Job Search - The Voice of Job Seekers

Career News: Dreadlocks, The Racial Pay Gap, and Why Would Your Job Search Self-Destruct?

First things first, I always find things that shouldn’t obstruct the job search. The Federal U.S. Court ruling this week is a problem for black job seekers particularly. This feature on CNN highlights the racial pay gap through a survey showing the glaring disparity in pay between blacks and whites. It’s important to see more studies like this since the gender pay gap differences are finally addressed.

This issue impacts the job search for people of color, but there are other issues more disparaging.

For me, as I explained in an interview (coming near you soon), my passion for the thresholds of the gender pay gap to be broken originate from the same place for the racial pay gap. For the latter, there are few and far between studies showing this difference despite the familiarity of its existence.

For people of color, the firewall of laws permitted employers to continue with reasons to deter hiring us. It is just not with pay, but reasons not to hire people of color.

One example is the U.S. Federal Courts signing off on discrimination of candidates with dreadlocks. Everyone knows people of color wear this style of hair. The firewalls of racial disparity are filtered by other issues making it more exhaustive to address, and incessantly demanding to build dialogue around.

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One thing I consistently see is terrible social media updates from people who are struggling to find new jobs. There are several types of updates are damaging to you, your job search and personal brand:

They are inappropriate. Even the Memes are offensive to anyone if there serve no value but promote or encourage racially or hateful conversation. Posting about race or hate and how to get past it in our lives is good. Posting updates making fun or provoking heinous comments are bad practices.
Posting out of date news articles and presenting them as current. It only shows your sleep and keen to irrelevant information.
You’re quick to jump to conclusions (and drag others with you). I’ve seen entrepreneurs who have disqualified themselves for opportunities because they did not research a certain business claim for themselves. How can you pretend to be a social media expert without using the Internet to screen people offering something anyone can do themselves?

I wrote an article on Career Cloud where I share 6 Social Media Updates Killing Your Job Search! Check that out as I expound on what I just discussed here.

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In case you didn’t know, this blog has received multiple recognition and top blog awards over the years. The podcast has had a slower start since it is a new medium but it’s growing. I’ve been doing it three years (September 2013), and more than 130+ episodes of episodes and many guests.

For the last year, my podcast has made several best job search podcast lists. The latest one is on CareerPivot.com, A Baby Boomers Favorite Podcasts – What I Listen to Weekly.

One of the profoundly nicest things someone has said about my show was found in this article:

“What I love about Mark’s podcasts are the guests. Every week, he has great guests from all facets of the job search and career space.

I have listened to other podcasts in this arena, but The Voice of the Job Seeker has the greatest staying power.” ~Marc Miller, Career Pivot

Staying power. I like that! Marc will be starting his podcast in a few weeks. If you have never heard our conversation on my show, listen to it on iTunes and subscribe!

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I wrote an article published on Recruiter.com, 15 Reasons Your Job Search Will Self-Destruct Today. There are things most job seekers do to themselves to harbor bad karma in their job search. If you’re not cognizant and aware of your behavior, you’ll hurt your own efforts. It’s worse than shooting yourself in the foot.

Let me know what your thoughts are about this article.

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

One Solution to Conducting a Stealth Job Search–Go Mobile

More and more job seekers need to conduct a stealth job search to stay at their current gig until they seize the next gig–on a mobile device. One of the solutions scarcely talked about is to go mobile.

More than ever, your phone is capable of doing almost as much as your laptop or tablet does. With the right amount memory, security, and current software updates, functionality will be maintained and will do everything. Whether Android or iOS, both will be enough for you to fulfill and execute required documents, applications, and assessments.

Yes, even assessments. Not only the ones to test skill competencies and employee testing but also learning assessments. More and more employers require results before your first interview (likely to be a phone interview or assessment). So your ability to be mobile and agile are crucial attributes to own 2016 and beyond.

