Author: Barbara A. Adams

• Why haven’t you found a new position before now?
  Finding a job is the easy part but finding the right job is much more difficult. You are trying to be “selective.”
• Have you ever thought of leaving your present position before? If yes, what do you think kept you there?
  Challenge is what kept you in your current position but it is not there anymore. Any other time you considered leaving it was due to lack of challenge and growth.
• What do you think of your boss?
  This is a question that can make or break an interview every time. The person talking to you might be your boss either today or in the future and does not want to hear you trash your current or past boss/employer. NEVER talk negatively about this and always try and stay as positive as possible.
• Describe a situation in which your work was criticized.
  Make sure the example you give is a positive one, meaning that even though there might have been a problem with a certain task or project you were involved in, you came away from it and learned something. Always be positive.
• What other types of jobs or companies are you considering?
  If you are going to talk about this subject then make sure that you mention ONLY jobs related to this field or industry. Interviewers do NOT want to hear that you are thinking of becoming an accountant when you are applying for a Web designer position. It tells them that you might not be as serious about staying a web designer. Nobody wants to hire someone that is already interested in changing careers before the position is even accepted.
• Where would you like to be 5 years or 10 years from now?
  This is a tough question unless you have otherworldly powers. Your answer should reflect what you want the interviewer to know about you. Example: ” I see myself continuing to learn and grow and take on new challenges.” This tells the interviewer that you are interested in moving forward in your career and want to build upon previous success.
• What are your weaknesses?
  This is a very common question. If you say you have no weaknesses then you come off looking arrogant. If you try and use humor then you may appear too dismissive. This is a difficult question and the interviewer wants to see how you handle it. Use a weakness that can otherwise be seen as a strength. Never fall into the trap of seeing the interviewer as mother/father/confessor and offer up something that is important to the job.

  A good example can be, “One of my weaknesses is that I can sometimes take on to much work and it can get me into trouble meeting deadlines but luckily I have learned to manage my time and commitments much better by utilizing a task manager and budgeting my time more accurately.”

• If I spoke with your previous boss, what would they say is your greatest strength and weakness?
  Emphasize your strong job related skills and turn your weakness into a positive.

  Example: “My boss would say my strengths are my ability to problem solve and manage a project through to completion. He would then tell you that my weaknesses are that I have had trouble budgeting my time and saying ‘No’ to coworkers but that I learned to better manage my time once he pointed this out to me.”

• How much are you looking for?
  This is when your preinterview research comes in handy. Take a look at salary guides for the particular position in your region. These should provide accurate ranges for you to go by. Do not name a specific number but do state that, “The research I have done shows that a person with my experience is usually paid in the X range for a job such as this one.” If you are unsure of what the range is then an answer of “I care much more about getting myself the right opportunity then a certain dollar amount” should get you through this question.
• 10. What important trends do you see in our industry?
  Keep your answer to just a few examples. Do not go into any longwinded explanations about why you think that something is inevitable in the industry. Since you do not know what the interviewer believes to be the trends or what direction the company believes the trends will go keep all answers in a positive tone.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/interviews-articles/ten-unexpected-interview-questions-5551861.html

About the Author

Barbara Adams, President & CEO of CareerPro Global, the parent company of www.careerproplus.com has been a member of the careers community for the past 23 years she and holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global, Inc. is the first business of it’s kind in the careers industry to earn ISO 9001-2008 Certification in July 2010. CareerPro Global is one the fastest growing Military, Federal and Civilian Resume Writing and Careers Coaching companies in the industry. Barbara’s team of Certified Professional and Federal Writers assist thousands of veterans applying for and gaining Federal employment each year.

I have spent the majority of my professional career in the nonprofit sector, doing work that I have found intellectually and morally rewarding. All of my nonprofit jobs have involved some mix of communications, marketing, public relations or fundraising work, so I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the things that we do, and finding ways to explain those things to others, most of whom operate outside of the nonprofit sector. While engaged in such interactive and explanatory work over the years, I’ve been confronted with an interesting collection of misconceptions about the nonprofit sector. Here are five of the most common ones I’ve encountered, along with explanations as to why they’re wrong.

