Job Seekers Blog - Express in Gresham, OR

For many companies, the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to hiring — or worse, employees had to be let go. In fact, an April study by Pew Research Center found that 28% of the 4,917 U.S. adults surveyed said they or someone in their household was let go as a direct result of the pandemic. […]

How we work and look for jobs has changed due to increased connectivity from the Internet. The worldwide lockdowns because of the Covid-19 pandemic have only sped things up and the dynamics of looking for a job have changed for good. One’s online profile has never been more relevant. If you are looking for a […]

COVID-19 has created an extremely unique job market where remote recruiting and hiring has become the new normal. There are definite advantages of hiring through video recruiting, but since it’s new to many job seekers, you may feel you’ll struggle to shine in this digitized recruiting process. Here are the steps you can take to […]

No shame in admitting it, this feels like the worst time to be looking for a job. With many organizations pivoting to remote work, hiring may be put on the back burner. Besides that, with most offices being closed, you’re not about to show up to your interviewer’s house in a suit. Video Interviews to […]

Congratulations! You’ve been asked to complete a one-way video interview. This is a big step towards your next job. You’re used to the “normal” hiring process, with phone screens, in-person interviews, and the like. But, maybe this one-way video interview is a new thing entirely. Or maybe you have done a one-way video interview before, […]

Congratulations! You’ve been asked to join a live video interview. This is a big accomplishment, but it’s important to get it right. You’re used talking to a recruiter over the phone and then meeting for in-person interviews so this live video interview might be a new thing entirely. Or maybe you have done a live […]

When an organization reaches out to connect with you over the phone, you might find yourself replying “Yes” before you’ve even thought about it. Advancing to the next step in a company’s hiring process means some of your nervousness searching for a new position disappears.  If you aren’t expecting it, a video interview invitation instead […]

In the workplace, most people want to be productive. You want to be able to finish your work within the day so you don’t have to bring it home or finish the next day. However, there are a lot of factors that influence the level of productivity that people have in the workplace. Some of […]

There’s a lot to consider as you search for a job. While the first thing to look at should be the job description, it is also important to think about what type of working environment the company has. In your search for compensation, don’t forget to consider company culture. A company’s culture speaks to the […]

It’s kind of crazy how quickly your life shifts between graduation, and post-celebrations. You have tossed your cap, waved your farewells, and accepted all the wishes from professors you got on the good side of… But what comes next? The scary thing is almost 1 in 5 graduates do not go after the job they […]

When you’re starting a new career, it’s tough to figure out where to start. There are so many jobs out there in a variety of industries, all with differing compensation, education requirements, and responsibilities. That’s why we created the Job Spotlight eBook: Are You Ready for a New Career? In the eBook we detail 20 of the most in-demand jobs in four main categories: Professional, Office Services, Light Industrial, and Skilled Trades. Here are the jobs that are covered: PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS Accountant Accounts Payable/Receivable Specialist Graphic Designer Market Research Analyst Sales Manager OFFICE SERVICES POSITIONS Claim Service Representative Customer Service Representative Data Entry Specialist Human Resources Generalist Medical Administrative Assistant LIGHT INDUSTRIAL POSITIONS General Construction Worker Grounds Maintenance Order Filler Shipping and Receiving Clerk Warehouse Worker SKILLED TRADES POSITIONS CDL Driver Forklift Operator HVAC Technician Mechanic Welder If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Job Spotlight eBook at ExpressPros.com/JobSpotlight. Do you have any other questions about the Job Spotlight eBook? Let us know in the comments section below!

Maybe when you started this job you thought it was going to be a standard nine to five. Or perhaps you want to spend more time at home with your family. Regardless of reason, you’re working more hours than you anticipated or want to work, and it’s getting in the way of your schoolwork, family time, or other responsibilities. As a salaried employee, it’s time to have a frank discussion with your manager about cutting back your hours. But how do you start that conversation? We’re here to help. Know Your Worth If you’re a great employee, recognize that. Employees who put out solid work are valuable to a company. Research your job and average pay in your area before meeting with your boss. Once you’ve established your worth, write it all down on paper. You want to prove to your boss and the rest of the company you’re a great employee, and sometimes that requires data. Projects you excelled on, ways you increased productivity, etc. Convincing your boss to …

Every month here on Job Journey, we release a Job Spotlight article that breaks down one of the most popular jobs in today’s workforce. Next week, we’re releasing the Job Spotlight eBook, chock-full of information on careers you’re interested in, including compensation, job responsibilities, and more! In the meantime, we’d like to help you figure out the kind of job you want. What matters to you? Is it the company culture? Your job duties? A certain kind of leadership style? Once you’ve answered those questions, you’ll be able to narrow your search to find the ideal job. What’s Your Long-Term Goal? Decide what you ultimately want to do in the future. It’s never too late to start working toward a new dream—however, you need to know the steps required to get there. If you want to work in a new industry, research the industry online and discover what common career paths look like. Enroll in online or after-hours classes if you can. Develop a good understanding of the job you want. Find …

