According to the January 2012 Employment Situation Report, the official unemployment rate now stands at 8.5 percent – the lowest it’s been in two years. Nominal job gains were realized in warehousing, transportation, retail trade, manufacturing, health care and mining.

The unemployment rate for adult men fell to 8 percent, and 7.9 percent for women. Blacks, however, are experiencing nearly twice the unemployment rate as whites, at 15.8 percent compared to 7.5 percent.

The bad news is that the declining topline unemployment figure doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

According to the BLS, there was no real decline in the number of people who were “marginally attached to the labor force” over the past year.

Perhaps more disturbingly, unemployment during this economic downturn has been alarmingly persistent. More than 5 million people report having been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. That’s 42.5 percent of the people who are listed as unemployed.

That number is almost certainly low – there remain nearly 1 million “discouraged workers,” not counted in the unemployment figures, who have dropped out of the work force because they don’t believe there are any jobs out there they can realistically compete for.

A gap in a resume for that long hurts – especially for information technology workers who need to keep up with changes in technology and trends. A gap of six months or more between engagements on a resume means atrophying skills and aging contacts. Rightly or wrongly, it also makes some hiring managers wince… what is wrong with this person that the application and resume isn’t mentioning?” they may ask themselves.

By itself, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. But it is something you’ll need to deal with as you go through your job hunt. Some ideas:

Use a functional resume. The functional resume format inverts the traditional chronological resume, and instead moves the most relevant work experience to the top, and organizes information by skill sets instead of by job titles. This may help you deemphasize any gaps in your resume.

Further your education. “I took some time to obtain this masters’ degree” sounds a lot better than “I’ve sent out 100 resumes and you were my first callback in six months.” Degree or certificate programs, continuing education, licensing and other coursework is tax deductible, as long as those programs don’t qualify you for a new profession. If you’re a technology person, getting a new credential in networking may be tax deductible; taking flying lessons may not be.

Improve your foreign language skills. Can’t afford grad school? This can pay big dividends in a variety of ways, and costs a lot less than graduate school. “I took the time to get very intense about studying Spanish / English / Chinese / German / anything else can really take the sting out of an uncomfortable resume gap, depending on the circumstances.

Read trade journals. If you’ve been out of the workforce for a while, it’s extra important to be able to show prospective employers that you’ve been keeping pace with developments in your industry. Subscriptions to trade journals are tax deductible, even if you’re unemployed, as long as the expense relates to your current profession and not to a new one. If you can’t afford a subscription, stay in close touch with colleagues and get their issues, or go to your local library. Your librarian may be able to help you get periodicals your library doesn’t carry.

Sign on with an agency. A good employment agency or temp agency can be of tremendous value in helping you avoid long gaps in your resume. Even temporary work can help you gain valuable skills and contacts for the future. If you find yourself unemployed, an employment agency specializing in your field should be your first stop. To sign up with Vitaver & Associates, click here.

Stay active in your profession. Unemployed? Now is a great time to step up in your professional and community organizations. Become a leader. You’ve got some time now. Attend meetings, and volunteer at key events. Each one will put you in contact with people in your industry, who can see your organizational and leadership skills first hand. Again, dues for professional organizations are tax deductible, as long as they relate to your current profession and not to a new one.

The bottom line: Don’t let those gaps just happen. Take ownership of your time, and be proactive with your career and professional development. The jobs will come to those who treat their job hunts like a job.

Hourly updated employment opportunities in our CAREER section!

The pace of change is increasing. A recent survey from Gartner, a prominent information technology company, found that corporate IT chiefs were increasingly being drawn out of their operations comfort zones – and of course, forced to drag their staffs out with them. No longer is information technology primarily a function of internal communication, data storage and – oh, yes! A Website! IT departments are now being asked to transform the way customers interact with the business – in ways that go far beyond the standard five-tab homepage and website architecture.