1. “Nonprofits can’t make more money than they spend.” In Business 101, people learn that Profit equals Revenue minus Expense. Therefore, it would seem to a casual viewer that a nonprofit corporation can’t have revenues greater than its expenses, because in that case, the nonprofit would be making a profit, and would no longer be a nonprofit corporation accordingly. This is wrong, though. Bad wrong. Any nonprofit corporation that spent every single penny it earned, as it earned it, would quickly become an ex-nonprofit corporation. The real difference between nonprofit and for-profit corporations is what happens to those surpluses when revenues exceed expenses: in a for-profit corporation, the surpluses are distributed to shareholders as income or dividends; in a nonprofit corporation, the surpluses must (eventually) be applied toward to the nonprofit corporation’s mission. Some amount of running surplus is always required on a year-to-year basis just to meet basic payroll and operating requirements. Some larger surpluses may support organizational mission by being placed in endowments, with interest earnings providing long-term revenue streams. Some surpluses may be designated for specific programmatic needs, and held until such time as the funds must be paid to meet those needs. The tricky part, for any nonprofit, is figuring out how much surplus and reserve is too much surplus and reserve, given the commensurate benefit of funds being spent in real time. If a nonprofit sits on a $1.0 million in liquid assets while providing only $100 worth of services a year, then there’s probably a problem there. But if a nonprofit spends $1.0 million a year while making $1.1 million in the same year, then that shouldn’t be a red flag, in and of itself. In any case, nonprofits must, over the long term, make more than they spend, or they will cease to exist as effective entities. So don’t begrudge nonprofit corporations their positive balance sheet positions and reasonable cash reserves.

2. “Nonprofits should always be grateful for any and all gifts given to them.” Well-meaning community members often organize grassroots fundraisers for nonprofit organizations. Some of these grassroots fundraisers are wonderful, sure, but many of them aren’t. While it may seem great on the surface that a group of concerned and caring friends create an event that collects, say, $250 in a bar one night to give to a certain nonprofit, if that nonprofit supports a community that may be harmed by alcohol consumption, then the association of the nonprofit’s name with the bar event may actually be a negative, rather than a positive. Also, if the event’s organizers expect the nonprofit organization’s marketing department to promote the event, invite the organization’s leadership to the event, and then expect the organization’s development office to prepare and mail donor letters after the event, when you consider the total nonprofit labor, overhead and materials costs supporting the event, the net financial impact of the event is actually very likely to be negative. You should never stage a fundraising event or use a nonprofit’s name to promote an event accordingly without checking with the nonprofit first, and without asking the nonprofit if such an event represents the very best way for you to serve their mission as a volunteer. You should also never seek to provide legitimacy to a dodgy commercial, political or social enterprise by tacking on the name of a nonprofit as an afterthought, or publicly treating a nonprofit as though it should be grateful for whatever you toss in the proverbial begging bowl. If you take the time to put the nonprofit’s needs and requirements first, then everybody will be happier with your contribution when it’s done.

3. “I can take a tax deduction for anything that I donate to a nonprofit.” For straight-up cash gifts, this is generally a good assumption, although once your income rises to a certain level, you may not get 100 cents worth of deductions on the dollars you spend. But that fundraising dinner you went to last night, with the $100 ticket price? You can’t claim a $100 tax deduction, since you received tangible goods and services (food, fun, etc.) by attending, so only some lesser portion of your payment is tax deductible; the nonprofit should tell you how much. And the $100 worth of raffle tickets you bought? Since you didn’t win anything, that’s a donation now, right? Wrong: those tickets were your entry fee into a game of chance, and in the eyes of the government, the chance at the prize is worth the same value as the prize itself, so you can’t claim any portion of that raffle expense as tax deductible. And that time that you took all those clothes to the Salvation Army over the weekend and put them in their collection bin, and you tallied up how much you had spent on them all ($1,000) and took that as a tax deduction? Incorrect and illegal, since the value of an in-kind donation is based on the fair market value of the item donated at the time of donation, not purchase. Also, if your in-kind donation is valued at more than $500, you’re going to need to include an appraisal with your tax filing, and have documentation from the charity that confirms your gift. Or say you donate your car to a charity, and its Blue Book value is $5,000. You can take that amount as a tax deduction, right? Not necessarily: if the charity sells it for $3,000, then that’s all you can claim. The bottom line on all of these examples is that tax deduction rules are more complicated than you might think, and you should always seek guidance from the nonprofits of your choice on how best to support them, while maximizing your own tax benefit as well, and not setting yourself up for penalties associated with incorrect tax filings. Get gift confirmation letters from the nonprofits for your gifts, too, in the tax year that you are claiming them. The burden is on you, not the nonprofits, to prove that you made the gifts when the Internal Revenue Service comes knocking.