If you don’t have a plan to achieve them, New Year’s resolutions are just pretty words on a page. In fact, studies show 80% of people fail their New Year’s resolutions, with most losing steam by mid-February. It’s easy to say you’ll change, but actually putting those words into practice is incredibly difficult. One way to succeed with resolutions for your job search is making sure all your goals are S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T is an acronym created by George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham in a 1981 article titled “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management Goals and objectives.” The letters stand for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Here’s how to make sure your resolutions fit the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. S – Specific Vague goals are difficult to achieve because it’s tough to figure out where to start. If your only goal is “to get a job in 2021,” you’ll waste time applying for jobs you don’t even want or don’t qualify for. Even if all you want is a …

Learn about a career as an apartment maintenance tech. Despite already having experience with several jobs, many working adults are unable to answer the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Our monthly Job Spotlight blog series is designed to help answer that question. In this series, we review all the basics of specific jobs, from pay and duties, to why people do the jobs they do.   Apartment Maintenance Tech In this month’s Job Spotlight, we’re taking a look at what it means to be an apartment maintenance tech. Performing repairs and upgrades to apartments is an essential part of this job.   Required Education: No formal education is required, although some employers may prefer a high school diploma.   Pay This varies depending on a variety of factors (e.g. experience, geographic area, industry, etc.), but apartment maintenance techs can make as much as $15 to $20 an hour.   What Apartment Maintenance Techs Do They deal with a variety of tasks, including: Performing …

2020 is finally over and done, and it’s time to set our sights on 2021. We’re prepping our content calendar, and we want to know what job search and career insights you want to see more of. Whether it’s interviews, resumes, hot jobs, or anything else, we want to know what you want to learn about in 2021. Let us know by voting in our poll! View Survey

2020 was a weird year. Remote work started across the country, the job search went through a major change, and many of us came out of it more than a little bit stressed. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t things to learn! We covered a ton of job search ground here on Job Journey, from interview tips to resume guides. Here’s a summary of our top read blogs this year. Interviews: Changing Times, Same Ol’ Approach Although the interview process went mostly remote for 2020, the same techniques applied. Interviewers still want applicants to be engaged and polite in the interview. But now job seekers must figure out how to do that through a webcam. Answering the Toughest Interview Questions Answering the Interview Question: Why Did You Have So Many Jobs in Such a Short Amount of Time? So, You Left a Toxic Work Culture – How Do You Explain That in an Interview? 4 Tips for a Video Interview Resumes Remain Resilient           Even with everything else changing in the …

Saying this year didn’t go exactly as planned may be the understatement of 2020. Businesses that made bull-market goals and optimistic development plans had to reevaluate their vision for the year, even to the point of having a plan just to maintain some sense of normalcy within their organization. So, as the year comes to a close, normal folks are faced with a similar choice to make when creating goals for next year: should our goals be lofty and aggressive or stay on the safe side in case 2021 is similar to 2020. And if a we fell short of our goals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, should the same goals stay intact or be revised under more realistic conditions? The best way to answer these questions is to change the way you make goals altogether by evaluating past achievements and building on that foundation. Change to a Weekly View Some businesses evaluate their progress through the year by comparing a week or quarter to the same period of time …

‘Tis the season, after all! Boughs of holly are great, but a stellar resume makes for the ultimate holiday decoration. What better way to celebrate the season than with a shiny resume revamp? If you find yourself with a bit of downtime as this month draws to a close, take a look at your resume and see if there’s anything you might want to change. 2021 is fast approaching, and you want to be prepared! Here are a few yuletide-inspired tips for wrapping your resume just right. Don we now our best formatting. You want your resume looking its holiday best and that starts with the formatting. A great resume will include: Your name and contact info, preferably at the top of the page. Even though you’ll usually include your contact info with an online resume submission, you want to make it as easy as possible for the hiring manager to contact you. Organized section headers. Your resume should be easy to read at a glance, with clearly defined sections …

Is it worth your pants catching fire? Applying to job after job and getting rejected over and over is awful. It stinks to go through all the trouble of submitting countless applications and then not even getting a single interview. And if you aren’t getting interviews, it’s easy to blame your resume. There must be something wrong with your experience or your educational background. Otherwise, they’d at least let you come in for an interview. It would be so easy to just change a few numbers around or add a position that didn’t exactly exist. They’d never know, right? Wrong. As noted by Dave Davis, CEO and hiring manager at digital analytics agency Redfly in an article put out by Monster.com, “Hiring managers were not born yesterday. A single question is enough to catch you out on a lie. It causes an embarrassment and an awkward situation for everyone in the room.” Interviewing is all about making a good impression, and getting an interview isn’t worth it if a lie …