Career Hub

The 11 Day Job Search

In my opinion, one of the nicest features of social media is the "web of support" one can develop. Today, I'm pleased to share with you the story of Brian Ward, a college classmate of mine whose innovative job search was just written up by Time Magazine.

Brian recently found himself joining the ranks of the unemployed. As a father of three and primary breadwinner, He knew he had to act fast. He landed on his feet after receiving a job offer in only 11 days through a lead from a former colleague on Facebook.

As a career coach and resume writer, I view this as an "extreme happy outcome" and one which cannot be expected in every search.

After all, for most job seekers,  the search is a process--not a transaction. Ultimately, where you choose to work is a mutually selective process: you pick your employer and your employer picks you. Pick the wrong job and you'll end up spending your days humming the Avenue Q song "For Now" instead of whistling while you work. Brian got lucky--he found his match early, and he found a position that aligned with his skills and interests.

Putting the role of good fortune aside, Brian made five smooth moves that helped luck play into his favor:

1. He developed and maintained strong relationships before he needed them. Brian and I became re-acquainted on Twitter last fall. (We were casual acquaintances in college.) He demonstrated an interest in my work long before his layoff, and we exchanged a few quick messages that went beyond the standard LinkedIn "I'd like to add you to my network invitation." He did the same with many others.

2. He reacted to his layoff by admitting what he didn't know. Before Brian widely publicized that he had lost his job, he researched how to present his skills. He credits a LinkedIn webinar from Lewis Howes for helping him develop a strong online profile.

3. He carefully crafted his message before going mainstream. Armed with suggestions from friends in the industry and expert advice, Brian created a consistent online presence across multiple platforms from LinkedIn to Facebook and Twitter.

4. He was clear about what he was looking for, but he recognized that leads may come from an unlikely source. Brian's strategy included a clear call for help ("this is what I'm looking for") and an expansive approach (he expanded his membership in LinkedIn groups to include indirect business affiliations, such as his college fraternity).

5. He kept his friends and contacts in the loop during his search, and thanked them regularly. By updating his community, Brian let others know of his progress--and how he could help them in return.

You can read about Brian's initial setback and subsequent success in Time; he hopes his story will help you land on your feet, too.

Do you have any additional smooth moves to share?

An Emmy Winner on How to Be an Expert

Sometimes the best way to present your own skills is to get help in the process.

Many years ago, I worked for a Dean of an Engineering School with an unusual take on areas of weakness: essentially, he thought many self-improvement campaigns should be derailed. He was a strong believer in developing your natural strengths--and in finding experts in your area of weakness to help you manage areas where you have a skill deficit.

I enjoy music and love hearing the spoken word. I am also relatively tech savvy. But when I decided to test out a podcast and turned on the user friendly Garage Band application through my iMac, I quickly decided it was more than I could quickly learn and use. (Did I mention that I scored very low on a "pitch test" of my musical hearing ability?)

I decided to seek the help of an expert. Enter Rob Blatt of Blattcave Productions. Rob is an audio engineer extraordinaire. He shares three Emmys, an Academy Award, and a Peabody Award with former colleagues. Rob and I sat down for two hours, and I walked away with a podcast episode that sounded better than I could have done in two years. (Thanks, Rob!)

In a very short time, Rob taught me some of the essential elements of great podcasting: Speak slower than usual. Use short sentences for emphasis. And--my personal favorite--it is okay to talk with your hands while you record, especially since movement allows personality to come through in your voice.

Rob not only enjoys podcast production; he also teaches people how to use social media through programs including New York's recent LaidOffCamp. Given that Rob's area of expertise spans both production and content management, I asked him to share advice for job seekers who want to establish themselves as an expert. Given his background, it's not surprising that his first piece of advice is:

1. Start a Podcast that Shows Your Interest and Expertise

Talk about topics you know and have a passion for discussing about it. "When you share your knowledge and passion, your voice will give away your enthusiasm. That's an audience draw."

2. Don't Just Talk About It, Write About It

"Any proper podcast needs to be associated with a blog," Rob explains. "Between episodes of your podcast, you should share content related to your show...and advertise your podcast on your blog."

3. Don't Just Talk About Your Ideas: Share

Rob is a big believer in promoting other people; he says being magnanimous has side benefits.

Sharing ideas of others allows you to show that you are comfortable with your area of expertise.

It shows that you are an expert and know how to cultivate knowledge sharing and that you are not afraid to show that other people have knowledge as well. You need to build trust with your audience.

A special shout-out to Rob for sharing his expertise with us. Do you have any additional "expert tips" or  questions for Rob?

