Affairs Inside Express

Infographic: Job Jumps and Career Changes

By Movin On' Up on Monday, June 10, 2013

The millennial generation was born, raised, and influenced by technology.

Just as quickly as technology changes and evolves, the focus of millennials also changes as new information and opportunities are continually made available to them. And, according to Forbes, they’re the same way in their careers.

Check out this infographic from Notre Dame Online outlining the millennial mindset of the workplace and the nature of their work ethic. This information can help millennials research their next career move before making costly career leaps. And even if you’re not from Generation Y, you can learn how they think and what’s important to them so you can learn to build better working relationships with your millennial co-workers.

Do you agree with the infographic’s depiction of the millennial generation? Let us know in the comment section below.

Resumes and Cover Letters The Job Search

5 Ways to Get Ahead of the Competition

By Movin On' Up on Friday, June 7, 2013

Writing your resume for the first time – or for the first time in a long time – can be a daunting task for anyone. How you write up your credentials can make or break your chance to get your foot in the door for an interview, so it’s important to have your resume nearly perfect every time you apply for a job. Here are five big things to do every time you sit down to update your resume.

Tailor it.
The best way to write a perfect resume is tailoring it to a specific job description. Clearly list each skill you possess that the position requires. If you’re a perfect match for the job, a tailored resume will help potential employers see at a glance how your skills and talents match the position perfectly.

List unique skills.
After you review a job description, you may notice that a skill you possess wasn’t included in the posting. If that skill relates to the job and would benefit your employer, include this skill on your resume. Employers will take notice when you list unique skills, which can put you ahead of your competition, especially if no one else possesses those skills. If you have a skill that doesn’t relate to the job, don’t include it on your resume. For example, if you’re applying for a data processing job, don’t list your cooking skills.

Practice.
Writing a perfect resume doesn’t happen in an instance, and if you’re learning new skills and gaining new experiences, what you can put on your resume will constantly grow. The more practice you have writing your resume, the better you’ll be at tailoring it to each job description and including just what employers are looking for. Try drafting your resume in different formats, such as chronological and functional formats. This will help you figure out which style works best for each of the positions you’re applying for.

Proofread.
When you make careless mistakes and they end up in a potential employer’s hands, your chances of landing an interview may disappear. So, carefully read and reread your resume, checking for misspelled words, incorrect grammar, and misuse of similar sounding words that have a different meaning. Ask a friend or family member to proofread your resume, too. They’re more likely to catch a mistake that you’ve overlooked. Taking the time to make sure your resume is error-free keeps you from missing out on an opportunity because of an easily avoidable mistake.

Keep it short.
Most hiring managers receive many resumes and cover letters for every job opening they post and don’t have time to read every resume word for word. So, limit your resume to two pages or less. This provides enough space to detail your education, skills, and talents to employers without overwhelming them with too much information. And because they’re often in a hurry when looking through a stack of resumes, use bulleted lists to facilitate quick and easy reading instead of writing in long paragraphs. It’s great to highlight your achievements and include your work history, but only describe your more current employment.

Resumes play a big role in whether or not you’ll land an interview, so take your time putting yours together before you apply for each job. You can write a stand-out resume by practicing, proofreading, and tailoring it to each position. A near-perfect resume will help your accomplishments stand out and sell you as a great candidate for the job.

Career Options The Job Search

5 Ways to Find a Company Culture That Fits You

By Movin On' Up on Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Landing a great job is about more than a paycheck, benefits package, or good location. There’s another aspect of your job that is important enough to make or break your experience – company culture. All the money in the world won’t make up for a job you don’t like at a company where you don’t feel comfortable. You spend too much time at work to be unhappy in it.

Company culture is the unique personality or character of an organization, which can be seen in everything from dress code to workplace behavior to company values. Working at a company with conflicting values can be stressful, unfulfilling, and even discouraging at times. No matter how great the position and salary, if it’s not a culture match, you may be unfulfilled.

Now, even more employers are trying to figure out whether candidates will be a good fit for the company’s environment and with fellow co-workers. According to a study published in the American Sociological Review, determining whether or not potential new hires would enjoy working in the company’s cultural environment can play a greater role in the decision making process or the hiring process than your skills or background.

So, how do you go about uncovering a company’s culture and deciding whether or not it’s a good fit for you? Here are five ways you can find out if a company’s culture is right for you.

Assess Your Most Important Values
Think about the last time you felt like a job was a bad fit for you. What was it in paticular that made a poor fit? Asking yourself questions like this while reviewing your work history will help you get a better sense of what you’re looking for in an employer.

Discovering what is important to you about a company’s culture is a personal process, and you need to find what works best for you.

Keep a realistic expectation when listing your important values. It’s rare to find a work environment that is completely aligned with your values, but you should find employers that have a culture that allows your values to co-exist.

Apply Some Research
A simple action you can take to find out about a company’s culture is to visit their website. Most employers will have mission statements, annual reports, and media sources that can give insight into their beliefs and ethics. Looking into an employer’s social networking profiles can help you see if a company is more casual, expressive, and flexible or more professional, straight forward, and structured.

You can also research independent websites like GlassDoor.com or WetFeet.com where former employees offer honest opinions of companies they’ve worked for. The more you know before interacting with a potential employer, the better prepared you’ll be to ask the right questions to see if the job would be a good cultural fit.

Ask For Help
You can get a lot of information externally, but to get unique insight into what a company’s culture is really like, consider talking to people on the inside. Current employees and managers can give many details about the average work day and what is expected from the employer. Another bonus of talking to employees is that you’re networking with people who may improve your chances of getting hired if called for an interview.

Also, consider talking to recruiters from within a company or at a staffing agency. They can provide extensive experience from working for a certain employer. It’s their job to ensure job candidates understand what a company is like.

Arrive Early For an Interview
If possible, arrive early for an interview to observe the surroundings. Pay attention to how employees react to their work. Are they bored? Stressed? Excited? Note how managers or co-workers interact with each other, how they dress, or the layout and design of the workspaces. These kinds of clues can help you determine whether you’d mesh well with the work environment.

Acquire Information During an Interview
Before you’ve even been invited for an interview, you might consider doing an informational interview with the company. An informational interview involves talking with people who are currently working in the field to gain a better understanding of a job. You aren’t interviewing for a job, just meeting to gain experience and information.

While an interviewer may not be an ideal source for insight about negatives in an employer’s culture, asking questions that are specific to your values can help. Questions like, “Do you stress teamwork or independence?;” “What attracts employees to the company and why do they move on?;” or “What will be the greatest expectations and challenges of working for this company?” can help you determine if your values and a potential employer’s culture are a good match.

Not every job is meant for you, even if you are qualified for the position. If it turns out it’s time to go back to the drawing board, there are opportunities out there for you. By doing your research, enlisting the help of a recruiter, and building relationships with others – you may find the job that fits.

Inside Express Reader Surveys

What will Resumes of the Future Look Like? Take Our Poll!

By Movin On' Up on Monday, June 3, 2013

A recent article in The Seattle Times suggests that the future of job seeking won’t just be resumes and portfolios, but might include badges too. The nonprofit group Mozilla is leading this emerging trend with the website OpenBadges, which allows job seekers to display and share digital badges that represent skills and qualifications they possess. Major organizations like Disney-Pixar and NASA have already partnered with OpenBadges to create and design custom badges for job seekers to use.

With emerging trends in the job market like OpenBadges, we’d like to know what you think future resumes will look like. Let us know by taking our poll or sounding off with your own ideas about future resumes in the comments section below.

Monthly Archives: June 2013