The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

How Can Volunteer Work Be The Perfect Career Hack

How Can Volunteer Work Be The Perfect Career Hack

In today’s job market, volunteering can be a valuable strategy for unemployed, underemployed, and those already employed. It offers the opportunity to gain experience, upgrade skills, and expand professional networks.

Volunteering can also serve as a branding tool, connecting individuals with shared values and showcasing resourcefulness. To find meaningful volunteer opportunities, individuals should approach organizations with a professional mindset and seek partnerships where their skills can address specific problems.

When leveraging a volunteer opportunity to enhance their careers, individuals must manage expectations, seek clear agreements, and negotiate valuable returns, such as feedback, reference letters, LinkedIn recommendations, and referrals.

Unlike artificial intelligence (AI), volunteer workers offer unique qualities such as personality, integrity, and adaptability that technology cannot replicate.

Volunteering can be a powerful and fulfilling way to contribute to the community while advancing professional development.

Think about it: Where else can you fail safely?

Unemployed and underemployed individuals can benefit from volunteering to gain experience, upgrade skills, and network during a career transition. It provides an alternative to formal training or college, allowing individuals to create on-the-job training opportunities.

While job market trends evolve, volunteering enables workers to adapt and stand out as current contributors. It also presents opportunities to connect with like-minded professionals, develop new skills, and align with companies or individuals who share their values. What makes volunteer work a robust growth strategy?

I recently wrote an article for Lensa on the same topic. Above is a shorter summary.

Filed Under: Job Search Tagged With: Job Search, Volunteer

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Thriving In Chaos: Job Search Advice to Overcome Uncertainty

Thriving In Chaos: Job Search Advice to Overcome Uncertainty
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Thriving In Chaos: How To Be Super Successful, Wealthy And Happy In A F*cked-Up World is Jack Kelly’s latest book about current job market dynamics, job search strategies, and dealing with economic uncertainty.

Jack shares his insights on the fluctuating job market, emphasizing the need for constant vigilance and adaptability. 

More about Jack Kelly

In this episode, I feature my conversation with my boy Jack Kelly, Compliance Recruiter, entrepreneur, CEO of WeCruitr.io, and Forbes Senior Careers Contributor. He talks a lot about the Future of Work, especially job search.

Show highlights

We discuss Jack’s background as a Forbes writer and how he observes economic trends. Jack highlights the importance of maintaining momentum in both career and personal life.

Jack stresses that job seekers must remain proactive, continuously improving their skills and staying updated with market trends to avoid stagnation.

We discuss the necessity of maintaining momentum and habit-building in job searching.

Jack provides insight into the challenges of today’s job market, acknowledging the proliferation of job scams and the frustrations faced by job seekers, such as being ghosted by employers or encountering fake job listings.

He advises job seekers to be strategic and vigilant, advocating for holistic approaches like networking and leveraging personal connections to discover hidden job opportunities.

Jack also touches upon the broader economic environment, noting the difficulty for white-collar professionals to find new employment due to limited job creation in that sector.

He advises job seekers to adopt various mindsets and practices—such as affirmations and a stoic mindset—to build resilience and stay motivated.

Jack and I emphasize the need for proactive, continuous engagement in career development, including building a network, staying informed about industry advancements, and preparing financially for potential job loss.

Jack concludes that understanding these realities can help job seekers navigate the complexities of the current job market and thrive despite the chaos.

Jack shares his thoughts on AI’s role in the job market and its potential as a valuable tool for job seekers, provided it’s used wisely.

We agree that adaptability and continual learning are key to succeeding in today’s dynamic job landscape.

Don’t forget to subscribe to “The Job Scam Report” on Substack!

Here are three ways you can join the conversation:

– 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 mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Filed Under: Job Search

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Practical and Thoughtful Personal Branding 2024 Looks Like This

Practical and Thoughtful Personal Branding 2024 Looks Like This

One. Original. Thought. This is the best personal branding advice you’ll receive for the rest of this year.