4. “I see a specific need not being met in my community, so the best thing for me to do is to establish a new nonprofit corporation to address that need.” Maybe this is correct, sometimes, but not very often, and a nonprofit organization shouldn’t be established as a hobby, especially if it plans to fundraise. You also should never establish a nonprofit corporation to give yourself a job as its Director. That’s just bad form. While there is a wide-spread shortage of funding in the nonprofit sector these days, there is no shortage of nonprofits themselves: the National Center for Charitable Statistics reports that there are nearly 1.6 million nonprofit organizations in existence today (a 66% increase since 1998), while Nonprofit Times noted that the number of 501(c)(3) charities (a subset of the total number of nonprofits) with income levels of over $25,000 broke 1.0 million in 2005. There are, of course, hundreds of thousands of additional small nonprofits that never get to that $25,000 threshold, and are likely having minimal, marginal impacts in their home communities accordingly. The Balkanization of service sectors into restrictively tight missions of a growing number of niche nonprofits ultimately hurts the overall effectiveness of the response within that service sector. If you see a charitable need unfulfilled in your community, your best, first bet is to figure out which existing service provider may have a mission that could allow it to meet the need within its existing, established operational and fundraising infrastructure. Setting up competing, small nonprofit corporations without the ability to actually pay for such provision will generally make it very difficult for any funds raised to have any significant, long-term impact. Again, this is not to discourage people from volunteering their time, talents and treasures, but they’re going to be a lot more useful to a lot more people if you don’t reinvent the wheel by starting a new nonprofit from scratch on a whim.

5. “People work in the nonprofit sector because they can’t cut it in the for-profit sector.” From a strictly monetary standpoint, this might seem to make sense, since salaries in the nonprofit sector are generally lower when compared to comparable positions in the for profit sector, and if people can get paid more for doing the same job in the for-profit sector, then their continued presence in the nonprofit sector must be indicative of their second-tier talents. But this, too, is very wrong, offering a shallow and reductive view of the nonprofit sector that fails to recognize fundamental elements of the charitable experience: altruism, philanthropy, and a desire to serve others. There are obviously myriad reasons why people choose to work in the nonprofit sector, but at bottom line, people who work for nonprofits generally get some intangible, immeasurable benefit from their belief in the rightness of their work and their organizations’ mission, and the value of this benefit in their lives may often be higher to them than the additional monetary value of doing similar work for a less mission-driven organization. They feel that their work has a sense of deeper meaning, beyond simply providing income and dividends to shareholders. Others may simply see their lower-than-for-profit salary levels as essentially contributions back to their employing organizations, increasing funds available for mission. At bottom line, few if any people get Masters Degrees in Social Work (to cite just one sector example) to help them become wealthy. They get such degrees, and enter what are sometimes woefully underfunded employment situations, because they want to make a difference. Some of the most talented individuals that any of us are ever likely to encounter have forged their entire careers and reputations working for and with nonprofits, to the tremendous benefit of their communities and nations. The nonprofit workforce isn’t less effective or less valuable than the for-profit sector is, it’s just driven by a very different set of motivations and inspirations. So don’t pass shallow judgment on those who put something other than money first.

Non-commercial bloggers orbiting New York’s Capital Region: http://indiealbany.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J_Eric_Smith

http://EzineArticles.com/?Five-Common-Misconceptions-About-Nonprofits&id=5425578

By: Jenny Henry

About the Author

Written by: Sumac Research

Sumac is the easiest, most complete and cost-effective software for managing non-profits’ data. For information on Sumac or for more articles published by Sumac Research, visit Sumac

(ArticlesBase SC #3521430)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – 15 Extraordinary Social Media Campaigns

Author: Alan Sharpe

You’ll be encouraged to know that the art of writing effective fundraising letters can be learned. I learned it. So can you.