Referrals are the #1 Source of External Hires

The 8th Annual Source of Hire Study from CareerXRoads published this February affirms once again that for those hires originating from external sources, referrals from current and previous employees, customers, and vendors are the number one external source, accounting for 27.3%.

Nearly 40% of all positions filled within companies result from internal transfers or promotions. Interestingly, job boards (excluding company sites) produce only 12.3% of external hires and seem to have reached their peak.

These facts make cultivating “insider” connections one of your best sources for job leads. With the implied endorsement from a trusted source that you have when referred to a company, you gain a great advantage over your competition. Not only are you most likely going to get an interview ahead of the pack, you are also an attractive candidate due to the fact payment to a recruiter may be partially or totally removed from the equation, substantially reducing the employer’s cost of hiring.

In a tough job market, proactively building your network is arguably your best strategy to identify and pursue a new job before hundreds or even thousands of others have beat you to the door. My colleague and fellow contributor to this blog, Debra Feldman (an “Executive Agent” who helps her clients to Network Purposefully™), puts it this way: “More networking relationships and more meaningful dialogues showing employers a quantifiable, unique value contribution to the bottom line are an excellent way to cultivate new employment opportunities.”

Posted by Laurie Smith

How to Lose a Job on Twitter

Resume Bear has the scoop and some really eye-opening examples of the incredibly dumb things people post online.

If you are searching for a job or applying to a college or even just hoping to keep the job you have you should be very careful what you say and post online. Four out of five recruiters regularly run web searches to screen job applicants. Potential employers and colleges may find your online profile and make judgment calls based on what they discover. With all of the innovative websites popping up it’s getting easier than ever to screen students and candidates online.

One recruiter I recently spoke to says that she went as far as to set up rss feeds by certain keywords to facilitate the candidate screening process. More and more employers are starting to monitor the online behavior of their employees. A good rule to live by is “Don’t share anything online that could come back to haunt you later on.” Mentioning how you get drunk every night or how many times you’ve lied on your resume won’t make you an attractive candidate for potential employers.

And if you think that sounds too crazy and no one would ever be that dumb ... check out the 30 examples they found. Yikes!

Cross-posted on Blue Sky Resumes Blog. btw -I don't say anything nearly that exciting, but for job search tips and news, you're welcome to follow me on Twitter!

Does Your Resume File Name Waste a Self-Marketing Opportunity?

How much thought did you put into naming the resume file that you send out to prospective employers and recruiters? Does the file name clearly indicate who you are? Does it go a bit further and tell the recipient what you do? Or is it labeled something like "resume.doc," "myresume.doc," or another name that could apply to virtually any one of thousands of applicants?

A press release on PRWEB (www.prweb.com) highlights conclusions from a "Resume Filename Best Practices Report" recently released by Palladian International. While the report found that 92% of resume files had at least some indication of the sender's name, only 58% included both the first and last name. A large proportion of resumes contained information of no use to a hiring manager or recruiter, such as version numbers and dates.

The report advises that your first and last name always be included in the file name. It is also a good idea to include a word or short keyword phrase that describes your main skill set or industry (for example, CFO, Marketing Executive, etc.). It is important to keep the keyword phrase fairly short, so as not to create an unwieldy file name that extends beyond fields in a database or beyond the edge of the reader's window or screen (such as on a Blackberry). A further recommendation is to separate words with hyphens for readability. I have found that underscores (_) also work well for this purpose.

Following is a sample structure for an effective file name:
FirstName-LastName-Resume-KeywordPhrase.doc

With regard to file format, MS Word is virtually universally accepted. However, if you have Office 2007, it is advisable to convert your file from its default ".docx" format to Word 2003/97 ".doc" format. The new ".docx" format is not readable by earlier versions of Word without installation of a conversion pack. Since there are many recruiters and companies that do not yet have Office 2007 and also do not have the conversion pack installed on their systems, sending the file in Word 2003/97 format avoids the risk that your file will be unretrievable and (horrors) possibly discarded.

***

Posted by Laurie Smith at Creative Keystrokes

More Tips on Using Twitter in Your Job Search

Over on Mashable, Sarah Evans has a great post up today, chock full of tips, detailed instructions and links on how you can effectively use Twitter in your job search.

Topics covered include:

• How to get the most out of your page
• How to evaluate a recruiter on Twitter
• Job search tools
• Specific job search accounts

Bonus! Check out the post's comments for even more resources.

Posted by Heather Mundell

Does social media in my job search make a difference? - Ask an expert.

There seems to be a constant blur between what some people say is personal branding and what others think it is, it is naturally going to happen as it's importance rises and a number of articles have been written on the subject recently and I am sure we will continue to see a growth in the for and against camps. 

