We have all had a colleague, ex-employee, friend or relative ask us for a letter of recommendation or to be a reference in their job search.  Most of the time, we are honestly thrilled to be asked and at other times we would just rather not be included.  Savvy recruiters who verify references daily are usually very good at reading between the lines and making a judgment about what you are trying to say or trying to avoid saying.   Before you say "Yes" to the next request to write a reference letter here are 3 things you should think about. 

1. How much time do you have?

Writing for fun and leisure is one thing; writing with a deadline is another.  Be prepared to spend the time required to draft a good letter if you choose to write the reference letter!  Do not be afraid to ask for help if time is limited.  Being a reference for someone or writing a letter of recommendation is an important component in the successful job candidate’s employment process.  If you have made the commitment then be prepared to take the time to write a meaningful letter – one that the candidate could possibly keep as part of a career or job portfolio.  I still have a letter of recommendation written by my first boss, twenty-five years ago.  Feel free to use available on-line writing resources that can help such as templates of recommendation letters and samples of recommendation letters, but be very careful not to copy generic formats that recruiters see everyday.  One such on-line source with great tips for writing reference letters is www.jobweb.com.  

2. How to say "No"

Those of us who have actually recruited and hired others, know that a less than positive recommendation can cause just as much damage, if not more than not giving one at all.  If you feel you should decline, you are obligated to do it early to give the candidate an opportunity to ask someone else.  Of course by now every savvy job seeker knows that it is not in good taste to list someone as a reference unless you have cleared it with them first.  Since not everyone follows that practice, and new college grads can be at fault here, you might end up with the unexpected phone call one day.  For the candidate’s sake, it would be best if your day was going well since the potential employer might form a lasting impression based on your first reaction.

If you haven’t known the job seeker long enough to be comfortable giving a reference, you should decline when asked.  You may or may not offer to assist them to find someone else more appropriate to be listed as their reference.  A general rule of thumb is to have known someone for at least a year before agreeing.   Exceptions apply if you are asked by someone with whom you might have worked on a specific project or team for a limited time or if you might have taken a class with a college professor who can attest to your capacity or promise in a specific area.  

Feel free to decline also if you don’t know enough about the job, the career or the candidates’ background to speak with confidence.  Whatever you do, if the answer is "No", you must do it early. 

3. How much do you really know the person asking for the letter of recommendation?

According to the Society of Human Resource Managers (www.shrm.org), over 53% of all job applicants lie to some extent on their resumes and more than 70% of all college students said they would lie in order to get a job.  HireRight (www.hireright.com),  in Irvine, California screens more than 1 million resumes per year and reports that 20% of candidates state fraudulent degrees on their resumes, 30% show altered employment dates, 40% make extravagant salary claims, 30% have inaccurate job descriptions, 25% list companies that no longer exist and 27% give falsified references.    

Keep in mind here that your recommendation letter is more than a cautious endorsement of a candidate.  It’s your testament to their work ethic, their honesty and their integrity.  Of course employers understand that your letter of recommendation is solely based on your own experience of the candidate, but be sure to keep your own professional integrity in mind. 

For the most part, being asked to write a letter of recommendation is an honor.  It means that you may have impressed the candidate as someone whose words could have an influence on their future.   Most of us remember having to ask others to attest to our strengths at some time or another and were grateful when they did.  It’s only right to pass that on, being ever mindful of the ramifications.

So you have executed a successful career reentry job search and landed a new job and you are anxious to get started building your new career in a new company.   Once you get over your new employee fears and get oriented to your new space, you will find it takes more than smiles and kind words to fit in. 

Here are few things to keep in mind as you make the transition.

Don't whine.  At least not to the people you work with at the office.   Talk about any job challenges or work related issues with friends, family or trusted colleagues in other companies, and not with your new coworkers.  Avoid complaining about too much work, too many assignments or too long hours at the office.  The fact is, no one really cares how much you have to do since everyone else has their own work, their own assignments, and their own long hours to deal with.  Avoid becoming too cozy with the established resident whiners in your new company as well. 

Make your manager aware of what you are doing and ask for feedback.  A colleague once talked to me about a new energetic recruit who showed a lot of initiative on the job.  Although this new worker meant really well, as my colleague put it, "She was running a great race, but she was in the wrong stadium completely."  Make sure the work you are doing is relevant and critical to the department's mission.  Additionally, make sure your work is being noticed.  It will take a while for you to get into your groove in your new office, and making sure you are not working contrary to the flow is good.  Watch also that you are not inheriting assignments from those who want to hand off their jobs.