And they’ll have to do it all on a flat or declining budget, at least in the United States and Europe. Gartner’s survey of some 2,300 corporate information technology chiefs found that IT budgets worldwide were increasing an average of 0.5 percent, year over year, for 2012. And how is this spending being allocated? “Analytics, mobility and cloud are the top three CIO technologies,” said Gartner vice president Mark McDonald, in a January interview with the Financial Times.

What does that mean? IT chiefs worldwide (Gartner’s survey spanned 45 countries) are looking beyond short-term cost savings internal to their departments. For example, retailers are seeking ways to circumvent the expensive brick and mortar stores and those annoying salesclerks by doing more business online – cutting facilities costs, staffing, redundancies, and allowing them to inoculate themselves – to some extent, against the Amazon.coms of the world.

Likewise, insurance companies are seeking ways to eliminate the agent, whose commissions and relentless appetite for printed glossy marketing materials adds significant overhead to the cost of doing business.

IT chiefs are also looking for ways to exploit and profit from cloud computing – which enables them to improve the quality and reliability of many projects.

This spells opportunity for those who are quick on their feet. To have the best chance of success, match your skills – and your resumes – up with the top ten information technology priorities according to the Gartner survey:

• Analytics and business intelligence;
• Mobile technologies;
• Cloud computing (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS);
• Collaboration technologies (workflow);
• Virtualization;
• Legacy modernization;
• IT management;
• CRM;
• ERP applications;
• Security.

This last bullet surprised us, too. We had expected security concerns to rank higher. Apparently, the world’s C-level IT managers believe they have security issues decently in hand, though, and are working more on improving customer experiences, outreach and efficiency.

Significantly, some 61 percent of respondents project improving mobile capacity over the next three years. Most companies have a business strategy that involves becoming the market leader, or one of the leaders, in their industry – and will therefore be investing in improving their presence, both via the traditional Web and through mobile marketing as well, including application development and the development of mobile and social networking-friendly websites.

Looking at things more broadly, the Gartner survey also identified the top ten overall business priorities for 2012:

• Increasing enterprise growth;
• Attracting and retaining new customers;
• Reducing enterprise costs;
• Creating new products and services;
• Delivering operational results;
• Improving efficiency;
• Improving profitability;
• Attracting and retaining the workforce;
• Improving marketing and sales effectiveness;
• Expanding into new markets and geographies.

If you’re interviewing for jobs soon, or you want to optimize your resume for today’s important trends, it may make sense to incorporate some of these key phrases into your resume, cover letter, and your interview conversation. Just make sure you have enough information to know what you’re talking about!

Bottom Line
So where are the jobs coming from in 2012? Look beyond internal communications, file storage and data security. Develop your skills in mobile technology, cloud computing and app development. And semper Gumby! Always be flexible, because IT trends change faster than trends in most industries.

Look no further! Best IT JOBS are right here!

It’s important to keep the initiative, and keep your plan moving forward – especially if you’re vulnerable to depression at this time of year. Having a positive, pro-active approach to your job hunt through the tough holiday period can make a big difference.

Keep Plugging
Hiring activity slows during the holidays. But it doesn’t stop. And some companies would rather pay a headhunting commission to an employment agency in December rather than January, because they can expense it in the current year, rather than the next. Also, when you do get a December interview, it’s a very good sign, because employers don’t want to waste time during the holidays.

Enroll in Classes
December’s a great time to enroll in any education programs that will help you in your job hunt. Why? It keeps you busy and on task. Furthermore, for 2011, there’s an additional important reason to enroll in any planned education programs now: Any tuition and fees you can pre-pay before the end of the year qualify for an above-the-line adjustment to your income, under Internal Revenue Code Section 222. That means you don’t have to itemize expenses – you can take the standard deduction and still get the benefit of the college tuition tax deduction for qualifying programs, provided you meet the income requirements (and if you’re unemployed, you’re more likely to meet the income requirements!).

