I just finished up my morning coffee which, on Sunday’s is always accompanied by a thorough reading of the Boston Globe.  This mornings Globe Magazine has a great article on how to make the best of being out of a job.  The article, entitled “From Lemons to Lemonade” can be found here.

A couple of key takeaways from the article:

1. Have a quick mourning period and then get over it.  Your not going to be effective in your job hunt if your still bitter about your last one.  Actually, I’m sure that is good dating advice as well.
2. Have a plan.  I’m always reminded of the infamous words of AkAk’s dad in “One Crazy Summer”.  “Without a plan, there’s no attack.  No attack, no victory!”
3. If your not having success in finding something in your current field, don’t be afraid to try something different for a while.  A temp job can give you the opportunity to do something you’ve always wanted to do.  At the very least, it gets you active and earning a little coin.  Plus, you never know who your going to meet when you are tending bar, mowing lawns or working retail.
4. Get out there and network. Engage yourself in Facebook, LinkedIn and the other networking sites.  Plus, go to conferences. For reliability engineering and predictive maintenance professionals, Reliability Web has always got an industry specific event going on that you can participate and network yourself at.  You’ll be amazed at how much value you’ll get by attending an industry learning event or trade show when you are selling yourself.

Lastly, don’t spend all day long stalking monster.com, careerbuilder and all the other job boards out there. Get your resume into us and we’ll do the upfront heavy lifting.

I just came across this post at the Brazen Careerist one of my favorite sites, regarding how to standout in an interview.  What makes the tips helpful is that they are common sense tips – they remind us about the things we often forget about when we are in an interview session.  Basically, its okay to be yourself.

In addition to the tips offered by Penelope, I would also offer up one more.  Ask questions.  I know that can be a challenge for technical people like Reliability Engineers and PdM professionals because we are often being hired for our knowledge  but I have always found that if I can get the other person to talk more, the interview is more successful.  Basically, most people like to talk about themselves, so you might as well use that knowledge to your advantage.

Reliability Web has got pictures of all the action at the tradeshow over on Flickr.  Here is the picture NextUp Careers first ever tradeshow booth.  In the picture is John Langhorne, President of Allied Reliability, Michael Vann, Next Up’s Chief Multi-Tasker and Chris Merrill, our Social Director.

We just got back from Reliability Web’s RCM/EAM/M-Train 2009 conference in sunny Daytona Beach.  This was the public revealing of NextUp so we were nervous yet confident about what the reaction to us would be.  I’m glad to report that the nerves were unnecessary as the response was overwhelmingly positive.  Everyone we spoked to agreed that their is absolutely, positively a need for NextUp.  Furthermore, everyone who saw the demo of our knowledge/skill/ability approach to matching was amazed by the ease and simplicity of the model.  All in all, some great affirmation that NextUp will be a valuable resource for both professionals and companies.

In other notes, we want to thank Terry and Bill for all the support they provided at the show.  Both were great at introducing us to people and sending others are way.Their help and assistance during our start up process has been greatly appreciated and are pleased to be working with them as they are truly advocates for the industry.  We are already looking forward to the IMC show in November.

Lastly, we want to congratulate our friends at Allied and General Physics on the announcement of their joint venture.  They had a fantastic presence at the show and the champagne toast for the announcement was a wonderful way to introduce the company to the industry.  We are looking forward to working with them on any placement needs they might have as they grow what is sure to be a very successful company.

Great article on MSNBC today about how the recession is forcing people to change careers.  Given the need for talented people in reliabiity and PdM, the recession may actually prove to have some benefits yet!

Reliability & Predictive Maintenance Career Portal Announced

NextUpCareers.com set to launch as the first career portal exclusively dedicated to serving reliability engineering and predictive maintenance professionals

Springfield, MA March 23, 2009 – Michael Vann, Managing Director of Next Up, LLC today unveiled their plans to launch www.NextUpCareers.com, a career information and job placement website dedicated exclusively to the career development of reliability engineering and predictive maintenance professionals.

“Our team has been working with companies in the reliability and predictive maintenance industry for ten years” Vann said, “and over that time we’ve seen professionals and employers struggle with finding information about career opportunities and the right employment fit. The depth and ease of our site will provide significant value for everyone who uses it, and regardless of the economic environment, we see a tremendous need for a dedicated and trusted career resource.”

Unlike many career sites and job boards, NextUpCareers.com is being designed to serve both professionals and hiring companies.  Whether they are actively seeking a new job or monitoring opportunities, the exciting new portal will be providing professionals with an impressive collection of features and functionality that cannot be found anywhere, including:

•    Highly intuitive career management tools that will allow professionals to build a profile that demonstrates their knowledge, skills and abilities while creating a path for advancement.
•    A confidential notification system that let’s professionals know when new opportunities that fit their profile are available.
•    Fresh and relevant career focused content and advice from leading career advancement resources.
•    A comprehensive and interactive database of industry companies that allows for the sharing of relevant information and work experiences.

As to how NextUpCareers.com will serve companies, Vann stated “we recognize that many of the job and career placement sites out there are designed to be a one size fits all solutions, which makes the hiring process extremely difficult.  We understand that every company is different, so we are designing Next Up to make the hiring process easier”. To do so, NextUpCareers.com will be providing companies with the following benefits:

•    The largest common format resume database of both active and passive candidates.
•    Highly intuitive and simple to use resume search and matching system.
•    A branded, interactive web page that lists your open jobs and communicates relevant employment information and the value of working at your company.
•    Customized service levels from basic job board placement to a fully automated candidate sourcing process.
•    A proven, industry specific placement process that ensures the right hire in less time and at a lower price point.

NextUpCareers.com is currently in the development phase, and is targeting May 1st for its initial launch.  In the meantime, professionals can submit their resumes to info@nextupcareers.com and everyone can follow the development process by checking out their blog at www.NextUpCareers.com/blog.

About Next Up, LLC
NextUpCareers.com is the premiere resource solely focused on providing comprehensive career information, employment opportunities and job placement services to companies and professionals dedicated to the maintenance and reliability industry.

Media Contact
Janet Warren
Marcom Capital
413-247-3075
jwarren@marcomcapital.com

You can now follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nextupcareers

Nextup offers maintenance professionals:

• An advanced approach to search that provides only the most relevant results

• A confidential notification system that allows you to pursue only the opportunities of interest to you

• Highly intuitive and easy to use Career management tools that help to create a path for advancement

• Fresh and relevant career focused content and advice from industry gurus

• A comprehensive database of industry companies that provides the ability to provide/receive feedback about work experiences

NextUp is the premiere resource solely focused on providing comprehensive career information, employment opportunities and job placement services to companies and professionals dedicated to the maintenance and reliability industry.  We have been in development for the last few months and are pushing hard for a May 1st 2009 launch.  Moving forward we will be updating this blog with progress on our site, announcing new resources as they become available, and providing career focused industry news and updates.

http://www.nextupcareers.com

Maintenance Could Lose Millions From Retirement
Survey says filling talent void will be expensive