Tag Archives: employment

10 Tips To Put Your Personal Brand On Your Resume

Now, more than ever, in these bleak economic times, with many legacy companies either drastically downsizing or dropping like flies, it’s a good idea to have your resume up to date. And, as we’ve said many times, the whole idea is for you to stand out from the crowd, which is getting tougher with so many jobless out there, forcefully expatriated from corporate America.

Dan Schawbel writes a blog on personal branding….and we’re all about personal branding in your career…and he shares some thoughts on the best way to put your own unique brand on your resume: Personal Branding Toolkit – Part 3: Resumes « Personal Branding Blog

“1) Design your brand. Instead of using a standard template, use a branded template. A brand you template! If you have Microsoft Word or another word processing program, then you might notice shapes and colors at the top. If you don’t already have a website, blog, business card, etc, then you need to think about what colors you want to use, as well as what type of job you’re applying for. In the picture below, a woman is applying to be a “Cosmetic Nurse Specialist.” At the top of her resume, she has a picture of someone putting cosmetics on a patient. The rest of the resume has shades of pink. The resume comes off as “soft” and “gentle,” with the colors, picture and shapes used. To me this is effective.

Brand yourself with a resume

2) Don’t use your picture. I agree with my friend Chris Russell that pictures can’t be on resumes (even though I’d love to put mine on it). A personal photo is a distraction. Recruiters give you about 30 seconds to impress them with your experience and you don’t want 10 of those seconds to be eyes on your picture do you! Don’t come off as someone who is trying to get a job because of your looks. Companies are scared to deal with your picture because of discrimination laws and lawsuits.

3) Links rock. I haven’t seen many resumes with links EVEN from people that have blogs, social network profiles and other websites. It blows my mind! Why not have a link to your site. If the recruiter likes your resume or has further interest in your credentials, a link acts as a supplemental piece of marketing that will help you sell yourself without saying one word.

4) Experience trumps education. Don’t believe for a second that your degree and “deans list” on your resume is going to get you a job. Recruiters are starting to discount GPA for resumes! Listen, a resume is all about showing recruiters that you have had proven success, eliminating risk on the companies part. In life, experience is everything and if you don’t have it, you will leave to lean towards your education. Make a point to put your work experience in the top part of your resume because that’s what employers really care about.

5) Show some class. The quality of paper you use shows how serious you are about the position and can be used as a differentiator. Purchase quality paper and print your resume using it because more applicants use standard printer paper.

6) Create the multimedia you. How much information can you really get from a stupid resume? Not much. I’ve written about video resumes a lot and believe in them, as long as you are passionate, energetic and have some showmanship. If you plan on videoing yourself sleeping or eating chocolate than you might want to reconsider.

7) Get Linked-In. This is another topic I’ve touched on without a dedicated post. LinkedIn is a resume, cover letter and reference list all in one, which makes it exceptional. It is a virtual resume, with the same fields as a typical resume. It is a cover letter because you have space to explain where you’re at in your career, what you want to be and summarize your qualifications. It is a reference list because it’s searchable by recruiters and you can endorse others (managers, peers, etc).

8 ) Grow it. A resume is useless if it shows the brand you from 1938. You need to constantly update it as you grow, finish projects, switch organizations, etc. Always keep it up-to-date so it represents the “present brand you.” Feel free to grow your resume online as well, by creating a webpage dedicated to it or blending it onto a blog. I’ve seen people add social media elements(Facebook, Digg, Flickr, etc) to resumes such as Christopher Penn and Bryan Person, who have sharing features. Think about it this way; if someone finds your resume and has heard of an opening at a different company, they might share it using a social media tool!

9) Summarize it. If I were recruiting someone for a position I wouldn’t care about a resume. I’d ask for your blog, but for everyone else, I think a summary of your credentials is very very important. At the top of your resume, I’d like to see 3-4 sentences that showcases all your top achievements and your career objectives.

10) Customization. Aside from customizing your resume to fit your brand, you need to tailor it to the position your gunning for. The resume below is for a Oracle Certified Professional. Think about it, if you are branded as this type of expert, won’t it be clear to recruiters immediately once they see this resume? Aside from this, you should use keywords and experiences that match the position you are trying to fill.”

Resume tailoring 101

Your personal branding toolkit

1) Business cards
2) Portfolios
3) Resumes
4) Cover letters

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Run A Business? Your Job Is To Create And Manage Change

Clearly, in a business, you want change. If you wanted things to stay the same, you’d just hire a couple of staffers, figure out a way to put your existing operations on auto-pilot, turn out your lights and go home…..or to Tahiti, or to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro, if that struck your fancy. Or, smarter yet, you’d just sell the busines.  Because nothing ever stays the same.  It grows or it diminishes. The only constant is change.  And the only choice for you, as a business owner, is to manage that change.

As your business morphs and changes, the rules of your business change, and you’d better know what they are. As Chaitanya says in The changing rules of the game in a small business | p2w2 blog:

“When you play Basketball, which game’s rules do you follow?”

Do you know that in your small business, you could be playing by the rules that are no longer relevant? If you are a small business, you have to morph as per the new rules or die. When you play by the old rules, you become irrelevant; customers and employees leave you; profits lag; people don’t scale. The rules of the game change fast. Are you aware of the changing rules or are you busy in the routine of the day?

