All those are good – but nothing has the power that a story has. Because we are human, we connect emotionally to other stories involving humans. The same does not happen with simple lists or numbered action items. Inc. Magazine recently highlighted three fantastic reasons why you need to master the art of storytelling. Yes, that feels a bit paradoxical, but just remember the moral of this post: TELL MORE STORIES!

1) Stories are memorable

Think about those really sad dog commercials on television narrated by Sarah McLachlan. They pull at your heart strings. Have you ever thought about why? Sarah isn’t telling you the number of dogs abused each year, or the amount of money it takes to run their organization, she’s telling you a story about a particular dog that needs a loving home. That’s why those commercials are so memorable. The ones with numbers and prices simply blend in with everything else we see, but a great story stands the test of time.

2) Stories travel further

Because of their memorability, stories will also travel further than rote statistics and advice-giving. Think about the great books or movies of the world – they ALL tell a story. Stories are what go viral on social media, they are what friends talk about over bonfires, they are even in many ways what formulate our values and beliefs.

3) Stories inspire action

You are a job-seeker hoping to inspire a hiring manager to give you a chance. Remember what we said before about stories being connected to emotions? That is why stories create action. We get emotionally involved in something and act on it, versus for instance seeing a statistic and letting it wash over our heads. Especially in today’s world, people want to hear more about your story than just about anything else.

Details:
9AM to 3PM at our office
2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 106
West Des Moines, IA 50266

No appointments necessary! Please bring your current resume, and you’ll have a chance to speak to one of our recruiters.

We are looking for motivated professionals for the following positions:

-Executive Administrative Assistants
-Administrative Assistants
-Accountants
-Customer Service
-Financial Services Representatives
-Data Entry/Clerical
-Medical Administration
-Light Industrial

We can’t wait to meet you!

If you have questions, find us Facebook or Twitter, or call us at 515.221.3233.

The Time Management Ninja came up with a fantastic list of 21 things you could do with just 5 minutes. Click here to read that article.

We came up with some j0b-search related things you could accomplish in just 5 minutes:

• Do a quick once-over of your resume, the same way a human resources manager would.
• Practice your two-minute elevator speech twice.
• Call an old connection asking if they’ve heard about any job openings.
• Use your mobile device to do a quick job search (maybe even at www.porticohr.com!).
• Log in to LinkedIn and add 5 connections.
• Look in the mirror and say “You can do it!”
• Listen to “Eye of the Tiger” – if that doesn’t get you pumped up nothing will!
• Go to a prospective company’s website and do 5 minutes of research.

What will YOU do with your five minutes? Just don’t waste it!

If you still have questions, we’d love to help you out! Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll answer any job-search question you might have.

Take a look at the graphic below. If you don’t have a smartphone, it’s well worth your money to get one – especially if you’re in the middle of a job hunt!

2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 106
West Des Moines, IA 50266

We are looking for motivated professionals for the following positions:

-Executive Administrative Assistants
-Administrative Assistants
-Accountants
-Customer Service
-Financial Services Representatives
-Data Entry/Clerical
-Medical Administration
-Light Industrial

We can’t wait to meet you – and remember, there is NEVER A FEE for the candidate.

Questions? Find us on Facebook and Twitter!

Here are some career-related tips for follow-up in 5 different situations:

1) You are given a name

Maybe a friend or family member gave you the name of someone to talk to or network with. Hopefully, if you’re doing a great job of networking, this happens somewhat frequently. Make sure you know the relationship of the name you are given and the person who gave it to you. Is it a close connection or somewhat of a reach? Send the person who gave you the name a thank you either in the mail or by email.

Then here’s the key – reach out to that person within 24 hours of being given the name! That person has probably been alerted and will want to know that you are a credible and assertive. Mention the person who gave you their name and tell them a little bit about yourself.

2) You are given a job lead

Send a thank you to the person who gave you the lead. Do additional research on the company, and then contact them with the name of that person. In many companies, a good referral means much more than a good resume. Again, be sure to reach out within 24 hours. There is no excuse not to.

3) You hear of a job opening

Do your homework on the company. Maybe look at their staffing page or search on LinkedIn for any employees of that company you might be connected to. If you are, reach out to them to maybe mention to a hiring manager that you are applying or something similar.

4) You apply for a job

These apply to the previous two as well. First, READ and FOLLOW all the application instructions. If they say “no calls”, they mean it. In your cover letter, tell them how you will follow up. If you hear nothing, it is appropriate to follow-up after one week to ask about the status of your application or if there were any additional questions.

5) You interview for a job

During your interview, be sure to ask: 1) What are the next steps in this process? 2) When and how should I follow up with you? If you aren’t contacted within the timeframe they give you, it is appropriate to contact them. Be sure to send a thank you to everyone you met with, and as always, simply do what you say you will, and follow up!

Fail Quickly

It’s better to be innovate and fail quickly, versus being behind the times and playing it safe. This means that you need to take risks in your job search. Reach out to your network, to the people that you don’t think will respond. The worst thing that happens is that someone doesn’t respond – something you already thought would happen. The best thing, though: you do get a response, and a hot job lead. Take the risks, and be quick to fail!

Empower Yourself To Fail

You cannot be afraid of failure. This will hold you back from trying new things. You need to place yourself in an environment where it’s okay to learn and fail every once in a while. You obviously don’t want it to be a pattern, but no employee (including you) will be perfect. When interviewing with a company, you are interviewing them as well. Get a feel for the environment and find out if it’s a place that allows for dreaming.

Discover Your Weaknesses…

…. and therefor find your strengths. Many times learning what you don’t want to do is the only way to learn what you do want to do. It is often the case that you won’t know if you like a career or not until you are well into the day-to-day grind of being in it. Perhaps this is why career changes happen so often these days – folks no longer want to put up with a career they hate.

How do YOU overcome failure? Tell us on Facebook and Twitter!

Entry level positions have become harder to come across because the job pool has widened so much in the last couple years. There is more competition than ever. So, how can you stand out when you don’t necessarily have the experience of folks you might be up against? Katie Roth shares a few helpful tips in the video below.

Have additional questions? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

There are however, a few things you need to work though, and be proactive in filling that time with experiences that will improve your career prospects. The most important part of explaining any significant gap is simply telling potential employers how you spent that time and worked on improving yourself.

A few ideas worth sharing:

• Continuing Education: This can take many forms. Perhaps you go back for another degree or for a more advanced degree. Perhaps it’s a certification course, depending on your field. Maybe it’s even just seminars at your local library. This shows that you’re willing to learn new skills to get back into the workforce and also shows great initiative. This is one of the more important things you can do.
• Volunteering: Most people, whether they realize it or not, are volunteering in their community in some way, shape, or form. Most folks, however, don’t do a good job of highlighting that in their resume. It can be an easy way to show that you are a hard-worker and have good character – something many companies look for now more than ever.
• Temp-work: Believe it or not, nearly 80% of hiring managers say that taking temp or contract work is advisable to fill those long gaps. It’s not just entry level work, either. Temporary opportunities are available across nearly all levels of business. Need help finding temp work? That’s what PorticoHR is for!

What else have you done to fill those gaps? Do you have further questions about this topic? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

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