It amazes me how many times while calling a perspective job candidate, that I call someone in the middle of a meeting, or inappropriate time at work.

You would think in this world of technology that can make an unmanned space vehicle go to Mars a sheep genetically grown from a test tube and Joan Rivers still looks the age of 50 when he is actually 110, that they could create a way for job searchers to have their phone calls go somewhere else beside their cell phones.

Now with gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail and other free email services, people have handled the problem of receiving email at work from headhunters and companies. In addition, with so many people today only having a cell number, how can one receive those inappropriate calls at work?

Well, believe it or not there are actually several solutions--

Tossable Digits is a virtual number, meaning you can use it for a while and when you no longer need it, as if after finding a job, you just toss it away. Some of the features include.

-Do Not Disturb:

Control when callers can reach you!

You decide when you want to receive calls by restricting the times that your calls are forwarded to you. If a call comes in after hours, your caller can leave a message on your voicemail.

-Advanced Voicemail:

Listen to messages via phone, web or email!

If you've activated voicemail on an Extension or Virtual Number, and a call is received during a time you have restricted, callers will be asked to leave a voicemail, which you can later retrieve via their website, phone or email as an MP3 attachment.

-Call Screening:

Hear who is calling before you answer!

Tossibile Digits' advanced call screening system asks callers to identify themselves by recording their name. When a call is forwarded to you, you'll hear your callers recorded name and can choose to accept or decline the call. If you decline a call, your caller will be forwarded to voicemail without knowing their call was declined.

Now, I have not personally used this service but a friend has and loves it. It is not free, but not too expensive, running about $5.00 a month. If it saves you from getting busted by your current employer because of you're talking to potential new employers, it is worth it.

Now with a little bit of "googling" you can find other similar products, but with slightly different features. Google Voice and 3jam.com are among others, all of which approximate the cost of a ring tone or two per month and are well worth it.

My favorite and the one I use all the time is Magic Jack. For a one-time fee of $40.00 you have a VOIP line that you can call at no cost, anywhere in the US. You have voice mail, music on hold, can pick your area code, and check your messages online from a received email. It is a killer. In addition, to renew each year the cost is only $19.95. I have used it for several years and love it.

The point is this -- don't get your "butt in a sling" at work while driving in your car and answering your speaker phone. Just because the number is in your area code, and you think it is someone you know, it could very well be a recruiter calling about a job you're not even interested in. In fact, he may be calling you because you forgot to take your resume off Monster three months ago, when you got a new job.

I know about this from experience. I have been that recruiter and it was ugly, real ugly.

Carl Schumacher - Career Coach, Executive & Technical Recruiter
http://www.executive-careercoaching.com

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4G Latin America 2012 son el debe asistir acontecimiento de 2012 - EL El lugar hacer contactos con el "autores & promotores" del ecosistema 4G en America Latina, de la industria pensó líderes y a operarios a reveladores de aplicaciones, la prensa y los analistas. 4G Latin America's programa que extraordinario atrae a más de 400 asistentes de alto nivel, sobre el 50 por ciento de quien son ejecutivos y líderes mayores. Esto es el lugar de actuación perfecto de aprender lo que es nuevo en la industria, la reunión con clientes y socios, y expande su alcance del negocio por una gran variedad de enfocado e insinúa oportunidades que interconexión.

I have often run into situations that this statement is true. The act of interviewing like dating can make candidates as well as interviewers act in irrational and even down right crazy ways. Candidates lose perspective and take everything way too personally and interviewers totally lose sight of what is common courtesy and sometimes even common sense.

Here are some real life examples:

A candidate was interviewing for a development job. She was living on one side of the country and the job was on the other side of the country. After two very good phone screens, the recruiter working with the candidate followed up with the company to see if they were ready to fly her out for a face to face. Instead to the recruiter's surprise, the hiring manager said he had already left the candidate a message that they wanted to make her an offer.

Now you would expect her to think what great news! "They love me so much after two phone screens they want to make me an offer!"

Well think again...