What do I mean by the ‘rules’? They could be:
1. Extent and the nature of marketing you do
2. Extent of work you delegate
3. Cash reserves and working capital required
4. Number of employees on bench

And when do these rules change? Some events happen that trigger off the change. E.g.

1. When you win a large contract
2. When your product goes beta
3. When you hire an employee; when you hire substantially large number of employees
4. When you get investment from someone other than yourself or immediate family.”

Whatever causes the change in the business and the rules you now need to operate by, it has been said there are basically only two kinds of businesses: growth businesses and liquidation businesses, those that will cease to exist over some period of time.

The challenge for a growth business is to staff up for the increased workload.  I’ve done it.  You can do it, too. In today’s online and virtual world, that should be a simple matter.  For specialty workers of every type, search companies like eLance.com and p2w2, People To Work With.  For more on how to outsource almost everything go to
How to Start an Online Business for $100 – Ramp Up As Needed Or Just For Surges
Growth of Solo, Self-employed, Freelancers, Independent Contractor Businesses – How Do They Do It?

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What Is Your Greatest Weakness? Interview Blindsider

What Is Your Greatest Weakness? Find A Career -  AdvancingWomen.com

The fastest way to make a good interview go bad is to avoid questions posed by the hiring manager. The one question candidates love to avoid is, “What is your greatest weakness?” Most candidates are quick to respond with superficial answers such as “I’m a workaholic” or “I’m a perfectionist.” Not only are those responses boring, but they are also predictable answers interviewers are used to hearing. So much so that an interviewer’s comeback line often is, “That doesn’t sound like a weakness. Now why don’t you tell me about a real weakness?”

Ouch. What an uncomfortable position to be in-when a decision maker challenges you during an interview. Just like you, the interviewer wants the process to go as seamlessly as possible, and they quickly become resentful when they are placed in a confrontational position.

When answering questions surrounding your greatest weakness, my advice is to tell the truth-to a point. Though I don’t advocate providing a play-by-play of every area that may need improvement, it isn’t a good idea not to cop to a weakness either. A happy medium does exist, and it lies in focusing your response on an area that doesn’t have a major impact on your ability to do the job. This should be an area that you are on your way to improving. Note, not an area you’ve already improved, but one that is well on its way.

Interviewers recognize that jobseekers aren’t forthcoming when answering the “greatest weakness” question. As a result, there is a new trend in hiring circles of interviewers cleverly disguising the question and using a variation of the theme. In doing so, interviewers are successfully stumping candidates, and are receiving responses that uncover the not-so-pleasant side of candidates.

Cleverly Designed “Greatest Weakness” Questions

* We all have aspects of our job we prefer not to do. What aspect of your day-to-day responsibilities do you dislike?

In hopes of making you feel comfortable, interviewers may ask questions that start with “we.” The psychology behind this is to make you feel as though you are with a friend, which can cause you to let your guard down.

* Think back to your last review. What suggestions did your supervisor have for improvement?

The chances are extremely high that your supervisor offered suggestions for improvement. Interviewers are aware of this and anticipate that you will disclose the details of your most recent evaluation.

* Describe a project you worked on that didn’t turn out as well as you expected.

Interviewers find that job seekers reveal more when they are asked to tell a story. The assumption is made that the more you talk, the more likely you’ll disclose your weaknesses.

* In what area of your work do you think you can be more effective?

This question is very similar to “greatest weakness” question. However, interviewers believe the way the question is phrased will make you feel less threatened, and therefore more likely to answer freely.

Bottom line: whether or not you want to divulge sensitive information during an interview, an interviewer is going to try his or her darnedest to dig for skeletons in your closet. Interviewers want to uncover any reasons why they shouldn’t hire you, and they hope those reasons will come straight from you. So be prepared.

About The Author: career expert, Linda Matias is President of CareerStrides and the National Resume Writers’ Association. Visit her website at http://www.careerstrides.com or email her at linda@careerstrides.com.


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Computer/IT Industry On Growth Track, Offers Jobs Despite Recession

Like the saying goes, there’s good news and there’s bad news. Let’s start with the bad news and get it behind us.

We are all bombarded every day with the ever broadening ripple effects of an economy headed South.  Legacy companies like the big three automakers are battered, looking for bail outs.  Others, like Circuit City and Linens ‘n Things are dropping like flies.

A quick over view tells us that about half the United States is in recession and the rest is at risk, with the notable exception of Alaska, which has all that oil.

Here’s the good news.

There are still some healthy sectors out there and one of them is in computer systems design/IT.

