What are the skills you need to demonstrate when you apply for jobs? It’s usually not very difficult to identify what employers are looking for; their 3000-word, in-depth job descriptions don’t leave much to the imagination. Many firms also post videos, have Facebook sites and Twitter feeds touting their organizations and why you might want to work there.Skip these resources at your own peril — they are telling you exactly...

It’s one of the most difficult and frustrating questions to face. Job seekers usually don’t receive feedback from hiring managers or interviewers, let alone hear why their resume may not have been selected for an interview. Instead, they are left to wonder if there is something wrong with them.I don’t advise job seekers rely too much on the old stand-by reasons why they didn’t get the job: ageism (they want a 25-year old, a...

Communication — and communicating well, in business and in all circumstances — is key for career success. It’s not always easy to know what to say, and it certainly isn’t always obvious how to say it. Jodi Glickman’s new book, Great On the Job, comes to the rescue. Known as a strong, strategic communicator with many successful examples to back up her words, Jodi, who’s landed jobs due to her interviewing skills, even though...

Almost every resume I see reads like a laundry list of “stuff” the person has done at work. The problem is that everyone applying for the job you seek probably has a similar list of “stuff.” What makes you stand out? Why are you special – why do YOU deserve to win an interview and the job?It certainly isn’t because you were “Responsible for” something or that you were “Recruited to” do something. A prospective employer want...

Did you get up to watch the royal wedding? I did! I’m a royal watcher from way back. Unlike the last royal weddings I arose early to view, this time, I am thinking of the career lessons from the story.Everyone seems to be making a major point of how Catherine and William hold the burden of the whole country — the future of England and the monarchy — on their shoulders. Can you imagine a bigger job?These are the lessons I’m...

One of the best things about social media is it gives job seekers an opportunity to pick an area where they can excel — it’s different for every job seeker. Some are great using video, others may want to blog. Many more can share expertise via Twitter in 140 characters or less and connect with potential colleagues and contacts. At the same time, some employers are using social media and thinking “outside of the box” when it...

Career change is usually difficult for the one doing the changing. There are always aspects of advertized jobs the applicant has not exactly accomplished, if only because he or she hasn’t had the chance! Highlighting transferable skills (the ones you can use in any job) as well as targeting your application materials for the positions in question are important pieces of a successful career change. Having a well-targeted res...

Years ago, when I was working on Wall Street (and mobile phones were a lot less common), I called a candidate for a job. She answered her cell phone — from a loud, New York City street corner. You can imagine our conversation:Me: We’d like to see about scheduling an interview…Her: I’m sorry…I can’t really hear you so well. It’s really LOUD here. Let me try to get somewhere quieter.Me: Okay. (Waiting…thinking — why did she a...

Last week, I was a guest at an iRelaunch Return-to-Work Conference in Atlanta. It is always a pleasure to have a chance to hear from recruiters, and, in this case, also from a number of women who returned to work after taking some time off. Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin, the co-founders of iRelaunch and authors of Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work, put together s...

Today, my colleague Phyllis Mufson invited me to participate in “Kindness Day.” Via her blog, she suggests perpetrating kindness via Twitter by doing and tweeting acts of kindness, using the hashtag (search tag) #Kindness.Writing about job search and interacting regularly with job seekers, I thought it made sense to also contribute a brief blog with tips about how to be kind to job seekers. It’s very easy to make half-heart...