NEW YORK, September 2, 2011 - The latest employment figures released by the government provided no comfort to the 14 million unemployed Americans, but career and executive coach Robert Hellmann, an adjunct instructor in the NYU-SCPS Department of Career, Education, and Life Planning says that many of them are unaware of options that may help them find work.
“Job seekers must approach their searches strategically, and not try to be all things to all people,” says Hellmann, who will lead a workshop on Getting Interviews 2.0: Best Methods for Uncovering the Hidden Job Market at NYU-SCPS on Tuesday, October 4. “They must have a clear job target and employ methods that help them to circumvent the glut of applicants who besiege employers for every position that becomes available.”
Hellmann advises job seekers to maximize their effectiveness in using four channels for job searching: ads, recruiters, direct contact, and networking.
“The trick is to utilize each channel effectively,” he says. “For example, you should spend less than 20 percent of your time on methods such as searching ads and contacting recruiters. That’s too passive. Active methods, such as leveraging your network and contacting people whom you don’t know directly, using social media applications such as LinkedIn, increase your chances of getting a better job faster.
“The key is to take control of your job search," he says. "Don’t let someone else do the work for you.”
In a tough job market such as this one, Hellmann says that you have to be focused. “Someone receiving a resume will take about 15 seconds to determine if you can help them or not before moving on to the next one,” he says.
A certified Five O'Clock Club career and executive coach, Hellmann is vice president and associate director of the Club's Guild of Career Coaches. He is the author of Your Social Media Job Search: Use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Other Tools to Get the Job You Want! (CreateSpace, 2010). He has taught at NYU-SCPS since 2004.
The workshop will emphasize elements such as how to research and target potential employers, and the right and wrong ways to pitch and to follow up. To register, go to http://www.scps.nyu.edu/fallce or call 212-998-7150.