This sector provides computer system design services, custom computer programming services and other related computer services such as software installation and IT security. So, although many industries are vulnerable to recession, and there is a very real danger of being laid off, if you’re not already in a computer related industry, you may want to start planning now to acquire the skills that will let you ride out the recession.  Skills would include computer system design services, custom computer programming services software installation and IT security.  The median salary for these higher level skills is $85,000 to $95,000. There are also many jobs available in web design and website creation. And if it takes you awhile to get up to speed on these higher paying jobs, remember that, with the proliferation of websites, support services for them have proliferated as well.  If you are at all computer and Internet savvy you can probably find a job as VA, virtual assistant to an online business, which could bring in some $25,000 to $40,000 per year . For instance, can you do at least some of the following:

Shopping Cart Administration

Merchant Accounts

Online Research

Ezine Broadcasting

Basic Website Maintenance / HTML

FTP

Autoresponder Setup

Word Processing / Typing

Email Management

Creating PDF Documents

Customer Service

Online Audio Recording

Article Submission

Affiliate Administration

PowerPoint Presentations

Database Management

If you’re not sure how to get started, Multiple Streams Team is currently hiring virtual assistants to help with their clients.( I have no relationship with Multiple Streams Team, but they do have some good references). At the bottom of this page they are also giving away a free eBook about being a Virtual Assistant, so that might help you make an informed decision if you thinking of moving your career in that direction.

Despite recent job losses in many sectors, the computer/Internet/IT remains one of the 25 fastest growing industries. Our need for customized applications and support only further feeds the demand and growth. Companies over the next decade will continue to install sophisticated computer networks, set up internet and intranet sites and engage in e-commerce. This should all lead to the continued employment expansion as indicated, even in a downturn economy.

Source:
Moody’s Economy: http://www.economy.com/dismal/recession.asp
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) -

http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag61.htm

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15 Secret Rules of Job Success Formula

A copy of Auguste Rodin's

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Steven Gilbert has a resume of extreme and notable success as long as your arm, heading up prestigious companies, doing good works, accumulating wealth.  But he believes the path to success and the rules to follow are very simple.  It’s just that most people don’t follow them. Gilbert comments:

” As simple as they sound, 98% of all MBA graduates cannot, or will not, comply with these rules.  You know who you are.”

Gilbert made these remarks at a 2008 commencement speech at the Wharton School.  Although he didn’t say so explicitly, I think what he had in mind was a phenomenon I noticed about the time I had attended Wellesley, one of the sister schools to Harvard, and graduated from Columbia University in New York.  When you first graduate from college, and particularly from a very prestigious college or university, ( and perhaps even much later in your career) you secretly consider yourself just too smart to be bound by such ordinary and mundane concepts. You consider yourself as someone with a dazzling career ahead who will pen “the great American novel”, come up with a cure for a ravaging disease, turn the planet green and reverse the disastrous effects of climate change.  You are too special for such prosaic rules.  But as Gilbert  points out, those great achievements may be the peaks, but they are not the day to day stuff of which success is made.  He does say, explicitly, somewhat suggesting this point:

“We all know you are smart.  Smart is just the beginning.  The basic requirement.  There is no shortage of smart people in business.”

JobMob quotes Steven Gilbert’s Job Success Formula from The 10 Biggest Business Myths & Gilbert’s Secret Rules of Business Success:

1. Show up on time. You might think this to be humorous or facetious. But, as your career goes on, you will find there are a lot of people who cannot do this. Their plane is always late, they pick up the phone before the big meeting, they can’t meet a deadline. 90% of meetings start late. When your colleagues and bosses know that you will show up when promised, they will have confidence in you, and begin to trust you.

2. Do what you are asked to do. Don’t do what you think ought to be required. Don’t add pages of data to prove your point. Summarize the data so your boss doesn’t have to. Don’t change the assignment. Give your boss what he asked for, and life will be simple. You can add exhibits for recreational reading, but only the first two pages will be read.

3. When asked a direct question, answer, “Yes”, ‘No”, or “I don’t know but will find out”. Don’t tell a story. Don’t obfuscate. Don’t repeat the question you were just asked. Don’t fill the air with information of interest only to you. Answer first. Tell the story second, if you must. You would be shocked at how few people can do this. Always make full disclosure.

4. Handle every piece of paper only once. Paper left on your desk will grow, even without food or water. Looking at the same piece of paper multiple times is wasteful, counter-productive, and cuts down on your recreation time.

5. Make your boss look good. Eventually, this will work. Organizations always know who really does the work. Empty suits can’t hide forever. If you make your boss look bad, you might have to try this at your next job.

6. If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist. Without an email or a piece of paper, nothing anyone says to you means anything. Promises are broken all the time in business, and memories are extraordinarily selective.

7. Everyone works hard, don’t complain or point out how hard you are working. No one cares. They all have their own issues. Your best bet is to act like a duck, looking calm and composed on the surface, but pedaling furiously under the water.

8. Honesty is the best policy. Not just because it is, but also because when things get complicated, you won’t be able to remember all the lies you told. If you are always honest, only your memory for the truth is at issue.

9. Being nice is more profitable than being nasty. It takes much less energy to be nice. People want to work with you. You will be happier and so will your colleagues.

10. Speed is important. Most people will value a quick “no” more than a lengthy “maybe”. Responding quickly is much appreciated. Run to the problem first.

11. Work smart, not just hard. Don’t confuse speed with torque. Sitting at your desk all night is not the same thing as making progress. Figure out, each day, what you need to do to succeed. Determine what you need from a meeting; don’t just blindly enter the room like a lamb.

12. Be realistic. No one is going to make you CEO while the ink on your MBA is still drying. Even for the best, it takes a few years before people are comfortable that you can do all the things you think you can.

13. Don’t be afraid to be bold. You can, and certainly will, be able to get another job. Don’t be afraid to find the door if you don’t like what is going on. The sign on the door of opportunity reads PUSH. Don’t be afraid to suggest a new line of business. Don’t be afraid to stand up for your vision. As Ayn Rand said “Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men’s stupidity, but your talent to their reason.”