One such area of confusion is in social media and social networking. There was post by Drew McLellan over at his blog Drews Marketing Minute - - that got me thinking - this was prompted by two more extensive joint posts by Geoff Livingston and Beth Harte - who had written and generated a lot of comments on their posts -Top 25 Ways to tell if your social media expert is a carpet bagger and 25 Signs You've Got A Strong SM Consultant or Agency. 

Drew's list is a good place to start and adapt for the individual if you are thinking of using social media and networking as part of your job search (and you certainly should be) and are looking to employ the services of an expert. 

How do you tell if the social media / networking expert you are talking to should be helping you with your job search? 

1. Does not believe that everyone should blog (or can). Nor do they believe a blog is the b-all and end all. A well put together on line portfolio can be just as good and may be more suited to someone who does not want to blog or are not comfortable writing. 

2. Constantly reminds you that social media and networking is just a tool. You still need to understand your personal brand and have something of value to an employer. If you do not have a clear value proposition then you are going to fall in to the 'maybe' or 'no' pile much sooner. 

3. Have a successful social media strategy themselves and have a presence in the key social networking areas. Very quickly check them out by putting their name in Google - put in the quote marks - e.g. "Joe Smith" - that way you get a cleaner search to find them. Are they there? Are they there for the right reasons! 

4. Helps you weave your social marketing strategy in to the rest of your job search strategy. So you are on LinkedIn - now what - how does that help you get in the door, start a conversation or find someone or something out about a company you are interested in? 

5. Does not promise that their social media efforts are so incredible that they are going to protect you from the recession, land you a job or make you the next CEO of ............ (enter dream employer). You can certainly build an online presence quite quickly and effectively, but it needs to be working for you beyond having a good Google ranking (to check out what it is now go to the Online ID Calculator)

As my Dad always says - "But how do you cash it?" - what are the rewards of doing all this - ask them.

Can You "Zoom" Your Way to a New Job?

I was intrigued to learn in a recent Resume Writer’s Digest newsletter that a website called ZoomInfo is working hard to gain buy-in from recruiters for use of their site as a passive recruitment tool. ZoomInfo is a site that contains more than 35 million profiles of professionals and executives.

Although ZoomInfo is not a social networking tool per se, it is currently used by 20% of Fortune 500 employers for recruitment activities. It can be expected that this percentage will increase and that substantial numbers of smaller companies are also using the site. So it would be wise to make sure not only that you have a presence there, but also that it is a flattering one.

ZoomInfo creates profiles on individuals and on companies by aggregating information that it gathers from online sources. You can add a profile on yourself for free by registering, or “claim” and edit one that they may have already compiled for you. Since it is likely that a profile on you currently exists, it would be prudent to monitor what is there and verify its accuracy, as well as to insert your own information to flesh it out. If you have a relatively common name, it may also be necessary to distinguish yourself from others whose profiles will also come up on a search, and to see that information erroneously applied to you is edited out.

On another related note, the Resume Writer’s Digest article also pointed out some interesting facts regarding online social networks. There are currently in excess of 300 of these, with the most relevant to employment seekers being LinkedIn with its 10 million members in 130 industries and Ryze, which boasts 250,000 members in 200 countries.

While MySpace and Facebook target younger audiences (Facebook seems to be especially attractive to college students), the fastest growing demographic on these sites is the 35 and older group. Neither site is currently viewed as particularly suitable or relevant to those in the employment market, but they bear monitoring in case this should change. If you should decide to join MySpace’s 100 million member base, you’ll need to be prepared for tremendous quantities of spam.

Posted by: Laurie Jeanne Smith

Does Your Personal Brand Matter?

An interesting post at The Buzz Bin touched on some issues I've been thinking about for a while. In "I Don't Care About Your Personal Brand,' Geoff Livingston outlines why he opposes the idea of developing a personal brand. His post is aimed at people working in the online space, but his points apply to anyone. You should read the whole thing, but this is the part that caught my eye:

3) While personal brands are concerned with themselves, the market is also concerned about itself.

4) The market doesn’t care about the persona, only what value the persona contributes to the larger community.

This gets to the core of why I have never jumped on the personal branding bandwagon, despite having flirted with the idea for a while. In the end, I'm much less interested in having my clients focus on their 'brand' than on the value they can add to potential employers. Value-added is simple, direct and focused on the employer. Personal branding is something broader (to be sure value-added is a part of it, but not the only part) and seems to me much more focused on the individual.

In order to pinpoint a client's value proposition - exactly how he or she will help the company succeed - I  use many of the same approaches as a personal branding consultant, but the focus is different - not the self-indulgence of me (the candidate) but the outward focus of they (the employer).

