A serious investment requires the inside knowledge and advice of someone experienced. If you wanted to buy a house, you probably wouldn’t just look at pictures on the internet and make a blind purchase. You want someone who can tell you about a faulty foundation, who your neighbors are and what’s great about the house that you might not realize on your own. That’s why home buyers use a realtor.

Job-seekers use a recruiter for the same reason.

Unlike a realtor, a recruiter provides a range of services completely free of charge. A good recruiter can present you with multiple opportunities at different companies that you wouldn’t find on your own.

Developing relationships with recruiters can be advantageous, as they may think to contact you whenever they land a job search assignment that matches your background. But don’t wait until you’re ready to change jobs to get to know recruiters. Like with most relationships, building good ones can take time.

Here are some tips for getting started:

Tell the Truth

Be honest about what kind of job you’re looking for, and be honest about whether you’re interested in a job you’re pitched. If you’re not interested, say so. This will help refine the kinds of jobs you are approached with. If you’re employed, only offer yourself to recruiters if you’re serious about changing jobs.

Talking to a recruiter can help you define career goals before you go in for an interview. They will help you prep before an interview so you know what your goals are, how they align with what the company wants and how you can sell yourself. A recruiter will not send you on an interview unless they believe you are qualified for the job, which should also give you some confidence once you’re there.

Set Boundaries

Some job hunters say they’ll take any position they want when they don’t really mean it. Make sure you are upfront with your recruiter about geographic locations, salaries or companies that are off limits for you.  At the same time, you don’t want to narrow your boundaries so much that you miss great opportunities.

One great benefit of working with a recruiter is that they will help negotiate salaries for you. For most people, this can be hard to do on your own. Know what your limits are when it comes to salary in order to make this easier for the recruiter.

Show up for Interviews

If for some reason you have to cancel after you are granted an interview, make sure you let your recruiter know. Not showing up for an interview will damage your reputation with the recruiter and will ensure that you are not approached with further opportunities.

Explain Your Rejections

If you’re approached with a job that isn’t a good fit, explain why. Is the pay too low? Are the hours too weird? Do you not like the company? Explain your reasoning so that the recruiter won’t approach you with similar positions, and will approach you with positions that are a better fit.

Check In and Be Patient

If you’re waiting to hear about a position, be patient, but check in with your recruiter every so often if you don’t hear back.

Stay in touch with recruiters so you can stay on their radar and build a relationship. This will increase your chances of being approached with opportunities further down the line.

According to a U.S. Department of Labor survey, 70.9% of the total United States population is comprised of men and women ages 20 – 24. That’s a pretty hefty percentage who recently abandoned childhood dreams of a career as a superhero or a princess.

“Get your degree so you can get a real job,” your parents said.

But if your parents have your best interests in mind, why have you graduated and still don’t have a job?

The same survey from the Department of Labor suggests that only about 13% of 20 – 24 year-old college graduates are part of the labor force. That leaves a pretty hefty percentage of them living at home, wishing they held the mask and cape you abandoned. It may feel like it sometimes, but spending four years in college wasn’t a waste of time; if you only have a high school diploma, the unemployment rate is twice as high.

Common discourse on the economy aside, finding a job after graduation has been difficult since the 1970s. When you graduate, especially if you didn’t work during school, you have few marketable skills and little experience to show, no matter how good your grades are. Some employers simply won’t hire people right out of undergrad, opting for candidates with a Master’s degree or who paid their dues in an unpaid internship.

A recent New York Times article broke down what anyone in their 20s already knows: right after you graduate, and especially if you have a liberal arts degree, you often have to work for free. That is, if you can afford it.

So what can you do to improve your chances of finding a paid position?

Pay Your Dues While You’re Still in School

It’s in your best interest to find a part-time job or an internship while you’re still in school, preferably in a field you enjoy. This will vastly improve your job prospects and will help you make contacts that will be invaluable once you graduate. if Do this while you’re still in school, and you will have a better chance of being able to move out your mom’s house.

If you didn’t have time for an internship in college, you probably have leadership skills from a club or group that you can highlight in your resume. Unfortunately, it’s become the norm for companies to hire unpaid interns, and you may have to take a position like this if you want to advance in your field (especially if that field is media-related). The sad truth is, many people can’t afford to take an unpaid internship, and if you find yourself in that boat, you’re definitely not alone.

Make Your Resume Job-Specific

Lots of people don’t understand that it’s absolutely essential to tweak your resume for each job you apply to. The chances of having a resume make a strong impression increase exponentially when you think like an employer: use keywords that are derived from the job description, and trim out any information that is unrelated or looks like filler. If you don’t know anything about keywords, this article is a good place to start.

Apply to Jobs You’re Qualified For

Another reason Millennials aren’t finding jobs is because many are applying to jobs that aren’t suited to their skills. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but that isn’t to say that because your marketing degree isn’t getting you the job you want, you should start applying for entry-level accounting positions. You might feel it’s a catch-22: if you limit yourself to jobs that you’re continuously being rejected from you’ll never actually get hired. This isn’t always true. Focus on applying for jobs that you’re qualified for and want —you earned your degree in the field that you did for a reason. Use social media to network with people at firms that you are interested in and stay on your toes. Job hunting takes time.

