When applying for jobs, the competition is high and if your resume doesn’t stand out, there’s a good chance it might be passed over.

The resume is your marketing tool and should be formatted in a way that is professional, easy to read, and sells why you are the right person for the job.  Not everyone is comfortable with resume writing and if you haven’t had to update your resume in a long time, it could get overwhelming with all of the different styles and ways resumes are being created.

A professional resume writer will do the work for you and should be up to date and familiar with what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to resume writing.  When searching for professional resume writing services, make sure to ask for references of their work and what makes them qualified to call themselves a professional resume writer.  Deciding to go with whoever charges the least amount of money shouldn’t be the decision factor.

I have been in the Recruiting Industry for over 10 years and have been helping job seekers with resume writing throughout my career.   My experience working with so many hiring managers and knowing how I go about looking for resumes has been an advantage when assisting others with writing their resume.

If you are interested in getting a free resume critique or finding out about the resume writing services I offer, you can email me at cori@1on1careerhelp.com

Authors Bio

Cori Swidorsky has been a residence of Pittsburgh, PA for 17 years.  Her experience includes 10+ years in Recruiting and Job Search Coaching,  the Owner of Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection, A Recruiters Tips on Job Searching Blog, and is a contributing writer to Examiner.com  She successfully helps job seekers with learning creative techniques to finding a job.

Priority Two is a non profit organization for anyone going through an employment transition.  The group meets at North Way Christian Community Church in Wexford, PA on Monday’s from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

Priority Two began in 1982 and has continued to assist people who are going through a career change, job change, re-entering the job market, and any type of employment situation.

The skills seminars offered include topics such as Managing Your Job Search, Interviewing, Networking, and Resumes, Recruiters, and Profiles.

You can find Priority Two on LinkedIn and you can visit their website for more information.

Authors Bio

Cori Swidorsky has 11 years of experience in the Recruiting Industry and coaching job seekers through a successful job search.  Cori is the owner of Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection, A Recruiters Tips on Job Searching, and Pittsburgh’s Job Search Buzz.

LinkedIn groups are an excellent way to find and join communities of professionals based on common interest, experience, and goals. Within LinkedIn groups you are able to view and participate in discussions, view jobs being posted within the group, and to communicate with members of the group by sending them direct messages.

LinkedIn groups are broken into categories such as Networking, Professional, Alumni, and Corporate.  You must be a member of LinkedIn in order to join any of the LinkedIn Groups.  You can search groups by going to the LinkedIn Groups Directory  There are over 300 Pittsburgh LinkedIn Groups.

Three benefits of joining LinkedIn Groups

• Engage in Professional Discussions: A great way to get your name out there and to get noticed is to get involved or even start your own discussions within the group. Share your experiences and knowledge, ask questions and respond to other discussions. Sharing your knowledge can help you get noticed by Pittsburgh recruiters and hiring managers and can lead to an unexpected opportunity.
• Contacting Group Members: Group members are able to send messages directly to other group members. This is a great benefit because members you normally wouldn’t be able to connect with because of member profile settings or member packages, are now available to receive messages.
• Job Postings: LinkedIn groups offer a section for jobs, which is separate from the jobs listed on the LinkedIn job board. Recruiters and hiring managers can post jobs for free in groups and it’s a great way for them to target job seekers in specific industries and locations. You may find Pittsburgh job postings in LinkedIn groups that are not posted on the major job boards.

LinkedIn groups are a way to expand your network, find hidden job opportunities, and engage in discussions with other local professionals. Start expanding your Network today by joining LinkedIn groups.

Authors Bio

Cori Swidorsky has 11 years of experience in the Recruiting Industry and coaching job seekers through a successful job search.  Cori is the owner of Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection, A Recruiters Tips on Job Searching, and Pittsburgh’s Job Search Buzz.

Seekers is a free local group open to everybody who is looking for job.  The Seekers group is run out of local churches and provides support, reassurance, job searching tips, and job leads.  It’s a great way to network and search for a job.