Furthermore, even if the education program doesn’t qualify for favorable tax treatment under Section 222, it may still qualify as a deductible expense, if it is directly related to your profession. For example, if you are an IT professional, classes leading to a Cisco or Microsoft or other certification would be a deductible educational expense (but flight lessons would not). Talk to a tax advisor for more information about your particular situation.

Stay Social
Accept those Christmas party invitations. Don’t hang around the house too much. Stay social, and continue to work your network. Chances are good your next job is going to come as a result of a referral from someone you already know, or will meet socially, as opposed to a total stranger who reads your resume over the transom in December. So stay out there, enjoy your time with friends and colleagues – and make sure everyone you meet knows you’re in the market for work! People want to help – especially during the holidays. Let them! Then you’ll be in a better position to help.

Send Cards
If you’re out of work, you’ll probably want to scale back the gift giving this year. But ramp up the card sending! These cards may be the best investment you can make. Because every card you send is an excuse to call a few days later and reconnect with old contacts. Then they will know you’re looking, too – and may have some ideas. Keep a notepad with you, and write them down. Have a system for tracking whom you’ve sent a card to and when, and when you’ll follow up on the phone. Hint: Send those cards early – well in advance of the holidays, so they don’t get lost in the rush, and they have time to talk to you. This effort alone can give you lots of work to do in the first couple of weeks of December. Some successful salespeople will send Thanksgiving cards, rather than Christmas cards. Why? So their card stands out.

Use Employment Agencies
With most businesses, HR is an afterthought – an adjunct to their core competencies. When time gets tight in December, the HR staff doesn’t get the same bandwidth as the accounting, operations and sales staff, in the effort to clear out the calendar year’s activities. However, with employment agencies, the HR people ARE the sales staff, and they ARE operations. Recruiting is the employment agency’s core competency. And so unlike many companies, HR companies such as employment agencies continue recruiting and interviewing through the holidays. December’s still a good time to meet with employment agency recruiters. You may be in the right time and the right place, as other job-seekers “check out” during the holidays and lose their focus. If an employment agency has a hot vacancy to fill, you may be “johnny-on-the-spot” while the competition is moping the holidays away at home.

Take Care of Yourself
It’s easy to “let yourself go” for the holidays. But remember that if you keep pushing, sending your cards, seeing your social contacts and working the system, you’ll have some interviews lined up in January – and you’ll want to be slim and trim for them. Enjoy Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas, but stick to your exercise and nutrition plan the rest of the holidays. You don’t want to be showing up to your January interviews popping out of your shirt!

The thing to remember during the holidays is that you are really fighting two battles: The battle against the general hiring slowdown in December, as companies and decision makers have other priorities. You can’t do anything to control that – so don’t worry about it.

The second battle is the struggle to control yourself and your emotions, and the natural tendency to lose focus during the holidays. This aspect of the job-hunt battle, however, is entirely within your power to win.

Even on holidays we are working to get you BEST JOBS!

• Get over your fears
• Bring value
• Invite them for coffee
• Lay the foundation
• Get their permission to mention their name to your prospects

At the end of this process, you should have done all the preparation, and created a favorable environment for the critical part of the conversation: The part where they agree to be a source of referrals for you – and actually provide them! Steps 6 through 11 are where the rubber meets the road. Here’s where you actually get people to call – and lay the groundwork for a favorable introduction to the best of them.

Step 6. Take the initiative

Don’t put your friend in the position of having to raid their mental rolodex for people to call on the spot. Chances are, they’ll draw a blank. Instead, have some homework done ahead of time. For example, look them up on a social networking page. LinkedIn, for example, but Facebook, Google+ and other social media pages work, too. Identify those individuals that they already know, and make a list.

Drawing a blank? Look at their professional organizations. Identify other colleagues that work in their industry in the area. Look up the names of competitors, vendors, suppliers, other business owners in the same street or neighborhood, or the same chapter of the Chamber of Commerce. Make a list of people you’d like to be introduced to, before the interview.

