How job seekers market themselves wrongly

1.) → Your LinkedIn heading says ACTIVELY SEEKING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES  and perhaps even lists a year.

• Why Not? – your LinkedIn heading is part of what is searched when either an employer or a recruiter is seeking someone. If you don’t brand it with specific skills and key words, it  has no value.
• The fix? Capitalize on using LinkedIn by learning successful marketing strategies.
• The top 5 mistakes LinkedIn users often make
• Do you watch who’s watching you on LinkedIn?
• 3 easy LinkedIn tips to make you look like a pro

2.) → You post whiny things on Facebook or Twitter  (or worse, you rant about politics, religion or something else)

• Why Not? – Employers are reading what you say. If you want to make sure that you get cut from the fold early, make sure you are ranting against corporate injustice when you are seeking a job as an Executive Assistant, middle manager, or even entry level employee. Who makes hiring decisions for those targets? Corporate people. It never fails to astonish me how the same person whining about no jobs can position themselves so badly.
• The fix? Make sure your online presence is positive.
• Could your politics be sabotaging your job search?
• Are you sure you are presenting the best impression?
• Don’t Cry Wolf on Facebook or Social Media!

3.) → You think if you say it over and over people will hear you. Like reposting the same thing all the time with the caption, “you can’t miss this!”

• Why Not? – If people see a steady stream of anything, they will ignore you. If you are trying to network, you can’t do it by blasting anything.
• The fix? Create a conversational presence about interesting topics.
• What’s in it for me? versus How can I help you?
• The secret to getting calls and offers from employers

If you plan to use any social media marketing for job search, make sure you project the right image, offer a positive presence, and don’t sound like a repetitive stream of the same message.

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!

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Career professionals hate seeing wrong job search advice

As a career pro, it is so hard to see that. When I comment on Facebook or another social network, I am speaking as a career expert but the people in the stream probably don’t know that. If they do, they may see it as an attempt to drum up business rather than an attempt to set the record straight and help job seekers land.

This week, I spoke to a group of AmeriCorps members on Tuesday on Resumes, job search, and career marketing strategies and then another group at Rasmussen College’s Lunch N’ Learn event on Diversity in the Workplace, specifically age-related diversity and how to work together.

At Rasmussen, there were only a few seats left in the room. I had been told to expect 10 to 12 but ended up with 40+. Though they wanted to know about age-related diversity, what they really wanted to know was resume and job search strategy from an expert!

Again, everyone in the room had been given misinformation and was hungry for clarification. Reading blogs like this one and knowing the best in the business can help you through the maze of confusion.

Use cutting edge solutions not trivialized dribble

Job seekers need to use cutting edge solutions not trivialized dribble that is being passed on through conversation or worse taught on college campuses using 20 year old English books. Everyone’s brother-in-law thinks he is a career pro. If he is, great! But don’t take his advice if he isn’t.

I will continue to speak, write, and teach job seekers but if you are one of the job seekers, think about whose advice you are following. And if you are trying to help job seekers, make sure your advice is 2012 advice, not 1980, 1990, or even 2000.

Top Resume and Job Search Mistakes

1. The one page resume myth: Should you drop value from your resume to shrink to 1 page?
2. Using the wrong type of resume to apply online: Julie’s 8+ Tips to Make Applying for Jobs Online Easier
3. You don’t need a cover letter anymore: 6 misconceptions about cover letters!

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!

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To get the session rolling, I passed out sheets of paper and let the members write down their questions. Rather than giving them a preset teaching session, I decided to answer their specific questions. I told them that I would share some of those questions here to help others who may have the same questions. Today’s Question:

How do you increase visibility on LinkedIn?

