Mark Anthony Dyson, Author at The Voice of Job Seekers

The Entrepreneur and Job Seeker Skill Test

If you want an opportunity to become a reality, go prove it. Pictures and videos count but prove it in front of a live audience. Do it in front of many people.

Job seeker, if numbers on a paper fail to work, then show your prospective customer or boss that you can demonstrate how to get the job done face-to-face. I bet your competition wouldn’t offer proof like that! Don’t be afraid to test your skills.

In a previous post, I discussed how Having The Right Skills Impacts Your Pay.

Entrepreneurs and job seekers alike could raise their perceived value in front of employers or potential clients in one major way: Allow your skills to be tested.

Don’t allow the fear making mistakes to paralyze you, even if you think you may not have the right stuff.

Through failure and shortcomings, you’ll get the right stuff through practice and training

But you have to go get it. Make it happen. And all the other relevant clichés.

You may say, “I shouldn’t have to do that! Who else has to do that?”

Exactly. Who else will do that?

Hardly Anyone.

Get it?

Toni Stone was the first woman to play in the old Negro Baseball League. Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Satchel Paige, and Larry Doby all started their careers there. History allows us to view it as a hub of future major league ball players. Stone is a model for attributes every entrepreneur and job seeker should possess, including:

Learning to Thrive in a Hostile Environment,
Learning to Adapt to Changes,
Pioneering a Movement for Equality
Embracing Challenges and Excelling

Read the rest at We Talk Today!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Keep Networking Contacts Close (And The Competition Closer)

Job seekers should be networking enough in their professional niche and networking contacts to know what and how their competition is job searching. As hard as it is to get job interviews, it shouldn’t have to take many shots to make one basket so to speak.

But it does, it will, and you must remember: Job hunting is competitive. Know what your competitors are doing and how if they are exceeding. Then do what they do when you can.

If you know how your competition is scoring interviews and getting job offers, then by imitating their techniques, you can achieve similar results.

OK. Maybe. But there is no shame in imitation. Not to be confused with plagiarism. Your network contacts are likely on your team and competition.

Job seekers must understand the uniqueness of his or her skills set and core competencies. Although job seekers can emulate strategy, you have your own accomplishments and results to showcase. If you have researched the company, know what it takes to succeed in the position. Bring solutions to the table so you can compete. If you don’t, you lose. You know your networking contacts could help you with your competition. That is if they aren’t the competition already.

Two job seekers can compete as part as a way to spur another person on so you can get double your efforts by sharing leads, employer profiles, and networking contacts. One has to keep in mind, that the job search is a competition.

Feelings could potentially get hurt while striving to get the upper hand. If two or more job seekers agree to spur each other to greatness in the job search game, they should agree that the competition is only to keep one another motivated.

If you don’t want to, then I hope you crush them.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Book Review: How to Find a Job Now by Jim Stroud

After listening to Jim Stroud’s podcasts, and watching his videos, I knew that if I read this book that it wouldn’t be a traditional discourse of job hunting with links and references to boot. His style of writing and presenting would satisfy traditional book readers but engulf others who adapted a learning style that requires a visual approach to learning. How to Find a Job Now (And Never Have to Look Again!) infuses conversation, commentary in one thoughtful and demonstrative training guide.

He states at the front of the book that,

“My approach in writing this book is to write as little as possible. (Crazy right?)”

“How to Find a Job Now” is.the first job search book that I’ve read in the last 16 months (I’ve read many them) that I wanted to have a conversation after reading it. That’s a good thing too because Stroud breaks it down by showing you more than telling you. And for readers and non-readers, you are not laboring to learn as you would in academia. The educator in me would say for job seekers to read a portion, implement it, continue.

Here a few reason’s I recommend Stroud’s book:

1. You hear the recruiter’s point of view

Stroud explains how recruiters use Google to “source” (look for resumes) to find qualified candidates. To tone of “How to Find a Job Now” is not just preparing your résumé but also your online portfolio.

2. Resources that you have never seen

Stroud provides some resources that you are unlikely to hear if you are not pursuing a consulting or freelance career. He makes a great point about using freelancing to get paid for giving advice (as part of the keeping a job part of the book).

3. How to use Facebook to search for jobs

The discussion about privacy settings continues as a job seeker needs to ensure that the best attributes are accessible online, and perceived as negative. Stroud suggests terms to search using Facebook to find potential opportunities.

4. About freelancing

Here is a convincing long-term answer for staying employed: Position yourself to refuse work! Beautifully said as most of us would love to have more choices to make a living. One of the best sections in the book.

The book is free through TheRecruitersLounge.com and JimStroud.com. It is a good reference and guide for those either beginning or continuing a job search.