Free Job Search Help

Download the free job search help audio “7 Secrets of Finding a Good Job Fast“.
This was created by Simon Davies, a career coach from Australia.

It discusses the critical aspects of finding a job fast while at the same time paying attention to job satisfaction and fulfilment.

I have provided these free job search tips on audio to allow you to listen to it while you are doing other things, perhaps while exercising or in the car.

When it comes to finding a good job fast, there are certain concepts that you need to have ingrained in your mind before success comes.
Having this information as an audiobook allows you to easily listen to it repeatedly while doing other tasks, thereby increasing the learning intake and increasing your job search success. Repetition (and action) is the mother of learning.

Download ‘7 Secrets of Finding a Good Job Fast’

7 Secrets of Finding A Good Job Fast
Free mp3 download here

(36 minutes)

(To listen directly on your computer, simply click on the link above. To save the mp3 file to your computer, right-click and select ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’)

Personal Comments From a Corporate Career Survivor

by Joy
(Philadelphia)

We are told to study and work in something we enjoy. But, these tend to be over-crowded fields. It is better to get a hobby for something to enjoy. Work is first of all for survival. Preferably, we should want a good paycheck in a job or field that can last our work-life — about 45 years.

After getting a B.A. in Journalism, I was a writer and editor for 12 years. As a female, I experienced lots of job discrimination. And, job opportunities diminished as publications went out of business.

I decided to get a B.S. in Accounting. As a straight-A student, I expected lots of opportunities in prestigious CPA firms. Not! They wanted moldable people in their early 20s. I was too old while just in my early 30s.

Getting an MBA in Computer Science was my next move. I earned more as a programmer trainee then I did as full Editor of three magazines and an auto racing newsletter. I worked in all phases of the Project Development Life Cycle until I retired. By then, too many technical American jobs were being off-shored or replaced by H1-B Foreign Visa workers. These low-paid workers also served to lower the salaries for Americans.

My advice: Avoid working for corporations–these are dictatorial organizations that do not respect employees. Before enrolling in classes, research the possible long-term opportunities for the field. When employed, watch the writing on the wall and quickly make your move. Constantly monitor the job market. Take additional courses before a job loss in order to gain experience. Use class projects as skill examples during interviews. Volunteer to help someone in a different job at your firm to get diversified work experience. Have several versions of your resume to only target specific job opportunities. Keep in touch with previous co-workers — these are networking sources. Often job interviews are only given to someone recommended by the firm’s employees.

What Is The Hidden Job Market?

The hidden job market (or invisible job market) is simply all the jobs that people successfully secure that are never advertised through conventional methods like recruitment agencies, job listing sites, etc.
In fact, almost nobody knows about them.

There are many ways to work the hidden job market. I recently was speaking with a young man who works for JP Morgan. He told me how he managed to secure a job as a technical analyst trader without ever going to university. He loved the area of market trading and became very learned through periods of self-teaching (it’s easy to teach yourself complex subjects these days with a plethora of quality and very economical online learning platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursea, Udemy, Youtube, etc.). Then through working some networks( ie. hidden job market), he managed to secure a meeting with a decision maker at JP Morgan who was very impressed with this man’s knowledge and skill level and subsequently offered him a job. His boss later told him that his knowledge and understanding of trading and other skills required for the role were substantially better than most of the graduates he interviews-there’s something to think about.

Moral of the story: employers are not so interested in the letters after your name, but in how skilled, motivated, and competent are you to do the job. Many others have gained jobs of their choice in a similar way.

Working the Hidden Job Market will help you get a job faster, and usually, a job that you will enjoy more than if you simply follow the traditional job search methods of online applications, etc.

Implement a Proactive Job Search

Most people looking for a job use what I call the reactive method, rather than the proactive job search method.
What does this mean? Simply put, they complete their job search by responding to job vacancies that are known or advertised in some way. Yet we know that approximately 80% of all jobs will be never advertised.

The key to working the hidden job market is to have a solid understanding of what you are very good at (and like doing), just like our JP Morgan example above.

