Articles - The Voice of Job Seekers

Does That Job Promotion Belong to You

Editors note: Jewel Anderson is the CEO of Virtuous Careers, Inc. in Atlanta. Her company offers free resume and career counseling services. She is our guest blogger for today.

A promotion is one the best things that could happen to anyone’s career. I’m 25, non-college degree, and I make $60,000 a year. Staying in Buckhead, I was living my life. It wasn’t until I wanted career growth, that I realized, I would not be in the same place next year.

I remember as if it was yesterday. Working for Mattress Firm, I had grown a lot. I was a Market Recruiter, and top sales-writer. In March of last year, I applied for the Corporate Recruiting Position at the company. I prepared so well for this interview. I had a presentation and even did mock interviews with my District Manager. I was ready. So I thought.

For three weeks, I waited for the results. Would I move to Houston or stay in Atlanta? I was ready to take the next critical step in my career. I receive the phone call. With eager anticipation, I answered the phone, and the words hit me.

“Unfortunately, Jewel, we went with another candidate. Jewel, you did very well, but you had the least amount of professionalism and have bad communication skills.”

Never thought those words would change my life. Just like anybody, I was distraught, confused and disappointed. At this juncture of my life, I realized I wanted more than what the company I was working for could offer me.

Have you ever felt you wanted to grow, but didn’t know how? That’s where I was. The career became a job, and the passion I had was leaving me. It became hard for me to get up and go to work. So I began to do some searching. I turned to God.

I am a true believer that God will always tell you what to do. He guides you and when you have a relationship with him. You hear his voice as if you are in the room with your parents. He comforts you in despair and praises you in the good times. I began to fast. During my fast, I searched for Purpose. During my search, I learned there is a purpose in everything. I had been working Mattress Firm for 3 years. What was my purpose? Why was I there? I wanted to quit, especially since I didn’t get the position I wanted.

Sometimes we work a job for so long, it becomes a routine. In that routine, we forget to realize that we are still learning. In my routine, I had learned what it was like to have a mindset of a recruiter. I had seen resumes over and over again. I had interviewed numerous people. I had developed a passion for helping others become employed. I realized that there was the purpose for me at Mattress Firm. So I stayed.

In the marketplace as an employee, you feel unappreciated, or over looked. You may feel that you are wasting your time, and need to move on to a new position. Before you move or decide to leave ask yourself this questions.

Will I move out of my emotions or purpose? Whenever you are emotionally removed, the outcome is always distressing. You either move before your time, or move into something worse. When you move out of purpose, everything falls into place. A new job is in alignment. It could be a promotion or just a new environment. You are ready and prepared for your next position.

This blog is about character. Ask yourself, am I prepared to leave my current situation. Do I have everything I need to go to the next level? Was that truly my promotion?

The scripture reads in Psalm 75:6-7,

“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”

Everything has a time and a season, and at this point in my life it wasn’t time.

Be encouraged!!!

Jewel Anderson’s company has placed over 50 jobseekers since Jan. 1, 2010, through resume writing, and career counseling. Founded by Jewel Anderson, VIRTUOUS Career Services is a consulting non-profit organization that provides discounted rates for Resume Evaluations, Resume Education, Interview Preparation, and Career and Vision Counseling.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

The Audacious Follow Up Call After Your Interview

It’s bold, daring, ballsy, aggressive, and necessary to make the follow-up call after your interview count. Don’t be a wuss! Stand out by calling to see where you stand in the hiring process.

Perceived by people as being “pushy” as a result of following-up is not the worst thing that could happen.

People make a living by being pushy, assertive, aggressive, and even overbearing. There are other words that people like this are called, but you have to ask the questions.

Read: Are You An Aggressive Jobseeker?

Did I get the job?

Do you receive my résumé?

Can I get 10 minutes of your time?

When you own the audacity to ask relevant questions regarding your future, you are being responsible, not “pushy.”

There are fine lines between assertive and aggressive, but being passive is bad. Very bad.

Passive people miss chances.

Passive people miss the bus. They miss the train. They miss chances of getting a seat on the train. Ok, if he or she is courteous or chivalrous, but passive? A wimp? A chump?

Passive people are tactful and respectful, and we like them. I am one of them. I’m assertive. I just have this way of persuading people. Some call it charm. Others call it sweet. But I will make the call, and I will ask the question. It doesn’t take a special person to follow up after your interview.

Don’t overcompensate. People will see you as fake. Although I will admit, overcompensation is on the road to being audacious. Which is better than being a suck-a!

A lioness will devour anything that messes with her babies. A woman scorned will imbibe your head the same way with her babies. Your job opportunity must become your baby, and the baby shouldn’t be hungry.

