Busting The 4 Biggest Job Search Myths

Source: Busting The 4 Biggest Job Search Myths

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Many job seekers research the employers to which they are applying, and some employers see evidence of this as a positive sign of enthusiasm for the position or the company, or as a mark of thoroughness. Information collected might include open positions, full name, locations, web site, business description, year established, revenues, number of employees, stock price if public, name of chief executive officer, major products or services, major competitors, and strengths and weaknesses.

Contacting as many people as possible is a highly effective way to find a job. It is estimated that 50% or higher of all jobs are found through networking. Job recruiters and decision makers are increasingly using online social networking sites to gather information about job applicants, according to a mid-2011 Jobvite survey of 800 employers in the US.

Likewise, job seekers are beginning to use social networking sites to advertise their skills and post resumes. Today, job seekers can use resources such as Google+’s Circles, Facebook’s BranchOut, LinkedIn’s InMaps, and Twitter’s Lists to make employers notice them in a unique way. In 2014, using these social media networks has led to 1 of 6 job seekers finding employment.

Job seekers need to begin to pay more attention to what employers and recruiters find when they do their pre-interview information gathering about applicants, according to this 2010 study by Microsoft, “Online Reputation in a Connected World”. One can also go and hand out résumés or Curricula Vitae to prospective employers, in the hope that they are recruiting for staff or could soon be doing so. Résumés can also be submitted to online employment sites that aid in job searching.

Another recommended method of job hunting is cold calling and, since the 1990s, emailing companies that one desires to work for and inquire to whether there are any job vacancies. After finding a desirable job, they would then apply for the job by responding to the advertisement. This may mean applying through a website, emailing or mailing in a hard copy of a résumé to a prospective employer. It is generally recommended that résumés be brief, organized, concise, and targeted to the position being sought.

With certain occupations, such as graphic design or writing, portfolios of a job seeker’s previous work are essential and are evaluated as much, if not more than the person’s résumé. In most other occupations, the résumé should focus on past accomplishments, expressed in terms as concretely as possible (e.g. number of people managed, amount of increased sales or improved customer satisfaction). 

Since the year 2000, the Internet has been increasingly popular method for job applications, with many companies giving job applicants the option of applying through their company website, while some companies now have no alternative form of recruitment.

Once an employer has received résumés, they will make a list of potential employees to be interviewed based on the résumé and any other information contributed. During the interview process, interviewers generally look for persons who they believe will be best for the job and work environment. The interview may occur in several rounds until the interviewer is satisfied and offers the job to the applicant. 

Economists use the term “frictional unemployment” to mean unemployment resulting from the time and effort that must be expended before an appropriate job is found. This type of unemployment is always present in the economy. Search theory is the economic theory that studies the optimal decision of how much time and effort to spend searching, and which offers to accept or reject (in the context of a job hunt, or likewise in other contexts like searching for a low price).

People in work who use their time off-duty to job search has recently become the norm due to new jobs being mostly temporary and/or part-time (usually with not set hours) or professions becoming freelance, with people hired for individual projects rather than a lifelong job.

Generally, expenses related to the carrying-on of a business or trade are deductible from a United States taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. For many taxpayers, this means that expenses related to seeking new employment, including some relevant expenses incurred for the taxpayer’s education, can be deducted, resulting in a tax break, as long as certain criteria are met. On average, United States job seekers can spend upwards of $300 per month in related job-seeking services.

First, such costs must qualify as expenses, as contemplated by the U.S. tax code, and not as capital expenditures (generally, a capital expenditure is a cost associated with producing a benefit with a useful life of more than one year, such as a long-term investment). Second, if the cost qualifies as an expense, it may be deductible if it can be characterized as an “ordinary and necessary expense paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business.

For purposes of the average taxpayer looking to deduct expenses related to seeking new employment, the relevant inquiry is whether the new position sought can be deemed to be “carrying on” the prior business or trade of that taxpayer, as costs associated with starting up a new business or trade are not immediately deductible and are subject to a special form of amortization.

Whether seeking new employment, and the costs associated therewith, can be deemed as “carrying on” a prior business or trade is fact- and context-specific. However, the IRS, with approval of the courts, has insisted on a high degree of sameness between the new position sought and the previous means of employment. This means that if substantial differences exist between the duties, tasks, and activities of the taxpayer’s prior job and those of the job he now seeks, then the expenses incurred will be deemed to be start-up costs, and not subject to immediate deduction.

Similarly, if the taxpayer has undergone a significant hiatus between the prior position of employment and the one now sought, expenses will not be considered “carrying on” the business or trade. Again, whether a hiatus would be considered significant is highly fact- and context-specific. The relevant inquiry here should be whether there is a “substantial lack of continuity.” If the taxpayer terminated his previous employment with little indication of seeking a new position in the same profession, it is likely that time spent unemployed or employed in a different field would prevent the taxpayer from claiming that he was “carrying on” his prior business or trade.

Research has shown that levels of self-employment in the United States are increasing, and that under certain circumstances this can have positive effects on per capita income and job creation. According to a 2017 study by MBO Partners, the self-employed workforce generates $1.2 trillion in revenue for the U.S. economy, which is equal to about 6% of national GDP. A 2011 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Pennsylvania State University looked at U.S.

Self-employment levels from 1970 to 2000. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the absolute number of people registered as non-farm proprietors (NFPs) or self-employed in metropolitan counties grew by 244% between 1969 and 2006, and by 93% in non-metropolitan counties. In relative terms, the share of self-employed within the labor force grew from 14% in 1969 to 21% in 2006 in metropolitan counties, and from 11% to 19% in non-metropolitan counties.

Common methods of job hunting are: Finding a job through a friend or an extended business network, personal network, Through social media platforms, some of which have inbuilt job platforms and searches, Using an employment website, Job listing search engines,Looking through the classifieds in newspapers, Using a private or public employment agency or recruiter, Looking on a company’s web site for open jobs, typically in its applicant tracking system.

Going to a job or careers fair, Using professional guidance such as outplacement services that give training in writing a résumé, applying for jobs and how to be successful at interview, Visiting an organization to find out whether it is recruiting staff or will be doing so in the near future. As of 2010, less than 10% of U.S. jobs are filled through online ads.

In non-metropolitan counties, the study found that increased levels of self-employment were associated with strong increases in per capita income and job creation and significant reductions in family poverty levels. In 1969, the average income of non-farm proprietors was $6,758 compared to $6,507 earned by salaried employees; by 2006 the difference in earnings widened to $12,041 in favor of salaried employees. The study notes that the gap could be due to underreporting of income by the self-employed.

Alternatively, low-productivity workers could be losing their jobs and are forced to be self-employed. Further, some research shows that higher local unemployment rates lead workers to self-select into self-employment, as does past unemployment experience.

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