Artists may feel lost in the job search during tough times. What to do?

- Get active in professional organizations; form contacts to keep in touch with people and employment opportunities. Develop relationships in each organization and follow up.

- Attend conferences that may be vaguely related to your field: network and make contacts, and maintain them. It’s about people!

An artist who was creative in his career development

Just like Leonardo, keep your portfolio up to date to demonstrate your versatility.

Beware the semantic slip in your resume. The wrong word choice can prevent you from getting the recognition you deserve.

You must pay attention to the industry you are targeting for your next job. For example:

Industries:

1) Information Technology, 2) Healthcare, 3) Banking.

Choose the right word for each field: A) Users B) Patients, C) Customers.

When you are ill in the hospital you don’t want to think of yourself as a customer…or as a user. A resume for a programmer or IT professional won’t talk of patients, I hope.

A resume establishes your credentials. Don’t fail by choosing the wrong word. Amazingly, some job seekers pay scant attention to their resumes. Don’t be one of them.

Said Henri Delacroix, “The individual’s whole experience is built upon the plan of his language.”

TIME 2007

In previous posts I’ve discussed the challenge of writing Sarah Pallin’s resume. It’s the classic case of an ill-qualified individual aspiring for a high position.  Of course, she could become Vice President. But if that doesn’t happen, what should she do with her qualifications. I’ve heard some interesting suggestions. Tell me yours? Here are a few ideas:
• Game show host
• Reality show with Joe the Plumber
• Moose-hunter teacher
• Line of clothes sponsorship
• Hockey coach

Dear Paul,

Can you offer some basic suggestions on the use of multiple temp agencies? Does it make sense?

- Lynnel, Houston, TX

I recently came across this question with a younger acquaintance of mine who after weeks of waiting informed me that she had only applied to one temp agency within her area. The reality of it is that there are numerous temp agencies within any given locale, and contracts are not always guaranteed to all of them. Your best bet for increasing your job assignments is to get on with as many agencies as possible. No service or agency will fault you for doing this, and most of them won’t even know that you have gone to another group for employment. This isn’t dating, and you are not cheating on an agency to have several on the backburner.

Truthfully, different agencies specialize in different areas. Some are IT specific, others HR and secretarial. To find your niche, inquire as to what industries are typical for these agencies’ placements. And by no means rule out temp agencies that don’t quite match your skill set. You may find, and they may find, that there are some positions in your field that are offering on-the-job training, which can be invaluable to boosting your future skill set (and may even land you a perm hire!).

I have known individuals who have files going with ten or more temp agencies at any given time. Many of these individuals welcome the variety of multiple jobs for short periods of time, and many of them make their 40-hour-per-week personal quotas. This kind of lifestyle definitely does not suit everyone, but all it takes is one good agency, or for that matter, one good contract with any agency to land you a position that you will find ultimately satisfying for a longer period of time. Once you’ve been hired away or run through your 90-day cycle of temp employment, you can be on your way to a brighter future.