Employers Love Enthusiasm

When it comes to a job interview one of the most powerful drawcards an applicant needs is confidence and enthusiasm about what they are good at.

And that’s ultimately what will win you a job, selling an employer the idea that what you love to do and are good at, is exactly the skills they need. And if it’s not the skills they need, then you are speaking to the wrong person. Speak only to organizations that have a need for the skills that you love to use and are good at. That way you are benefiting the employer greatly and they are more likely to see you as an asset to the organization.

How to Find Out What You Are Good At

This is where the dream career finder is valuable. This assessment provides evidence of where your true inborn job skills lie.
And the evidence is what employers love to see. Evidence you can take with you to the job interview (literally take the results of the DCF).
For some people, the results of this assessment can be life-transforming in regard to their future work direction and satisfaction.

Hidden Job Market Tips

If you are looking for a job and want to:

• find a job that suits you well – one where you can feel a great deal of fulfillment and satisfaction.
• find a job faster than normal.
• find a job that you will stay longer in because you enjoy it more.
• find a job that will usually pay more than jobs found using traditional job search methods. (This is due to obtaining a good fit between the skills and abilities you offer, and the skills and abilities required by the employer.)

This is what I recommend:

• Recognize the importance of using basic marketing concepts to give yourself an edge with employers. See my personal marketing for job search.
• Complete the inborn job skills assessment on this site.
• Either use the results of that assessment to target your “best fit” jobs on your own.
• Or make time to connect via Skype or phone (or in person if you live locally) to discuss the results and together we will devise a strategy for securing a job utilizing hidden job market strategies.

See the Contact page for full details.

1. Free Resume Example & Template (as used by my clients over the years to successfully win interviews)
2. Top Resume Secrets (you almost certainly won’t have these ideas in your current resume …include them and watch your interview rate skyrocket). These specific inclusions are why my clients have secured scores of interviews.
3. Free Cover Letter This includes a free download of a cover letter (see item no.4) that I have used very successfully for my clients for many years.
4. Accessing the Invisible Job Market. Between 60 and 80% of all jobs are never advertised. The most popular method of finding jobs (applying online), is in fact the least successful way of getting a job. Here are some ways to access the invisible job market and help you get a job faster, without ever going online.
5. Sample Letter to Employer (template download) that got this job applicant 6 interviews. This is an example of a job applicant achieving great success without ever applying for a job online. It simply involves a well-crafted letter I wrote for him to send to employers, using an unconventional delivery method, and employer follow-up. None of the companies he sent this letter to were advertising at the time, but six interviews resulted!
6. Free Dream Career Finder A comprehensive exercise that will help you work out what job you are best suited to (Note: this will take some time to complete but is worthwhile and quite insightful as to what to are naturally motivated to do). Includes pdf book and assessment including downloadable skills assessments sheets.

I have been writing resumes, cover letters and helping people with career advice for over 20 years. This resume example and template are a result of working with my clients over the years to produce a resume and cover letter that are good at getting job interviews.

You will need to download both files:

One is the Resume Example Template in Microsoft Word (remember to save a copy of this so you have the original in case you make a mistake).

The other is my Resume Example with Comments. It is the same resume as above but this one includes comments and tips pointing to various parts of the resume to help make the necessary modifications easier.

Resume Writing = Marketing Yourself

Writing your resume is just an exercise in good marketing – marketing yourself.

One of the first rules of marketing is to stand out from the crowd.

And when it comes to job search applications and the hundreds of resumes that are often submitted for each job, standing out from the crowd is critical but not always easy to do.

When writing a resume, the following question should always be at the forefront of your mind:

“How can I make my resume more interesting to the reader when I know they are going to be swamped with large volumes of resumes to read?”

Of course, with the extensive use of applicant tracking system software, (ATS analyzes your resume and ranks your application based on keyword algorithms and other criteria), these days, a high number of resumes will not even be seen by a human eye.

But right now, we are focusing on when your resume gets read by a human.

Follow the notes on the PDF download above and also read my Top Resume Secrets booklet to get more interviews faster.