14. You have more than one job. You can never be happier than your least happy child. You may have to be a husband, wife, father, mother, a son, a daughter, a nurse or a nursemaid during your lifetime. If you fail at any of these jobs, success in the others will be meaningless.

15. You don’t have to cure cancer to be a success. Being a good citizen, a good parent, a good friend, a productive and charitable member of society is all most of us can hope for. And remarkably few achieve.

I couldn’t agree more.  And I bet you do, too.

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How To Start Finding Jobs With LinkedIn

Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...

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Your goal is to stand out and get noticed. The minute you join  Join LinkedIn , you have a better chance of standing out, as you will be in a smaller category, one step down the funnel.

Once in LinkedIn, instead of being a passive member, you should be proactive and use all LinkedIn‘s many capabilities to search out contacts and opportunities and put your skills on display. Whether or not you yet have the stature to be out there raising your profile by speaking to groups on industry trends, there are no barriers to responding to LinkedIn Answers questions posed for your industry. Your public profile allows you to display answers you’ve provided which broadcasts your expertise, and that’s your goal. That will make you stand out from the crowd. And there are literally dozens of ways to make Linkedin work for you.

JobMob at Gigantic Tips Guide for Finding Jobs With LinkedIn has some advice on this subject:

Make the right choices first

  • Join LinkedIn. 17 million and counting, there’s still room for more.
  • Only join LinkedIn once. Having multiple accounts will only dilute the usefulness of each individual profile, and LinkedIn Customer Support cannot merge accounts for you.
  • Update your account with all your email addresses that people might use for LinkedIn invitations. This will help you avoid creating multiple accounts by accident.
  • Consider upgrading to a premium account with features such as enhanced search results containing relevant LinkedIn users that aren’t yet connections of yours. You can then contact them with InMails which have a much higher rate of being opened that regular email.
  • Subscribe to the LinkedIn blog to find out about new features.
  • Cancel your account if you decide to stop using LinkedIn by emailing Customer Service. Don’t leave expired information to be found by people researching you.

Develop a LinkedIn strategy

You need to cover 3 fundamentals:

  1. Make your profile the best sales document for you so that you can…
  2. Get a maximum number of recommendations to build your stature, which will help…
  3. Grow your LinkedIn network to increase the chance that your profile will be seen by the right person to hire you.

Supercharge your LinkedIn profile

  • The LinkedIn Profile is your online resume or CV. Apply great resume tips, avoid any typical or unusual resume mistakes.
  • LinkedIn gives you a lot of control over what appears in your profile and your public profile. The public profile should only display positive elements that are pertinent to your current work search.
  • Attract hiring managers or clients via your public profile by only including hard-hitting information such as stellar recommendations from past hiring managers or clients.
  • All texts should be well-written, but by YOU, written in your voice.
  • Write memorable Summary text, it’s your LinkedIn elevator pitch.
  • Although your profile is promoting you, avoid using annoying sales text (”Act now!”) that you wouldn’t have on your resume.
  • Display an effective photo on your profile that best conveys the impression you want to leave with the viewer. People remember faces.
  • Hide irrelevant connections from your public profile. Typically this means non-work-related friends and family.
  • Create a LinkedIn “vanity url” using a format that’s easy to guess and remember: http://www.linkedin.com/in/firstnamelastname
  • Publicize your LinkedIn vanity url in your email signature, on business cards and wherever it may be seen by someone who would want your resume.
  • Use a LinkedIn-generated email signature to promote your public profile. It will also help grow your network of connections from your email recipients.
  • Promote your profile on your blog, other websites and forum signatures with official LinkedIn buttons.
  • Update your profile regularly. The easiest way to do this is by constantly adding connections. Every change highlights your profile on connections’ Network Updates pages, giving you more exposure.

Multiply recommendations, yours and theirs

  • Write as many recommendations as you can about people in your network, which should help you to…
  • Get as many recommendations as you can from people in your network. LinkedIn advises asking for recommendations from “former managers, colleagues and co-workers, customers and clients, business partners.” Start with people you know who have large networks of their own, and use the message to also tell them what kind of work you’re looking for.
  • Write great recommendations that will make recipients want to display them on their public profile, giving you additional exposure.
  • Never hesitate to ask connections to improve their recommendations to meet the standards of your public profile in promoting you towards your next job. People like to help.
  • Be truthful with your recommendations. This is your credibility we’re talking about.
  • Hide bad recommendations that are exaggerated or just plain false.

Maximize your connections

Get the best

  • Upload your work and personal address books to LinkedIn to discover potential connections and sources of recommendations. Then begin inviting connections beginning with people who are already on LinkedIn.
  • Leverage other social networks such as Facebook to find people with whom you can also connect on LinkedIn. Facebook is better than LinkedIn at finding former teachers, classmates and other people who knew you in the past. Once on Facebook, asked them to connect with you on LinkedIn too.
  • When you invite new connections, write personalized messages instead of the boring default suggestion from LinkedIn unless the recipient is already waiting for your invite.
  • A great way to grow your network is to write recommendations about potential connections. If the person isn’t on LinkedIn, the recommendation will give them a reason to join. Even if they don’t join, you will likely leave a positive impression that may help later.
  • Invite or accept connections only with people you trust and share the same social networking values. This isn’t MySpace where the objective is to have as many friends as possible. Your objective is to leverage the network to find a job. You need help from people you can depend on. Only people you trust can possibly write truthful recommendations.
  • Remove connections that have lost your trust before they can do any damage to your network or waste more of your time.

