INDUSTRIES, PATIENTS, REQUESTS

Published online on Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009

WHO’S HIRING?

Q: Dear Dr. Culp, There is so much negative information for job seekers right now that I can’t decide where to job hunt. I’ve been in high technology for a long time and want to get out. But where should I look? Clueless

A: Dear Clueless, Don’t you just want to duck sometimes? The onslaught of bad news discourages people from taking even a first step. It makes you think that even if you’re smart about targeting, you won’t find the work there is to do. Cut through the chatter.

The three best industries for job seekers right now are health care, security and DOD (defense). Your technology skills will transfer to all of them. Find patterns in your accomplishments. Group and summarize them concisely on your resume concisely. Then squeeze relevant ones together. You might have achieved the same result in multiple environments.

Mention other accomplishments from paid or unpaid work that reflect skills you’d like to develop further. Don’t bury them, even if your accomplishments are minimal. You want to wake people up.

Once you get into a new company, position yourself to look for opportunities that will allow you to develop your preferred skills even more and your technical skills even less. mlc

YOU

Q: Dear Dr. Culp, I draw blood from patients all day long. I love my job, but one day last week I was so frustrated. Every single patient jerked his arm back when I was inserting the needle. This made finding the vein more difficult each time.

I let one person know how upset I was, only to be brushed off with a joke. What should I do? Upset

A: Dear Upset, So you testified to how difficult your job is to a patient who seemed to be part of an endless stream of difficult ones? It’s likely that not one of the people you saw that day had any understanding of how a pull-back makes your work difficult. It’s your job to make it easier.

Remind yourself that people have blood draws and shots on all parts of their bodies and, unless they’re “regulars,” and even if they aren’t, might have a different technologist each time. They can’t possibly know that you’re good, because they don’t know you. Tell them when they come in that you love your job and that rarely do people complain at all. Encourage them to sit back, look the other way and breathe. See what that does for YOU. mlc

**blogTip**

‘AMAZING’ COMMUNICATION

If you were Francis Hare (www.harebrains.com), you might lie awake at night musing over an “amazing” cover letter a job seeker sent two years ago. It opened with the tone-setting, career-killing salutation, “To whom it may concern.” Clearly, the writer wasn’t going to lift a finger to get even the smallest amount of information about his market. Take a look:

“I am a recent graduate of the University of X and I am doing some research on the Graphic Design/Advertising community in the surrounding area. I would greatly appreciate some information about your Firm, your Art Director(s) and your work. Contact information, brochures, even a prospectus would be incredibly helpful in narrowing my job search and helping me find a firm where my talents can be most effectively utilized.” Although the closing read “Sincerely,” it’s not too clear how sincere the applicant was in conducting a search.

Hare responded with a humorous dust-off, but it didn’t end there. The applicant then wrote, “May the Gods of Karma send you many wealthy customers,” then sent another note promising to call for an appointment.

Every time the telephone rang, he could have been the caller. But he wasn’t. Perhaps the Gods of Karma nodded his way.

(Dr. Mildred Culp welcomes your questions at workwise@comcast.net. Copyright 2009 Passage Media.)