Now compare this to dating, you have been on two dates and suddenly you get a phone call from budding romantic partner saying they love you and they want to move in.

How do you think most people would react?

Nine out of ten would be a bit freaked out by this. "Will he ask to marry me in a week?" "Hell I have never even been to where he lives, it could be a rat hole?" "Is he a serial killer?"

And sure enough the candidate freaked out as well saying she was "feeling pressured" asking "is there something wrong with this job". The recruiter, thinking fast, worked it out for her to go for a face to face so she could see the area and also the office. But, by that time, the damage was done. The candidate suddenly got sick, and could not be reached because of a sore throat and could not talk on the phone. Two days later she texted the recruiter she had taken another job.

Lesson learned: Doing things in the right order does matter in interviewing, dating and disarming a bomb. Cutting the blue wire before red can be very dangerous.

Now on the flip side to this often candidates move to fast and talk themselves right out of a job before they even know it is right for them.

For example: A candidate submits his resume through a recruiter for a sales job. He receives an initial phone screen from human resources. During the call the HR person tells him to his dismay that the position requires you to be in the office every day and that the commissions for this job is expected to be $30K less than what was represented to him.

Unfortunately, it is not that unusual to have HR & hiring managers to have different ideas as to what the job requires or even pays. That is why recruiters are so determined to speak with the hiring manager to take a job order.

Well now back to the example. The candidate, in a very upset tone, calls the recruiter who set him up for the interview and says that even if he wanted another interview, he is not interested now as he was lied to about the position being located in a virtual office and commissions were uncapped.

So after a long conversation the recruiter calms the candidate down enough and assures him that the job is in a virtual office and the pay is uncapped because that's what the hiring manager said. So a second interview occurs and the candidate actually gets the job.

Lesson Learned: Interviewing and relationships are a work in progress. A job description often evolves as candidates are being interviewed and priorities change. Also the truths you have on the first date as you are trying to impress the person in front may be quite a bit different 3 weeks later after you have had two or three dates.

Now besides the dating comparison, both these examples show why having a recruiter is an important component in many hiring processes. Would A-Rod or Payton Manning think of negotiating their own contracts, of course not!

Unfortunately, not every company can afford using recruiters or have a strong internal recruiting staff and actually do a good job of hiring on their own. But still there is nothing like having a Jerry Maguire to navigate you through the "match.com" mine field called interviewing.

I know I had you at Hello...

Carl Schumacher - Career Coach, Executive & Technical Recruiter
http://www.executive-careercoaching.com

In theory it seems like a great idea to put your references on your resume for you show that you are liked and respected and have nothing to hide. That is the upside.

Here is the downside:

Employers cannot legally check your references with out your permission. By putting them on your resume, they can check them without even interviewing you!

Interviewing is a step by step process and checking references is not the first step. The resume is submitted, the resume is reviewed, and the phone screen occurs, a face to face interview occurs, an offer is extended then references are checked. Sometimes references are checked just before a face to face interview or just after, but no matter, it is not the first step.

Interviewing is like buying a car. Would you buy a car just by reading the sticker on the side? No you would sit in it, open the glove compartment, maybe look under the hood and take it for a ride. Your decision would be based on the whole process not just the specs and sticker price.

By putting your references on your resume you give the employer the option to make a decision about you just by reading your resume and by calling one reference without ever getting to know you (looking under the hood) or interviewing you (taking you for test drive).

References are golden! They are not handed out willy-nilly like free fake tattoos at a child's birthday party. Before a client calls your reference you had better damn well know that they will say the right things and be available when called. And also expect the call from the employer or whoever is calling to ask them the questions.

Imagine because you put your references on your resume and then posted your resume on Monster or Dice or some other job board, your references where called 10 times in a week without your knowledge. By the 10th time this busy executive being called could be a little less positive about you.

References can actually be your competition. If the reference is a co-worker and has similar skills as you, the person reading your resume may also call the references and solicit them for your potential job.

Avoid these potential problems. DO NOT put the names, titles & contact info of your references on your resume. If you must, put at the bottom of the resume "References available upon request".

