This week, I met with an engineer who was losing his job the following day after 24 years with the same company. He is lucky to have outplacement services from his ex-employer.

As we talked, he clearly understood the challenges ahead of  him – specifically how to research and absorb the vast amount of career and job hunting information on the Internet. Our discussion reminded me why Hannah Morgan and I started the Career Development Carnival – to make it easier for job hunters and career savvy climbers to get access to current resources, advice and tips from leading career experts.

I hope you enjoy the articles from this month’s career experts and show your support with a Tweet, Google+, Facebook like and LinkedIn mention.

Networking Tips

Anna Farmery presents Show 382 – Calculating return on social influence posted at The Engaging Brand.

Have you wondered: What Should the Subject Line Say for Job Search Emails? Lisa Rangel, Chameleon Resumes, has that answer for you!

Career Management

Martha Stewart gives us some good news about the gender pay gap: 12 Telling Stats on Female MBAs posted at onlinemba.com.

What’s the difference between a first, second and third interview? Sharlyn Lauby at HR Bartender engages two other career experts to weigh in at Ask HR Bartender: Different Types of Job Interviews.

Do you know what salary you should expect for a job? Jacob Share from JobMob has complied a list of 100+ Salary Surveys, Guides and Calculators For 2012.

Job Search Resources

Are you looking for a creative way to get an employer’s attention? ResumeMag‘s Gerry Sandis demonstrates several job hunters’ creative approach in Billboard Cover Letter: When A Resume Is Just Not Enough.

I love Job Quest’s Melissa Cooley post on Signs You Have Hired a Great Career Professional! Her sound advice on what to and what not to expect is a must read for anyone looking to hire a career coach or professional.

The journey of job hunting for Mildred Talabi sparked her to write 10 key job hunting lessons I’ve learnt from going back to work.

Is it time to revisit your LinkedIn strategy? Melissa Venable at Online College outlines 6 Savvy Ways to Optimize Your LinkedIn Experience. Share your favorite way to use LinkedIn.

One of the complaints I often hear about is not getting feedback from an interview. It was time to highlight the Elephant at Work and offer Staffing Insights into Candidate Feedback from the Software Scout.

This is a constant challenge for job hunters: Finding Inside Connections to Help with your Job Search. Hannah Morgan at Career Sherpa has some great ideas on how to navigate your way inside.

Career Exploration

Curtez Riggs knows what it is like to create your Life after the Army. He shares some tips: You’re Hired: How to Make Yourself an Easy Decision to Employ.

Personal Branding

Davis Ellis at The Savvy Intern makes a strong case on Personal Branding: On Becoming the Mercedes Benz of Interns.

Hell in the Hallway‘s Deborah Mourey attended an event and realized…Help, I’m a Millennial Trapped in a Baby Boomer Body!

Here’s what I like about Dawn Bugni’s post at The Write Solution (what a catchy title!): Focus: A powerful element in job search – she advises her clients to be deliberate in their job search.

June Career Development Carnival

Next month, the Career Development Carnival will be hosted by Hannah Morgan at Career Sherpa. If you would like to send a post for consideration, visit our Career Development Carnival website to sign up for e-mail notifications.

It’s time for the Career Development Carnival to dazzle you with great tips and advice from the career gurus and experts. This month, our career development contributors span the globe and we’re excited to include them!

So without further ado, the Career Development Carnival show is about to begin:

career exploration

Alicia Arnold presents Why a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology Just Won’t Cut It posted  at Psychology Degree, reflects on, “Psychology is a field that takes many years to study and practice. It encompasses explaining and understanding people’s’ thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors. But since it is such a vast field, you are limited in what you can do with a bachelor’s degree. A higher degree will open many doors for potential careers.”

All That Glitters written by Natalie shares her strategy following sudden unemployment at What To Do When You Lose Your Job.

Marissa Bushman presents 5 Signs of Shady Recruiters & Job-Seekers at HIRE POWER: The ER Associates Blog.  How many of these signs do you see in the job search process?

Kevin Grossman at Marcom HRsay discusses the growth of women in the IT profession with his post: Learn to play nice with girls in tech playgrounds. Kevin mentions a few of the techie playgrounds that I live in!

career management

Shahrzad Araste at Career Consulting Services suggests that negotiating the job offer is about more than salary. Evaluating the offer and creating one you can say yes too is highlighted at They Offered Me the Job! (Should I Take It?).

Charles Chua C K shares with us the 7 Effective Ways to Delegate, a healthy reminder of why you can’t do everything yourself. Follow his blog at All About Living with Life.

Lynn Dessert encourages you to be proactive in your career with Career Management: Balancing what you should and want to do. “Sometimes what we like to do is not what we can get paid to do – see if your career is on track at Elephants at Work.”

job search resources

Judi Perkins asks you: Is it important to learn different interview styles? Are you focusing on the right things prior to an interview…if not head over to How to Find the Perfect Job.