If you’re a chump, slacker, pushover, scared, ‘fraidy cat, scarry cat, or lazy, don’t bother to call back. Don’t just send a thank-you letter, call. Leave a good impression, not a bad taste in someone’s mouth. Don’t email, text, or use telepathy! Call. Take the letter, drop it by the office. Talk to someone that matters.

Employers want to see how badly someone wants an opportunity. It shows enthusiasm. It shows desire. When you place that follow-up call after your interview you can call to say:

“Thank-you for the interview.”

“What are the names of each person who interviewed me?”

“Let me tell you what I learned.”

“The water was tasty, what brand was that?”

Even “Do you have Grey Poupon?” would be better than not calling! Have the audacity to follow-up. You might be leaving money on the table. You could be throwing career fulfillment in the trash if you don’t call.

Audacity alone will not get you a job, but if you were alone in following-up…well, what do you think? C’mon, place that follow-up call after your interview. I promise it won’t hurt.

Image: Steam Punk

by Mark Anthony Dyson

16 Years Old, He or She is a Job seeker

At 16, he or she is a job seeker.

Teaching preparation to our little adults is essential. Our natural instinct is to protect them from disappointment and just concentrate on school work. For a few teens, that works fine. However, a 16 year old needs to work. They need the basic job lesson: I work, therefore, I am contributing.

Rise and Grind, first school, then work. Now.

Are we really protecting our little job seekers by letting them just go to school and play sports? I don’t. School work fills part of a day, and rarely the whole. Teens, I think, need to work during the school year. At worse, volunteer 10 hours a week, but teens need to do something.

Read: Make Career Defining Choices Like a 17-Year-Old

Our little job seekers choose between video games, or roaming the streets. How about working to earn school clothes money? How about volunteer work? It is not about keeping them busy. Character means much more by our teens volunteering and working.

Several studies should alarm every parent, no matter the race or culture:

During the June–July period of 2009, on average, there
were 2.063 million unemployed teens (not seasonally adjusted).15 This
pool of unemployed teens represented slightly over 26 percent of the
official civilian labor force; thus, the official unemployment rate for
teens in the June–July period was 26.3 percent, the highest summer
unemployment rate for teens in the past sixty-one years.

Sum, A., Khatiwada, I., McLaughlin, J., & Beard, A. (2010). Historically Low Teen Employment: The Case for a New Youth Jobs Program. Challenge, 53(1), 87-108

Estimated Numbers of Unemployed Teens (16–19) and Adults (20+)
and Their Unemployment Rates in June–July 2009 (in millions, two-month
averages, not seasonally adjusted)

Labor force variable                        Teens                  Adults 20+
Civilian labor force                           7,846                 145,336
Unemployed                                     2,063                 13,085
Unemployment rate                         26.3%                9.0%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation: July 2009 (Washington, DC, 2009).

Historically, the rate of unemployment for African-American teens is alarmingly higher than White teens. The alarm has rung annoyingly for more than 24 years. In 1998, Ebony magazine published an article by Charles Whitaker stating what many African-American leaders are bellowing now:

OUR children are in imminent danger. Millions of them are engulfed in a morass of drugs and violence and are falling in staggering numbers to some of the most virulent social ills plaguing America.

Ebony, August 1988, A Generation in Peril, by Charles Whitaker.

In the same article, he states alarming statistics about the youth in the African-American community:

The jobless rate for Black teenagers—particularly males —hovers near 40 percent,
twice that of White teenagers. Many of these youths grow up never
knowing anyone who has held a job.

Also,

A 1987 Census Bureau report cautioned that “a large number of Blacks are falling out of the mainstream of our economic life and may never find a way back in.”

A Generation in Peril, by Charles Whitaker.

History, like a Sting lyric, “…will teach us nothing.”

Parents can do something now. If you are against your teen working during school, that is a personal decision I can understand. The downside is they can work and go to school. My son “Boy Wonder” works and attends school, plays sports, volunteers at a local hospital and maintains a 3.0 of 4.0 grade point average. This did not happen without preparation, conversation, and all of our family’s participation.

If you want little job seekers to work during the summer, start searching now. Have them dress, and meet people to make a positive impression. Teen unemployment in Illinois this summer was 26.1% as reported by Forbes magazine.

If you have done everything you can as a parent to find your 16 year old a job, then let him or her volunteer. The worst thing that could happen other than involvement in crime, is to lack purpose, and waste potential talent or a lesson in work ethic and skill. Wasted opportunities in not teaching work ethic and responsibility is the worst crime that exists. A young person could be arrested without handcuffs for years, and we may all suffer as a result.

Image: teenchokinggame.com