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One of the most common questions I’m asked by clients is how to job search discreetly so that only select, trusted people know their intentions. If there’s any benefit to being unemployed, it’s that you don’t have to tiptoe around the fact that you’re actively looking. There’s nothing to hide!

However, most people I work with are employed, so it makes sense that they don’t want their current manager to know. If they have a presence on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, it can be particularly challenging to keep a job search quiet.

Here are six tips for launching a confidential, but effective job search: 

Change your privacy settings on LinkedIn. Your job search strategy probably includes connecting on LinkedIn with hiring managers and recruiters at ...

 

It's estimated that at least half of all available jobs are not posted online. That's why they're hidden!  Read on for 10 great tips to turbocharge your job search and uncover amazing job opportunities that you won't see online.

Target the Company, Not Just the Job. In addition to targeting specific jobs that you see online, it’s equally important to target specific companies. This way, you can uncover positions that companies may not have advertised for a variety of reasons. Compile a list of companies that you are interested in and that would value someone with your skills and experience. Then check to see if anyone within your network works there, or knows people who do, and ask for introductions. For the best outcome, aim for a 50/50 approach between targeting companies and jobs.

Visit the Company ...

You don't need a college degree to get a good job. Yes, you read that right. It’s okay if you don't have a degree – and you might not need to get one.  It used to be true that not having a degree would hurt your job prospects. However, the world has changed so much just in the last few years.

Even before the pandemic started, college was becoming overrated and too expensive. Today, many people struggle to just break even and pay off the education that they invested in. Is a degree worth it if it takes 20 years to pay off? And is college really the only path for your career?

Thanks in part to the pandemic, remote learning is more common than ever, as well as more affordable and more accessible. I don’t believe that ...

I get a lot of questions from job seekers about breaking into a new industry. This is a common goal among professionals who like the skill set they’re using, but feel bored, maxed out, or even pigeonholed. For example, you might be a sales professional interested in changing from healthcare sales to tech sales. Or you may be a project manager in telecom who’s looking for a project management role in software.

These types of industry transitions are what I call  “career pivots” that often take two to three months to achieve. These are quite different from full-blown career changes, which are more time- and resource-intensive.

Here are some specific strategies for entering a new industry and shaking up your career:

Identify your transferable skills. What knowledge and skills ...

COVID-19 has changed the career landscape in countless ways. Many people lost their jobs, left the workforce to take care of their children, or resigned because of issues with vaccine mandates. As a result, the pandemic has made job-hopping more normalized and more acceptable. More than ever, people are changing jobs when they need to, regardless of their length of employment. However, those who move from job to job after short stints (less than a year) may still be viewed as job hoppers.

While there’s no official definition of job hopping, I describe it as a repeated pattern of leaving a position after less than a year. I’m currently working with a client who took a job that turned out to be quite different than expected, and now, less than eight months later, she's changing again. Sometimes a brief work ...

There are few people on the planet who can tolerate the process of a job search. The waiting, the rejection, the endless tweaks to your resume. When does it end?

There are plenty of smart, successful people who struggle with finding jobs or a satisfying career. Why is this? Many times, they don’t know how to look for work. Job searching is a skill that we should be taught before graduating high school—but of course, we aren’t.

Before we look at the reasons why you might be lost or stuck, ask yourself the five “bigger picture” questions:

Are the jobs you are applying for the ones that you really want? If your heart isn’t in it and you’re just going through the motions, the results will show.

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I’ve said it time and again to clients that when it comes to LinkedIn: what you put in is what you put out. It’s not enough to make a gorgeous profile—although that’s important. In fact, I created a 16-page guide in my online store that walks you through all of the possibilities for writing a killer profile! Check it out here: www.careeruprising.com/store.

Beyond the profile though, you need to use LinkedIn as a tool in your job search and career. I’ve laid out six ways you can actively use LinkedIn to advance your career, in the short and long-term.

You have access to over 650 million people. LinkedIn is the number one social network for professionals — and, arguably, the most important website for jobseekers — with more than 650 million members worldwide. Not ...

I've been asked this question by clients so many times: Can I adjust my job title?  

The answer is....sometimes.

I do advocate changing your job title, just slightly, in two situations:

1. To Accurately Describe What You Do

First, you change it when it actually makes your title more accurate to you do. Many job titles out there are very ambiguous and don't give an accurate picture of what the job entails. Plus, we've all taken jobs that sounded like one thing, and then turned out to be SO much more when we actually took the job.

Let's say your job title is Program Coordinator. This job title may seem harmless but it's very general and could be misleading. The word "coordinator" typically implies something low ...

When new clients come to me for help, I ask them this question: Are you having trouble getting interviews? Or are you getting interviews, but no offers? These are two different problems, with two different solutions. If you’re getting interviews, your résumé, or your networking, is doing its job — assuming you’re getting interviews for the types of jobs you want. But what you do before, during, and after the interview can increase your chances of getting the offer.

Before the interview, do your homework. Review the company’s website and learn more about the key players, the work they do, their clients, and potential areas where you might be an asset. Search the internet and LinkedIn to look for recent news articles and press releases. Review the company’s social media profiles and check out the company on Glassdoor....

The “hidden job market” is a phrase that describes job openings that are not publicly advertised.

And yes, it’s real.

Why would companies not publicly post a job opening?

The cost of advertising an open position can be substantial.

They don’t want to be overwhelmed with applications.

They’d prefer to fill it internally or through a referral.

They are replacing an existing employee (who doesn’t know they are being replaced).

Most of these job opportunities are accessed through referrals from current employees of the company. It’s estimated that anywhere from 50-80 percent of jobs are found through networking. No one knows for sure how many of the available jobs are publicized and how many are hidden.

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