Editors of The American Library Association - The Big Book of Job-Hunting Hacks: How to Build a Résumé, Conquer the Interview, and Land Your Dream Job

Copyright 2020 by Skyhorse Publishing

Introduction 2020 by John Henry Weiss

Portions of this book were previously published as How to Get a Great Job by the Editors of the American Library Association (ISBN: 978-1-6160-8154-6), How to Write a Stellar Executive Resume by Brenda Bernstein (ISBN: 978-1-5107-2929-2), and Moving Forward in Mid-Career by John Henry Weiss (ISBN: 978-1-5107-2201-9).

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Daniel Brount

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-6348-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-6349-4

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

BY JOHN HENRY WEISS

T he purpose of this book is twofoldto help laid-off workers deal with the trauma of having their paychecks and benefits suddenly disappear, and to guide them through the job-hunting process. The tips in this book provide job seekers with practical advice for finding a new job no matter the state of the economy.

The Big Book of Job-Hunting Hacks is a compilation of three books written by authors with expertise in the job-hunting process. Their philosophy is that proven methods for job hunting transcend good times and bad, which includes challenges caused by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic that began in December 2019.

The first two books in this compilation deal with job hunting as a comprehensive multi-step process. The third book focuses on a critical step in the processwriting a dynamite rsum that will move the candidate forward to an online or in-person interview with a hiring authority or human resources director. The books in this compilation are:

How to Get a Great Job: A Library How-to Handbook, edited by the American Library Association

Moving Forward in Mid-Career: A Guide to Rebuilding Your Career after Being Fired or Laid Off, by John Henry Weiss

How to Write a Stellar Executive Resume: 50 Tips to Reaching Your Job Target, by Brenda Bernstein, JD, CMRW, CERM

The reader can study these books in sequence, or focus on topics of immediate interest. Following is a review of each book in this compilation.

HOW TO GET A GREAT JOB: A LIBRARY HOW-TO HANDBOOK

The first title reflects the accumulated wisdom of librarians and their associates who serve the job-hunting needs of workers throughout America. It emphasizes that job hunting is a process with a number of steps that need to be implemented in order to accomplish the missionhearing the hiring authority say, Youre hired!

Do not mistake this book as something written for librarians seeking employment. It was written for all workers in job-hunting mode at any time in the economic cycle and offers helpful tips for workers seeking employment during a pandemic. There are more than 100 tips in this book, five of which all job hunters should consider indispensable.

Tip #1. Begin by making sure that your online profile and rsum profile are the same. The reason? The first thing a hiring authority reviewing your candidacy will do is go to LinkedIn to examine your profile. If your rsum and LinkedIn profiles are in conflict, you are history. Read more in the first chapter of this book.

Tip #2. A successful job search begins with crafting a plan to implement the process. This tip is particularly important for workers who were laid off because of an unforeseen event, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a jarring event often leaves the laid-off worker in a state of panic because of its many negative ramifications, like loss of income and insurance benefits. While in panic mode, the worker begins job hunting by hastily crafting a rsum and sending it to multiple job boards and company career pages with meager results. This tip recommends making a rational plan that begins with determining skills and career interests and concluding with how to negotiate a job offer.

Tip #3. A job search is a job in itself. Reserve a space in your home to conduct business. You will need a quiet space equipped with a desk or work table, technology tools, and storage space. Trying to wing it from the kitchen table after your third cup of coffee at 10:30 a.m. will impede your success.

Tip #4. The rubrics for conducting a job search are the same no matter what the reason was for your being let go. Going forward, you will need to research the job market for industries and companies within that are hiring. Even when the economy was in lockdown mode, there were companies still hiring. For example, at the height of the COVID-19 crises, companies like Albertsons, Amazon, Costco, CVS, Dollar General, Dominos, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Walmart, and Zoom were aggressively hiring.

Tip #5. Access the many online, print, and media resources to keep updated on the state of the economy. Two helpful TV sources are the many CNBC financial programs, which begin at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Mad Money with Jim Cramer at 6 p.m. Eastern. Among the print and media resources recommended in this book are Forbes magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Department of Labor. All are available in print and eBook formats.

Libraries often go unnoticed and unused by job hunters. Be sure to visit their brick-and-mortar locations or visit them online for current information to facilitate your job search.

MOVING FORWARD IN MID-CAREER: A GUIDE TO REBUILDING YOUR CAREER AFTER BEING FIRED OR LAID OFF

The second book in this compilation is the go-to resource for job hunters looking for a paycheck in order to survive. Author John Henry Weiss, an executive recruiter and former corporate executive, wrote this book because so many workers are let go every day of every year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), 52,500 workers are let go every day during a normal economy and many more during a recession caused by something unexpected like COVID-19. Workers are laid off in good times because employers are always in a state of reorganizing, downsizing, rightsizing, expanding, or entering bankruptcy.

This book emphasizes job hunting as a process, not as a one-step deal like how to make it through an interview. It contains 250 practical tips for job hunters focusing on managing finances, working from a home office, writing rsums and cover letters, managing interviews, negotiating employment offers, networking, where and how to find employers, consulting career coaches and counselors, and seeking support from spiritual sources.