Here are some reasons to mobilize your job search:

– Increase search efficiency and productivity. You may need to give up some Netflix, gaming, and Instagram if you’re desiring results sooner than later. Research, emails, and polishing communication is done while waiting for buses, trains, grocery lines, and during break time.
– You can forgo using work property. Unless it’s a long document or communication (solution: do it at home), it can be done on your phone. Even using work Wi-Fi might be problematic for your phone but I know people who use the public library for Wi-Fi.
– Timeliness is essential to compete. Deadlines are critical to meet for new jobs. Forms and other related paperwork are overwhelming.
– Maintain control of your job search. There are many ways to advance your job search from interviews to the final offer. Your readiness will help you keep track of the two or more employers who have started a conversation with you. There are many productivity apps to help you keep track of the communications needed to keep moving forward.
– Learn on the go. Most colleges and training academies have mobile apps to participate whenever you’re ready. Learning is no longer static but now is dynamic.

There are other reasons to making your search mobile ready. There are tools you can also use to create an office from your phone.

To learn more, go to my article on the Daily Muse and read about the tools I recommend to get started.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Make Your Career As Resilient As Your Body

Your career needs your attention as your body does. Many of us act when someone admires our body’s pleasing development or notices our depreciating condition. At first, we do what comes to us naturally as a casual effort until reality hits and the seriousness lingers.

When I pursued my certification in personal training a few years ago, the more I learned about anatomy, the more amazed I became of the human body. I took away life to change perspectives of what the body can endure and what can break it down.

I attended sessions by personal trainers who trained in kinesiology who showed how muscles perform under stress and adapt to training. Your body adjusts to the lack of training (and often weakening) and to high-volume training (strengthening and endurance).

In working with people, most people think weight-loss will only require increase activity without considering a modified diet. Think about it, and it is not the exercise we lack.

If we’re overweight, and our metabolism is slow, and the pancreas is wearing out, we will need to modify our eating habits over time. Our bodies need to re-align a healthy body with a healthy lifestyle.

One of my favorite books in the last few years is “The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery,” written by Sarah Lewis. Her book offers examples of many heroes who embraced the “near-win” yet showed the power of resilience to survive and eventually experience the gratification of mastery.

She tells the story of Ben Saunders who went to the North and South Pole solo and on foot. Saunders explains it in detail in this TED talk. The idea of surrender and, “…of not giving up but giving over to something much larger than yourself and circumstance and by releasing that resistance, finding the resources that you need to move forward.”

No matter how warm you can perceivably dress for 50 degrees below zero, your body still must resource the ability to resist freezing to death. Someone on Saunders team lost all of his teeth because of the uncontrollable chattering due to the extreme cold.

Your career must resist many changes during a lifetime, as does the body when it’s challenged to survive. As your career grows in resilience, more times than not, will thwart some of the residual of trauma and catastrophe of life. Just remember resilience does not avoid failure, which is a building block of success.

Here are some suggestions to make your job search and career more resilient:

Adapting to changes in job climate

Your body does the best it can to adjust to the lack of or volume of training you provide. You must look at your career trajectory the same. You will see multiple changes in any career path or industry. Today, those who navigate their careers anticipate change and keep fingers on the pulse of their training.

Know when and how to find time for training

When you’re consistently engaging your network via conversations, tea, or social media, training is easy to find. Too many times professionals are behind finding the needed training for career advancement. It costs a lot of money to register late for relevant training. More times than never, the cost discourages them from signing up.

Planning fuels motivation

People do well with nutrition management when he or she plans ahead. When you have budgeted and planned your actions, strategy becomes easier to execute. When you partner with someone who shares your motivation and goals, moving forward is easier.

Comfort is last when change is priority

Eric Heiden, the famous gold medalist skater, trained until he threw and continued his training. Successful careerists find ways to use the time and resources available no matter how scarce. It’s easy to find comfort when there is excess as it often masks the need. When comfort is rare, the power is using all at your disposal. You find rest, but it doesn’t equal comfort!

Similarly, you can control how well it survives even the worse conditions. Being laid off. Or falsely accused of something and you had to leave your job. Or being fired. Or just performing well enough. The good news is we’re all resilient. It’s a dominant attribute all of us have to survive along with grit. What differentiates each person is our ability to deploy it, as we choose to enact it.

No one has had smooth roads to success. Most of us are searching for our success, or an overload of satisfaction, and often the two can mean the same and co-exist in our lives simultaneously. Your body can do it. Your career can do it too. As Sarah Lewis’ book suggests, almost does count. You can use almost and some grit to finish–and land your next job.

image by: pixbay.com