In this Issue:
Topic of the Month: "Director and Star"
We Continue to Grow!
Time
Ask the Construction Career Doctor!
Article: Top Ten Interview Tips
This Issue's Cartoon!
Director and Star
It’s always considered a pretty big deal when one Hollywood luminary directs a movie and also stars in that film. For instance, Mel Gibson earned Oscars and plaudits – and millions of dollars - for directing Braveheart and, at the same time, starring as Scottish warrior William Wallace. In other words, he directed himself, with himself as the star actor.
Yet, construction professionals serve as the Star and Director of their own careers all the time. We here at ConstructionJobs.com see that constantly as we meet the builders like you who visit our website with the goal of furthering their careers.
Our Sales Associates – the friendly and efficient crew to whom you will speak if you call us looking for assistance – look frequently at professional resumes, those vital efforts you create that attempt to summarize your accomplishments in one or two pages of carefully-worded highlights.
And what those resumes reveal is that the candidates who succeed in their searches for better jobs, new positions, and career advancement, are those candidates who are thinking strategically about their next move, rather than leaping rashly at whatever position they find at our site which might be a quick fix or a way out of a less-than-ideal current job.
We encourage candidates to look at their career as a whole and plot out their best way forward in as objective and patient a manner as possible. So, how can you best plan and direct your career, and how can you become a big star?
First, remember that the top-notch companies who place their urgent needs on our site want a professional who will join them and become a valuable, trusted member of a team for a long time. That means they want to see that you have worked three or five or seven years at a time for your previous companies (i.e., they want to know you’re reliable and want to grow with them). Job hoppers typically find it difficult to persuade strong companies that they are finally ready to settle in with one employer for a long, successful stint.
Our clients also prize builders who are working their way through a logical, intelligent progression toward their ultimate goals and understand their place in a new organization. No one starts out as a Vice President of Operations, and a measured climb up the ladder is evidence of a smart worker who wants to build a solid foundation even as he aims for bigger things.
Finally, candidates who find an exciting opportunity through ConstructionJobs.com are frequently those candidates who want to diversify their experience and widen their horizons. An expert in mechanical trades might decide he wants to know wet and dry piping, clean rooms, HVAC … the whole gamut … and may pursue a position that challenges him to learn new things and become a more well-rounded employee.
Likewise, a young estimator may decide she needs to make a move to a company that tackles hard-bid, negotiated, and design-build projects … because she wants to head a department someday and needs every arrow in her quiver.
You’re the star of your own career, no matter what. The question which can determine how big a star you’ll be might be this: how will you direct your career? Plan ahead, chart a progression that looks at years rather than months, and become as wide-ranging and knowledgeable as you can. Those good directors often win plaudits and make more money – so direct smartly, and act well.
Alan Kerschen
We Continue to Grow!
Niche job boards (ie ConstructionJobs.com) continue to grow. Why? Because it makes sense. Consider this. Why would a construction professional like yourself, in the midst of a job search, want to look at unrelated jobs that happen to have the word "construction" in them? You don't, it's a clear waste of time. With industry specific job boards like ConstructionJobs.com, it cuts the clutter, you know that all of the jobs on the board are within your industry. Niche job boards like www.ConstructionJobs.com also rank high on search engines because we truly are what we say and the content is very relevant. Try a search on Yahoo or Google for the Term... "Construction Jobs" and chances are you will find us top on the list.
You rarely hear about us in print as the newspapers, perhaps, are reluctant to mention us in fear of losing even more ground to the Internet in classified ads. The large job boards have their place but as time goes don't be surprised to see more true Industry Professionals go to their own Industry Specific Sites. Blue collar workers are starting to follow and this trend will continue going forward. So, next time you are looking for a job or just want to see what’s out there, come to our site and join the thousands of job seekers who have found success in finding a great job.
That’s the reason we have invested thousands of dollars to improve the performance of our site over the past month as we continue to make enhancements not only to make our site faster but also to expand user functionality.
Throughout the first half of 2008, we have continued to see record traffic on our site each month. This further demonstrates that employers and job seekers see the value and benefits of ConstructionJobs.com. Check us out and see why we’re the site of choice in the construction industry.
Time
Poets have waxed rhapsodic for centuries about Time. Shakespeare wrote of “Devouring Time” and Andrew Marvell wrote a risqué poem about how to defeat Time and John Keats knew time would overtake him before his Grecian Urn crumbled, and Pink Floyd sang that the sun is always “racing around to come up behind you again.”
And those bards all lived in an era we would all describe as “simpler” and “slower”!
How much more, then, do we, in 2008, value time? We are all hurrying – I recently came back from vacation exhausted – and racing against time. We have created phrases like “Time Management” for work and “Time Share” for leisure. We come home and set timers to cook our dinners then watch sports that are dictated by time (other than baseball, the leaders of which sometimes investigate ways to speed the game up), then set our alarms so we wake up … on time.
Rest assured. ConstructionJobs.com wants to save you time.
Visit our website. What do you want to do? Find a new job? Then, please, do the following:
- Click “Search Jobs.” Wait one second.
- Now, type in the “Keyword” and/or Phrase that fits what you want to do: “Superintendent,” maybe, or “Project Manager” or “HVAC Foreman” and etc. Click a distance that suits you under “Proximity.”
- Pick a state or two or five in “Location.”
- Now, under “Display jobs added …,” determine the increment of time (in days, weeks, etc.) you want your search to cover.
- Click “Search.”
In a few seconds, a list with your search results will appear. And, if you type, like me, with three or four fingers while looking at the keyboard, it’ll take you about 45 seconds to complete this search. If you’re a proficient typist, you’ll be way ahead of me. Less than a minute – maybe two - to come to the site, tell us what you are hoping for, and start viewing results.
The time you dedicate to looking at these opportunities is up to you, but you might find it worth your time to spend a minute exploring these positions.
My point: we couldn’t make looking for a new position on our site any quicker or more friendly. Please visit often, when you have a few seconds.
Thanks for your time.
Alan Kerschen
Article: Ten Tips for Interviewing
By Wendy J. Terwelp, CCMC, JCTC, CPBS
Question: What are some of the basic steps in preparing for, and going on, an interview?
Answer: Remember that the interview BEGINS when you enter the parking lot and ENDS when you leave the parking lot. » Read Full Article
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Happy Searching,
The ConstructionJobs Team
