Hello local job seekers! I have some information (and recent personal stories) to help you in your job search. The New Year can be a difficult time to find a job, but most of us need one after all of our holiday spending!

First things first: think about what you want to do. What you are good at. What you want to achieve in the future. If you go to work happy, it won’t seem like work. You’ll enjoy the time spent making money.

Second, there is a big difference between a job and a career. Often times, people just need a job to get by, but they know it is not going to reach their lifetime goal. Consider that when you apply for a job. Ask yourself: will this job aid me in finding success in my dream career?

Last, I am not a job expert. I just know about the process as I have been going through it lately in the Cazenovia area, and figured I could give people tips and not make similar mistakes. I am not offering this advice as a professional, just my opinion.

Now, let’s get started. Here’s a scenario – you want to work as a bank teller. Sounds like an excellent job to obtain, as there are plenty of openings in the Cazenovia/Fayetteville/Syracuse area, and the hours are great. So, you apply. Immediately rejected without an interview? Here could be the essential reason why: your resume.

Take me for example, I have a great resume and have held some good jobs in my 20s but as of late I haven’t worked that much professionally. I even have a college degree. So why not hire me? Because I didn’t put any experience with “cash handling” on my resume. Even though I have plenty of knowledge in that area from working in the past, and I love spending money.

You see, there are programs that read your resume and scan for specific words or areas of expertise. Most of the time for big companies, people don’t even look at your resume, it is all done by a computer code to save the people that do the interviews time. So, if you want that job as a bank teller, make sure to put your experience for that specific job. You may have several resumes for several different areas of work, and that’s okay. Just sort them correctly and spell check, spell check, speel chuck. (I crack myself up.)

Next up, don’t lie. We live in a small area. They will do background checks and possibly a credit check upon applying for a job. Don’t say you were president if you were only a governor. Be true to yourself and convey your talents as they are. There is nothing wrong with adding in a more extravagant word here or there. (I was a “domestic engineer” for so long and no, I did not put that on my resume) However, don’t go overboard.

In addition, make sure your resume looks good. Microsoft Word comes with resume templates or they are available to download online. Another tip is your email address. If it is old, no one is going to hire [email protected]. Sorry. Get a professional email address.

Also, it’s important to be able to handle rejection. If you don’t get that job you wanted, that’s OK. There are plenty of jobs out there, just keep looking. I was recently rejected and treated very poorly at a local business and I shrugged it off. The HR lady put my resume in the trash and said to me “you are a writer, we don’t need a writer.” That didn’t go so well, but I kept on moving.

Anyways, there are great local resources for jobs (such as the Pennysaver portion of the Cazenovia Republican), and online resources such as craigslist.com, indeed.com, eveningclassifieds.com and careerbuilder.com. If it is an online-only application, make sure to include a cover letter.

In closing, I hope this helped. If you graduated this past semester, or got laid off recently or are just really bored … I wish you the best. Keep on trying and keep applying! Good luck, and next week I will be not so helpful but oh so sassy about my idea for a Cazenovia reality show. Stay tuned.