Articles - Page 121 of 258 - The Voice of Job Seekers

How Volunteering Adds Value to Your Job Search

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Welcome back to the podcast! I hope your last three weeks were as enjoyable as mine. I also continued volunteering for the “Aim to Work” Job Lab. For this show, I wanted to share a podcast interview as a guest on “Find Your Dream Job” podcast hosted by Mac Pritchard! It’s one of the most popular podcasts I have been a guest on to date. I discuss the tremendous personal and professional value anyone gets by volunteering.

I would love to hear your thoughts about volunteering in one of three ways:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to [email protected]

In this episode, I share volunteer work is a necessity to find a job you enjoy and to build your brand. Other benefits of volunteering are:

Expand your network
Gain work experience especially with your newly obtained training
Giving value to the community being served
The small possibility the volunteer gig will become a full-time gig
Replaces the gaps in your resume’s work experience
Brings confidence and hope to discouraged job seekers

I surprised that Mac listen’s to this show and look forward to him being my guest in July.

Do you need coaching or instruction?

I am here for it! Use my contact information above to inquire about individual or group coaching. You can also sign up for my weekly newsletter at the top of my page.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How to Make a Personal Business Card for Networking Today (at no cost)

You need a personal business card today! If you don’t do anything for your job search today, make it easier for any job fair vendor, new contact you meet in person or online, or anyone you are exchanging value. A personal business card shows your serious about opportunities and ready to move forward. Even if you’re not looking right now, why not be ready for any opportunity in front you. Remember if you don’t stand out, you minimize your job opportunities!

Most of you may have written off having a personal business card because of the cost and the lack of creativity. Well, I can help you with both. All you have to do is the following:

All you have to do is the following to create a no cost but original electronic personal business card:

If you have a LinkedIn profile photo, snap a picture on your mobile phone of the picture part and headline
Download Canva app, create an account (you can use Facebook to build profile)
Upload your LinkedIn profile picture to Canva
Top of Canva interface you can choose the type of image you’d like to produce, select “card.”
Pick a picture to complement your photo, crop, adjust to fit card
You may need to go to your laptop to write in your LinkedIn customized address, email address, phone number, and maybe a website address.
Once you’ve created an aesthetically pleasing card, save it and download to your phone
Viola, you have an electronic business card to send Bluetooth, email, or post on social media

I think any mobile image will do, but LinkedIn has a nice template for a business card image. Will the ease of producing contact images make a real business card obsolete? Who knows. Whoever you meet, you want to make yourself memorable and make contacting you easy as possible. An electronic personal business card in any image in your phone (since you have it with always, right?) maintains your readiness for any opportunity.

Remember it’s just another tool of many you should be ready to employ for a recruiter, hiring manager, or an employee who can refer you.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Is it Realistic to Leverage a College Degree to Obtain a Job?

Congratulations to all of you who obtained their college degree this season! Is your degree leverage for employment? Since it is graduation season, and many college graduates are moving forward with life, how many are actually employed with a job in their major? Too early to tell of course, but those of us in the career space watch these stats as an indicator of the condition of the job market.

The Data on the College Degree

One Forbes article says that unemployment and underemployment for college graduates is a myth. In 2016, some studies showed some law schools with up to 31% of their graduates were unemployed. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics latest report doesn’t feature any of the college graduate employment numbers yet.

Regardless of the number, it is still a wait and see. Nor can anyone use it as an excuse to successfully find a job without doing everything possible.

The Return on the College Degree

My oldest son graduated in December, and in January he was off to the Air Force. That was his plan for the last two years. But he also had two internships before graduating. His plan is to attend graduate school in the next year or two, but in the meantime his job will take him on quite a few travels. Like many graduates, the first plan is to experience, and then explore. And there is nothing wrong with that.

I reflect on this because three years ago, my friend Keith Townsend and I talked about the Return-on-Investment of a college degree. Every few years, I think this is a discussion worth revisiting for any year. At that time we created a video to coincide with the podcast–I think it’s worth watching.

Getting a college degree is a personal thing for some, and for others it’s family expectation. It is worth the discussion to evaluate your career trajectory if it is worth the investment of time and money. But those of us who advise clients if a college is a must have, we will likely answer, “it depends…”