Successful fundraising letters share a number of things in common. Once you know what these things are, your letter is already half-way written.

Before I share what they are, let me explain what I mean by a “successful” or “effective” fundraising letter. I mean a letter that generates a gift, certainly, but I also mean a letter that builds upon the relationship you have with your supporters. You can easily craft a guilt-inducing letter that brings in a donation for now but repels a donor forever. Successful fundraising letters take the long-term approach, knowing that donors need to be nurtured and educated over time.

So here are some things that all successful fundraising letters have in common. Include as many of them as you can in each letter you write.

1. Is personal
Effective fundraising letters sound as though they are written by a human being, not an institution. Unlike grant proposals or special events, they are person-to-person pieces of communication. With the exception of a phone call, fundraising letters are the closest thing that you can get to a face-to-face meeting with a donor.

2. Is conversational
Again, unlike grant proposals and charity auctions, effective fundraising letters read like a conversation (though admittedly a monologue) between two people. Wouldn’t you agree that good letters involve the reader? Like you, I believe that effective letters involve the supporter in the message whenever possible without sounding contrived.

3. Is addressed to a person by name
Don’t send form letters to make friends. Friends don’t mail form letters. They send personal letters. Letters addressed to their friends by name. My wife never sends me a letter that begins, “Dear Friend.” Neither do my friends. I realize that personalization costs more. But personalization is the right thing to do. And it boost response, which is a bonus you get for doing the right thing.

4. Describes the case for support in human terms
The best fundraising letters translate institutional needs in terms of people, not programs, remembering that people give to people to help people. So instead of saying “we need $10,000 for our general fund,” a savvy fundraising letter says “our soup kitchen aims to help over 100 needy toddlers this Christmas Eve, and your gift today will make that possible.”

5. Is donor-centred
The best-received fundraising letters say “you” more than they say “we.” As Jeff Brooks, senior creative director at the Domain Group, says, “Donors are interested in you because of what you help them do. You are their agent in their personal mission to make the world better. That should be the topic of all your fundraising. Not the inner workings of the organization. Not the accomplishments of notable others. Not the need for raised consciousness or philosophical buy-in.”

6. Asks for the gift
I’ve read letters that were so high-pressure that I kept my donation in my pocket. And I’ve read others that were so vague that I wasn’t sure if the sender wanted my gift–or expected it. In the fundraising profession, we say that if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. Which is a true statement most of the time, because sometimes you’ll receive gifts unsolicited. But with a fundraising letter, you need to ask for a donation, and more than once in the letter, if you expect to cover your costs.

7. Educates donors
The best fundraising letters leave donors better-informed than they were before they opened the envelope. They give donors more reasons to support your cause by describing how your organization helps its constituents, how a donor’s past gifts are changing lives, or in other ways reinforcing your case for support.

8. Appeals to the heart
Donors give to causes that win their hearts and their minds, usually in that order. Good appeal letters stir feelings of compassion, mercy, empathy, altruism and more so that the donor identifies with your cause on more than a cerebral level.

© 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the author” message)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/direct-mail-articles/successful-nonforprofit-fundraising-letters-share-eight-qualities-864.html

About the Author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at www.sharpecopy.com.

Author: Don Midgett

Do it now or do it over – with strategic planning, mission and vision statements come first. Proper building blocks for strategic planning, whether for-profit or non-profit organizations, begins with well crafted mission and vision statements.

“There aren’t short cuts for such important actions,” states Don Midgett, business consultant and author of Mission and Vision Statements: Your Path to a Successful Business Future. “Laying the right foundation provides the accurate guide for strategic and long-range planning as well as day-to-day operations.” In short, do it from the start or do it over later. Some real-world examples of non-profit and for-profit organizations using a vision driven approach to strategic planning are given below.

“I had been through other planning processes and inevitably they would only take you so far” said Tim Logerquist, Association Director for the non-profit Gold Coast Baptist Association in southern California. “As we continued the mission and vision process I was able to align my mission and vision statements with strategies and actions that would yield results. This investment in time and effort up front proved successful to the strategic planning process as we now have initiated strategies with real impact.”