Expand Your Resources

Start looking into staffing agencies (like us!) who have lots of jobs that aren’t posted online. Companies often come to us to do confidential searches, and if you’re in our network, we might be able to help you snag a gig you wouldn’t have found otherwise. Check out our job listings here.

Look for positions at startups, who are always expanding and looking for young people who are excited about their projects. Because enthusiasm is a big hiring factor, and the companies are small, don’t be afraid to reach out to the founder of the company on LinkedIn. Even if you can’t get a paid position, it will fill a hole in your resume, and you’ll make some valuable contacts.

Volunteering is another good way to find contacts and to keep you occupied while you’re unemployed. Do a quick Google search and try and find something you’re interested in.

Keep Your Social Media Accounts Polished

As much as you might like to tell yourself that employers don’t check your social media profiles, they do. Your profile isn’t as safe as you think; more and more companies are screening their applicants on Facebook or Twitter.  Do the smart thing and clean house of all those tweets about how you hate hunting for a job or how “productive” you’re being watching daytime reality TV on your couch. Also, the fact that you’re 21 means you can legally do keg stands, but can you reasonably have pictures of it on your Facebook page? Think about what’s important to you, and keep your private life private.

Make sure your LinkedIn account accurately reflects your resume and your accomplishments, and make sure you have a professional-looking picture. Companies are using LinkedIn more and more to pre-screen applicants. If you don’t have a LinkedIn, it’s time to set one up.

Try to Stay Positive

Don’t let discouragement deter you from remaining steadfast in your job search. It takes time and persistence. Remember, the market is tough right now. Make use of the connections that you have made in school and seek out new connections in the hopes that they will open doors for you. Not being able to land a job is not necessarily indicative of your abilities; it is a result of these challenging times. If you start to feel like your efforts are futile, step back and channel your inner superhero. You have the power to make things happen when you set your mind to it.

Good luck!

There are tons of career books that you can use as resource while job hunting, so much so that searching for the right book can be a job in itself. Here’s a list of a few books to try. See which one speaks to you and use it to help you land your dream job.

What Color is Your Parachute? By Richard Bolles

This book, which has sold over 11 million copies in 26 languages, has had huge success for good reason. Dick  Bolles constantly updates the book as the job seeking field advances and changes. There’s some great advice in here for job seekers of all ages at all career levels. This book includes worksheets, tools and exercises, making it a fun, interactive tool for soul-searching.

You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career By Katherine Brooks

This is for anyone who gets the question, “What are you going to do with that?” Katherine Brooks tailors her career advice to recent college graduates with liberal arts degrees. Learning how to transition into the “real world” without a direct career path can be difficult, but Brooks encourages recent graduates to “celebrate their education” and “embrace the chaos” of the job world.

Choose a Career and Discover Your Perfect Job: 105 Tips on Work Attitude and Motivation By Gary Vurnum

This interactive book outlines what Vurnum deems the best way to pick a career. His career test encourages readers to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, thus sorting out a good professional fit. Vurnum also uses advice from his own experience as an online self-improvement expert. This book is informative and transformative – a great way to determine what you need to change in order to find the career you love.

Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring 

By Ford Myers

Myers’ book helps dispel the myth that you can’t get hired in a bad economy. Myers concedes that this is one of the toughest job markets in recent history, but he offers advice on how to search for a job in unconventional ways. Additionally, he provides a “Job Search Survival Toolkit” to supplement his advice in the book.

100 Job Search Tips From Fortune 500 Recruiters

This is a great career read for readers on a budget because it is available online for free. You can read the book online here: http://www.emc.com/collateral/article/100-job-search-tips.pdf. The book outlines an insightful collection of stories and advice from people who have been in the recruiting field and know what real employers look for in candidates. How can you turn down such valuable advice for free?

With so much competition in the job market, it’s important to write a resume that stands out. And while your skills are invaluable, being aware of what recruiters are looking for when you apply to a certain position will help you immensely in your job search. If you’ve been out of the job market for a while (and even if you haven’t), staying on top of resume trends will keep you at the top of a hiring manager’s list.

Applicant Tracking Systems are Evolving

Sending out multiple resumes with little success? Your resume might be missing keywords relevant to your industry. With so many applications to sift through, most recruiters use a parser (a program which receives input and breaks it up into parts) to find what the computer deems the best resumes for a particular job. When looking to fill a position, hiring managers will sort through resumes by keyword, sometimes found in the job description, allowing the most qualified applicants to rise to the top of the pile. When you apply for jobs in the same field, take note of common words and phrases used in similar job postings. Using keywords will also help you tailor your resume of the job you’re applying to. Learn more about keywords here.