You can find a thousand articles saying to curate articles and share them on your timeline to show thought leadership. Personal branding is based partially on sharing, building relationships and partnerships, and bringing value to people you network with or your audience. I’ve been on Twitter since 2008 but active since 2009, and many users/entrepreneurs are still just sharing.

You chance disagreements. At some point, through diligence and personal growth, your brand will come to fruition—not in how many will follow, but in the quality of those who follow you. It will be in who engages you in deeper conversation, not how many engage you.

The competition between the unemployed, underemployed, and underappreciated is more fierce than ever. It’s time to employ your differentiating superpowers, which are critical in the new job search.

Your brand value

I once worked in an environment where everyone shared everything. People were most proud to share what he or she made from home. One person didn’t share what he or she had but enjoyed what everyone else had brought. One thing bothered everyone: the person invited other people outside of the group to participate in eating but not bringing.

Some wanted to contribute, but others just wanted to know when they could come back to eat. This annoyed most of those who brought things from home to share. I think eventually, in communities online and offline, get at least a bit annoyed when someone doesn’t bring something of their own. It’s also harder to get respect for your brand.

A thought. An original thought.

How will we know you’re unique? Do we know if you’re different? No one wants to follow a clone, and hearing from a clone is more painful.

It’s hard to be seen when you have original content, thoughts, or a video. It takes courage to be seen differently, or to say things no one may not resonate with at first. I know first-hand rejection hurts. And I’ve grown comfortable with discomfort.

Even if it’s slightly different than the next person, you can stand out by delivering it differently. The words can be different. The tone could be different. Changing the way it’s delivered can be seen as refreshing. Your stories are going to be different. That is the game changer and the difference maker. Then your brand will be YOUR brand.

Share. Be honest. Telling the parent the baby is ugly.

One of the best ways to brand yourself is by saying the things no one will say. With political correctness should come tact and thoughtfulness. At the same time, as you start to show the world originality, there will be ugliness. The way you deliver the news is how you may save someone.

And political incorrectness is personal branding at its finest when it costs something or someone. It’s better if it’s truthful, insightful, and sprinkled with a little respect.

I became friends with an executive last year after I told him his LinkedIn profile looked like a bad resume. Although my candor startled him, we have talked several times since. But my tactful way of telling him the baby is ugly resulted in his acceptance of the change in his profile. Good people are genuinely interested in you and will welcome your delivery.

Only art institutes are interested in career curators. Employers are interested in work. Just saying.

Personal branding lesson from Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington’s rehearsals with his big bands were intense as he led them. He incessantly yelled, “Personalize your part! Personalize your part!” At first, it didn’t make sense to me in a big band with several different sections and many layers of any composition.

Within a horn section, you have several horns playing the same note. Depending on the arrangement, some instruments will be louder than others. As I thought about the importance of standing out as a sign of a strong personal brand, I felt the power of Ellington’s statement. It is about personalizing your part in making it different, unique, and special. All of us “own it” in a different way.

Sure, we can do the same thing, share the same message, and play the same song, but we would do it differently.

Yes, find and share your own.

One. Original. Thought. Personalize your part.

Filed Under: Personal Branding Tagged With: Personal brand, Personal branding

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I moderated a panel on Wealth Management for executives by Black Enterprise Magazine in October 2023 in Miami.

I was interviewed on Scripps News show, “The Why!” 4/13/2023

I talked with John Tarnoff and Kerry Hannon of “The Second Act” podcast about job searching after 50 in October 2022.

I was on “The Career Confidante” podcast to talk about “boomerang employees” and “job fishing” in June 2022.

Making Job Search a Lifestyle With “Dr. Dawn Graham on Careers,” SiriusXM Ch. 132, Wharton School of Business May 2021

In May 2020, I talked with LinkedIn’s Senior News Editor Andrew Seaman on “#GetHired” Live.”

Beverly Jones, host of the NPR podcast “Jazzed About Work,” invited me back to talk job scams, job search trends, and AI tools in April 2024

WOUB Digital · Episode 183 : Job search expert Mark Dyson says beware of scams, know AI & keep learning

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