“Visionary businesses excel because they set goals that relate directly to their vision. They communicate the vision and vision-based goals to their customers and employees” continues Midgett. “They come up with strategies and actions to reach their goals and achieve their vision. It is in this way that a for-profit or non-profit organization or business can control its destiny in the marketplace rather than let outside forces determine a business direction.”

An early pioneer in internet consulting, Novo Solutions, Inc. in Virginia Beach, Va. began with the initial mission and vision statements providing affordable, innovative business solutions to small and mid size companies. Now in its sixth year, Novo has begun a process of realignment of its business focus centering on newly revised mission and vision statements which called for changes in their strategic planning.

“Using the model of mission and vision statements as a foundation made it easier to frame our mission, define our market products and understand the benefits of having a visionary, market driven company” said Anne Sych, Novo’s Marketing Manager.

Both time and effort can be used successfully when organizations and businesses see the value in doing “their homework” from the beginning and building on solid plans and actions.

So remember! Don’t do it over – do it now! Create your mission and vision statement today. Begin to lay the solid foundation for your organization’s strategic plan and strategic planning process. To learn more on a vision driven approach to strategic planning, go to http://www.missionvisionstatement.com/.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ask-an-expert-articles/strategic-planning-for-nonprofit-and-forprofit-organizations-580951.html

About the Author

Since 1986 Don has dedicated his expertise to helping business owners understand how to use clear, effective mission and vision statements, success goals and strategic planning to grow their businesses. With additional skills in leadership development, organizational dynamics and teambuilding, Don has extensive experience ranging from government agencies, (including a White House Commission for Small and Minority Businesses), new business owners, and to privately and publicly held companies. Don personally helped a prominent government organization turn around a multi-million dollar loss in less than 12 months by implementing a vision-driven strategic planning and leadership process.

Author: Michael Fleischner

In most instances, applying for a non-profit job is similar to the application process for positions in the non-profit sector. That is to say that both types of positions require the same core qualifications. This includes: related professional experience, academic degrees, and availability to relocate or to travel to name a few.

However, there are a few areas of expertise that are unique to non-profit. By showcasing your past work history in regards to these areas, you will be substantially enhancing your candidacy and stand out compared to similar candidates applying for the same job.

1. Grant Writing. Securing funds through grants is one of the paramount duties of a non-profit concern. Although most directors will want someone already skilled in this endeavor, if you have a graduate degree in English, and have researched successful grant proposals, you may want to create some sample grant proposals which you can submit with your resume. By doing this, you may be considered for a support role within the organization.

2. Fund Raising. An equally important aspect of the non-profit sector. Here, people skills and networking are at a premium. If you are articulate, self-composed, and easily interact with people, mention those skills in your resume and then support those claims with details from your employment history even if it is not from a related fund-raising endeavor.

For example, if you have been an outstanding sales representative and have won numerous awards, your past performance will enhance your candidacy.

Also, if you have volunteered for community events or have assisted political candidates to reach their goals, showcase this information in the opening summary of your resume.

3. Knowledge of 501(c)(3) accounting practices. 501(c)(3) refers to the tax-exempt status for non-profit organizations. Accountants or bookkeepers who are knowledgeable of this are sought out by the non-profit sector

However, even if you do not have experience in these accounting practices, by familiarizing yourself with the requirements or by taking related courses in the subject, you will be advancing your candidacy over others without similar knowledge.

In addition to following the above guidelines, it is also wise to thoroughly research the organizations website to determine their non-profit culture. Are they conservative? Or are they on the cutting edge and considered hip? Knowing, in advance, the way the organization is structured and the types of individuals that operate it will provide key information for the format and structure of your resume, so that it is effective and gets noticed.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/how-to-write-a-resume-for-nonprofits-310410.html

About the Author

Michael Fleischner is the Managing Director of ResumeEdge, the leading provider of Resume Writing Services and Cover Letters. ResumeEdge is the official resume partner of Yahoo! HotJobs and the Wall Street Journal. For Resume Samples, visit our site.

OK, so you’ve submitted a polished, professional resume and a carefully crafted cover letter for your dream job.

BUT, did you put the same amount of effort into creating, updating, and managing your virtual persona?