Reach the best

  • Install the LinkedIn Toolbar for your browser to make searching LinkedIn easy. The Toolbar also allows you to bookmark other users’ profiles from LinkedIn search results.
  • Use the LinkedIn JobsInsider (part of the LinkedIn toolbar) if you’re looking for work on major job sites such as Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder, Craigslist, Vault, or Dice. It will save you time by automatically display your inside connections for the company mentioned in any job listing.
  • Whether via the Toolbar or LinkedIn’s onsite Jobs Search, be specific when searching for contacts. Include job titles where relevant and geographic location if you’re aiming to work in a specific city or region.
  • Search for headhunters and recruiters in your domain of expertise. They will always want to talk to you since you represent a business opportunity for them.
  • Ask your connections to send over profiles of people relevant to your job search.
  • To contact specific LinkedIn users that aren’t in your network even to the 3rd degree, use free OpenLink messages if those users are accepting them or join a LinkedIn Group they’re in. As a last resort, consider buying individual InMails.
  • Use Introductions to contact people in your network at the 2nd or 3rd degree. You’ll be more successful if your message includes a suggestion describing how you can help them – even with a simple tip – instead of vice-versa.
  • You can also use Introductions to reach inside connections as a way to request referrals to hiring managers. This is especially useful if the inside connections’ companies have win-win employee referral bonus programs.
  • Other conversation starters over Introductions are to do company reference checks by asking former employees about a company or hiring manager. This way you get your research done without the company knowing.
  • Respond to LinkedIn Answers on topics in your industry. Answering relevant industry questions looks great on your public profile where you can display “questions you have asked, answers you have provided, and expertise you have earned by providing the best answers to questions.”
  • Ask your connections to send you questions they think you can answer via the Share This link beneath the question.
  • Respond to LinkedIn Answers from employees in targeted companies as a lead-in to generating inside connections.
  • Join industry-related LinkedIn Groups, as many as you can handle. It’s a terrific way to meet people and get relevant new connections. Remember that you can contact group members directly as if they’re already connected with you.
  • Create your own LinkedIn Group as a way to build stature in your industry, but only if your Group will creates value and so will attract users that you currently can’t reach directly. Simply copying an existing group for no apparent reason will only lower your credibility.

Guy Kawasaki has more tips in his article Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn.

Useful Links

To read this entire post, go to Gigantic Tips Guide for Finding Jobs With LinkedIn

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Build It Before You Need It : 37 Ideas to Grow Your Job Search Network Right Now

Studies , including a recent one last month by Impact Group, confirm and reinforce the axiom that networking is the best way to find a job.

One key thing to remember as Jeremiah, Sr Analyst at Forrester Research points out, even if you work for someone else, you are a company of one: even though your paycheck is being delivered through your employer, you are solely responsible for your direction, what you learn, how you perform, and how much you’re paid. You’re in control of your own destiny.

Therefore, be part of the party/conversation/network before you need anything from anyone. Start now, and continue to build relationships by giving now: share knowledge, help others, and become a trusted node and connector, not just an outlying ‘dot’ of a comet that swings in every 4 years or so.  Since it takes time, and a certain amount of giving of yourself, and contributing, seeding, nurturing and building of the network,invest the time to build it before you need it.

JobMob says in 37 Ideas to Grow Your Job Search Network Right Now:

To excel at networking, the key question to ask is not “what can you do for me?” but rather “what can I do for you?” The more you give to your network, the more you can get from it.

1. Get an easy-to-remember email address. A good format is firstname.lastname@webmail.com where “webmail” is Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. Use this address for job search/work purposes only.

2. Choose your personal tagline. Find a 3-4 word phrase that relates to who you are professionally and puts you in a positive light. You want people to think that phrase when they hear your name, and everything you do work-wise should match your tagline. Use it in your email signature and begin by saying it when people ask what you do.

3. Prepare an elevator pitch. In 30 seconds you need to be able to describe who you are and which problems your expertise can solve. Practice until it comes naturally. Tweak as you go, judging by listener response.

4. Build an impressive web profile. A recommendation-filled LinkedIn profile with the right LinkedIn Applications can show off your accomplishments, successes and elevator pitch. LinkedIn will also give you an easy-to-remember url to put in your email signature, on your resume and business cards, encouraging people to connect with you. Use your personal tagline and easy-to-remember email address.

5. Become a LiON, a LinkedIn Open Networker. This is a quick way to grow your number of LinkedIn connections to the top level of “500+” but the looseness of these connections means you shouldn’t expect much from them. Still, all it takes is one good connection for this to be worthwhile.

6. Be active on LinkedIn Answers and LinkedIn Groups related to your profession, responding to questions and drawing other LinkedIn users to connect to you.