Step 7. Show them the list

Here’s where you say “look, I like to be prepared, so I made a list of people that you may know whom I’d like to target for my job hunt. Would you mind taking a look at it, and telling me who the good guys are?”

Smile and show them the list.

Tip: Try to position yourself on the same side of the table by now. So you are side by side at the table, and not diametrically opposed to one another.

“Which of these people do you know?”

Try to get your guest laughing, if possible. If you’ve done your homework, he’ll give you a lot of information right off the bat. Listen up. He’ll tell you “Yeah, I know that guy. He’s a great guy! He’s looking for someone actually! You should call him!”

Sometimes he’ll say “Yeah, that guy’s no good. I know people who worked for him. Stay away from him.”

All of it is valuable information for you. Mark up the list!

Step 8. Expand

Ask “Who is not on this list, but should be?” Then shut up! Wait for the answer! Notice I don’t phrase it as a “yes or no” question. You don’t want to risk a “no”. You’re asking for names! Give them the opportunity to give them to you. Ask open-ended questions. Then, keep asking “Who else? Who else? Who else?” until you run out of names. Find out a bit about each person and why you should contact them.

Step 9. Narrow The List Down

Now’s where you want to prioritize things. Ask “Of all the people on this list, who are the three or four people I should definitely call right now?”
Get him to answer that question.

Then keep asking “Who else? Who else? Who else?” Until you run out of names. Don’t stop at three! You’re on a roll!

Step 10. Get the top prospect

“Of all the names on the list, who is the one person you respect the most, who I should put at the top of the list?” Circle that number.

Step 11. Ask on the spot

Be bold! Ask flat out: “Can we call the guy?”

There’s no downside to asking directly! You’ve got most of the information you need already. You’ve collected the best names. If your guest isn’t comfortable calling, you haven’t lost anything. But there’s a world to be gained if the answer is “yes”! The best referral to get is the in-person personal introduction. The next best one is the phone hand over. You may be able to get acquainted with a quick cell phone call on the spot.

Then ask “Hey, you guys got breakfast plans tomorrow?”

Bang. You’ve got one more appointment with an industry or community leader, you’re cementing your friend’s relationship with that leader, you’ve got a list of 20 or 30 people to contact. You’ve got inside info on who the best people to call are. Not a bad return for the price of two cups of coffee and 20 minutes of your time!

Hourly updated employment opportunities in our CAREER section!

If you want to learn how to get a referral, talk to people who make their living from referrals. The masters of the art of referral are salespeople. There’s an old saying among sales professionals: “Salespeople who can’t get referrals have skinny kids.”

There are all kinds of techniques for getting referrals. But this article is going to take one proven approach now in use by thousands of salespeople worldwide. The purpose is to give the non-sales professional an easy, nonthreatening, and effective, proven roadmap to expanding your referral base.

Step 1. Get Over Your Fears

It’s tough asking for a referral. Pride gets in the way. And we feel uncomfortable exploiting our network of friends, family and business contacts for economic gain. Cher had the right idea in the movie “Moonstruck:” “Snap out of it!” Not a single person you will talk to wants you to stay unemployed, underemployed or unhappy. Not a single one. They all want you to succeed. The best of them would feel hurt if you were hurting and didn’t come to them.

Second, everyone wants to feel important, and they want to help. If they know you to be a good worker, who can provide good value and really be a help to whatever organization you join, they want to be a referral source. If they know someone who needs your skill set, it’s a feather in their own cap to be the person who refers a great employee.

Third, some employers actually pay a referral bonus to employees who refer a new successful team member. Often, this bonus is $1,000 or more. Why would you want to deny your friends the opportunity to collect?

Job hunting is salesmanship. And like any good salesperson, you must leverage your contacts to have the best chances for success. You owe that much to yourself and to your family. Don’t let false pride get in the way.