For a long time, I attributed my reluctance to jump on the personal branding train as something related to my background. As a Brit, I'm always a little uncomfortable with anything that smacks of taking oneself too seriously. But after reading Geoff's post, I see that it's not just that.

It's this:

24) A personality oriented brand does not necessarily equate to successful results.

It's the fact that results (and actions) matter. Results and actions tell me what you will do for me. Results and actions tell me whether or not you will add value to my organization. Results and actions show me who you are much more effectively than any carefully crafted public image.

I know that many of my colleagues disagree (and many of the Career Hub bloggers will definitely disagree!) but for me, a focus on results will always be more effective than a focus on brand. After all, all products and services have brands, but how many of them deliver what they promise?

My personal favorite is my bank Chase, who tell me that 'the right relationship is everything' and then constantly leave me on hold for hours while they try to figure out why my online banking has gone awry one more time, leaving me yelling "THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP!!!" as my blood pressure soars once again.  But they do send me the occasional Starbucks gift certificate, with a very nice message about how much they value my custom, so I guess that's supposed to make it all OK ;-)

I can't help wondering how much better they would be if they stopped spending money on branding experts and fancy loyalty programs and instead invested that money in actually adding value to my life.

And in the end, that's my point. Instead of worrying about personal brands, I think people need to think about results and value-added. I expect many of my colleagues will point out that these are not mutually exclusive ideas and I agree - but that would be to miss the point. I know that in some cases, with the right candidate and the right personal branding coach, a person's 'personal brand' will be built around the results they have achieved, but I think the idea of 'personal branding' leads to the same problems with people as it does with businesses - a focus more on the message (the right relationship is everything) than on actually getting stuff done.

Let's face it, if you can show that you have delivered great results and made a big impact on prior employers, you really don't need to worry about packaging it in a pithy branding message. It will be obvious to everyone.

And if, like Chase, you haven't ... well a nice brand message might open some doors for you, but eventually people will figure out that there's nothing there.

Cross-posted at Blue Sky Resumes Blog

Turn Your Job Search Complaints into Opportunities

I just finished reading Jon Gordon's book The No Complaining Rule. According to Jon, people complain either because they feel fearful and helpless or because it has become a habit. He goes on to state that "Complaining can be a gift if we use it correctly. Once we know what we don't like, we can decide what we do like and act on it. We can use complaining as a catalyst for positive change." There are a lot of things to complain about in a job search. It can be a frustrating process. Here are some common job search complaints and some strategies for implementing The No Complaining Rule to move past them.

My resume isn't working. When job seekers don't get interviews, they often blame the resume. While it's true that an achievement-driven resume helps position job seekers for interviews, the resume is just one piece of the process. If you are complaining about your resume, examine how you are using that resume and change your behavior if necessary. If your primary method of search is posting on job boards and you aren't getting results, start building meaningful connections with the people who can hire you rather than the people who are parsing the resume data. Create a proactive plan to target companies that you would like to work for where you believe there is a good fit and approach them directly, whether they are actively recruiting or not. Every company recruits at some point...build relationships now so you are considered as a candidate when an opportunity presents itself.

No one in my network can help me find a job. Why is that? Have you spent the last 15 years talking to the same 3 colleagues or have you extended your networking efforts to include friends, family, school alumni, past colleagues, members of professional organizations, community service providers, and members of online networking communities? Not everyone can help you in a job search and you need to have a robust network so you are not relying on the same 3 people for introductions.

I interviewed for a position and I haven't heard back about next steps. Take the initiative to follow up on your own. This doesn't mean leaving dozens of voicemail messages or sending multiple emails. Become top of mind by sending a reminder of the value you could bring to the team. This might be a relevant article, information about an industry event, or an acknowledgement of something you read about the company recently.

It takes so long for the companies to make a hiring decision. Get used to it. While we would like to think that we are the #1 priority for hiring authorities, we often aren't. General business issues, workplace snafus, and shifting priorities can all effect when the hiring decision is made. Deal with it by reaching out periodically to communicate that you are aware that they haven't made a decision yet but you continue to remain very interested in the position.

The person who interviewed me doesn't seem to "get" what I do. If your first interview is with a human resources professional, that person may recruit for several functions across the company and not know all the nuts and bolts of what you do. They may still represent a bridge to the next round of interviews, so keep an open mind and a positive demeanor. Generally, HR is looking for cultural fit and your ability to work well in a team, so be sure to have several accomplishment-focused stories to demonstrate these competencies.

What other job search complaints do you have and how can you use complaining as a catalyst for positive change?

Posted by Barbara Safani