Green Panda Treehouse

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Photo Credit: Aaron Jacobs

Inspired by my current situation of trying to find a great job, I decided to assemble a post that has the best information I can find on the web. I asked others to help out and they were kind enough to share.

Here’s the rundown of what happened at my last job:

• Juggling Two Loan Payments and an Upcoming Performance Review
• Chill in the Room for My 90 Day Review
• I Resigned From My Job
• Today was My Last Day

Starting Out:

Before you go out to send your resume, you should really think about having a game plan. How do you know what job to apply for? How do you search for a new job when you’re on the hunt? What if you’ve been laid off or fired?

• How to Match your Skills to Employer Requirements
• Job Searching While Employed
• Having Good Communication Skills Can Lead to a Better Paying Job
• I Just-Got-Laid-Off Survival Kit
• How to Get Your Dream Job
• Career Coward Book Series (How to find a job when you’re afraid of change.)
• How to job hunt from your current job
• Good Job Recommendation

You’ve found a job you’re interested in. You also discovered you haven’t updated your resume in awhile. What do you do? How do you make your resume stand out from the others?

Building Your Resume:

• What’s the Resume for Me?
• Cover Letter Examples for Specific Industries
• Best College Resumes
• 250 Free Resume Templates
• Build a Cover Letter Right for You
• How to Construct a Killer Resume, From Start to Finish
• Ten Tips For Writing A Resume That Will Get The Right Kind Of Attention
• How to Write a Winning Resume
• How to Successfully Find a Job
• Resumes For Recent Grads: Translating Campus Experiences Into Real-World Skills
• Are Creative Resumes Worth the Risk?

Now you know what you want and you have your resume polished. Your cover letter is ready to be adjusted for each specific job you apply for. Where do you find jobs to apply to? How do you network properly?

Where to Find Jobs:

Online Resources

• Monster
• Career Builder
• Hotjobs
• Craigslist
• LinkedIn
• Job-O-Magic
  

Networks to Consider

• Friends and Family
• Former Co-workers
• Local Job Sites
• Newspapers

Networking Tips:

• Networking Your Way to a New Job
• Successful Job Search Networking
• Sample Job Search Networking Letter

So you managed to get an interview. Congratulations, but there is still work to be as you now have to ace your interview. This means being prepared, both for the questions and for first impressions. What do you wear for a job interview? How do get read for a phone interview? What kind of questions should you expect? How do you answer the tough and awkward questions?

Interviewing Tips:

• How to Dress For an Interview
• How to answer 23 of the most common interview questions
• Build a Professional Wardrobe on a Budget
• 10 Things Not to Do During a Job Interview
• How to turn an interview into a job
• How to Do a Phone Interview
• Five ways to do better in phone interviews
• How to ask good questions in an interview
• Gauging the Health of a Prospective Employer

The interview went fantastic and now you have a job offer (or two). What should you do to close the deal? What if it is a small company that you absolutely love and it can’t pay what a bigger company can? What do you ask for to compensate?

Negotiating Job Offers and Salaries:

• How to Evaluate a Job Offer
• 4 tips for salary negotiation
• What to ask for if more money is not an option

References:

I would like to thank everyone who volunteered their posts. It took me a bit to read through these, but they were wonderfully written.

• Cash Money Life: By far, there was a wealth of information from this blog. You should definitely check it out for even MORE information.
• Mrs. Micah: She always has good book recommendations.
  
• Gather Little By Little: Good solid advice and a down to earth guy.
  
• SquawkFox: She included worksheets! A very classy blogger and detailed oriented.

That’s what I managed to find and read from the web. If you have any more tips, please leave a comment.

Photo Credit:  Travis Isaacs

I’m fortunate enough to have money saved and my husband working to have time tolook for a job. Being frugal has kept expenses relatively low and takes some pressure of looking for employment. I’m going to look for a good fit this time with my job and ask better questions.

With how they ended it, I doubt my past clients will know what happened.

Here are some steps I’m working through:

• Reviewing my last job. No, I’m not a sadist trying to rehash a bad experience. I’m trying to analyze what I loved, liked, disliked, and hated about this past job.
• Reseach and learn from job sites and books. I have an excuse to go the library to find some books to work on my resume. I’m curently examining Brazen Careerist and he archives for informatin on sucessfully find a job and asking the right questions.
• Updating my resume online and hardcopy. I’ve updated my resume on Monster, Career Builder, LinkedIn, and a local job site. I’m calling to see if the carer center at my old university can help spruce it up.
• Checking with people about my hunt. I’ve already let some people know about my job skills and what I’m looking for in a job. I think what helps is that I’ve done this for people. I believe that if you genuinely try to help others, they will do the same.
• Going to relax and catch up with some friends. I’ve been pretty busy and I think this time will allow me to spend some time with famiy and friends. I invited my mom to come see Batman: The Dark Knight this upcoming weekend. I saw my uncle and brother this
• Volunteer. I’m going to look around and see what I can get into. I personally think helping others is a great way to spend your time. Sometimes you can feel a bit too much self pity (I do a times) and volunteering reminds you that there are six billion other people out there.

It’s just something I pieced together. I’m open to any suggestions. Please leave any links to posts, articles, and openings in the comments. I’d like to use them for Part 2 of this series as well and I will give proper credit and links. After all, at some point e’re all going to look for jobs, I’m just looking sooner than you. 

Photo Credit:  The Wandering Angel

I came in to work today and I was immediately taken to the conference room. They decided to honor my resignation and I was to leave today. They would pay me for my last two weeks, but they thought it was ‘best for everyone’ that I leave today. I did not have a chance to say good bye to my co-workers.

I’m glad I already have pretty much everyone’s number, so I will give them a call and keep in touch. I’m curious to see what they plan on my accounts. I was just speaking with one of them Friday about how we were going to catch up on Tuesday.

Good news: more time to blog!