Ron Campbell

Overcoming barriers to employment can be daunting in today's job market. Challenges such as having a criminal record, a poor work history, a significant disability or just being unemployed for extended periods of time can present significant difficulties even during the best economy.

Having a disability, for example, does not limit everything you are capable of doing. Having a criminal record does not make you less talented as a productive employee. We are all better than our worst mistake.

"Resumes don’t get you jobs, interviews get you jobs."

That adage has been around a long time and is as true today as it ever has been. However, in reality, resumes, along with your networking, do help you get interviews.

  Too many resumes templates start with an 'Objective' as the first category.

It is the stories we tell ourselves that create the emotional foundation that ultimately makes up our lives, our successes and our failures. Storytelling, to ourselves and to others, is something we all do and humans have done for thousands of years.

The economy in Utah has been improving since last fall and employment has been one of the main beneficiaries. At an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent, with the national rate at 8.3 percent, Utah continues to take the lead in coming out of this recession.

March is Disability Awareness Month. An estimated 50 million Americans -- 18 percent of our population -- have disabilities. In reality, people with disabilities are one of the most underutilized employment resources. Here are a few myths and facts about the employment of people with disabilities:

Setting the right goals can be critical to your job search success. Mike Taylor, a career counselor with the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College, recently shared with me what he does to help students set career goals.

First, make a list of all the things you like to do. The list should be long and include everything you can think of, from building things with your hands to playing chess. The list does not have to include just things that relate directly to a potential job.