The question was:

Once you create a profile on a site such as LinkedIn, what is the best way to get your name out there? (get employers to see it)

Let’s talk LinkedIn optimization and strategy:

1. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is really complete and update it  frequently. I can’t tell you how many profiles I look at that have no substance. The summary area is often not used at all but yet that area alone holds 2000 characters. Make those characters count! The summary is to be written in the “I” voice so it feels more like a conversation that the detached 3rd person voice of the resume. The quotes below come from a very special client I worked with recently, you see common ground and wording with the keywords but you get a different feel in the voice.
• LinkedIn: Here’s the beginning of one of my client’s profiles: “You will find me to be a dynamic, passionate non-profit executive, with an extensive history of fundraising, fiscal management, program management, and board development. I have been blessed with an exciting career dedicated to the improvement of impoverished communities and families. “
• Resume:  Dynamic, passionate non-profit executive, with an extensive history of fundraising, fiscal management, program management, and board development. Innovative, results-driven professional noted for transforming communities and creating strategic alliances and partnerships with stakeholders, corporations, and community at-large.
2. Build your connections. If you have less than 20 connections on LinkedIn and complain to me that it doesn’t work, I know why. You haven’t expanded your connections on LinkedIn. You need to grow your LinkedIn community with quality connections. I’d set a goal for 1o0 and go from there.
3. Use the resources of LinkedIn to research companies and connect with people who can help you. But don’t be a pest. You need to realize that company leaders are busy.
4. Use your profile link on your business card and post new status messages. If you blog, share your blog posts, but also share other things especially tied to your area of expertise. Be a resource in your expertise to your network by posting status messages of value.

More tips on how to increase LinkedIn visibility:

1. How to make sure LinkedIn is bringing you value
2. Watch your LinkedIn Headline – don’t let it tell you what to say!
3. Who do you connect with on LinkedIn?
4. The top 5 mistakes LinkedIn users often make

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!

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They are two different things. But though for Carly, dog training might be fun, I called Heide from H.R. Max, LLC when I attempted once more to try to get Buddy out the door to go for a walk with me. We didn’t have trainers for Teddy (our first German Shepherd) but I do remember a time period when he was young that I couldn’t get him to walk anywhere with me. Just putting the Gentle Leader on Teddy changed that and he became the best possible walking companion you could ask for.

Buddy is just one year and I still trying options for leashes and harnesses. Heide will be back next week and until she helps me over that walking hurdle, I walk with human friends only. For me, dog training is fun when I am doing some of the exercises as taught by an expert but not when Buddy fails to listen and I get frustrated.

Why Job Search may not be fun for you

Just like dog training without an expert is not fun for me. I love Buddy but learning the right strategies to work with him is well… Work!

Job Search has often been liked to having a job too. You can’t expect instantaneous results. But when you go about job search the wrong way, it will take forever and will not be fun.

I hired an expert dog trainer, just like I hired an expert marketing coach for the past three years and an expert accountant for the past two years, because I know that I am not trained in marketing or accounting. I need the advice of an expert to move me to the next level.

• Before I hired my accountant, I had asked a question about sales tax (which I had asked during a 15 year period from two other CPAs) and he checked with the department of Revenue specifically for my industry. He emailed me the reply. I do not need to charge or collect sales tax. His ability to get the right answer saved me both money and time.
• My marketing coach has saved me money and increased my income dramatically by showing me how to use the tools to attract clients from all over the world to work with me.

Both of these experts needed me to do something to make their advice work. But it was more fun to see the results when I listened to them and followed their advice.

What should you do to make job search fun?

Obviously, I recommend hiring an expert because then you can have results like this:

After a year of waiting and hoping, I just wanted to let you know I have my FIRST EVER interview early next week. I’m interviewing for XYZ District, which is exactly the kind of school district I get excited about. I just wanted to thank you, because I really believe that without your expertise, I’d still be twiddling my thumbs, waiting. Again, many, many thanks!

You can make it fun on your own though:

1. Start with the resume (the foundation of your job search). In the days of electronic applications, your words are still critical in the resume. If you don’t like to write, you have choices. Find an excellent writer friend who is willing to spend hours researching the cutting edge strategies from career professionals like myself and have the friend interview you and write the resume. Make it a game to tell her or him the very best stuff you remember about your career. How did you make a difference.
2. Find job postings you fit… and collect them. Then use them to write your cover letter and reinforce your resume.
3. Set goals to make contacts using online and in-person networking as well as answering job board posts. If you are only looking on job boards, you will get frustrated. Goals are fun.
4. Give yourself rewards. For every contact you make, keep track of them and when you hit a certain number, reward yourself. You can buy a special coffee, do something fun with your friends, or do something you love to do.

With dog training, I have to learn the right way to speak to Buddy. I have to remember to reward him when he does it right. And I have to find fun ways of training both for him and for me. Job Search can be fun too by following the same recipe for success.

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!