{Guest post-er Joe Flood is back to share with us some amazing insightful, and maybe a little hard to accept, job-hunting advice.}

You’re fabulous – everyone knows that. But when looking for a job, your unique qualifications and experience don’t matter. What’s important is what the market (employers) are seeking.

Hiring managers may think to themselves, “We need another Mary,” meaning a go-getter who’s not afraid to call crusty old reporters. Or they have heard of this new thing called social media and want someone who knows the Twitter. Employers may have an annoyingly specific set of job requirements or a vague sense of what they’re looking for.

How do you match up with what they are seeking? You must meet the needs of the market.

For example, I think of myself as a writer. I’ve written a book, screenplays, articles and tons of web content. Is this important? To me, very. To the job market, somewhat. It’s nice that I can write but there are a lot of writers out there. Read More…