Pure Michigan Talent Connect and online resources enhance job search

Jack Kelly, a senior contributor for Forbes, wrote, “The job market will be the worst since the Great Depression.” This is no small claim. But job seekers, including those recently laid off and recent graduates, must not let that discourage them from trying. After all, there are many companies in our region alone that are still hiring.

Experts, including Kelly, recommend job seekers use this time to capitalize on their network, including family members, friends or former coworkers. Job seekers can further expand their professional network with online tools such as LinkedIn.

Before starting a digital job search, job seekers should take the time to clean up anything that could come back and haunt them online. Previous Lansing State Journal articles have shared how to take advantage of privacy settings on social media and how social media can impact a job seeker’s chances of a job offer or even an interview.

Pure Michigan Talent Connect’s mitalent.org, is an online marketplace that connects Michigan’s job seekers and employers and one of the Michigan Works! network’s primary online resources for talent. Job seekers can use the resource to explore careers, search for jobs in their region and read features and blog posts that will help with their search.

Another resource many are familiar with, but which is often under utilized, is LinkedIn. The social network offers a variety of ways job seekers can boost their visibility and expand their job search. Job seekers can indicate to recruiters they are open to job opportunities by adjusting their job-seeking preferences in their settings. On LinkedIn’s “Jobs” page, search for and save open positions of interest. And sign up for daily or weekly email alerts for new job postings.

Additionally, Google launched a new, free program, “Grow with Google OnAir.” Google OnAir offers free virtual workshops, events and one-on-one coaching sessions for small business owners and job seekers alike.

“We hope that people across the country — including job seekers and small business owners— can boost their potential with the diverse content contributed by our Grow with Google team and our incredible partners,” Jesse Haines, director of Grow with Google, said in an email statement.

Earlier this week, Google OnAir hosted a webinar titled “Power Your Job Search with Google Tools.” In it, they covered how to discover and track job opportunities using Google Search and G Suite tools including Google Docs and Google Sheets.

In addition to cleaning up their social media presence and familiarizing themselves with LinkedIn, Pure Michigan Talent Connect and Google Suite tools, job seekers should practice phone and video interviews and treat them as in-person interviews.

“Since the hiring managers will use the phone call instead of an in-person meeting due to the COVID-19 outbreak, you’ll need to build up your phone skills,” Kelly wrote for Forbes. “You can achieve this by role playing and practicing with others.”

One positive aspect of a phone interview is that you can have notes in front of you while you talk, he said. “This can help you get your selling points across and keep you from getting thrown off of your game.”

For more interview tips, check out Capital Area Michigan Works!’s interview packet. The packet includes an interview checklist, interview tips — including how to prepare for a phone or video interview — and questions to ask the interviewer.

And I can’t say it better than Kelly himself: “Consider your job search a marathon and not a sprint. After you find a job in the toughest job market since the 1930s, the mental and emotional strength you build will enable you to take on any — and all — future challenges.”

Stay safe, stay healthy and stay positive. CAMW! is here to support job seekers and offer resources to lessen the stress of this unfamiliar time.

Edythe Copeland is the CEO of Capital Area Michigan Works!. Visit www.camw.org to connect with the Capital Area Michigan Works! team for assistance with career exploration or staffing needs. Capital Area Michigan Works!, a proud partner of the American Job Center Network, offers services in Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties at our Lansing, St. Johns and Charlotte American Job Centers.