Today’s job seekers must assume that they will be pre-screened online. A scenario may unfold as follows… as resumes pour in for the dream job you recently applied for, the hiring official sorts the resumes into three groups: the Yes’s, the No’s, and the Maybe’s. Great, your Print effort paid off and you made it into the Yes group! But, so did six other top candidates. The hiring official now becomes “virtual detective” and goes to the internet to valid their Yes selections, prior to scheduling interviews. Unfortunately, you may be removed from the Yes group if you didn’t represent yourself well online.

Here are some suggestions on how to showcase your virtual persona and make the cut.

• Make sure you have an online presence. None, or too little online presence can hurt you. At a minimum create a profile on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn (other professional networking sites).
• Using a major search engine… find yourself online. Is it easy or hard? Your potential future employer will not want to spend more than a few minutes tracking you down. Ideally, you want to show up on the first few pages of the search results. If you have a common name, this can be challenging. Read on for ways to help them find you.
• Think how an employer might try to search for you. Likely, they will use your name, geographical location, and your current/past employer names as keywords when searching. Other keywords they may use include your job titles, projects, and awards/honors received. You should shape and edit your online content to include keywords from your resume.
• Beat’ em to the punch! One way to make sure the employer finds the right you, is to do the detective work for them. You could include URLs throughout your resume, pointing to past relevant online work examples. Consider this approach if the online content adds value to, or embellishes a particular job or skill noted in your resume. Another approach is to include a bibliography of your online work (with URLs) at the end of your resume, or on a separate page. Examples include: recommendations from peers and former colleagues on LinkedIn, a website re-design that you spearheaded, or an article you authored that spotlights your expertise.
• Verify that your online job begin and end dates, job titles, and former employers match exactly what’s on your resume. Keep the red flags down.
• If you actively use social networking websites, it’s important to manage your information that’s publicly available. If you decide to use social networking sites for professional networking, look carefully at your content from an employer’s perspective. Anything offensive? Any joking that may be misunderstood? Too many cryptic instant message abbreviations (OMG)? Too much information about your personal life? Typos? Keep it professional!
• Promote yourself! Start a blog related to your chosen profession or field of interest. Participate in professional online forums, message boards, and newsgroups. Doing so, will build your reputation, credibility, and increase your search engine visibility.
• Create a professional portfolio. Showcase your life’s work online in one central place. A good example of this is Interfolio’s Portfolio product. Highly customized pages allow you to include documents, videos, pictures, links and text to help you present your online identity in the best possible light, all in one place.
• Control your tweets! Don’t post the blow by blow details of your job search on Twitter or other micro-blogging sites. The last thing a prospective employer needs to read is how your other interviews went, how desperate you may be feeling in your job search, or that their position is not your first choice, but you’d take the job anyway because you really need the money.
• Review the search results for your name periodically to monitor your online “reputation”. There are a number of reputation management tools. One such tool is Google Alerts, a free and simple service that automatically sends you an email or RSS alert when there are new Google results for your search terms (e.g., your name, your works, employer, etc.). This is also a good way to make sure the major search engines are indexing your latest works. If you are relying on organic searches to be found by employers, you may need to work on search engine optimization and/or link building to increase your online visibility.
• Remember, what you post online today may be around for many years, even if the original source content is deleted. In particular, blogger content can have a long shelf life – thanks to article syndication, RSS feeds, and Creative Commons licensing (increases sharing and improves collaboration). So post thoughtfully today, and increase your odds of getting that next dream job!

ProAssociationCareers.org, your gateway to professional association jobs!

Author: Ron Herzog

You’ve just lost your job. Give yourself a few days to deal with the emotions involved and then get moving toward finding your next position. Under any circumstances, finding a job can be time-consuming. Given the current economic climate, those job-seekers that are organized and dedicated to the search will get the positions. It’s important to realize that conducting a job search is a full time job. Here are some guidelines for items you need to have on-hand for a successful job search as well as some help determining your daily structure.

Your New Workplace
Designate a place in your home which you can call your job-searching base. All your lists and notes should be in one place.

• Create an off-line file and an online folder dedicated to job search materials.
• Get a notebook solely for your job search in which you can take notes from conversations and research.
• Make sure you tag people as job search networking resources in your email contacts or address book.
• If you don’t have one already, you MUST get a calendar, there is nothing worse than missing an interview or scheduled call due to a scheduling error.