7. Sign up to Twitter. Take a few moments to flesh out your profile, putting your personal tagline in the Bio box and customizing the background image. Use TweetLater to automatically follow back any people who follow you, then search for people to add to your network. Once your network has grown a bit, use Twubble to find more people to follow from among your followers’ favorites. Setup a separate account for personal use.

8. Create a Facebook Page. Use Facebook for more than staying in touch with friends and family. Separately from your personal profile, use a Facebook Page to promote yourself professionally,  giving Facebook users a place to follow you as an expert in your field.

9. Carry business cards with your personal tagline and contact information to give out to potential business contacts. Try to always leave a note on the back before handing over your card, for example, to write where you met.

10. Ask for referrals when handing over business cards. People are more likely to respond to this than if you ask about open positions in their company. Give them extra cards if they have any potential referrals.

11. Use calling cards for non-business occasions. They’re like a business card, but with personal information. I haven’t tried this yet but I like the idea. The novelty aspect alone will leave a good impression.

12.  Join real-world business networks and chambers of commerce. You want people in your industry to notice you. Find local networks by googling “business network” and the name of your city.

13. Join general purpose business social networks. Besides LinkedIn, there are other networks like Xing and ZoomInfo. Use the one that is most popular in your industry.

14. Join industry-specific social networks. In many cases, these are business social networks created on the Ning platform. Use Ning’s search to find relevant networks or start a Ning network yourself.

15. Start blogging about your profession. As a super virtual resume, blogging is a terrific way to not only grow your network and show your expertise but also to attract job offers.

16. Follow industry blogs of different size readership. Subscribe and comment on them so that their bloggers discover and interact with you, especially if you have your own blog too. It’s better to get a lot of attention from 10 small blogs than no attention on 2 big ones.

17. Participate in industry discussion forums and mailing lists. Become the expert that people want to hear from on the topics you specialize in.

18. Become a member of professional associations. Every market has a group of people who are creating the standards and organizing member professionals. Being part of such groups can net you recognition from across the industry.

19. Create an industry newsletter for an industry niche that doesn’t have one. Or, you could become a contributor to an existing newsletter, but only if there’s a clear way for your network to profit such as via a link or email address in the byline.

20. Go to industry conferences, and make time to meet people and exchange business cards. Also great is to use conferences to finally see people face-to-face after having met online.

21. Attend local (speed) networking events. Have lots of business cards with you and a polished elevator pitch.

22. Organize informal industry events like launch parties or anniversaries. If you choose the right type of event and promote it well, the success will carry over to your personal network and people will want you to do it all again so that they can bring along other contacts who missed out.

23. Bring friends along. You can network in parallel and compare notes, opening doors for each other.

24. Join a job search support club. Also called job clubs or job search clubs or groups. Network with like-minded people.

25. Volunteer. Meeting new people is one of the best reasons why job seekers should volunteer. If there aren’t many opportunities locally through e.g. religious institutions, find them online using a site like Idealist.org.

26. Join a gym. A great place to network with people from across different industries and positions, there are also many other reasons to be exercising regularly.

27. Get a career and/or job search coach. Among the many benefits, the coach will be able to guide you to other ways to grow your network.

28. Find a mentor or mentoring community. You want people who have achieved your goals and can help you achieve similar success. Take your mentor out for lunch and pick their brain.

29. Do information interviews. This is a great way to get your foot in the door, and you’d be surprised how often in can lead to a job, even in a different department or company.

30. Email friends and family and ask them to put you in contact with anyone that can help your job search.

31. Talk to people you see regularly. Neighbors, parents at your kids’ school, taxi drivers. Cast your net as wide as possible.

32. Offer a cash bounty when you email your personal contacts. They’ll be willing to help you for free, but encourage them to forward your email to their own contacts for whom the cash will be a big motivator.

33. Join an alumni jobs network. Placing alumni in jobs is usually a major goal of  university and college alumni networks but also military reserves associations.

34. Nudge people in your network from time to time. A simple “any way I can help?” is a great way to stay in touch and not be forgotten.

35. Keep track of your contacts’ needs. Then, fill those needs whenever you can. The more you give, the more you’ll get. Here are another 9 ways to keep value in your network relationships (lower half of the article).

36. Always follow-up. Whether to confirm a referral or send over a link to an article you discussed, find a good reason to follow up with new contacts before they forget about you, which is usually within 24-48 hours.

37. Use thank you notes. Always take the time necessary to appreciate the people in your network. Just because people are happy to help doesn’t mean you should take their help for granted. Snail mail will make your note stand out even more.

Related articles from around the blogosphere

Conclusion

Like a tree, a network requires caring and time to branch out to its full potential. The more you invest in your network, the more you’ll get out of it. Even if you can only afford a few minutes per day, start growing your network as soon as you can and continue nurturing it until you need its fruits.

This article was written for Job Action Day 2008. This year’s goal is to “empower workers and job-seekers to take proactive steps to shore up their job and career outlook.”

If you liked this article, you’ll enjoy 8 Creative Ways to Use Social Media for Your Job Search.

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Managing Your Career During Recession: Maybe Starbucks Is Not Such A Good Idea

A picture I took of a Starbucks Venti Mint Moc...

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With a global recession upon us, it is a good time to think on how to keep your present job, be alert and nimble in the job market and, hopefully, weather the storm.

