Dear JobMonkey, I read your letter from a nursing student a few weeks ago (If you missed it, check out the nursing cover letter) question here. I guess I have a similar question. I keep hearing about having a cover letter template, but I can’t quite figure out what that means. I end up rewriting my cover letter for every job application. And considering that I hear back from some few of them in the first place, it’s starting to feel like a waste of time. So, how do I write a cover letter template? Thanks, Frustrated Cover Letter Writer Dear Frustrated, I’m sorry to hear tha...

Perhaps the most nerve-racking part of the job search process is the job interview. Despite the nerves, though, you still need to be able to set the right tone and make a great first impression -  all the while deftly answering questions about your experience, skills and “best and worst” qualities. Interviewing can be quite a minefield, actually. But it doesn’t have to be! Follow these nine tips and you are sure to wow ‘em at your next job interview. (Of course, the opposite also applies: If you fail to head this advice, that first impression will probably be your l...

If you are looking for a job right now, odds are you have discovered that scouring the want ad’s in your local newspaper is like taking the road to nowhere. The number one way to find a job is through networking — in person and online. Second to networking is searching job websites. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a high tech job or a low tech one, if an employer is going to post a job ad, they’re going to do it online. Given that, do you know the best places to troll for a job? Here are 14 of the essential sites to bookmark for your job search. What makes t...

ABC News ran an interesting story late last week about a green retraining program for blue collar workers in California. The students were learning all about green fuel options in preparation for a possible career change. The spotlight on the growing green economy has grown a lot brighter since President Obama was sworn into office. His Stimulus Package includes investment in green jobs, as a future-thinking way to employ American workers. Having earned the Presidential stamp of approval, the future is looking pretty good for green industries. In fact, according to the ABC story, labor expe...

The news hasn’t been good for weeks, but today America’s job market reached an all-time low. CNN reported this afternoon that 71,400 jobs were lost today. That’s the single highest job loss day since 1945. The companies affected include: - Catepillar, which is cutting 20,000 jobs - Drug-maker Pfizer, which is reducing its workforce by 10% — 8,100 jobs - Sprint Nextel, which is eliminating 8,000 jobs - Home Depot, which is closing its Expo Center and cutting 7,000 associates - Texas Instruments, which is slashing 3,400 employees - Financial group ING, which is reducing i...

The best advice I ever got from a career counselor was to approach my job search like it was my full-time job. I was about to graduate from college and venture off to a new city to make my fame and fortune (okay, truth be told I made neither fame nor fortune), so I scheduled an appointment at my campus Career Planning Center. The counselor said to me: “It’s okay that you don’t have a job yet. But you need to make it your job to find a job.” What exactly did she mean?  Here are some ideas: Get up at the same time everyday   It is so easy to slack off wh...

If you have recently landed a new job — congratulations! Now it is time to turn your energy from making a good impression in your job interviews to making a good impression on the job. How do you do that? Here are six suggestions that take a page from President Obama’s playbook on this most impressive day in American history. #1. Be a great listener. President Obama has been praised from across both sides of the aisle for his willingness to listen to input from all corners. You should do the same. Or, as my grandmother used to say, “Keep your mouth shut and your ears open....

Today Americans are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, so I am — not surprisingly — thinking about dreams. I’m not talking about dreams of paying off the credit card and taking a vacation dream. I’m talking about long-term visions for yourself. What would you be doing and where would you be living if money were no object? If experience, education and those pesky credit card bills weren’t standing in your way? There is no doubt that a large part of our career decision-making is affected by the nitty gritty reality of life. Eating is obviously a...

The current economic recession (or wait, are we calling it a depression now?) has caused forced a lot of retirees to go back to work. The uncle of a friend of mine is 63. He has been retired for a year, but just went back to work last month as a bagger at Trader Joe’s. His boss told him the other day that over 1,000 people had applied for the job (!!!) and many of them were retirees just like him. Admittedly, the job market is tight these days. But if you are a retiree and you find yourself wanting or needing a full-time, part-time job or seasonal job, there are a growing number of on...

If you are a college senior, you are entering the most glorious semester of your educational career. You are riding high, about to graduate and start the next chapter of your life. And in the meantime, you get to enjoy enough collegiate-style entertainment to last a lifetime. Perhaps you know you are going to graduate school and are just waiting on your final acceptance notices. But statistics tell us that most of you will be looking for a job come May — and given the current economic climate, that might feel like a pretty daunting task right about now. Here are some tips for starting...