Step 2: Bring Value

The best source of professional referrals is happy clients or former employers. They are the ones who know your worth best. And their word carries the most weight with their own network of contacts. Contact these people first.
But there are many other ways to bring value to a relationship than just via being an employee or contractor for someone. If you have demonstrated leadership, generosity or any other quality in the past (and I hope you have!), then those whom you were associated with can also be great sources of referrals, too. Stay in touch with colleagues from the military, fraternities and sororities, professional organizations, churches and synagogues, community service organizations, youth sports leagues and other volunteer organizations. Write down their names and go down the list. The bottom line is that each of these people should already know your worth, and that you have every reason to believe that they will be positive references for you, and perhaps even be enthusiastic partners in your search.

3. Invite them for a cup of coffee.

If you’re unemployed, you don’t want to be springing for dinner. Coffee is cheap, noncommittal, and informal. And with free refills, you can meet people in a coffee shop one after another and spend very little money. If you must have a meal, breakfast is usually cheapest. Avoid dinner, which often comes with alcohol. That gets pricey fast.

4. Lay the foundation.

There’s a reason you asked to see them. Spell it out, in a positive, complementary way. “Look, I wanted to see you because I respect your opinion, and I know you know a lot about the industry.”

You want your guest to actually take pride in his or her industry knowledge, and the worthiness of their own opinion or referral. Make it clear that you’re talking with someone you really respect and admire. Yes, you can call it “buttering them up.” And you can call it a few other less printable things, too. But I prefer to think of it as “creating a favorable mindset.”

Why? Because lots of people enter “shields-up” mode when they sense they will shortly be pumped for referrals. Before asking for names, you must first disarm this reflex. Otherwise, you are likely to experience the “stonewall.” As in “yeah, I don’t know anyone. But I’ll keep you in mind. Send your resume to me!” This is what you don’t want.

Instead, you need to close the rhetorical trap door behind them. By first complementing them on their industry knowledge, or their standing in the community, and getting them to assent, before you go on to the meat of the conversation, you eliminate the “I don’t know anyone,” escape. Instead, you want to create a circumstance where they are inclined to want to show off their industry knowledge. You want to tap the “pride” cortex, and reinforce that, prior to the next stage.

5. Get permission to mention them.

No one likes to be blindsided with a reference. So it’s important to get your friends’ assent and cooperation up front. Here’s one way of doing it: “Look, I’m planning on contacting a lot of leaders in this industry/community just like you, and I know you know a lot of them. I just wanted to ask if I needed an icebreaker or something, would it be ok with you if I mentioned that we worked together?”

Almost no one will tell you “no.” If they do, that’s an important signal for you: It means this person is not going to be a good reference for you, if contacted. Time to pay for the coffee and get out of there.

But 99 percent of the time, if they were willing to meet with you, and you buttered them up appropriately, they will tell you yes. Move on to the next step.
Where’s the next step? Well, it’s in our next article! Stay tuned!

Wide spectrum of jobs is available at our CAREER section!

“I always get feedback from them. I’ll want to know if someone comes in and if they weren’t polite, if they didn’t say, “Hello,” or ask them how they were. It’s really important to me,” said Eggers in a 2010 interview in the New York Times.

The point: Employers, then, look at small details of your interactions with their junior staff, their receptionists, and their veteran office managers that look like receptionists. And they’ll ask their staff about you, after you leave. It’s therefore vital to make an ally of the receptionist.

• Know her name. Everyone likes hearing their name. And everyone likes knowing that their name is remembered. Find out before the interview, and make a note of it. If I get a business owner or CEO’s card, and she mentions her assistant’s name, I make a point of writing it down on the card. It goes in my contact manager’s.

