Showing posts with label career coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career coaching. Show all posts

Friday, January 16, 2009

Job Search Canada | one search. all jobs

Hey guys:

If you haven`t heard of this job search site
you might find it interesting (for Canada).

Job Search Canada | one search. all jobs.
http://www.indeed.ca/

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Taking Your Job Skills To The Next Level

Most of my focus has been on helping give you the extra tools to write the best cover letter possible, know what's expected on a resume, and knowing how to best prepare for the job interview.

But I always get emails from people who already have jobs looking to improve their current skills to give them an edge should there be another round of downsizing. And based on the economy of late, I'd say there's a pretty good chance another downsizing period is well underway right now.

So what skills do I need to have to stay marketable?

How about skills like these for starters:

- Increase your reading speed to over 25,000+ words per minute!
- Increase your peripheral vision and awareness
- Dramatically improve your concentration and focus
- Boost your self esteem and self confidence
- Reduce stress and become much more relaxed
- Become much more organized and effective
- Save a ton of time which can give you the freedom do more with your family and friends

I was just doing some research and thought you might like to see what this company has to offer:

THE ZOX TRAINING SYSTEM

Best Always,

Mike Perras, P.Mgr

Let Nepotism Be Your Friend

First off, I think we all agree that we hate any form of nepotism or patronage. That is of course unless it's working for you and then well .. we just look the other way.

When it comes to nepotism and getting hired, we've all NOT got the job or contract because of someone else who knew someone who in turn knew someone.

So, how can I make nepotism work for me? Pretty easy actually.

Firstly, embrace Wayne Dyer's quote "when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change" I mean completely embrace it. We need to change how we think of nepotism. You need to make nepotism your friend or else you will be forever on the outside. "change the way you look at things .... " start right now!

The truth is, we all know people. We all do. Make it your goal to tell them what you want. Let the universe hear you say it out loud to everyone you know & who cares what they think, get your desires out there, get them out there LARGE.

Put your ego in the crapper man, ego is your worst nightmare, holding you back from all the good stuff out there.

Now, tell your friends, I WANT A JOB, I WANT THAT CONTRACT! Yeah but what will they think of me "who gives a crappola anyway" .. get the message out there and then just let it go .. but you have to take that first step and be clear about what you actually want.

It's a call to action .. like Nike says "Just Do It" .. no truer words are now needed in these horrid market conditions. It's not going to get any better for awhile. Make your desires for That Job, That Contract clearly known.

The friends you tell, will tell people etc ... and the social media channel will start working for you immediately ... this is nepotism 101 or like insider trading.

Ok Ok I was ranting a bit .... but really, just get out there & talk to your family, your buds anyone. It will come back to you sooner than you think. Ok done, more coffee!

To Your Job Search Success,

Mike Perras, P.Mgr

Friday, November 14, 2008

Take The Holistic Approach & Win!

I talked to the head of HR at a university recently and we discussed Holistic Recruiting. Her eyes were wide open while I described this approach. The simplicity of it was obvious. Instead of just looking at the credentials of a potential employee, professor, dean etc. Why not look at the whole person, the complete package.

Proper qualifications and experience get you the interview of course. It is the complete package, the entire person you really need to hire. Taking this approach, knocks many out of the competition immediately as their overall emotional intelligence is a non match to the environment you have carefully established at your university or company.

So let us reverse this for a minute and say you, a potential employee, take a Holistic approach when being interviewed for the job. Well, guess what happens, the whole you comes out in the interview, and it is done intentionally on your part. Now the whole you approach makes you a very interesting and desirable employee. Just make yourself interesting, because you are!

You do a lot of volunteer work, then say so. It usually means you are a selfless giver and thus a great team player ... see where I am going here.

The Best Interview Question To Prep For

When they ask Do You Have Any Questions:

That question to you is worth as many interviews as any other. They want to see what kind of thinker you are. Are you asking a proactive career oriented question or a self serving one.

Asking a question about the salary, holidays or benefits are all important, but only after you have been offered the job. Best to ask about the companys On Going Traing, or some little nugget you read on their website.

Look like you took the time to research the company interviewing you, it really matters to scoring well in an interview.

Have A Great Weekend!

Mike Perras, P.Mgr

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Holistic Recruiting - A New Age For Executives

Gone are the days of simply getting hired because you have the proper job qualifications and experience. The new HR specialist is looking at a holistic recruiting approach.


In simple terms “Emphasizing the importance of the whole person, and the interdependence of its parts”, as defined in the dictionary. Meaning simply, recruiters are looking at the complete you, and not just the standard qualifications and experience you bring to the table.


Through holistic recruiting, the HR specialist now looks at the complete you. And it’s your emotional intelligence that defines the best part of the holistic approach to hiring. Your core values as a person drive your EQ or emotional intelligence. As such, the better you score at the EQ level, the better equipped you are for fast track hiring and thus, promotion. If you already communicate well, and understand all that’s involved in being an active listener, then your EQ is already on solid ground.


Example: In the past, we’ve all seen employees promoted well beyond their capabilities. Yes, they were very good at their job, and as such worthy of being promoted to supervisor level. Their EQ, or emotional intelligence, was never a factor, and thus we have all kinds of great workers promoted into positions they are totally unable to manage. Having the skill to do a certain job does not equate to supervisor material, and there is plenty of proof of that fact. What we are only now learning is that holistic hiring, or career promotion, can best determine whether that hiring or promotion will in fact be successful.


With all the downsizing of late, there has been a huge emphasis on the so called team player. If there was a working team of 12 and now the head count of that team is only 6 and the work load is the same or likely even greater, that team had better really get along and work well together. As importantly, their supervisor better have the proper tools to manage that smaller team or the work never gets done, done badly or worse, the stress of it all just produces a great degree of sick time. Stress has become the leading cause of employee sick time. That stress is much less attributable to the work itself, but more to the personality conflicts and internal political strife that result from bad team management. By it’s very design, the initial holistic recruitment approach would never let that happen.


The holistic approach I have mentioned is very new and very few HR specialists are well versed on the subject. As an executive, you can make a huge difference in your career and to your company, if you fast track a complete understanding of this approach. This understanding works at every level of the company, and the sooner most employees are exposed to it, the sooner stress is removed and more productivity will result.