Consulting, Temporary, Freelance, or Contract Work—these terms can mean different things to different people. While each word can conjure an impression of a different level of employee with various employment arrangements (Contract/Consulting work can imply higher skill level and longer term assignments; Temporary work can mean seasonal, short-term, lower skill level jobs; and Freelance work brings about the image of a free spirit creative soul floating from one inventive endeavor to another), these terms meant the same thing to me when I was a recruiter:  the work was interim and the employee was not a direct hire employee of the firm.  For the sake of this article, these four terms will be used interchangeably, but I acknowledge each can be defined differently by various organizations and people.

So why should job seekers consider this type of work?  The main reason is because employers of all types are employing this way of hiring talent as part of their year-round staffing strategy.  The chances are the job function you perform is now being classified as a consulting or temporary job within that organization.  If you don’t consider positions in this classification, you may miss out on a number of great opportunities.

Why would an employer make a previously direct hire position now a contract job? Here are some of the benefits experienced by an employer when they hire a contract employee. By knowing these reasons, you can devise a strategy as to how and why a company should hire your skills set as a contractor increasing your chances of being hired: (more…)

Your resume and job search has to now contend with iPads, iPhones, Android phones, Blackberries and every other type of old and new tech device in between. The job search and the recruitment model is going mobile like the rest of business and every other industry—if they are smart and want to stay ahead of the competition. So how can job seekers be ready for these technological adjustments and what should they expect? (more…)

New Year. New Job. New Opportunities. “But I have been looking for a job, Lisa, so searching for a job is not new for me. I need to recharge my efforts to get results…where do I start?” If this is you, I empathize. For some, this is a new year that brings new perspective. For others, it is just another day in a life that has been focused on looking for a new position. If you need to pump some new mojo and energy into your search to get results that you want and land that next job faster, here are the six things you can do today…or even this week: (more…)

Job boards don’t suck…however, how most job seekers use job boards to find a job does suck, to be blunt. I think job boards are a treasure trove of information that is consistently undiscovered and underutilized. Job boards receive a bad rap from most job seekers, since most job seekers are using them improperly. To be clear, there are five kinds of job listings, each listed with a few examples, and five ways are using job boards more effectively: (more…)

Read this U.S. News & World Report article where I am interviewed by Careers Expert Miriam Salpeter in her On Careers Column on 10/23/2011.

When you’re looking for a job, it’s easy to fall into the trap of applying and waiting to hear from an employer to see if you won a chance to interview. What’s the problem with this “apply only” strategy (also known as “spray and pray”)? It puts too much power into other people’s hands. Job seekers who seize control of their searches have a much better chance of landing opportunities than those who spend all of their time looking for open opportunities and applying. Lisa Rangel is managing director of Chameleon Resumes, contributor to Michelle A. Riklan and David Riklan’s, 101 Great Ways to Enhance Your Career, and author of the ebook, The Do-It-Yourself Branded Resume Kit.

As a search firm recruitment leader for over 13 years who partnered with Fortune 500 and boutique firms to source top talent, she sat on the proverbial “other side of the desk,” hiring people to fill clients’ positions. She advises job seekers to take steps to ensure it’s easy to find them for the jobs they want. “Posting an ad to recruit for an open position is one of the last tactics a recruiter wants to use,” Rangel says. Once a position is available online, many recruiters receive a plethora of ill-qualified applicants. [See The 50 Best Careers for 2011.]

Rangel advises candidates to distinguish themselves from the rest of the applicant pool using these techniques: (more…)

I attended the Career Directors International Summit led by Laura DeCarlo (@careerhero) this past week held in the colorful Savannah, Georgia. What a week it was! The general theme validated for me was that having a self-made or professionally done resume is not the sole magic elixir to landing your next job. It is a component, not the only step needed to be taken.

So what else is needed, you ask?  Job seekers today need to approach their search with the hiring manager’s mind set in hand. It is no mistake that this year’s conference featured Martin Yates, the author of the highly successful Knock ‘Em Dead career books and former recruiter, and Shally Steckerl, the sourcing and recruiting industry rockstar. These two gentleman punctuated job seekers need to think creatively when approaching and being discovered by hiring decision makers.  Here are a few ways how:  (more…)

JOB SEARCH AUDIT QUIZ

The job search is not yielding what you have hoped up to this point. You feel stale, uninspired and ineffective. Or maybe you are happy with your initial results, but now the activity has weaned a bit and you want to step up your game? Below is a short list of questions to quickly assess the quality of the quantity of your job search activities to help you determine (1) Am I doing the right activities? and (2) Am I doing enough of the right activities? Take this job search audit quiz now and be honest with yourself…it will help you identify the activities that will get your results and ensure you drop the activities that are dragging you down: Here we go:

1. How many hours are you spending on job boards?
2. How much time are you spending tweaking your resumes and cover letters?
3. How much time are you spending researching companies to apply to?
4. How many companies do you add/modify/delete from your target list each month?
5. How many hiring managers, line managers or knowledge resources are you speaking to each week?
6. How many outbound emails are you sending to targeted decision makers or knowledge sources each week?

What does it mean?

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(1) Go into a new field without major research
(2) Send the same thank you note to all interviewers
(3) Think they have to have 100% clarity as to what they want before they start to look
(4) Only submit to job postings and never reach out to people at companies directly
(5) Assume the tactics that worked for their job search three years ago will work for them now (more…)

“Should I look for a job during or after the holidays?” “Should I wait until I things pick up? It seems like no one is hiring…”

I fielded questions like these over the last two weeks. Timing the employment market is like timing the stock market. You may get lucky – the type of luck it takes to win the lottery – and find something amazing if you start because you think the timing is right. More often than not, finding a job is related to the tortoise and the hare story—slow and steady (and mindful) wins the race. (more…)

Feeling like you want to see what opportunity is out there in the marketplace? Not sure what to do to get it going or if you even want to look for a job? Well, start your own research tour. Learn about what you think you may want to do next. You do not need to start with your resume, if you do not know where you want to go yet. To help you get that direction, here are three things you can do today to begin assembling information to help you: (more…)