• Establish a rapport. This means you do more than sign in, sit down, and pick up that copy of Yachting magazine in the waiting area when you’ve never owned a boat in your life. How can you establish a rapport? Read on:

• Make eye contact and smile. You would think this would be obvious, but many people are not good at making and maintaining eye contact. Especially when they are nervous or preoccupied with the interview. Oh, and say her name.

• Scan the work area. There may be clues about her interests, aspirations and passions. She may have a book or two on the table, or photographs of her engaged in her hobbies, or pictures of her children. If she’s drinking something, her favorite Starbucks beverage could be valuable information down the road. Look for details.

• Thank her on the way out. By name. You shouldn’t even have to look at the placard.

• Did the receptionist do something above-and-beyond? If she’s a terrific receptionist, mention it to the boss in the interview. Good leaders look for opportunities to recognize good people. That’s a great thing to do for a good receptionist – and a good habit for you to be in as well.

• Send a ‘thank you’ note. Of course, you should do this with the person making the hiring decision. But here’s a twist: Send the note to the decision-maker, “care of” the assistant. It’s just one more branding opportunity. Hopefully, she’ll say “Oh, this came from so-and-so, who interviewed the other day. Oh, he was so nice!”

• Remember her at the follow-up interview. Of course you’ll remember her name. Did you remember her family, hobbies, interests or passions? If so, bring something along she might appreciate. It could be a photograph or a magazine article that she would probably enjoy.

One quality I’ve seen among great leaders – in business, sports, and the military – is their ability to connect with people from all educational levels and all walks of life, from the C-suite to the day laborer, and make them feel important and valued.

I recently spoke with a World War II veteran, Larry, who served as a junior officer in the European Theater. He had met General Dwight Eisenhower briefly in 1943, and they had a conversation in which Larry had mentioned his father, a doctor in Chicago, who hadn’t been feeling well, was worried about his health.

Larry didn’t see Eisenhower again until 1945, near the end of the war. Eisenhower said “Oh, I remember you! Your dad was a doctor, in Chicago!! Is he doing ok? He wasn’t well the last time we talked!”

Ike had a lifelong admirer, 62 years later.

Larry passed away earlier this year. But I’ll always remember that story, and work hard to be like Ike.

Hourly updated employment opportunities
in our CAREER section!

If you’re living under a rock and you don’t know about Google+, here it is in a nutshell: Google+ is a brand new social networking site brought to you by – you guessed it – Google. It’s designed to be a competitor to Facebook and LinkedIn, though it has some twists of its own.

The project is still in its infancy. As of this writing, the site had taken a temporary hiatus on accepting new members.

The site has a number of pluses – no pun intended:

A sleek, intuitive interface. Think something akin to the difference between the user interfaces of the Blackberry and the iPhone.

Improved grouping functionality. Google+ makes it easy to segment your friends list in groups. For example, you can have separate group for co-workers, family, friends, lovers, drinking buddies, and bookies. You don’t have to worry about segmenting. “Leakage” of embarrassing information or posts between your personal and professional life is less of an issue. This is a huge plus.

Huddles. Think text messages, but among a group of people. For example, most of us are accustomed to having to key in several people into a text message. Or having to IM just one person at a time. Some phones support group texting, but it’s awkward. Google+’s huddles are going to make this capability an industry standard.

Instant video and picture uploads. You won’t have to plug your camera into your computer before you upload vids or photos. If your camera is also a cell phone, Google+ supports uploading it from right where you are.

Impact on Hiring

Our sources in the human resources community – that is, the people who recruit and hire – tell us they like the earlier reports. The segmentation allows prospective employers to separate their own professional and personal messaging, just as you do.

More pragmatically, they also like the Huddle function. Look at it this way – if you are a human resources professional and you are trying to juggle several executive’s schedules because the applicant needs to meet with multiple people, this is a huge timesaver.

Above all, though – Google+ looks fun! And this, more than any particular functionality, is going to be driving its success going forward.

