The MicroTrain Blog

Don’t Surrender Your Job Search

by Kassandra McGhee on May 9th, 2011

Are you in the passenger seat of your own job search? Who's really driving your search, you or the prospective employer?

Applying for jobs by submitting resumes or applications into the proverbial internet “black hole” is not the ideal way to position yourself in today’s market.  The job search game has changed and networking is its name. 

It’s about establishing contact with decision makers, getting introduced to hiring managers, providing your expertise to others, developing relationships with individuals to exchange job leads, maintaining relationships with network contacts.  It’s about networking. 

  • Find a job  +  complete online form  = Passive Job Search
  • Find a job  +  email resume  =  Passive Job Search
  • Find a job + contact network contact + send resume/complete online form = Assertive Job Search

Don’t surrender your job search by failing to network.  Don’t wait for the prospective employer to call you—be assertive and network.  Networking including follow up keeps you in the driver’s seat and in command of your job search. 

So if you’ve surrendered, it’s not too late to get back in charge.  Establish and maintain relationships with those that can help leverage you for the jobs you’ve applied for.  

Stay in the driver’s seat of your job search.  Don’t take the passive passenger seat, stay in command.  Network. 

Hump Day Hunting Help: May 4, 2011

by Kassandra McGhee on May 4th, 2011

Tip of the Week: Networking Done Right

Ok you’ve heard it before—networking is key to an effective job search.  And by now, many of you have tapped into the job market via networking events and by using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Ning, and the list goes on.

But, how effective is your networking?  And are you successfully using social networking tools? Yes, there are always things to consider beyond simply talking with others and being on these sites. It’s about maintaining an active, professional image (both on and off line) and being found by the right people.  Networking including social networking can be crucial to your job search and here are a few tips on how it’s done right.

 

 

Raves & Praise

Scott Wilson - Team Bradley

Employer Partner Feedback

Dawn has been a pleasure to work with. She is diligent in her efforts to give MicroTrain’s students the best opportunities to connect and network with various companies and players in the job market. The curriculums and certification programs are in line with today’s current IT needs. It’s good to see that they evolve with what employers are most seeking out there. I would recommend to any employer that hires skilled IT workers that they look into MicroTrain’s career services department as a potential source of candidates. The business of hiring can be quite costly, and Dawn and her staff provide a free service to outside companies. This value-add for MicroTrain’s students aligns with their mission in both training and job assistance to set up a win/win scenario for all involved.

Ron Cwik

PMP Certification Training, 2008

Great training facility. Great instructors. Great experience.

Jean S.

PMP Certification Training, Lombard, 2008

I was laid off for many months and not really getting many callbacks for my resume and no job offers. After I put the letters PMP on it, not only did I see an increase in quantity, but also quality of interviews. I had been spinning my wheels for 5 months, and after the PMP went on, I had 2 job offers in 6 weeks. It really was the "golden ticket"

David

A Cisco Success Story

I attended a resume writing seminar & conducted mock phone interviews with a Microtrain career counselor. These two activities gave me a leg up on distinguishing myself from all the other people looking for work. Since the career counselor's at Microtrain had a track record of getting people hired, their insight and positive past experiences helped me tremendously in getting hired with a Cisco Voice Systems Integrator in the Chicago area. I was hired as a Cisco Voice Tech Engineer with a starting salary of $65,000 / year with a Cisco voice systems reseller located in the Chicagoland area. Microtrain was very instramental in making this a reality. From expediting my WIA grant, to providing excellent hands-on training from knowledgable instructors I was able to achieve becoming certified with my CCNP. Microtrain's career services was the final catalyst in connecting me with this company by communicating with them on my behalf and with me in setting up the interview. One week later and I was hired. No joke. Thanks Microtrain!

Karine Bucci

Project Management

Great class, loved the interaction and team-building exercises. Plenty of materials and learning tools supplied. Although it was a full week's class, never boring. Donna [Russell] was awesome and gave many supporting examples for better understanding.

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