The website offers great resources such as:

• Job listings
• A place to post your resume
• Local resource links
• Helpful information

The Seekers Job Networking Groups are located in the following areas:

• Ingomar United Methodist Church – 1501 Ingomar Road Pittsburgh, PA 15237 (412) 364-3613
• First United Methodist Church – 15 East Second Street Greensburg, PA  15601
• Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church 255 Washington Rd. Pittsburgh, PA  15216
• Westminster Presbyterian Church – 2040 Washington Rd. Upper St. Clair, PA  15241

Group Meeting Schedule

• Ingomar: held the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Ingomar Church Community Life Center Conference Room.
• Greensburg: Meets 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, in Fellowship Hall, from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
• Mt. Lebanon: Meets: 1st and 3rd Tuesday at 7 pm in the McDonald Room
• Westminster:  Meets 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, in Fellowship Hall, from 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM.

For additional information about location and schedules, click here

If you are looking for a local job searching support group or an additional resource for your job searching efforts, be sure to check out Seekers Job Search Network

Authors Bio

Cori Swidorsky has 11 years of experience in the Recruiting Industry and coaching job seekers through a successful job search.  Cori is the owner of Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection, A Recruiters Tips on Job Searching, and Pittsburgh’s Job Search Buzz.

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TwitterJobSearch.com is a job search engine for Twitter.  Twitter is a free social media and mini blogging tool.  It’s starting to be used a lot more by Recruiters and employers to advertise job openings, business services, and products.

With the Twitter Job Search Engine, you can type in a phrase or keyword and search for job opportunities that are being Tweeted on Twitter.  The Twitter Job Search Engine then indexes those jobs, making it easier to search jobs that are being posted on Twitter.

I went to TwitterJobSearch.com and entered “Pittsburgh” and at the time I did the search, 996 results were found.  You can refine your search by the date the jobs were tweeted, job title, salary, and a few other categories.

A few of the jobs I came across include:  Business Analyst for PNC, Store Manager for Ann Taylor, and a Software Engineer for Management Science Associates.

You could do more specific job searches besides typing in “Pittsburgh”, and there’s an advanced tab which allows you to add keywords and phrases in your search.  For example, I clicked on the advanced tab and in the field “have all these words”, I typed Pittsburgh, engineer, and 120 results were found. 

I suggest adding TwitterJobSearch.com to your Pittsburgh job searching efforts, you can stay up to date on openings being added through twitter.

Visit TwitterJobSearch.com

Authors Bio

Cori Swidorsky has 11 years of experience in the Recruiting Industry and coaching job seekers through a successful job search.  Cori is the owner of Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection, A Recruiters Tips on Job Searching, and Pittsburgh’s Job Search Buzz.

Get daily updates on Pittsburgh Job Openings from Pittsburgh Job Boards by following me on Twitter.

Get updates from the following Pittsburgh Job Boards:

Pittsburgh Health Care and Medical Jobs

Pittsburgh IT and Computer Jobs

Pittsburgh Engineer Jobs

Pittsburgh Accounting and Finance Jobs

Pittsburgh Marketing and Sales Jobs

Pittsburgh Web and Graphic Design Jobs

Pittsburgh Administrative and Office Jobs

So stay up to date with Pittsburgh Job Openings, start following Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection!

I came across Inside Job on Facebook while reading an article on recruiting.  The Inside Job is currently in beta version and can be a great tool for job seekers, recruiters, and employers.

The Inside Job application is similar to LinkedIn; you are able to search for people in specific companies and search for people with similar skills and work experience to network with.  There’s even a place to list where you have interviewed, allowing you to share your interviewing experiences and see where others have interviewed and their experiences.

Networking is the trend for job searching and hiring, so check out the Inside Job application on Facebook and make yourself searchable to employers and recruiters.

Visit Inside Job on Facebook

Authors Bio

Cori Swidorsky has 11 years of experience in the Recruiting Industry and coaching job seekers through a successful job search.  Cori is the owner of Pittsburgh’s Ultimate Career Connection, A Recruiters Tips on Job Searching, and Pittsburgh’s Job Search Buzz.

By Cindy Krischer Goodman

MIAMI — Maria Hernandez never thought she would be managing a clothing store. She felt confident that when she graduated from Florida International University’s School of Hospitality and Tourism in May, she would land her dream job of working for an event-planning firm.

But for Ms. Hernandez, one of the 1.5 million undergraduates who are colliding with 1.85 million more experienced job seekers, balancing expectations with reality has become a necessity.

"It’s good to have something no matter what it is," Ms. Hernandez, 22, said of her part-time position at White House/Black Market. "At least I’m getting management experience."

