17 Keeping Your Career Fresh - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

Link Roundup 3/24/17 Keeping Your Career Fresh - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. This weeks Link Roundup is all about keeping your career fresh. If you dont make an effort to seek out new opportunities and skills, you may find yourself unhappy in your job. Check out the links below for great job search tips, and advice on moving your career forward. I Built A Bot to Apply to Thousands of Jobs at Once Heres What I Learned Have you ever been frustrated by the failure of your resume to get you the attention of a hiring manager? If youve applied to a large company and havent heard anything back, your resume was likely put through the gauntlet of an ATS Applicant Tracking System. Most large companies have these automated sorters that weed out resumes that dont contain the necessary keywords. In order to test the system, the author of this article designed a robot to work the opposite way. This job application machine sends his resume and an automated (yet personalized) cover letter. Id highly recommend reading this article for the unique perspective it offers.  The author  makes some interesting observations about the state of the job application process today. Its a great read even if youre not currently in the market for a new job. LinkedIn Wants to Keep You Up on Trending Storylines LinkedIn has become a platform that goes beyond simply building professional relationships. Now its a popular place to publish articles on topics relevant to your field.  The site has seen multiple changes following their acquisition by Microsoft. These changes include an updated user interface, new profile photo options on mobile, and more recently a new Trending Storylines on the news feed. All of these changes are efforts to keep LinkedIn users more engaged on the platform. Although big changes have already been made, this is likely only the start of the new LinkedIn under Microsoft. Stop Mindlessly Going Through Your Work Day Do you ever find yourself drifting through the work day, unsure of what exactly you are accomplishing? If so,  this article is for you. Working throughout the day without recognizing the work you are doing, it could be hurting your productivity, and even your health. Finding a great understanding of your daily tasks and how they tie into the greater goals of both you and your company will result in a better work day. If you feel like youre just going through the motions at work, definitely check this one out. 19 Unprofessional Habits That Make Hiring Managers Hate You As you can tell from the title, this is a list that doesnt pull any punches. If youve ever done something to upset an interviewer during a job interview, its probably on this list. Even if you believe you are a model interviewer, it wouldnt hurt to give it a read to avoid doing anything damaging to your chances in the future. The list starts out by listing fairly obvious no-nos before moving onto mistakes that are more behavioral. Give it a quick look if you have an interview soon. These Industries Added the Most Jobs in Albany Last Year For anyone local to NY States Capital Region, this short and sweet article gives some insight into the job market in the area. Job growth in the Albany area have been bolstered by a significant addition of transportation and retail positions. The article also give some insight into the surrounding regions for some reference. Click the link above to get all the numbers on job growth in the area. The Best Jobs in the United States: 2017 Glassdoor has already released their list of best jobs in 2017, and now it is Indeeds turn. As one of the largest job search engines online, the site harnessed their own data and examined  number of openings, base salary, and job growth overtime to build the list. The full list includes 25 jobs as opposed to the 50 on Glassdoors breakdown. Its interesting to compare the two, and its explicitly obvious that both companies believe that the job market this year will be driven by openings in tech and data jobs. The No. 1 Challenge Every Job Seeker or Career Changer Faces Forbes Coach Kitty Boitnott discusses in this article what she believes is the biggest problem for both job seekers and career shifters: what they want to do. She notes that a surprising amount of professionals looking for a change are predominately focused on what they are capable of and not what they want to do with their capabilities.  Its important to remember your career  is something that will take up a significant portion of your life, so you should be doing something you enjoy. We touched upon this notion in a recent blog post about pre-interview thoughts, which can be read here. How to Get Ahead in Your Career with a Move to Complementary Roles and Industries Have you ever left a bag of delicious snacks open overnight? You find them the next morning and discover theyre now stiff and stale- disgusting. The same thing can happen to a career. If you fail to find new ways to grow and expand your skills, you may find it hard to move forward. This article by Martin Underwood at Influencive discusses the importance of not only staying employed, but staying relevant. In most fields, professionals possess the same set of skills. Having those skills in addition to other talents is what will truly give you an advantage in the job market.