college to pro Archives - The Voice of Job Seekers

How Parents can Help Their Student Prepare to be Job-Ready

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Parents must participate in helping their son/daughter prepare to be job-ready upon graduation. Millennials made up about 30 percent of the United States’ unemployment population. Despite being college-educated, many recent graduates are ill-prepared for the workforce, leaving parents wondering how to get their kids from backpack to briefcase. Bill Holland is working with parents to have critical career conversations to help their son/daughter prepare to be job-ready.

Are you having career conversations with your college student?

As usual, your feedback is essential for this discussion.

Here’s how you can participate:

Call and leave a voicemail or text me at 708-365-9822
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

Bill Holland and I have talked a few times over the last five years, and the last time on the show was on episode 47 when we talked about his last book. He is a career consultant, an executive in the Talent Management space for many years, and now Principal and Founder of College to Career Catalyst, LLC. He has been featured on NPR and USA Today, and 60 other media outlets.

Here a few highlights from our discussion:

Parent involvement requires reassurance they are doing the right thing. Many times they need to define what the right thing is
Parental involvement is needed, but not as a “helicopter parent” in the negative sense. Parents shouldn’t go from not engaged at all to total disruption including the student’s desires
The career conversations needed between parent and student is constant
Parents and students should visit the career services center together. Being job-ready is a rigorous process
We talk about how parents need to see the scope and importance of transferable skills
Internships are a requirement, need to be job-ready upon hiring
Parent and students should agree what their profile should look like
Make sure your student is in position to take advantage of resources in career services
Every student should utilize volunteer work, course work, career services, and extra-curricular activities to prepare for internships and to be job-ready

Need help with your career goals, directions, or efforts? Do you need coaching or instruction? I am here for it! Also, join our Linkedin community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

Feel free to subscribe to the show in iTunes. July 26 will be the last show of the summer (although it’s possible I will publish one or two short shows between July 27 – Sept 5. On September 6, I will start the fall season of shows. I hope you will find value in them.

I would still like to help self-published career professionals promote their books. If you’re interested, find more info here.

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

Resume Keywords vs. Buzzwords, and Audacious Job Seekers

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Without keywords, your resume will not see the light of day. And without be audacious in your networking and interviewing, you may go unnoticed in your job search.

Coach Jennie

Jennie Mustafa-Julock (@CoachJennie)is so much more than a life coach, and she probably prefers being called an Audacity Coach. She is the founder of coachjennie.com, and we’re talking about being audacious job seekers/careerists.

Here are highlights of our discussion:

Jennie stated audacity has nothing to do with being “introverted” or “extroverted” but wanting making something special happen.
Audacity is more of a lifestyle because you have an unending amount of potential. It is a quality and an approach to life.
Networking audacious is remembering to be you, instead of morphing into the person who you think you ought to be.
We talk exclusively about what impresses others about audacious people. Confidence, ambition, and tenacity are attractive and perceived as someone to know.

Erin Kennedy

I’ve know Erin Kennedy (@ErinKennedyCPRW) through her blog and Twitter for a few years now, and her wealth of knowledge is always on display on her blog, Exclusive Executive Resumes. Her blog is a Forbes top 100 Website for Your Career, and she has more certifications and letters after her name than letters in the alphabet. Certified resume writer multiple times over.

Here are highlights of our discussion:

Getting out to network is a key to learn the target industry, and putting the essential information and keywords on paper as it relates to you
Erin pointed out that different countries may use keywords and buzzwords interchangeably. Erin defines buzzwords as taking the resume down a notch by using words that are overused and are fluff such as, “creative thinker” and “energetic.” Keywords are factual, and back up what you’ve done
Keywords are obtained from the job description, and are essential and what employers want.
Employers are interested in the how, the functionality, and how you back it up. Erin says, “…that it has to stick.”
Erin stated that resume has to have a focus, and relevant keywords will achieve that focus employers desire

I referenced in the conversation the show about writing a resume for the Applicant Tracking System.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Got Job Gaps? How to be a College to Pro Parent

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College students and their parents, with some exceptions, do not talk about long-range career plans. Job gaps after long periods of unemployment are frequent problems of re-engaging job seekers who take off of their career paths after 3 years or more. If either of these career-defining issues are yours, this is a must listen to episode.

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If you have a job search question, or a show suggestion contact me:

Web: TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com

Call: 708 365 9822 Email: mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Bill Holland Bill Holland, Ph.D. is the author of The Path from Backpack to Briefcase: A Parent’s Guide. He discusses in detail how parents should be more involved than ever in the shaping of their sons and/or daughters career defining choices. He is a college professor and his advice has been featured USA Today and NPR. He was an executive with Right Management, responsible for sales territory worth 250 million dollars.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

We discussed the chasm and differences between the student, parents, and career services. Although the cost of education skyrockets, parents are in the best position to close the gap.
Parents don’t need to step back and let go when their college student goes off to school, but need to be involved, especially when it comes to the student branding themselves. The key to guidance is being a good listener is a key to being a parent and helping your son or daughter college student position themselves for the future.
We talk about the value of a degree has changed over the years, and whether it has appreciated or depreciated over the years. He states the central discuss is thinking how his or her degree can pay off.
Bill also makes the point that the college degree of yesterday has changed dramatically, and more competitive than ever since the job market is more globalized due to technology. How to create value is key for the college student to compete in a global job market.
Treating college as a four-year job search is also a key factor for success, and understanding what profile employers that come to campus are looking for.

Lisa Rangel

Mark Babbit introduced Lisa Rangel to me after he suggested her as a guest. She is the founder and Managing Partner of Chameleon Resumes. Most notable honor her blog has received was the Forbes top 100 website for your Career. She is also a 10-time Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), former 13-year recruiter, and LinkedIn Job Search Expert. Lisa and I discuss how to handle the job gaps whether they have been out of work 3-10 years.

Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:

Job seekers basically don’t know how to answer job gap questions, and we discuss how do we extract the best out of volunteer work or jobs that require different skill sets.
Employers want to see that no matter what the job seeker has been doing, what achievements shows his or her capabilities.
Well rounded individuals is what employers are looking for and are looking for potential candidates to demonstrate it. It’s the attitude and that employers are attracted to, and the showing of resilience that should come through.
We discuss how important a job seeker’s network is everything, and more important than the resume, keywords in a LinkedIn profile. The resume does not work on its own, and it is only one piece of the job marketing puzzle.

Like what you hear? Or do you think there is room for improvement? Tell me. Write an honest review on the show in iTunes or Stitcher. A new episode is published weekly on Wednesdays (there are gap weeks but very few), so no plans to disappoint.