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!

by

Avoid relying on job boards! Do this instead.

Avoid relying on job boards! Do this instead.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Job boards are not evil. They are not the only way to find jobs. In fact, if you use the strategies mentioned in this show, you’ll experience its effectiveness without waiting for job boards and applications result. Austin Belcak, founder of CultivatedCulture.com gave me the rundown of how he applied, tweaked, and perfected strategies that landed him around 50 interviews.

More about Austin:
Austin is the creator of Cultivated Culture, a blog helping job seekers succeed with several strategies including:
– Get a referral to companies where they previously knew no one
– Network and get to know hiring managers resulting in receiving job offers
– Ultimately land jobs without relying on a job board

Got something to say? Got a topic for the show? Disagree?
– 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

Listen to: The State of Job Search

Show highlights:

– Austin shares about his frustration as job seekers applying to hundreds of job board postings without results
– It didn’t make sense to him to do so much work without any resemblance of results
– He asked immediately family, friends, school career professionals who gave the same answer
– Finally, a career coach got him started networking to find people in the company to reach out and make connections
– He learned through networking with the right people in a company gave him tangible results
– He used LinkedIn and cold emailing to reach people in companies where he wanted to work
– It was a lot of work in talking with 10-15 in each company to find out what they did and how they were hired
– Most people either got in the company’s door through a referral
– They also found ways to illustrate to employers their value

The show epilogue
The next show will be on April 14. There will be FOUR SHOWS left for the year. Two in April and two in May. Then my summer hiatus will last until Sept. 15.

by

The State of Job Search with Hannah Morgan

The State of Job Search with Hannah Morgan

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

It’s time for a discuss the state of job search so far in 2020. Things are changing fast if you haven’t started. This week’s episode is a takeover. Hannah Morgan is the guest host, and I’m the guest. Confused? Don’t be – she’s interviewing me on my show.

Got comments about the show? Here’s how:

– 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
Hannah Morgan is a first-time host for my show and was entirely enthusiastic about doing (listen to her intro of the show). She is the founder of CareerSherpa.net and loves helping people understand what actions they need to take to find a job faster. Her popular site and her US News and World Report column is a large part of her being a nationally recognized expert.

Here are highlights from our conversation:

  • Shout out Prezi and creating content on their platform
  • Hannah asks about – What’s hot: Remote work. I mention articles I’m writing for Job-Hunt.org
  • Remote work requires the mindset of a consultant
  • Hannah says about the “intra-prenuer mindset
  • Professionals are shortchanging their possibilities and abilities on social media
  • 2009 employers background checked your social media accounts on the back end
  • Your social media compel 2020 employers
  • Social proof is key to catch the attention
  • Your brand is effective when it’s your referral engine
  • Give shout outs to career professionals and blogs I read and keep up
  • Discuss my articles on Payscale, Glassdoor, and RippleMatch
  • Hannah: The importance of the three pillars: Know, Like, and Trust
  • We discuss why people aren’t finding opportunities  in this job market
Sign up for my weekly newsletter at the top right of my page to receive free e-Guide, “320 Modern Job Search Tips for 2020!” This year, it will be free for a limited time.
This is a reminder there are three shows left for the season. I will be on podcast hiatus (writing and creating videos) from June to Sept. 15. The newsletter will be once-a-month during the summer. To hear more, you must SUBSCRIBE to the newsletter.

by

Resume Trends of 2020 with Ashley Watkins

Resume Trends of 2020 with Ashley Watkins

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Welcome to our annual résumé trends show. It is the only show this year we focus solely on writing and preparing a résumé for your job search. This year, I chose Ashley Watkins to give the 411 on the latest trends in résumé writing.

Let me introduce Ashley:

She is a nationally certified résumé writer, job search and interview coach, and former recruiter. She is the founder of her company. Write Step Resumes. Her services help clients craft high-quality career documents (résumé and cover letter) and LinkedIn profiles to highlight their unique value offerings and communicate the distinct benefit to the target employer during interviews.

Got comments about the show? Here’s how:

– 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

Here are highlights from our conversation:

  • Ashley compares and contrasts a few of the past trends
  • The need for proof of your skills to stand out
  • It’s more important to stand out than to a pasted & copied resume
  • Communicate your brand and how you add value
  • Ashley discusses the importance of the top 1/3 of a resume
  • Write what’s valuable to the employer while communicating your unique value proposition
  • Employers need to know can you solve my problem
  • Trying to fill in space and using jargon can talk yourself out of your brand
  • With the emphasis on keywords now, personality can get lost. Remember that it’s a person first.
  • You must show enough keywords without the person missing
  • Show what you master, not as a jack-of-all-trades
  • We discuss the use of “I” in a resume – know your audience – often depends on the posting
  • Once a job posting is published if you have to wait to update your resume, you’re already behind

Sign up for my weekly newsletter at the top right of my page to receive free e-Guide, “320 Modern Job Search Tips for 2020!” This year, it will be free for a limited time.