Show enthusiasm and energy for the job, business or industry you are in now.  If you just got hired by the largest plumbing fixture manufacturing supply company, you need to get excited about plumbing fixture manufacturing supplies business.  People who enjoy the domains they work in are interested in learning more and will ultimately tend to do better on the job.  If you are not prepared to have meaningful conversations about your job or the industry within which your company operates, you will not be happy.  

Stay on time.  If you have a problem being punctual, work really hard to correct that behavior.  Be in the office on time, if not early, be back from lunch on time and do not pack up twenty minutes before your shift or day is supposed to end.  Arrive on time for meetings and work harder on your own time if you have to.   Of course today's workforce is more about productivity than time spent in the office, but it is still a good idea for to show others you respect their time.  Once you understand the protocols and the routines of the office, schedules can change. 

Limit talk about what you did in your old job, company or worse in a class.  This one is pretty hard to do, but it is something you will master eventually.  It is been my experience that people sometimes don't want to hear new ideas if they came from your old job, old company or worse from a class.  Of course your prior knowledge will show in your work, but limit talking about where your skills come from.  Feel free to credit publications, the media or a conference, but not your old job, company or class for new ideas.    

Of course none of these tips are cast in cement.  In addition to the requisite due diligence to do your new job well, you just need to heed some of these other workplace protocols that could expedite or slow your assimilation in the new environment after career reentry. 

If you feel "stuck" in your current career, "satisfied but exploring" or seriously looking for a career change, rejuvenating your network of connections could be the avenue to new opportunities.  Whether your contacts are former colleagues, friends and family, someone you met at a formal networking event, folks you might have taken a class with or a neighbor you met at your kid's soccer game, building a viable web of contacts is important to successful career change.  Keep these 4 tips in mind as you recommit to building your network.

Make time to maintain your contacts 

How many events have you attended, collected business cards and found them months later tucked away and forgotten in a coat pocket?  Have you changed jobs, vowing to keep in touch but find that months later you are completely out of the loop?  All of us have.  It is also understandable since new roles come with new responsibilities and routines and often lead to a whole new group of contacts.  As people move in and out of town and sometimes in and out of our lives, some of us are definitely much better than others at staying connected.  Some people who are masters of networking make it a rule to spend 20 to 40 minutes daily just keeping in touch.  If you are one of these people who plan to stay in touch use your calendar software to schedule calls or emails.  Look for software with reminder capability to jog your memory.   

Become a resource for the people you know

It is important that you connect with people not just for your own benefit, but so that you can become a resource for others as well.  Too many people think that networking means getting information and help from others, but never think it means they can also connect to offer help.  Always think of how you can help others connect with each other as well.  This way you will have not only one, but two people who might now be looking out for you.  Certainly you also want to follow through quickly with new contacts that may have been referred to you.  It is common courtesy also to make sure you alert people you know that you might be passing their information on to someone else who could benefit from the referral.

Keep a record of information on new contacts

If you participate in conferences or business networks it is good idea to find a way to immediately record information about new contacts you meet.  Without recording information quickly, you might forget where you met, what the person does, who else was there or how you could become a resource for that person.  A friend of mine, who I consider a power networker, makes notes on business cards as soon as she gets to her car or even the ladies room.  One small-business owner keeps a voice recorder in his car and keeps notes on people he meets.  He includes as many details as possible from the person’s name and nicknames; details of the meeting, including where they met, who else was in attendance and even details about something interesting about what the person may have been wearing or what they spoke about.  All this information became fodder for conversations with that person at a later date.  He also takes notes on how he could become a resource for this new contact.  Not everyone might want to go this far, but creating some system to keep notes and not just relying on memory is a good idea. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the year 2014, an estimated 78 million Baby Boomers will retire from the workforce with only 600 000 workers entering to replace them.   Where are these retiring Baby Boomers going? Not home, that's for sure.  Baby Boomers are retooling, going back to school and looking for new skills to begin new careers.   Retirement is becoming more of a temporary segue into a new life, now increasingly known as the encore career.

A recent blog post written at PennFoster.edu states, "It looks like retirement is becoming a thing of the past for the middle class. No more “winter condos” in Florida or retirement homes in Arizona." 

Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works, a national nonprofit organization cites the following in support of older workers in  the labor pool:

1.  The Society of HR Managers shares that 77% have a higher level of commitment to the organization than younger workers.
2. Buck Consultants survey shares that 88% of employers said that mature workers' knowledge provided a significant business advantage.
3. A study by NCOA and McDonalds, says that 97% of employers surveyed said older workers were thorough and reliable.

If anyone wanted additional proof that people are working longer and well into their senior years, look no further than the United States Congress where the average age is now 61.8 years.

Lauren Victoria Burke, in an AP article, shared that the constitutional framers, in the late 18th century, set the minimum age requirement for the Senate at 30 and for the House at 25 years.  At the time, that was considered late middle age at a time when the average life expectancy was around 40 years."

Fast forward to today and you will find active members of congress who are well into their senior years.

Since the first session of the United States Congress, in 1789, the average age of members of the Senate has risen from 47 to an all-time high today of 61.8 according to Senate records.

Senator Robert Byrd at 90 years old is the longest-serving senator in history.  He told a reporter recently to “Shut up,” when the reporter asked how he would respond to those who questioned his capacity to run an important committee.

 
1. Find a quiet spot to do your phone interview. The last thing you want is to have distracting noises in the background, be they children, pets, music or just a noisy street. 

2. Do not accept phone interview calls at your current work place or office, during working hours.

3. If you are using your cell phone, find a place where signal strength is strong and stay there until you finish the call.

4. Speak clearly and watch your tone and energy level.  One seasoned recruiter from a Big 4 Accounting firm shared with me that job seekers who sounded drowsy or low energy usually were not called again.

5. Be professional and polite in your phone interview.  If you are on a speaker phone, acknowledge everyone who is listening to you. 

6. Watch your use of slang.

7. Listen carefully. Since you are not in front of the recruiter, you can't read their body language so it is very important that you listen carefully and answer clearly.

8. Ask questions in the phone interview.  The most important question you should ask is to schedule the face-to-face interview which gets you closer to the job you seek. 

9. Smile. Your pleasant persona will actually come across over the phone.   A fellow call center manager with whom I worked several years ago actually kept a mirror in her desk drawer.  You knew she was on the phone with an irate customer when she took it out.  

10. Be very clear about the next steps when you get off the phone.  Wrap up by clarifying details about the next steps for you as a job applicant.  Do not get off the phone before restating your interest in the position.

It is impossible to watch the current Democratic and Republican presidential debates and not think about some interview Do's and Don'ts. Of course most of us could not withstand these "interviews from hell" but we can at least learn something as we watch from the sidelines.

Here are some of the interview do's we have seen in the 9 way race between Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Rudi Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Interview Do’s
1. Do talk about prior job accomplishments where you worked with a team to reach successful outcomes. Just be clear that you were a part of a team and didn't do everything by yourself. It's not believable.

2. Do speak to outstanding outcomes in clear and concise terms. Avoid the urge to over sell prior job "accomplishments". This is especially true if these prior outcomes are easily verified, especially, if when closely scrutinized, they might yield less than flattering results.

3. Do bring your personality into the job interview. Hiring managers are not looking for robots. They are looking for real people to do real work. They are turned off by energy, animation or a sense of humor, if done in excess. Interviewers appreciate real people who let their positive persona shine through.

4. Do answer the specific questions asked. Sometimes a long preamble and set up for the answer will have your audience, the hiring manager, fading away, zoning out or thinking you aren't truly listening.

5. Do own your failures. There is nothing as unimpressive as someone in a job interview who cannot or will not speak to any lessons learned from prior career missteps. Especially if asked directly. You do not need to dwell on job failures, but you need to acknowledge them at least. It comes across as disingenuous if you don't.

6. Do speak to transferable job skills. No two careers are identical. People go in different directions and therefore have different stories to tell. The key is to focus on your transferability of job skills from one situation to the next.

I will keep adding others as I see them. Feel free to share your thoughts at BullsEyeResumes blog. 

Email plays an increasingly important role in our lives both in and out of the office.  In fact, the most popular web mail service, Yahoo! Mail turned 10 years old in October, 2007 with 250 million users.  TechCrunch reported back in February that Yahoo leads the pack followed by MSN with 228 million accounts and Gmail with 51 million.   

Needless to say, many people are relying on email in their job search as much as they rely on it for personal entertainment or communicating with friends. 

