Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Archives for February 2008

Read Any Good Books Lately?

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One of of the best parts of writing a blog is joining a community of bloggers and sharing ideas, opinions and sometimes games!  Today, Anita Bruzzese, blogger, columnist and author of 45 Things You Do that Drive Your Boss Crazy tagged me in what she calls a “new meme being passed around the blogosphere.”  

Anita describes the rules:

Find the book nearest to you, go to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence and then type the following three sentences. After that, you pass the message along to other people you want to bug… uh, get to contribute.

Anita’s contribution:
Of course, the book nearest me is my own, “45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy…and How to Avoid Them”:

Anything that has a “those people kind of edge to it should be ommitted from your language in the workplace.  Speak up if there a problem. If you find something a coworker says is insenstive, take the person aside and calmly say, “You know, you’re giving all women a bad name when you make sweeping, derogatory comments about men.” Focus on the behavior, not the person. Calling someone a racist or a bigot won’t get you anywhere — it will just erect more barriers.”

My contribution:
I have been reading a soon-to be-released book by Tamara Erickson, published by Harvard Business Press – Retire Retirement:  Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation.  This optimistic book takes a look at opportunities and changes that may be coming to the workplace as boomers reach retirement age:

Request a lateral move.  Lateral moves are a particular subset of fresh assignments that allow you to develop new skill sets, thus providing even greater scope of experience, and enhance learning more, than a new assignment based on your existing skill set.  Ideally a transfer sideways would be based on some mix of new knowledge and existing strong capabilities. Expect options to move laterally to become more common; with the changing shape of the workforce, vertical promotions – advancement up the hierarchy – will occur less frequently.

Stay tuned for a full review of Erickson’s book on this blog!

I’m going to pass this game on to some friends at Secrets of the Job Hunt:

Chris Russel of Jobs In Pods, Phil Rosenberg of Recareered  and Sam Blum of Razume.

Please, join in!

Keppie Careers will help make your job search possible!  www.keppiecareers.com

More Rules for Job Hunting in a Recession

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Did you watch ABC’s Nightline last night? There was a story about Dale Kloefkorn, an out-of-work, 40-something data analyst with long hair.  The network hooked him up with a coach to see if he could give his job search a jump start.  The coach, Peggy Klaus, who wrote The Hard Truth About Soft Skills, (read more on soft skills here) suggested that there are several points to consider to make yourself more marketable, especially in a recession or when you are out of work.

1. Don’t be overly modest.
It’s all about self-promotion!  If you can’t articulate what you have to offer, how are you going to find an opportunity?  You need to know yourself to sell your skills.

2. No job is completely secure.
Don’t assume that your job is safe – you never know the way the pink slips will fall.  If it looks like your department is in danger, step it up and see if you can avoid being a casualty.

3.  Don’t be a “paycheck player.”
If you see yourself as a cog in the wheel, it is easier to pluck you off the payroll.

4. No job is perfect.
Don’t be too picky when job searching.  Consider new possibilities, different fields and realize that there may not be one job that has the perfect combination of attributes. Limiting yourself will not yield the same offers as being open minded.

Finally, it is important to note that Dale did cut his hair to freshen-up his image.  The fifth rule could certainly be “Appearance Matters.”

ABC reports that, after the meeting with the coach and re-working his resume and posting it online, the candidate heard from 11 recruiters and had one promising interview. 

So, a mini-makeover, attitude adjustment and a revised resume did the trick for Dale.  Could it do the trick for you?  Keppie Careers is here to help!  Visit www.keppiecareers.com for information about our services.

Alternate Life Interviewing?

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The New York Times‘s Matt Villano recently reported that some companies are offering job interviews and career fairs in Multi-User Virtual Environments, or MUVEs, such as Second Life:

Much of the recruitment is done through job fairs. TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications, an advertising firm in New York, held two virtual job fairs last year, events that included employers like Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Verizon Communicationsand Sodexho, a food and facilities management services company. Bain & Company, the global management consultants in Boston, has sponsored virtual job fairs in Second Life, as well.

Obviously, it makes sense that Linden Lab, the owner and operator of Second Life, would offer interviews in their alternate world.  Certainly any employer that seeks tech-savvy (most likely younger) employees could benefit by this type of recruiting.

It is an interesting trend.  Call me old fashioned, but I would tend to think that someone who has created an elaborate alternate world for themselves may have too much time on their hands. 

I better run now.  I want to update my avatar in Second Life 🙂

 Keppie Careers – Keeping on top of career trends for you!  www.keppiecareers.com

With Job Searching, More Isn't Better

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The Wall Street Journal reports on the fact that companies are enhancing their corporate recruiting sites and functions to make themselves more attractive to candidates.  Features such as blogs, video, podcasts, interactive chats, graphics and more are intended to appeal to Generation X and Y. 

With all of the time, effort and money being put into these sites to make them competitive with candidates, it was interesting to note one candidate’s take on the situation:

Some employers also have gone overboard with enhancements to their career portals by adding too many graphics and links, notes Matt Dunn, a second-year Harvard Business School student. “Companies have become addicted to technology,” he says. “They’re making their sites even harder to navigate because of all the bells and whistles.”

This seems like the perfect irony.  Even as companies reach out to recruits who supposedly embrace all of these bells and whistles, there is a call for getting back to basics.  Give the recruits information that is easy to access and digest that helps them decide where to apply.  Sometimes bells and whistles and podcasts are too much.

This concept of “more is not better” can also apply to the job seeker.  Sometimes, it is best to ignore all the bells and whistles out there.  You can create high tech resumes online, video resumes, resumes that incorporate your voice, links to every place you ever worked…It goes on and on.  However, sometimes, your skills come through in a more true and genuine way when you offer them simply.  No bells, no whistles to try to cover up (or ironically highlight) your weaknesses.  Just you, your skills and your accomplishments.  Unadulterated you.  Refreshing for a change!

Keppie Careers can help you put your best foot forward.  We’ll write a resume that helps you and employers realize what you have to offer!  www.keppiecareers.com

Is Your Head Spinning?

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Wednesday.  Hump day.  The only thing I can think to say is “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”  It seems as if every post in the past week has been about change.  Resumes may be changing.  The workforce is going to change.  Work itself may change, although it may take 10 or 20 more years.

We need to be ready for change.  We need to prepare.  Train.  Think ahead.  We don’t want to be left on the cutting room floor while all of our colleagues move on.  It’s enough to make you want to take a nap!

With all of this impending change, it’s a good idea to stop and review the here and now.  Don’t get too caught up in the what ifs of the future that you miss something in the present.  No, you don’t want be left behind.  You want to keep up-to-date.  Change will come – with or without you. 

Seems like the day before Valentine’s Day is a good time to suggest that you stop and smell the roses. 

Keppie Careers will help you prepare for change.  Resume writing, career coaching…we do it all – www.keppiecareers.com