Have you ever felt that your resume gets lost in oblivion when you submit it to jobs at sites like Monster.com? Have you ever found it hard to find other places to find work? We all have! Fortunately there are a LOT of new sites to tap into if you are a professional, job seeker or business owner. For example, Craigs List (www.craigslist.org) is one of the best new places to find job listings, from everything to machinery work to marketing to film and television. You can not only search for job listings in your city, but any city in the country. Another great place to find job listings are on the trade digital media sites and blogs in various industries. For example, if you are interested in a public relations career, sites likePRWeek.com and others will often list great job opportunities for people of all skill levels. If you’re serious about finding work and want to make a mark, sites like LinkedIn house millions of people at top companies around the country, in virtually every industry you can think of. If you don’t have a profile set up there, be sure to check it out. You can also find hiring managers and other corporate heads on these sites, as well as job listings and opportunities they have posted. There are even sites for specific niches like television, spokesperson work, etc. Backstagewest.com lists castings for all kinds of work in entertainment, whether it is film, TV, or web shows. It requires a tiny fee every month to be part, but there are plenty of other sites out there that may not. Just do a quick Google search and you’ll likely find other options. As you continue your job or work effort, always remember to check back frequently. Listings pop up every day all over the web so you’ll want to keep tabs on what’s new and going on.

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Lil Miss P has kindly offered to help out by answering any questions relating to finding a jobs that you may have. You can find all her job finding articles here.

Please send all your questions to help@gangstyle.com and we’ll answer them right here on our blog. We may wait a couple of weeks so we can collate our responses.

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The Number One Mistake Job Seekers Make? It’s Not What You Might Think

There is a very common mistake job seekers make and it’s not what you might think. It’s not dressing poorly, or having the perfect resume (though these are common too!). It’s actually in seeing the world from your versus a employer’s world. The majority of those seeking employment make the mistake — from college grads to first time workers to seasoned veterans. Rather than writing cover letters and resumes that speak about why they’re right for the job, what they’ll bring to the company and the other value they’ll provide, many prospective employees focus on what they themselves want — what type of role they’re looking for, what their plans are, etc. It’s not to say that these things aren’t ideal to include at some point in your pitch about yourself, or during interviews and conversations. But, if you aren’t speaking the language of employers — and more importantly, how your joining the company will benefit them, then you are likely putting yourself at a disadvantage. When you’re writing cover letters, email pitches, and even follow up notes, ask yourself: What does this company need? What might they be looking for? And then, finally and most importantly, what YOU have to bring to THEM. A great example of how this works is in my own work and life. I’ve been able to connect with companies of all sizes, directly resulting in opportunities. I’m not any different than most candidates, but because I spoke the employer’s language — versus that of my own — I’ve been better able to show hiring managers why they should bring me in. Try it today!.

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Helping you to choose a career Lil Miss P runs down another profession….Are you the kind of person that always looks stylish? Are you the one that everybody goes to find out fashion advice, or sees in the latest trends? There is a whole industry (and careers!) dedicated to dressing people around the world, from the types of merchandise you’ll find at Target and Wal-Mart to the clothes seen on the runway, and everything in between. These careers are primarily centered in larger cities like New York and Los Angeles, but do not assume that means you can’t find work. The internet has made it possible for fashion business to exist everywhere and today, there are fashion hot beds in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and San Francisco, among other cities. What’s more almost every city has at least some place for people to buy clothes, so even if you’ve got your sites on supporting a major fashion designer (or being one yourself), you can start there to learn the business. Like any other career, you’ll get ahead fastest if you also do the research, network and have a thirst for knowledge. The more you know about a marketplace you want to work in, the easier it will be to find work and get jobs. Fashion careers span from the cutting floor room where clothes are designed, which can be in major buildings or in someone’s back patio or garage (and often is), to merchandising and buying careers at major stores. Have you ever noticed mannequins dressed to the nines in store windows and displays, or clothing online? There is a whole career industry within fashion (it’s called, Merchandising) that is responsible for this. There are also buyers, who plan and purchase the clothes that will ultimately be sold in stores every year. The fun part of being a buyer is that you get to see all of the clothes that will come out in stores months before everybody else. The not so fun side is that when you’re buying for a store, you’re buying for that customer — and not necessarily what you like, would wear, etc. But, fashion careers are wonderful and fun. The pay is not as high as other careers — the highest salaries most make are in the lower six figures, with most making around $50,000 – $75,000. But, the higher stakes and profile careers in the industry (merchandiser or buyer for major store, major fashion designer) can pay much more.

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It’s amazing that people can make a career out of cooking. It goes beyond working at a restaurant (though that is a great job too!) to setting your sights on a formal cooking career. Believe it or not, professional chefs can make very good money — and even end up on a TV show. To become a professional chef, many people feel that they’ve got to go to culinary school, and that can help. But, if you’re in a city where that’s not possible, or can’t afford to attend school, you can become self trained with focus and discipline. What cooking schools will teach you is technique and how to make things to perfect your craft. You can do the same by being diligent to learn and do in a cooking environment — even if it is at home cooking for families and friends. The key to becoming a professional chef is to give thought to what kind of food you want to cook. There are italian restaurants, sushi and Japanese restaurants, American fare, fine dining, breakfast, lunch, dinner — the sky is the limit. By knowing the type of chef you want to be you can focus on cooking the kinds of foods that are relevant to your aspiring career. Most of all, don’t be afraid to reach out and connect with fellow chefs and restaurant owners to mentor you. It’s a great way to learn and you’ll have someone experienced to take you under their wing. If you are able to take the time to go to culinary school, choose wisely — do the research online, talk with various schools about what they offer and ask around. If you spend the investment (tuition) for your career, you want to make sure you’re going to get the best of the best education and connections. School isn’t just about what you learn, but what contacts, people and mentors, etc. you meet along the way.