Melissa Cooley challenges you to reconsider your sales pitch at Is Your Campaign to Get a Job More like a Slimy Sales Pitch? According to Melissa at The Job Quest, “When on the job search, are you a helpful problem solver or a me-oriented sales person? How can you avoid coming across like a slimy pitchman?”

Career Sherpa’s Hannah Morgan focuses on how to Demonstrate Your Social Prowess. “Learning something new and keeping up with technology can be a great way to invest some of your time during job search.  Take a look at some of these tools and see if you can use them to help set yourself apart, not just during job search, but to manage your online reputation and career.”

Jacob Share from Job Mob has developed a great list of 25 Reasons Job Fairs Are Not a Waste of Time. If one of the reasons you are not going to job fairs today is on this list perhaps Jacob will change your mind.

Carnival Submissions – New Process

There will be a change in carnival submissions beginning immediately. We will no longer be using the Blog Carnival collection site.

On the Career Carnival Development website, there is a sign up form for bloggers to receive reminders when:

1. Blog submissions are being accepted (beginning the first of each month)
2. The Career Development Carnival is posted (the 3rd Thursday of each month)

You will not be receiving a newsletter; it is a reminder to take action. You can drop off the list at any time.

As a reminder, your single post submission must meet our guidelines – be on topic and make it current (published in the same month of the carnival). Read more about the guidelines here.

Next month’s Career Development Carnival will be held at Career Sherpa, written by Hannah Morgan.

The Career Development Carnival: February 2012 made its way over to Career Sherpa last week and is hosted by Hannah Morgan.

You will find ten expert career development articles to help you stay ahead of the competition.

The major themes this month include:

Managing Your Career

• How well do you sell yourself? Is the groundhog present in your career?
• What are the five things you should pay attention to when you start a job?
• Who are you listening to about your career?

Communicating Effectively (Interviewing, Pitching and Resumes)

• Learn about five great tips for interviewing millennials.
• Does your executive brand elevator pitch need refinement?
• Is the resume really dead?

Personal Branding and Reputation Management

• What’s the big deal about personal branding?
• Are you successfully complacent…and what’s the antidote?
• How do Key Words, SEO and Job Search work together?

Perhaps one or more of these career questions interests you, if so, head over to Career Sherpa and Hannah will link you up with the career development expert. Rumor has it there might be some left over cotton candy and popcorn.

About the Career Development Carnival

Each month, Elephants at Work or Career Sherpa will showcase career development expert blog posts. You can find out more about submitting a post for consideration here.

The Career Development Carnival is a new initiative that Lynn Dessert and Hannah Morgan will debut in January, 2012. If you are new to carnivals, let me tell you about what a carnival is and why it may be of interest to you.

When I think going to a carnival as a child, I think of rides, cotton candy, games, excitement and fun! It was hard to get bored at a carnival and Hannah and I are up for the challenge to bring a carnival of great writers and their stories to you personally.

What is a Carnival?

Carnivals hosted by blogs represent opportunities for writers and thought leaders to share their information, insights or tips in one central place. As a reader, you spend less time going to multiple blogs searching for the latest information and may find a new blog or writer you connect with.

There are many carnivals online and each carnival has a unique topic, here are two other carnivals that I participate in:

• Leadership Development Carnival hosted by Dan McCarthy
• Carnival of HR by Shauna Moerke

How will the Career Development Carnival work?

Once a month, Elephants at Work or Career Sherpa will highlight the Career Development Carnival blog post submissions that pass our litmus test. When either of us publishes the post, the carnival is live!

In the carnival blog post, there will be a story or blog post teaser and you can decide if to read more by clicking through to the author’s post on their blog. If you like what you read, we encourage you to join their mailing list to receive their updates.

If you are not on Elephants at Work or Career Sherpa’s mailing lists, join us today so that you don’t miss all the excitement!

Subscribe to Elephants at Work by Email

Subscribe to Career Sherpa by Email

Will the Career Development Topics Interest you?

If you are already read Elephants at Work or Career Sherpa, the Career Development Carnival topics will interest you. Because career development is a broad topic, our focus will be on:

• Career Management
• Job Search Resources
• Career Exploration
• Networking Tips
• Personal Branding
• Reputation Management

If I am a blogger, how do I submit an article?

Each month, the Career Development Carnival will rotate from Elephants at Work to Career Sherpa. There are a few things you can do to ensure your submission gets to the right person:

1. Visit the Career Development Carnival Website. Read about the Career Development Post Guidelines.
2. Sign up for the Career Development Carnival mailing list update here. Note: This list is for bloggers, writers or contributors only. You will receive advance notification that submissions are being accepted. This list does not announce when a carnival has gone live.
3. Submissions are accepted through the Blog Carnival website starting at the beginning of each month until two days before the carnival date.

The first month’s Career Development Carnival will be hosted here at Elephants at Work on January 19^th, 2012. We hope you’ll bring the popcorn!