Ms. Hernandez and other new college graduates who make up Generation Jobless are finding that the way to compete in the worst job market in 25 years is to take work they otherwise would have dismissed — part-time positions, tutoring gigs, secretarial posts — anything to have some income.

Employers expect to hire 22 percent fewer grads in 2009 than a year ago, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

"They are discovering they have to be open to any opportunity," said Diann Newman, director of student services with FIU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Ms. Newman said that when an on-campus recruiter arrives, students interview, even those who previously might have been uninterested. "They no longer rule anything out."

For some, shifting expectations means looking for jobs where other people are not — and staying open to jobs most people would avoid. It also means considering different industries, lower pay or relocation.

Christopher Torres, 21, likens his experience to tolerating the appetizer until getting to the main course. Torres just graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He works four afternoons a week for a tutoring company and spends much of his time interviewing again and again for sales jobs at Best Buy and Blockbuster that pay just above minimum wage.

"It’s going to be difficult to pay my bills unless I get two or three paying opportunities," Mr. Torres said. His dream job is working for a small, entrepreneurial organization, maybe in Washington, D.C., that makes a difference through its work. But for now, he says, he has accepted reality like most of his peers. "If we can’t land our dream job," he said, "we at least want to find something we can stand until we can find our dream job."

Meanwhile, the elusiveness of the 9-to-5 job is triggering fresh thinking about career goals.

Ask today’s college graduates their goals, and many say they want the private jet but not the corner office. They want to own their own business, pioneer new industries, market new inventions or work for a startup. For these graduates, an upward climb in Corporate America is no longer the path to success, but merely a stepping stone to entrepreneurialism.

As FIU graduate Stephanie Bennett puts it: "I want to make my own schedule, go to lunch when I want, take vacation when I want. … I want to have control."

Ms. Bennett, 28, wants her own promotions and marketing firm one day. For now, she’s going to graduate school and consulting for nonprofit organizations.

Not surprisingly, Christian Garcia, associate director of Toppel Career Center at the University of Miami, hears the entrepreneurial buzz on his campus. He says students read and hear about corporate layoffs and lack of loyalty, and believe no one is looking out for them in the workplace. Mr. Garcia said the 2009 graduates figure, "if they are not out there for me, what can I do to get my own thing going. Starting a company is a risk but I might as well do it."

Cindy Krischer Goodman writes for The Miami Herald.

First published on July 27, 2009 at 12:00 am

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09208/986229-407.stm#ixzz0MT6iYwAL

The Career Development Center(CDC) is a division of Jewish Family & Children’s Services.   The CDC offers assistance to job seekers including college graduates, those who have experienced a layoff, and those who are looking for a career change.  The CDC has helped over 16,000 job seekers with their employment and career needs.

The staff is made up of a Director of the Career Development Center, Career Counselors, a Coordinator of Immigrant Career Services, a Job Developer, Community Programs Specialist, and a Scholarship Program Director.

Some of the services that the CDC provides are:  Career Consultation and Counseling, Job Search Assistance, Career Relocation, Career Resource Center, and Workshops and Seminars.

Many of their programs are free to those who qualify.  Those who qualify can be unemployed, underemployed, or other reasons which will qualify someone for free programs.

For more information on the Career Development Center visit their website

Location:

CAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTER
5743 Bartlett Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15217

The Regional Internship Center of South Western PA (RIC) assists internship seekers and employers to connect in hopes of a successful working relationship.  The RIC extends throughout 14 counties and serves employers in the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Washington, and Westmoreland, as well as the Panhandle of West Virginia.

The RIC is part of Coro Pittsburgh.  The website states that “the mission of Coro Pittsburgh is to advance ethical and effective leaders who share a commitment to civic engagement.  Coro’s vision is to build a leadership pipeline for Pittsburgh’s business, government and nonprofit sectors.”

I had the opportunity to speak with Trisha Ross, Program Relations Coordinator with RIC.  Trisha mentioned that the online database  went live in 2003 and that there are over 1,000 companies, 70 University career services, and over 7,000 students, who participate in this program.

Trisha also mentioned that “as of April 2009, we have helped make 4,155 internship matches since 2003.”   That’s a lot of internship matches!

The website lists the latest internship postings and there’s a place to do a search by keywords.

For more information about The Regional Internship Center, visit their website here