While in Beta, Google + is only available per invitations, which we are giving out. To get an invitation please leave a comment on this article, having included your Gmail address and do one of the following:

1. Like our Facebook fan page;
2. Follow us on Twitter;
3. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Hourly updated employment opportunities in our CAREER section!

Furthermore, smart employers appreciate a job candidate with a long-term view and one who asks intelligent questions. Deftly and tactfully interviewing the interviewer can help separate you from the pack of applicants, and perhaps give you the leg up you need to get the offer. The bottom line:

1. Do your homework. Yes, everyone says do your homework. But few sites actually get into doing a proper job of due diligence. Do a bit of research on the principals of the company. Sometimes you will find one or more of the principals of a company, or even your direct supervisor, has a criminal record, such as a conviction or accusation of fraud or embezzlement. You should know this going in.

2. Delve into the financials. If the company is publicly traded, it may help to understand whether and how the company makes money. If the company is bleeding red ink, ask your prospective employer about his assessment of a path to profitability. In the long run, only a profitable company is going to be able to pay you very well. Money losing companies tend to drag employees down with them.

3. Look prepared. Have some specific questions you want to ask that are written down. That makes it look like you are thorough and you took the time to learn about the company. Your questions should be more than Wikipedia deep. It’s ok to put a little spin on the ball, but don’t put the manager on the spot.

4. Don’t just talk a job. Talk a career path. Ask about typical avenues for advancement in the company. Or ask where the supervisor sees the department going at the end of the quarter, year, or five years. If you can steer the conversation into how you can help them get there, you win.

5. Evaluation. Ask about how your performance will be evaluated, and by whom. This isn’t an idle chit-chat question – the intent is to deliberately guide the interview into concrete topics that help the interviewer imagine you already filling the position! Sometimes, talk about evaluation criteria can lead directly to discussion of compensation. This is always tricky, but if you can get to the compensation point without committing to a figure before the company does, you are in good shape. Use caution, though: If you commit to a figure too soon, the company could use that information against you. Don’t bring up salary before they do, and don’t get involved in a discussion of compensation before you have been able to build a perception of value in what you have to offer. The bottom line: Make them want you. THEN talk comp.
Remember, based on the information you gather, you may not even want the job. If the company is going down the tubes, of if the management has a less than stellar track record, and you can’t clear the air at the first interview, you may want to pass on the opportunity. This is valuable information right there.

If, after having performed the due diligence, you do want the job, then your object is to move the conversation towards the offer. If your conversation is very specific about career opportunities, the company’s plans for the department in the coming months, your job performance criteria and your supervisor, you are quickly getting details out of the way, so that the only thing left is to accept or decline an offer. The trick is to get there quickly, but not so quickly that you haven’t had a chance to build a perception of value in yourself.

In the end, job interviewing is exactly like sales: Identify what they want, confirm that you can deliver what they want, and make it easy for them to visualize you in that role. Understand that they must do the same thing, selling themselves and their opportunity to you.

Good luck.

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1. Setting inappropriate objectives. Many novice networkers try to accomplish too much at a networking event. This can come across as pushy, and actually scare good products off. Instead, your objective at a networking event should be to identify who may be a good match for your skills, or who may be a good source of referrals, and simply build a rapport with them. At the end of the night, you should have several cards from people who know in very broad terms what you do, and who will welcome your call the next business day. That’s it.

2. Talking to too many people. Some people will strive to have a conversation with everyone at the event. This is unnecessary and undesirable. It is better to have a good conversation with five or six people than a very superficial conversation with dozens. That doesn’t set you apart, and that isn’t going to get you very many appointments. If you’re lucky, the prospect will remember you.

3. Talking to too few people. Have good conversations, but don’t monopolize anyone’s time, either. Remember, other people have their own objectives at networking events, too, and it probably doesn’t involve talking to you all night. Open a conversation. Qualify the prospect, to see if he or she needs or wants what you have to offer and can afford you. Build a rapport. Have fun. When you have the prospect agreeing to take your call the next day, your mission is accomplished. Politely break things off and move on, so he can move on. Or even better, help him, by introducing him to someone who needs his service.