Some experts think there is no such thing as “recession proof” in this environment.. “The things that have been recession-proof in the past are proving to be punished by this recession,” said Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group. Did you ever think consumers would be cutting back on Starbucks coffee? “The consumer is more cash- and credit-constrained than any time during the last four decades,” Flickinger added.  Financial services, formerly less vulnerable to recessions, have been hit hard.  You can get see the impact of that when American Express lays off 7,000  employees and asks to turn itself into a bank to gain access to more credit. Citigroup, is making some of the most severe cuts in the history of U.S. business, laying off 53,000 workers. And we thought they were scrutinizing our finances?

So, what to do?

Managing your career during recession offers some sound advice about how to proceed but the economic times may be worse than is now evident, so temper your expectations, and hang on to your cash:

“Keeping your Job
Keep abreast of news around your company’s performance and your division’s importance, be ready to evolve and also be ready to change. Remember that “Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come” (my reference is here to the “Who moved my Cheese” if you have not read it, perhaps a good time is now.)

A recent interview at NPR in Talk of the Nation, Stephen Viscusi, author of On the Job, offers tips on what you can do to protect your finances and your job. Some tips that he offered:

  • Learn how to work, be valuable
  • Be more visible at work and do a good job
  • Be on time, it is not a time for big vacations
  • And be practical

It pays to be persistent with trying to keep your career healthy. It is always a good time to start paying attention to your overall career health and strive to maintain it so.
Continue and try your best to integrate more work related training courses in your current schedule and work towards developing your skills – it must be an integral part of your ongoing career development. Always remember that your skills are what will be with you forever, jobs come and go. Never compromise or slacken towards personal and professional development.

Move Beyond your Current Job Capabilities
Taking on additional responsibilities is also a smart move to recession proof your career. Take initiatives brings forth your leadership qualities. Although it is never suggested to take on responsibilities more than you can handle, but going an extra mile to help in another project or area/division of the company portrays your commitment and dedication to work.

Also continue to build on your network.

Some Career and Personal Questions to Ponder on during Recession
The questions to explore during the recession time are:

  • Which types of industries and job definitions are seeing the most layoffs?
  • Is demographics affecting the availability or restricting certain jobs?
  • Am I ready to move on to a different sector if need be? If yes, how prepared am I?

Other than the questions on the best jobs during recession it is time for some present and future planning as well. Think about these questions as well:

  • What can I do to protect my present job?
  • If I am in a layoff this year, am I prepared?
  • How can I maximize or consolidate my savings to survive the recession?
  • How can I react positively to a recession?

Preparing for the worst is a good approach but being paranoid about it would not help. Again I take on quoting Who moved my Cheese (I highly recommend you to read this book or revisit it if you have read it once already this is the time to prepare and move with the cheese).
“As time went on he began to wonder if it was realistic for him to expect to find New Cheese. He wondered if he had bitten off more than he could chew. Then he laughed, realizing that he had nothing to chew on at that moment. Whenever he started to get discouraged he reminded himself that what he was doing, as uncomfortable as it was at the moment, was in reality much better than staying in a Cheeseless situation. He was taking control, rather than simply letting things happen to him. …. Just realizing he was not letting his fear stop him and knowing that he had taken a new direction nourished him and gave him strength”

Don’t let the fear of recession stop you in your growth, when you move on and strive to do better at what you are doing now you are contributing towards pushing away the recession. After all, recession is just “the act of receding or withdrawing”, all you have to do is to help things move forward and contribute to growth and development.

Ponder on this writing on the wall:
“When you Move Beyond Your Fear, You Feel Free.”

Strengthen Skills during Recession
If you were in a layoff and finding jobs at present is a hard nut to crack, it might be the best time to focus on strengthening your skills. Also it is an opportunity to reinvent your skills. Work towards building new technical skills but keep focus on the soft skills as well. Narrow your focus on towards the present industry trends and the skills that are most in demand. All you need to do now is to ride it out and once the hiring opens up, you would have an edge over many others.

Just Keep Moving
Don’t get put off when everyone talks about recession, it does not mean you have to slow down in what you are doing today. Negative discussions on recession fuels rumors and often results in detrimental reactions in a community.”

If you have experiences that point up the downsides of this economy, write and share them.  We can all learn from your comments.

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A Great Interview Tip – How To Prepare To Look And Sound Your Best

Since this a time many people are looking for new jobs……assume you’ve aced your resume and gotten an interview set up…. now is the time to prepare.  Often we’re not completely aware of how we look and sound to others, so it might be a good idea to find out and see if there’s anything about your presentation that needs polishing up.

Liz Wolgemuth in A Great Interview Tip – The Inside Job (usnews.com) gives some practical and easy advice on one good way to prepare before you meet your next potential employer:

“When preparing for an interview–make use of a voice recorder. It’s very easy. Enlist a spouse or friend to mock-interview you and tape your answers.

Then, you will be able to avoid precisely what Rowan Manahan, over at the Fortify Your Oasis blog, is talking about in in his post today. Specifically, sounding like this:

“My greatest strength? Well, you know, I would have to say that, like, my greatest strength is my communications skills? And, like, it’s been like that all my life – you know? Even when I was, like, a kid, my teachers would say what a, like, clear speaker I was?”

When you’re done, play the tape back. Interrogate your speech. And if you find yourself talking like this, Manahan advises: “Then stop doing it. Really. Stop.”