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Continuing here series Lil Miss P looks at different careers

Believe it or not, the ability to write and communicate well can lead to a long lasting job! Professional writers exist in all types of forms — corporate writers who write information about companies, journalists who work with the newspaper or a magazine to tell the latest happenings and stories, bloggers who cover a range of topics, from cooking to fashion to travel and more. Virtually anybody who has the ability to write can become a writer. All it takes is to build a portfolio and go after writing jobs and work. If you’re still in high school, its an excellent place to start gathering samples of your work. If you are not, you can offer to write for free or very inexpensively for businesses around your city, and beyond to build up samples of your work. What you will need in your portfolio of samples depends on what type of writing you are going to do. If it’s business/corporate writing, you will need to have a lot of company descriptions, bios of people, and in some cases, press releases. If it’s journalism and media writing you’re after, you’ll need lots of examples of news stories you’ve written, stories about people, etc. This will show that you can write about other topics and things. If you are interested in blogging, believe it or not you can start one all on your own, AND make money on it through by offering companies advertising space on it for a cost. All it takes is to go to Word Press (www.wordpress.com) and you are set. Blogs can be about any topic — the more yours appeals to audiences, the better. You can use it as a place to showcase your work, write about stories, and create a digital portfolio to share with companies for jobs. Writing careers have a downside in that you always have to keep looking for work if you’re not in a formal writing job, and the pay can be a little low — though higher end writers and editors can make over $100,000 a year!

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Lil Miss P runs down some jobs to see how your skills fit the requirements. This week…

Career Profile: Television Personality

A TV personality is someone who hosts or appears on television on a regular basis to talk about a topic. It can be anything from reporting the day’s news to talking about special niche areas like healthcare and fashion. If there is an area of interest for consumers or business, then there is likely a TV personality talking about it. Jobs in this industry can range from being in a TV studio, like a newscaster or meteorologist, to live at sports games, fashion events, red carpet, parties, etc. There are all kinds of shows someone in this career can be on — reality shows, home decorating shows, you name it. How a TV personality works depends on all of the above. In studio, live, taped, etc. are all things that play a factor in a TV personality’s career. If you are interested in a TV career, the skills it requires are a lively personality, ability to ad lib and be quick on your feet, and a little sense of personality or humor. If you’ve always been the class clown, the most popular, the geek, it’s possible that a TV personality career could work for you. In terms of education, media degrees, communications and broadcast journalism or journalism courses. With the internet, it’s possible to get into smaller TV personality and hosting roles. All it takes is a continued effort to get yourself in front of the camera, and lots of practice. A good way to build up skills on your own as you look for work is to write mini segments on topics and things you like, news, etc. and then record yourself performing them on camera. To look for work, check out sites like Craigs List, which has a TV career category, or search via keyword on sites like Monster.com, etc. using “TV personality,” “broadcast journalist,” or “on-air talent,” or “on air correspondent.” You can also contact the local TV stations, if any, in your city and see if they’ll let you have a regular appearing gig. If you can secure a job in the business, you’ll be on a regular paycheck like any other job. Freelance TV personalities, however, operate like independent contractors or entrepreneurs and are paid without social security, benefits, tax, etc. A governing body for TV personalities is AFTRA — you can visit it here http://www.aftra.org/home.htm

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Lil Miss P runs down some jobs to see how your skills fit the requirements. This week…

Career Profile: Marketing Executive

Unlike publicity, which focuses on communicating with the media for the sole purpose of coverage of people, companies, products, etc., marketing is the overall umbrella of how a company or person portrays and promotes themselves — the look/feel, the messaging, the interaction, etc. and then overseeing and participating — but not necessarily running — advertising and publicity. It’s a very encompassing job that can include a wide range of duties and responsibilities. There is an abundance of marketing people in the business world, but there always seems to be a lot of room for people who are new. Just like with other jobs, including publicity, etc. marketing can be “in-house” or “external” — meaning you can work in marketing inside a company or at an outside agency that services companies. Marketing careers like publicity are in every industry you can imagine — political, sports, music, entertainment, television, fashion, beauty, technology, media, food, beverages, you name it. Marketing positions can vary and start at the same salaries as publicity and other service businesses ($35,000 at entry level), but it’s not hard to advance and make more money in the business if you’ve got talent, good work ethic or stay strategic on what to do to get ahead. Some of the things you’ll do in a marketing career is write company documents, messaging, ad copy, and website or blog copy, coordinate advertising buys, manage the company’s internet and publicity presence, etc. Marketing courses are available at virtually every college and university. Degrees are broad enough where you won’t have to worry about niching yourself too much. Skills required for a marketing career include good project management skills, organization skills, writing/communicating skills, research, metrics and analytics, leadership. Marketing jobs are usually available in every city but the major U.S. cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, etc. where business hubs exist are more hot beds than industrial, farming, or factory areas. When looking for marketing jobs, search for “marketing” — it’ll pull up a wide range of jobs but luckily that’s how diverse marketing careers can be. It’s a great industry if you like fast paced jobs with a lot of responsibilities but still within a bit of structure.

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