Carl Schumacher - Career Coach, Executive & Technical Recruiter
http://www.executive-careercoaching.com/

1. Have a plan:

The difference between one person's success in a job search and another's can simply be that the former has a workable plan; though a job seeker may be taking many of the right steps, if he or she does not have a plan, then the plan is incomplete, steps are missed, and the job seeker may give up because he or she does not have enough direction to carry a job search through to completion.

2. Be organized:

There are many methods of organization that you can use to accomplish things. One of the most basic methods is to create a check list each day before you begin your job search to keep you on track. For example:

• Go on job boards and find jobs 9 - 10 a.m.
• Go on LinkedIn and find jobs 10 - 11 a.m.
• Follow up with companies you apply to 11 - 12 a.m.

3. Track your progress:

During your job search, it is easy to find yourself questioning whether you are being successful or not, especially if you have been looking for a new job for quite a while. An excellent way to keep to measuring your success on your steps along the way is to track your progress. Maintaining a chart or spreadsheet in Microsoft Word or Excel is an excellent measurement tool.

For example:

• Companies applied today: 25
• Companies applied to this week: 100
• Total companies applied to thus far: 325
• Number of responses: 30
• Number of phone interviews: 12
• Number of face to face interviews: 4

4. Apply in volume:

If you honestly think that applying to a few jobs online and casually networking to a few other folks will get you a job, then you are sadly mistaken. If this method actually works for you, then you don't need to be reading this. However, I'm skeptical that anybody can casually look for a professional or management position and actually get hired. But, if you are like most serious job seekers conducting a job search, it is critical to let companies knowing you are looking and are a strong and viable candidate.

5. Diversify your search:

Not that long ago, the most common way to find a job was to read the job section in the newspaper. Now there are several ways to search for a job, and a newspaper is not one that any true job seeker uses. Here are some others that are worth trying:

• Major job boards like Dice or CareerBuilder.
• Mega job search engines like indeed, Simply hired or Juju.
• LinkedIn's job board.
• Industry specific job boards. Just put the description of your industry into Google with the
• word "jobs" or "careers" and you will see that there is a job board specific to your background.
• Approach companies directly that you would like to work for. Many companies don't post their jobs but are still hiring.
• Send your resume to recruiters.

There are some jobs you may apply to that only stimulate a mild interest, and others you would kill to get. On the positions that most interest you, research the company and the position. You can even Google the hiring manager or contact him or her through LinkedIn, which can be helpful in increasing your chance of actually getting hired if you can talk to the hiring manager directly.

7. Online social networking:

With online social networking, you no longer do you have to go to weekly "business mixers" designated physical location to meet people who could lead you to your next job. It's much easier than that. Facebook, LinkedIn and a host of other social networking sights provide ways to connect with people for very little if any cost.

8. Follow up with a phone call:

I have often been asked: "I applied for a job recently and got a first interview on the phone, but it has been a week since I got a call from the employer. What do I do?"

It's simple. Call the employer! Take initiative! What do you have to lose? Get your name in front of the employer. Let the employer know who you are. Be not afraid.

9. Getting a job is sales and marketing:

Your resume is a marketing tool that sells you and gets you an interview.
This is the same tool that a salesman uses to sell a product, a collateral, a brochure, a supportive marketing tool. The only real difference is that you are the product.

10. Make getting a job your full time job:

Some years ago, I was given some excellent advice on how to find a job:
Make sure that looking for a job becomes your full-time job. If you are already employed, then this would not apply to you, as your full-time job is your job. Unless, of course, it is really important to get another job.

If so, then be prepared to hold down two jobs, because "looking for a job becomes your full-time job." If you are out of work, then it is imperative that you treat your job search as a full-time job. Get up early in the morning, and make your priority looking for a job. If you wake up at 10:00 a.m., and don't get started looking for a job until after 12:00, then it is obvious why you are not successful in obtaining a job. Enough said.

Carl Schumacher - Career Coach, Executive & Technical Recruiter
http://www.executive-careercoaching.com/