Getting Started – Deliverables List
Start by creating a list of the things you need to start your search. For example:
1. Resume
You always have to have an updated resume at your fingertips outlining your latest skills and contributions to your previous companies.

2. List of skills & potential contribution
While some of this is covered in your resume, some of it is not. You need to determine what your quantifiable contribution to your next company will be. What do you bring to the table? Essentially “why should they hire you?”

3. 30-second pitch
You never know when you are going to run into someone who can help you in your search. When someone you just meet asks “what do you do?” or a friend asks “what are you up to these days?” simply responding “looking for a job” will get you nowhere. You need to respond by saying “I was recently working as an X in the X industry. I’ve had a lot of success doing X for my last company. I am currently in the job market. Do you know anyone who I can network with?”

4. Networking contacts – professional
Make a list of everyone that you already know in the business world that you can network with. You will add to this list as you make new business contacts.

5. Networking contacts – friends and family
Remember that people you know also have professional lives. They may have contacts that you need to know. Make a list of friends and family who will be helpful networking sources. People want to help and they are better equipped to do so if you give them a really clear understanding of exactly what you need them to do.

6. Set up accounts on LinkedIn and other business networking sites
Business networking sites are growing at the speed of light. LinkedIn is adding a new user every second, according to some reports. If you are not using it yet, do it now.

Measurable, Achievable Goals
One of the biggest challenges of a job hunt is dealing with the emotional ups and downs. It’s important to keep a positive outlook during a job hunt, so one of the things you can do is to have small successes along the way to the ultimate goal of finding a new job. Set small, achievable goals such as “find 5 new contacts to network with today”, or “set up an informational interview” or “connect with 10 new people on LinkedIn.” Make sure they are realistic and achievable in a relatively short time span.

Since job searching is your new job, you need to show up to work every day. Set a realistic daily schedule with a do-able amount, so you don’t get burned out. A schedule will allow you to achieve some of your short-term goals every day. An example of a daily schedule may look like this:

Sample Day
Monday
9 – 11am
Log into networking accounts and locate new contacts relevant to your search, answer questions posed by others in your area of expertise to gain exposure and credibility. Add people to networking list to be contacted.

11am
Contact 5 new people

12pm
Lunch

1pm – 3pm
Research companies on LinkedIn to see if you know anyone at the companies you want to work for. Research contacts from alumni associations and add them to contact list

3pm Exercise – any form of exercise that you find invigorating or centering – get outside (if you can) and walk, run, bike or do yoga

4pm Contact 5 new people

5pm Set specific goals for the next day

If you have kids that are home, put time in your schedule to spend time with them. Family time is one of the things we miss most when we work, so take advantage of this time to reconnect.

You are Your New Boss
It may sound strange to think of yourself as your own boss, but you need to wear multiple hats in your job search. One of those hats includes the boss. Don’t let yourself give yourself excuses for why you don’t want to work on your job search that day. This is why your schedule needs to be comfortable enough that you won’t find yourself justifying why you really need to go fishing for a week. Build in enough time for yourself so you can focus when it comes time to focus.

Checks and Balances
It’s always helpful to have an accountability partner. Someone who, besides you, can be kept apprised of your progress. It can be a spouse, friend, relative or even kids can make great accountability partners. It feels good to report successes and activity to someone else. It doesn’t feel good to report no progress, so designate someone as your accountability partner and report your progress to them (daily or weekly, whichever is more appropriate.) Be specific with them as to what you need them to do.

Time for Yourself
Most people are employed for the majority of their adult life, so when you are in between jobs, you can build time into the schedule for yourself – reading, walking, exercising, or socializing. It shouldn’t replace the job search time, but feeling good is such an important part of how you project yourself to others, so schedule time for yourself into your day.

Time for Others
Volunteering builds self-esteem and is another networking outlet. It also gives a hiring manager a greater depth of understanding of who you are and what you are about to see volunteer roles on your resume. It will make you feel good about yourself and your contribution and that extra confidence is helpful during a job search, especially if it turns out to be somewhat more extended than you have experienced before.

Professional volunteering not only gives you a boost on your resume but it is an outstanding networking opportunity. Offer to give a talk to an association or company in your area of expertise. Host a networking event. Write a white paper for a publication. Any opportunity to get in front of your peer group is one worth taking.