The following tips will help job seekers to use email effectively in the job search.   

Teens looking for jobs in a competitive market this year should be able to write winning cover letters, thank-you letters and reject-a-job-offer letters.

In a globally competitive marketplace, it is increasingly important that teenagers develop good career and job search habits early.  Teens seeking work or volunteer experiences to learn new skills or just earn extra cash should learn to write three very important letters as part of an effective job search strategy.   These three critical letters are the Cover Letter, the Thank You Letter and the Reject-A-Job-Offer Letter.

In addition to the specifics of these three letters, here are some general tips that should apply to all written job search communications from teens:

-       Be brief and make the point clearly

-       Avoid spelling and grammatical errors

-       Use appropriate salutations

-       Include writer’s name and address

-       If using email, watch the use of slang terminology or text message abbreviations

-              Get help proofreading resumes, letters and job applications

Cover letter

A cover letter, otherwise called a "letter of application" should accompany a resume.  The simple goal of the cover letter for a teenager is to highlight specific skills and to show interest in the job.  Avoid long paragraphs but write complete sentences.  Since not all companies will require cover letters, the general rule of thumb for teenagers seeking a job, is to use a cover letter, unless the job posting specifically says not to do so. 

Thank-You Letter

Teenagers should always send a Thank-You letter to a hiring manager, after the job interview.  Slippery Rock University career center states that only 33% of interview candidates will follow through and send a Thank-You letter.  An employer poll by Monster.com says that 65% of employers expect a Thank-You note.  36% percent of those surveyed say they prefer Thank-You notes sent by email compared to 29% who prefer the Thank-You letter by traditional mail.  Use this letter to thank the employer for the interview, to remind them about interest in the job and emphasize relevant skills.  Since so few people and definitely fewer teenagers send Thank-You Letters, it will definitely demonstrate professional maturity.

Reject-a-Job-Offer Letter

Teenagers sometimes apply for several jobs before getting hired.  If they receive a job offer from an employer and decide, for whatever reason, not to take that job, it is important that they send a Reject-a-Job-Offer-Letter.  This letter is also very simple, but will go a long way to demonstrate professionalism.  Sometimes if the chosen job does not pan out, the employer who received a Reject-a-Job-Offer, might be willing to speak with the teenager again.  This letter should express appreciation for being considered and state clearly that the job seeker is declining the job offer.  Also include a willingness to be contacted for future opportunities. 

"People are going to have to be creative and take a broad approach to their job search," says Russ Gerson, CEO of Gerson Group.  Gerson shared this job search advice with Sarah Needleman in a recent career article for Career Journal.

The Gerson Group is a global financial services recruiting firm with offices in London and New York, that specializes in placing employees into positions in alternative investment.

asset management, capital markets, equity research, real estate and wealth management jobs.  In other words, they place employees into lucrative careers on the trading floors and corner offices on Wall Street.  

As job losses on Wall Street add up, Gerson is advising job seekers to think outside, around and even under the box to secure employment in a tough job market.  Already in 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that over 100,000 jobs have been cut in the financial sector, making it the largest sector experiencing job losses, ahead of the auto industry.   The debate continues about whether or not to bail out the auto industry and who knows how many additional jobs will be lost in that industry as the economy worsen

As expected, smaller banks and financial companies are jumping in to pick up the slack in business and are actually doing some hiring.  The problem for Wall Street ex-employees seeking new positions is that these jobs are not all in New York.  That actually points to one option that job seekers should most definitely be exploring - relocation.

Other options the pink slip crowd from Wall Street will have to explore? Lower salaries since many of the smaller boutique financial agencies, cannot handle investment bank sized payrolls.

Other career options suggested in the Needleman article for financial professionals caught in the Wall Street conundrum:

- Financial communications: If you're an experienced financial analyst, you are likely adept at determining what information is appropriate to divulge. Consider a career here.
- Wealth management: Ex- traders should look for opportunities on the buy-side at hedge funds, insurers and investment-management firms where their analytical and quantitative skills would be an asset.
- Risk management: Problem identification and isolation is something that traders always do instinctively and so a career in risk management is a definite option.

After writing a first draft of your high school resume, put it aside for a day or two.  It is good to take a break from looking at your resume, since after a while, everything looks correct even when it is not.  Use the following checklist as a guide to proofread your high school resume.   (Read High School Resume FAQs and Interview FAQs)

1. Double check all the spelling and grammar.