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Posts Tagged ‘job search’

Analysis by Kathryn on President Obama’s State of the Union Address

Posted in Federal Job Info, Federal Job Search, Federal Resume Writing
by Kathryn Troutman on January 27th, 2011 | 3 Comments - Make a comment »

Listening to President Obama’s State-of-the-Union speech, I was looking for specific ideas, hope and inspiration for jobs for Americans for 2011.

What did the President say about Jobs in America for 2011?

What industries, jobs, competencies and education can help you with your career in 2011?

Here’s my analysis of the speech and what’s important for job seekers who are looking for competitive jobs and industries for today and in the near future:

  • Many of President Obama’s ideas won’t mean new jobs for at least another five years down the road. However, these jobs will likely be the wave of the future, so in order to prepare for this wave, think about what you will do today to prepare for the jobs that will be available, especially if you thinking about what to major in in college, or about preparing for a career change.
  • Best competencies and keywords for 2011: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Imagination, High Performance, High Expectations, Efficiency
  • Critical for Success: Specialized Education and Training (Math and Science), Languages, Computers
  • Hot Job Industries: Clean energy, high-speed internet, high-speed rail, exports, domestic construction, biomedical research, research and development, renewable energy, electric cars, transcontinental railway, information technology, global business, teacher, trainer, education, government
  • Important Government Fixes: Some redundant federal agencies, government spending, improve efficiency in government, sell some government lands, DOD spending, freeze government employee salaries

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Top Ten Job Search Resolutions for 2011

Posted in Federal Job Info, Federal Job Search, Federal Resume Writing
by Kathryn Troutman on December 27th, 2010 | 3 Comments - Make a comment »

accomplishments photo

As we count down to 2011, here are my Top Ten federal job search resolutions to help you get a quick jump start back into your federal job search as soon as the holiday festivities are over.

10. Get inspired! Read a book about an expertise that you have.

Find a book on a topic of interest, such as leadership, management, teamwork or supervision. If the book is inspiring, you might feel more energetic and proud of your past accomplishments – which will translate into a good mood and higher confidence. Looking for a federal job? Here’s a great list of Federal Leadership Books!

Sometimes, job interviewers will ask you what you are reading now. You better get ready for this one. Books on leadership, history, or a topic that supports your non-profit or volunteer work would be perfect for the interview (not political books).

9. Be systematic with your online job search strategies.

Keep a list of your favorite webpages, and check them every day, or, at a minimum, once a week, for positions that could be of interest.

You can waste time at the computer if you don’t have a clear list of sites that you visit regularly and search strategies that work. Limit your time on searching for jobs, so that you can move AWAY from the computer and be productive in other ways.

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Kathryn Troutman’s Analysis of President Obama’s “Jobs Speech”

Posted in Federal Job Search, Federal Resume Writing
by Kathryn Troutman on January 28th, 2010 | 2 Comments - Make a comment »

How Good is the Job News?

Last evening, I listened closely to President Obama’s speech for new ideas about jobs for Americans that would give us all hope.

I heard about clean energy jobs, something President Obama discussed during the election, but it was not clear where the jobs would be coming from, or even what jobs might be.

I also heard about ideas for small businesses getting help in the form of tax breaks and SBA loans so they could hire more people. I listened closely to this topic because of my recent difficult experience with it. I am the president of a small business, and two weeks ago I got an SBA loan to grow the business and hire more staff. BUT, it took me one year to get the SBA loan, and collateral I had to put down was disproportionately huge — four times the amount of the loan. Basically, the SBA and the small community bank could take over everything I own if anything ever happens to me or to my business. Very few small business owners have this amount of collateral to support a business loan. So, I was understandably skeptical about Obama’s ideas regarding the SBA loans as a way to create more jobs.

Needless to say, I did not come away from the speech with much positive news to share with you.

This morning I took a new approach. I decided to look past the political rhetoric and examine the actions actually being taken right now to generate more jobs for Americans. So, I read the transcript of last night’s speech to compare Obama’s NEW JOB IDEAS with the NEW AND PROPOSED BILLS that will support those ideas.

This is what I found out:

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Top 10 Resume Mistakes from YPIC, Yuma, AZ

Posted in Federal Resume Writing
by Kathryn Troutman on July 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment - Make a comment »

Top 10 Resume Mistakes by Stressed-out Jobseekers Discovered by Yuma, Arizona Resume Writers where it is 26% Unemployment

YPIC, Yuma, AZ Career Counselors and Resume Writers, June 2009
YPIC, Yuma, AZ Career Counselors, June 2009

By Kathryn Troutman, Certified Federal Job Search Trainer Program Director and President, The Resume Place, Inc.

At Yuma Private Industry Council, Reemployment Center, three very busy professional resume writers were telling me about their jobs in writing resumes. Their customers are the 26% unemployed “Yumans” who were not expecting to write a resume any time soon. In 2006 Yuma was written up as a Sizzing Hot Spot with NO unemployment.

This article is about some of the resume problems they see and fix at YPIC. Career professionals all over the US are working hard to help stressed-out jobseekers with resumes, so they can compete in a very tough job market.

Lori Heredia described how the jobseekers are so distraught about losing their positions that they don’t pay close attention to the details they need to write a good resume showcasing their experience and education. They have trouble remembering dates, duties and accomplishments. It’s hard to get them to concentrate.

Katie Fuchs noted that jobseekers often don’t even have a resume when they walk in the door. She interviews the jobseeker, creates the work chronology and writes draft descriptions while they wait. This is a lot of pressure to remember a career history on the spot and types it while the jobseeker tries to create and dictate job titles, companies, dates, duties.

Ralph Villa, Resume Writer and Community Outreach Coordinator / Trainer described his efficient method of writing resumes using O-Net Online to help write position descriptions because jobseekers are just not able to describe their jobs in much detail. He can find Occupations, skills and crosswalk search easily for building a better resume. This is a free program and can help a non-thinking jobseeker write about their past positions.

The YPIC has been providing professional resume writing, job search coaching, and interview preparation for the citizens of Yuma who are seeking new jobs since 1987. I was there to teach the career staff how to help the Yumans how to apply for federal jobs and write federal resumes. But we had to start with a good basic resume before we could convert that resume to a federal resume. So, we had a lot of discussion about a good resume – for private industry job searches or federal job searches.

Katie, Lori, and Ralph have discovered some major resume writing errors that are typical for a stressed-out job seeker:

Here are 10 of their Top Resume Problems that they see:

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