Your job brings you more benefits than a steady paycheck: Long-term unemployment makes you age more quickly, according to a new British study.
Researchers found that 31-year-old guys who were unemployed for more than 2 years had the biological makeup of much older men. The jobless men also had significantly shorter telomeres--body markers for aging that normally shrink as a result of heart disease or type 2 diabetes. In fact, simply lacking a steady gig doubled people's risk of being in the bottom 10 percent of telomere length.
Unemployed people could have increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and maybe even an oxygen imbalance in cells due to anxiety--which could affect telomere length and make you look older, the researchers say.
Have you been scouring job sites with no luck? Now is the best time to step up your game, as research shows most companies are prepping for the next financial year and payroll decisions have to be made before January 1.
Here are three more ways to improve your job hunt:
Master social media
Connect with companies over Twitter by following general recruiters that post job openings, like @Glassdoor, @ResumeInterview, or @CareerHelper. Tweeting an educated observation at specific people in your industry--a comment on the current state of your given industry or a response to a question they asked--will get you noticed. Just make sure to mimic the voice of the career you want in your Twitter bio. For example, consulting requires a more formal approach, like, "I'm John Smith. I have an MBA from Harvard University." A journalist, meanwhile, can be a bit more creative: "John. Social Media. Reporting. I also write comp lete sentences for pay."
Give back to get ahead
Unpaid work can translate to flexibility, worldliness, and work ethic to employers. Note on your resume the specific skills and accomplishments you gained from your experiences, such as learning how organize a certain event or increasing donations by 5 percent. Your performance raising money for a volunteer group demonstrates your ability to grow a company--no matter the field--which is attractive to an employer.
Ask the right questions
Once you nab an interview, stand out by asking, "What are your biggest business issues?" Companies care about solving their problems--not yours. If you show interest in overcoming a business' obstacles, your future boss will be impressed that you care about results, not just a salary. Explain how you solved a similar problem at a former job or volunteer organization, says Ford Myers, executive career coach, and au thor of Get the Job You Want, Even When No One is Hiring. This will help sell why this company needs you, and not the other schmuck in the lobby waiting for his turn.
Additional research by Cassie Shortsleeve
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