I’d add that this isn’t just a good exercise for folks who tend to overuse the word “like,” but also for catching mindless or nervous habits that can really throw an impression. Plus, tape recorders are cheap.

(Granted, if you can use a video camera, then you can catch other bad habits. Maybe you slouch when you’re trying to project energy and enthusiasm. Maybe you look at the ground when you speak, or nod your head constantly while you’re listening.)”

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Use Linked In To Increase Job Prospects, Even If You’re A Passive Candidate

Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...

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We’ve already talked about the critical importance of networking when you are looking for a job. Having a friend or colleague recommend and introduce you is always a preferred way to meet a potential employer.  It not only gets you in the door and past the gate keeper, past the Great Wall of China HR department which likely will look for every conceivable reason to eliminate you……you never get in trouble over the person you didn’t hire….but it also will likely get you a friendly reception and a fair hearing, at the very least, from the person actually responsible for the hiring decision.

Now, you may be working all your friends, family, clubs, alumni and professional associations like crazy.  But also remember, though not quite as warm and fuzzy, there are some very large and influential networks out there that you should definitely tap into.  The first among them is the social network for business people, LinkedIn

LinkedIn currently has members from all 500 of the Fortune 500 companies and its members comprise 130 different industries including 130,000 recruiters.  And that’s not all.

Allison Doyle of About.com says this about LinkedIn and Your Job Search:

“What do Microsoft, Ebay, Netflix, and Target have in common? All these companies (and many more) have used LinkedIn to recruit candidates for employment.”
Even if you’re not “pounding the pavement” or living in a “speed dating for job candidates” nightmarish swirl, you should never stop keeping your eye open for what other opportunities are out there.  You never know when you might need them.  Who knew a month ago that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, titans Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual would need a bail out and American Express would want to turn itself into a bank to increase its access to capital?  If times could get tough for them, it could get tough for you and all the rest of us as well.  So you might want to spiff up how you look as a passive candidate, just in case things turn even uglier.

“Kay Luo, Director of Corporate Communications at LinkedIn, explains, “The main reason that companies are using LinkedIn is to find passive job candidates. Another reason why companies are using LinkedIn, is because referrals from their employees are highly valued because they typically have a higher success rate (hence the popular “employee referral bonuses”). LinkedIn helps companies leverage the networks of their employees.”

How Employers Use LinkedIn

One LinkedIn member (who will remain nameless because his company doesn’t know he’s job seeking) I spoke to received an inquiry less than 24 hours after posting his profile. He was amazed at how fast a former colleague found him.

Steve Goddard obtained his current job through LinkedIn. Recruiters working for his employer, VMware, Inc., searched LinkedIn’s database of information for people with relevant skills sets and experience pertaining to VMware’s existing requirements.

The recruiter discovered Steve’s work history, downloaded the information, circulated it to group managers, and then contacted him. After a couple of lengthy phone calls, VMWare scheduled an on-site interview. After that, it was hiring as usual.

Steve told me, “I regularly get headhunters or recruiters with small startup operations, that have found my contact information through LinkedIn, calling me or emailing me with new job openings and hiring opportunities.” From the company’s perspective, Steve noted that VMware internal recruitment staff believes that LinkedIn has been a tremendous help with recruiting.
Search LinkedIn

Take a few minutes to search LinkedIn and I’m sure you’ll find lots of contacts from your current and prior employers, clients, vendors, and schools. All those contacts have the potential to help you grow your career or find a new job. In addition, it can be a good source of employment references, as well as reference checking.

Job Search

You can search the Jobs section of linked in by keyword and location or used the Advanced Search option to search by more specific criteria.

How to Use LinkedIn

Guy Kawasaki’s Ten Ways to Use Linked In provides good insight into how to increase the value of LinkedIn. One example is “Increasing your visibility, because by adding connections, you increase the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they’re searching for someone to hire or do business with.”

One way to improve visibility is to enhance your profile. Take a look at Guy’s profile’s Extreme Makeover to see what a difference a few changes can make.

Speaking of connections – the more the better. Guy’s blog notes that “People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.”

How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job – Or Have a Job Find You

  • Create a Profile. Create a detailed profile on LinkedIn, including employment (current and past), education, industry, and web sites.
  • Consider a Photo. You can add a photo (a headshot is recommended or upload a larger photo and edit it) to your LinkedIn profile. Note that it must be a small photo – no larger than 80×80 pixels.
  • Keywords and Skills. Include all your resume keywords and skills in your profile, so your profile will be found.
  • Build Your Network. Connect with other members and build your network. The more connections you have, the more opportunities you have, with one caveat from Kay Luo, “Connect to people you know and trust or have a business relationship with, no need to go crazy and connect with everyone.”
  • Get Recommendations. Recommendations from people you have worked with carry a lot of weight.
  • Search Jobs. Use the job search section to find job listings.
  • Use Answers. The Answers section of LinkedIn is a good way to increase your visibility. Respond to questions, and ask a question if you need information or assistance.
  • Stay Connected. Use LinkedIn Mobile (m.linkedin.com) to view profiles, invite new connections, and access to LinkedIn Answers from your phone.

If you have any other tips on using Linked in or how you found a job or a job found you on Linked In, please write and share.

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