In Summary
Provide yourself with structure and confidence and your job search will be much more focused and effective. If you are not used to networking, do some research to find out how to network effectively.

About the Author:
Ron Herzog, CEO and President for FPC (Fortune Personnel Consultants,) has spent a number of years developing extensive knowledge of the recruitment industry and successful franchising since joining FPC in 1995.

Ron is considered an industry expert and has provided insight into workforce trends for print publications, radio broadcasts and industry podcasts.

Ron earned his MBA in management and undergraduate degree in marketing and management.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Job Hunting Is Your New Job – Here Is Your Daily Plan

Don’t settle for yet another unfulfilling job. Learn how to proactively target the ideal position, with the ideal employer, at the ideal location, in the rewarding job sector of nonprofit associations.

Step 1. Pick Your Ideal Position
OK, dream big, think about what your perfect association job would be. Associations offer careers in many areas, such as: administration, education, public policy, human resources, finance, membership, marketing, meeting planning, publications, and technology. For illustrative purposes, lets say you have grant writing experience and that your perfect job would be in fundraising. The ideal position is where your passion, skills, and real world organizational needs intersect.

Step 2. Pick Your Ideal Location
Life’s too short for long, blood pressure-raising commutes. Define a maximum radius from where you live, to where you would be willing to commute to (the assumption is that full-time telecommuting is not available). An example would be that you would be willing to work at an association located within 15 miles from where you live.

Step 3. Pick Your Ideal Employer
By using the following research tools and resources, you can select organizations whose missions align with yours and who match the distance criteria you set in step 2.

• A good place to find associations seeking help near your home is to use a job search aggregator such as Simply Hired or Indeed. ProAssciationCareers.org (PAC) partners with Simply Hired and provides quality association searches by state, city, zip, and distance in miles.
• PAC also offers comprehensive, hand-picked resources for researching associations – great for identifying associations with interests similar to yours.
• A quick way to locate nearby associations is to use Google Maps. Simply enter: “category:”Associations Societies and Foundations” loc: 20219″ in the search box (omit outer quotes). This example will return a map displaying all the associations, societies, and foundations near the Washington, DC zip code 20219. You can replace the zip code with your own and narrow the results by distance as needed.

Step 4. Start Digging
Now that you’ve identified some top association prospects, it’s time for some in-depth research. Start by visiting their websites. Take close note of their latest news items, in particular look for any new programs, projects, or initiatives. Read their leadership profiles, and information about their governance, Annual Meetings, public policy, advocacy, etc. If their newsletters are available to the general public, read the last years worth in detail. See if they have an internal job board/career center. Even if there are no open positions of direct relevance to you, read a few of the other job opening descriptions to get a flavor of what the workplace environment may be like. You may also want to see if the career intelligence site the Vault has any anonymous employee reviews about the organizations – to gain an insider’s perspective. All this information will be invaluable in your interview (positive thinking!), but for now you are looking for one or two ways you can bring tangible value to the organization.

Step 5. Sell Yourself/Solve a Problem
Locate the name and contact information of the person who think would make the hiring decision related to your ideal position. The website may have a staff directory, or you may need to call the organization for this information. Mail this person an introductory letter stating how you may be able to add value and fill an organizational need. As an example, in your research you learned that Association X has just launched a new multi-year education initiative for underserved populations, a light bulb may go on in your head… they are going to need sustained funding for the project. That’s a nugget that you can incorporate into your letter. You would note your interest in the new initiative, and then describe your expertise in fundraising and how you might go about procuring long-term funding.

Step 6. Patience and Persistence
In the above scenario you are making a “blind” contact, not responding to current job announcement. A likely first response is that they will keep your information on file for future consideration. Ideally, they would see the benefit of creating a new position, but this may not be possible within their current budget cycle. This is where patience and persistence is crucial. You should ask your contact if it’s OK to follow-up periodically with a call or an email. Bookmark the organization’s website and check it weekly for new openings, promotions, or staff turnover. A job email alert could also be setup with one of the major job search engines (e.g., SimplyHired.com, Indeed.com) to automatically send you an email whenever the organization’s name appears in a job listing. You’ve identified your dream job – don’t give up!

ProAssociationCareers.org, your gateway to professional association jobs!