Infographics

Using an infographic can be a great way to stand out, especially if you are in a creative field such as design, writing or fashion. Sites such as vizualize.me give your text resume a fun makeover that still allows you to present relevant skills in a professional way.  Remember that Automated Tracking systems won’t read graphics, so you’ll need to adjust your resume when applying online. Keep your charts available when you know you’re sending them directly to a hiring manager, or hand them out at career fairs. There are also services such as Loft Resumes, which will help you create a visually appealing alternative to a standard Word document.

Using LinkedIn Wisely

It’s time to delete that “references available upon request” line at the end of your resume. Use LinkedIn to have former employers and coworkers promote your skills and even write you recommendations. This allows hiring managers to see quickly that your skills are valuable. Make sure you have a professional photo for your profile, and make sure all your information reflects your resume. LinkedIn can also be a great way to connect directly with hiring managers.

Tips for any Decade

- Always highlight accomplishments rather than make a straight list of former duties and responsibilities. Using action words keeps your resume targeted.

- Readability is key. Try reading your resume on a phone or tablet to see how the formatting transfers over. If hiring managers can’t read your resume on a mobile device, it’s possible you’re losing points.

- A powerful resume does not list every single accomplishment from the last 10 years. Throw out the fluff and stick to what’s most important. Your resume should be short, concise and to the point.

Designing your resume is a task you should spend a lot of time perfecting. Aside from grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors, you also have to think about how you would view your resume, on a surface level, if you received it as a hiring manager.
Loft Resumes, a resume design company based in South Carolina, prides themselves in helping job seekers stand out. The company provides a resume shop stocked with approximately 50 creatively designed resumes.

Loft Resumes says, “On average, they’ll [hiring managers] spend less than 30 seconds looking at yours [resume].”

For just $99 you will receive your new resume in 3 business days. It may seem like a lot, but think about the ROI (return on investment). If someone approached you with your dream job and told you all you had to do was pay $99, would you take it?

Each additional page is $10. You can rush the resume process for an additional $15 for two days and $30 for a one day turnaround.  For an additional cost, you can make updates on content, not design.

After the design process is complete you will receive a high resolution PDF of your resume along with an editable, matching cover letter.

Does this seem like a lot?

It’s not! All you have to provide is:

• An uploaded resume in a common word document
• A theme with a photo, you’ll need to upload your photo (optional)
• The custom color option (optional and extra)

What do you think about this service? Beneficial?  Would you pay $99 for a potentially brighter future?

Visit the site and shop around. Let us know what you think on our Facebook page!

A majority of us have been so nervous in an interview that we’ve “blundered” somewhere, somehow.

Whether you’ve answered something like:

Interviewer: Why do you think you would be a good fit for this position?

You: Because I’d be good at it.

OR

Interviewer: We’re looking to pull the trigger at the end of the month.

You: Well, I hope I get shot.

We’ve all been there.

This post is to reassure you that getting tongue tied, being speechless, and lying by accident, happens to all of us.  While we’re under the spotlight, in front of one or more people, there’s a chance you will crack under the pressure.

Here are some great ways to ensure you won’t leave your interview feeling like a star in some movie’s blooper reel.

• It Takes Two To Tango – As much as you are being interviewed, remember, you are also meeting with this person to see if the position is a fit for you as well. Try and make it more of a conversation than a “grill fest.”

• Deep Breaths - We read on Yahoo! Finance that a girl took  Xanax to relax before an interview. She was so relaxed that the interviewer was actually worried about how slow she was speaking.  Concentrated deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth, work wonders.

• Sleep Tight – Early to bed and early to rise is in your best interest the night before your interview. Whether it’s an early morning interview or an after lunch meeting, make sure you fill the empty time with some activity to get your mind off the nervousness. Focus!

• Mirror Talk – Stand in front of your mirror and practice smiling, making eye contact, and speaking precisely and slowly.

These are just few tips to help you prepare to be calm, cool and collected for your next interview.  Good luck and let us know if you have any questions.

How many times have you heard – “Your resume should be no longer than one page.”

Once upon a time, a story was circulated that made job seekers squeeze their relevant experience, skills, and education on to just one page.

This myth, although true in some instances, is not as strict and rigid as it once was.

When to exceed one page:

• Your experience genuinely needs the space
• There is a job gap or responsibility that requires a lengthy explanation
• You’re just too skilled not to jump to another page

Of course, use your discretion when jumping to page two. Some companies can look down upon unnecessary information dragging along.

Are you afraid to expand on your experience because this myth has constrained you? Ask us!

amNewYork and Vault.com wants you to focus more on landing the job you actually want!

While being unemployed has it’s obvious downsides, you can also view it as an opportunity to search, experiment and network for a job that you actually want instead of “just-a-job.”

Cathy Vandewater, author of “5 Ways To Land The Job You’d Actually Want,” said, “Since the recession, the ‘work-shouldn’t-be-fun’ mentality has only gotten worse.  But here’s the trouble with ‘money’ jobs: not only do they make no promises of job satisfaction, they only bring real money for those who are good at them.”

Here are some ways to get on the path to landing your dream job:

Start to think outside of the box. How can you stand out? What more can you do to find what you really want? How can you obtain your dream job?

Do you want to share how you landed your dream job? Please comment on our Facebook page.