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Patricia A. Crew
Master Career Counselor MA, LCPC, NBCC
Patricia has almost 30 years of experience helping individuals pursue, change, manage and advance their careers. As well as a Masters degree in counseling from Catholic University, Patricia has completed numerous post-graduate classes in counseling and career development at Johns Hopkins University.
Patricia previously worked as the Career Development Manager for the Montgomery County Government and as a career counselor for the Montgomery County Commission for Women.
She continues to be a featured speaker with recent presentations topics that include: Secrets to Predicting Career Success That Only You Know, Get Out of Your Own Way To Get What You Want in Your Career and Winning Strategies to Enhance Your Worth at Work.
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COMPREHENSIVE CAREER COUNSELING CAN HELP YOU TO: |
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~ Gain a clear understanding of your core strengths. ~ Do a thorough career exploration. ~ Manage a career change. ~ Improve your work performance. ~ Remove artificial, organizational barriers to success. ~ Navigate thorny management issues. ~ Prevent derailment by building strategic alliances.
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Volume 15: Summer 2011
Greetings!
Welcome to the 15th edition of the Comprehensive Career Counseling newsletter. In previous newsletters, I described a client's successful job hunt despite the recession. What has become crystal clear is that job hunts are as different as day and night - a highly individualistic initiative.
No one job hunt is the same or exactly like the next endeavor for any individual. The timing of a search, the marketability of skills, and the personal circumstances surrounding your individual situation all play a part in your success. Use of different strategies, techniques, emotional support and direction, networking systems, Web sites and social networking all play a vital role in securing your goal - a career that really works for you.
So what is working for you? Maybe a refreshing new set of initiatives will help!
My next three articles will be devoted to exploring specific value-added job hunting techniques to facilitate your race to the finish line:
· Effectively utilizing recruiters in your job search campaign and how to stand out to a recruiter.
· Using social media to boost your job search in a sluggish economy by guest author Marva L. Goldsmith (www.marvagoldsmith.com).
· Identifying mentors to facilitate your job hunt campaign. |
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Lagging Employment Picture
Sluggish Job Hunt
Boost Your Job Search with These New Approaches
So, you feel you have depleted your networking contacts and have not seen a viable job posted on your favorite Web site in some time. What avenue should you pursue next?
Some of your colleagues may have mentioned that they have had success working with recruiters, but in your field you can't imagine that a recruiter would be of any assistance to you.
This is not true! One of my former clients met a recruiter at a local D.C .Web Women (www.dcwebwomen.org) event and was employed full-time within a week. In another instance, I referred a client, who was very unhappy with her Association job, to the Professionals for Non-Profits (www.nonprofitstaffing.com). She was able to secure a new position in Development within a month, making more money than she was making at her current job.
Years ago, unless you were an accountant, engineer, sales professional or administrative assistant, utilizing recruiters was not an option. At a recent Women in Technology (www.womenintechnology.com) presentation entitled "Recruiting Best Practices", internal and external recruiters from a variety of organizations described the essential strategies and tools needed by successful candidates and stressed the myriad recruiting agencies available in the Washington, D.C., area.
A search for Washington, D.C., area recruiters netted agencies representing the following areas for both permanent and temporary positions:
· Telecommunications
· Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
· Association Management
· Creative Arts
· Development and Fund Raising
· Hospitality
· Health Care
· Procurement
· Non-Profit Organizational Management
· Global Design and Building
· Web Development
· Defense and Security Professionals
This is just to name a few - a truly amazing list!
Recruiters specialize by market/industry, type of position, and compensation level, so take the time to thoroughly search and identify recruiters to fit your employment needs. Then, follow the five tips below to enhance your search:
1. Do some honest "soul searching" before engaging with recruiters. Have a clear sense of who you are now, what you are searching for, what your focus is, and what you want and need. This is where a career counselor can be of particular assistance to you.
2. Attend industry events and professional association meetings where you can meet others with similar career expertise; ask them for referrals to recruiters.
3. Identify recruiters with excellent reputations through online and traditional networking with colleagues, classmates, former supervisors and bosses, family and friends. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a great place to find recruiters in your field, especially through your contacts who could refer you.
4. Most importantly, craft a relationship or partnership with a number of recruiters, bearing in mind that you have a lifetime career ahead of you. Engage these recruiters as you would any important networking contact. Keep them aware of your career advancement, special knowledge in your field and special accomplishments and awards.
5. Remember that reciprocity is the key to success. Whenever possible, help recruiters source candidates.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Assertiveness - I highly recommended, as a basic primer on assertiveness, I Feel Guilty When I Say No, by Manuel J. Smith. First published in 1985, this book provides specific skill based assertiveness techniques for individuals to deal with employee/employer issues, job offers and negotiations and conflict with coworkers. A recent client successfully negotiated part-time hours with a difficult and demanding supervisor utilizing these skills.
Job Trends and Growth - For information and articles on particular career areas, check out The Washington Post Sunday "Jobs.com" section at www.washingtonpost.com/careers.
Federal Employment - Karol Taylor is an expert in Federal employment and recently published a terrific, new book entitled: Find Your Federal Job Fit. Learn more about her at www.TaylorYourCareer.com.
Creativity - Recently, a client gave this book rave reviews: The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life by Richard Florida. According to the American Library Association, this book "Explains the rise of a new social class that...the author labels the creative class." Members include scientists,engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers. He defines this class as those whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology, and new creative content. The Power Conference: Women Doing Business
September 7, 2011
Bethesda Marriott Conference Center
Several women business organizations of the Washington Metro Area have joined forces to create the Women Business Consortium with the sole purpose of executing the largest, most relevant local women's conference. With a combined contact list of over 15,000 people the Women Business Consortium creates a web of connections that is growing exponentially every day. Read more about this conference at www.thepowerconference.com. Marva Goldsmith, "Job hunting is like a marathon, not a sprint," www.examiner.com, January 3, 2011, http://www.examiner.com/baby-boomer-in-washington-dc/job-hunting-is-a-marathon-not-a-sprint. Jean Stafford, executive coach of Executive Coaching for Women Inc., specializes in the unique demands made on executive women. If you're in need of help in overcoming traditional barriers, identifying new business opportunities, and achieving new levels of both personal and professional satisfaction, I highly recommend that you contact Jean at 703-759-4862 or go to www.jeanstafford.com. - Ready to Work
First Tuesday of the month, 6:00 pm
- Transition Roundtable - TelecomHUB
Second Tuesday of the month, 4:00 pm - CFO Support Group Second Thursday of the month, 4:00 pm For more information, contact ardell.fleeson@cbre.com.
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PARTNERS CORNER
Marva Goldsmith
Most people
have a vision of what they want to achieve but don't understand that their
words, actions and image may be holding them back. Marva Goldsmith, a Certified
Image Professional, delivers image and branding services through workshops,
workbooks, consulting and branded collateral development that helps her clients
market their best self. Check out her Web site at http://marvagoldsmith.com. |
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Missed one of my
newsletters? Click here to go to the archives.
As always, I look forward to your feedback.
Sincerely,
Patricia Crew
Comprehensive Career Counseling
trishacrew@aol.com
301-838-9456
www.crewcounseling.com
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