4. Talking to the same people. It’s natural for you to make friends and forge close relationships with people. But guard against the tendency to stagnate. You and your friends should save socializing for social times. This is business. Your job is to develop and warm up your market, and fill your pipeline with leads. Period. Your friends will understand. Say “hi,” then “let’s get together later.” And get to work.

5. Yapping too much. It’s not about you. It’s about creating victories for everyone else, as well as yourself. Strive to be a listener, not a talker. You gain no information when you talk. You can learn a lot by listening. Once you have a prospect talking about his or her business, don’t miss the chance to keep your mouth shut. When you have an opening, ask open-ended questions that get the customer talking again. “What’s your biggest headache these days? How are you drumming up business lately? Who is your ideal customer?” At the end of the conversation, you should ideally have a good idea of what hot buttons to push at your next conversation – and have some possible solutions to their problems prepared.

6. Handing out too many business cards. We’ve all seen the eager beaver who hands cards out all over the place, but doesn’t know a thing about who he’s giving cards to. At networking events, it is much more important to be a card collector than a card giver. You can have a very successful networking event and not bring a single card with you.

7. Failure to follow through. There is no reason why you can’t do a professional job following through with every contact you make at a networking event. A simple, brief, hand-written “thank you” note, plus a first class stamp may be the best business investment you will ever make. Whether you are looking for work or selling a product or service, or just making connections, one legible and hand-written thank-you note, mailed that night, followed by a positive phone call, is worth many resumes in peoples’ trash cans. Keep detailed records. You cannot keep all your possible prospects in your head. Have a system for capturing leads and following through on them.

Boiled down to the basics, the keys to a successful night at a networking event are three-fold: Build rapport, gathering intelligence, gaining the go-ahead for further discussion, and following through, through meticulous record-keeping and prompt writing and calling. Do this on a regular basis, night after night, and you cannot help but be successful.

Wide spectrum of jobs is available at our CAREER section!
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Social media has indeed changed the job-hunting landscape. Unfortunately, it may not sit favorably with those who are not fond and in tune with technology.

If you are one of these people, then you need to know one thing: you have to learn how to be more receptive to the Internet, in general, and social media, in particular. Whether you like it or not, majority of the companies will be looking for candidates who, at the very least, show proficiency in using computer and the World Wide Web.

Of course, embracing what you do not like takes a lot of time and adjustment, but you can definitely do it, especially if you take note of these tips:

• Think of them as helpful tools.
Instead of going cynical about social media tools, consider them as your best friend. They can improve your employment search. You can use them to get a general idea of what companies these days are demanding from their employees. What’s more, you can use them to make better employment decisions, as you can read the company’s culture and business information online. Social media allows for a win-win situation for both the applicant and the boss.

• Increase your network.
There are many ways to increase your network. You can volunteer, attend seminars, enroll in crash courses, or join associations or professional organizations. Doing this satisfies one of the basic but integral components of a successful job search: person-to-person communication. You may ask, “What is the role of social media then?” You can use social media to enhance your professional relationships within your network.

• Choose websites well.
Not all social media sites are worth spending time simply because they don’t do much when it comes to your professional career. We would suggest you prioritize websites such as LinkedIn. This social networking portal is mainly for professionals. You do not need to give any of your intimate information, which you have to do in Facebook or MySpace.

LinkedIn also has plenty of great features that are truly helpful for candidates like you. You can search jobs, connect to companies and recruiters, upload your resume, or promote your blog and portfolio, among others.

• Assess your skills.
With the entry of the Internet, the list of qualifications of companies has also changed. You may need to take some time to assess and even update your skills if you truly want to compete and get the job you want. You can use social media to be more updated about what skills are now needed in your field.

Hourly updated employment opportunities in our Career section!
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