Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Job Action Day – how to create job opportunities by being a connector

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For the third year in a row, I am thrilled to be invited to participate in QuintCareers’ Job Action Day, when many career professionals write about the selected, timely topic. QuintCareers explains, “The theme for Job Action Day 2010 is “Creating Opportunity.” At a time when traditional full-time jobs with benefits are giving way to temp jobs, contract/project work, and part-time jobs with limited or no benefits, job-seekers must be both open to nontraditional twists on jobs and creative ways — such as through submitting job proposals to employers — to land positions.”

I write a lot about using social media and other “non-traditional” approaches to job search. I believe in social networking tools, and know that entrepreneurs can win business using them and job seekers can land opportunities. I particularly love Twitter, and have often waxed poetic about how useful it is for job seekers. (See this post for links to my thoughts about using Twitter for job hunting.)

Attending several conferences recently (Career Directors International, a career coaches’ and resume writers’ convention and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Atlanta, an organization dedicated to recruiting and HR issues) inspired me to go a little retro for this post.  I’d suggest that to create opportunity, you need to think about being a connector (someone who enjoys introducing people, for personal or professional benefit).

Wikipedia defines “connector,” a term Malcolm Gladwell popularized in his 2000 book The Tipping Point:

Connectors are said…to be people in a community who know large numbers of people and who are in the habit of making introductions. A connector is essentially the social equivalent of a computer network hub. Connectors usually know people across an array of social, cultural, professional, and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles.

Although connectors are rare — only one in several thousand people might be thought of as a true connector — they are…very important in the healthy function of civil society and business. Connectors are also important in trendsetting.

My friend, Jenny DeVaughn, is the best example of being a connector that I know. Jenny is the Director, Social Strategy at Bernard Hodes Group, where she is “responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of social media strategies for clients, including ongoing training.” She is an expert regarding recruiting for today and develops and implements social media recruitment strategies for clients, including Fortune 500 organizations. She also has her own blog, Social Precision, where she shares tips and up-to-date ideas relevant to both the hiring side and job seekers.

I had a chance to see Jenny speak to a packed room at SHRM-Atlanta. (Read some of her advice  HERE.) She’s clearly way ahead of the curve when it comes to technology and connecting online. She shared that she is one of the top three most connected women on LinkedIn! You may assume someone so focused on online connecting might not be a skilled in-person networker, but the opposite is true when it comes to Jenny.

Jenny creates opportunity wherever she is. I have never stood next to her without watching Jenny introduce someone to another person, suggest some potential business or personal commonalities, make a connection or offer an idea. It amazes me how focused she is on helping other people succeed and what an awesome link she provides by letting each person know how the other person might relate to what he or she is doing.

Creating opportunity is an important and relevant topic, and one that job seekers need to think about in an environment when jobs are few and far between. Take a lesson from a connector — Jenny sees opportunity just by looking around and by thinking ahead. She obviously makes it a point to know what people do, what skills they have and makes the most of this information by sharing it and introducing people.

Think about it — how can you make opportunity by looking around? Who might you be able to introduce to someone else for a potential opportunity? How can you help those around you? When you are in that mindset of being a connector and serving as a hub of information and resources, it will also help you identify opportunities that may be available to you.

Stay tuned for a post about my friend Laura Labovich’s tips for how to introduce yourself effectively and for impact when meeting in person!

Please check out these blog posts that are joining mine in supporting Job Action Day 2010:

You can also find Job Action Day 2010 posts on these blogs:

How to avoid mistakes on your resume

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Today’s post is one of many from members of the Career Collective community I co-coordinate with my colleague Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter. I encourage you to visit other members’ responses, which will be linked at the end of my post tomorrow. Please follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective.

This month’s question (in a nod to Halloween this weekend): How to avoid scary career/resume mistakes? How should job seekers ensure their resume/career “costume” fits / attracts the right target audience?

Both questions are so important! I’ve been working on several webinars, and have been thinking a lot about targeted search and how to be sure your materials are perfectly suited to your goals. (This is more important than you might realize for a successful search.) But, since that is the topic of my presentation for the Career Summit, I’m going to hold off on those tips. You can still register for the Summit (and listen to anything you missed via the archives). I present on November 17th.  Learn more in THIS post about how the Career Summit is for you if you are looking for a job).

How to avoid scary resume mistakes?

Have you ever written an important document and sent it off, only to find that you included a silly error? Like, “I’m looking forward too meeting you” or “Its nice the the market is recovering.” (Can you find the errors in those sentences?) Your resume is as important a document as any, and the list of potential errors long.

I recently spoke with several hiring managers when I attended the Society for Human Resource Management-Atlanta’s conference, and each said that an error on a resume indicates a careless prospective employee. It may seem harsh, but when there are so many applicants for each job, weeding out candidates whose resumes don’t seem detail oriented is one way to screen them.

Are you relying on your spell check to catch your errors? You may want to think twice!

How often are words misspelled only to inadvertently form other words? You don’t want to advertise that you were distinguished as the “best manger of the year.”

I headed up the career center at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. You can only imagine how many of my students were touting their credentials as something slightly indecent! (Think public without the all important L!)

A tip to consider: create an exclusion dictionary in yourMicrosoft Office program. This personalized dictionary will flag a word as misspelled (such as manger), even though the main dictionary knows it as a proper word.

Thanks to Lindsay Olson, who blogs about recruiting and PR, for sharing this fun video that she saw on Rowan Manahan’s blog, Fortify Your Oasis. The video offers an exaggerated example of why you can’t assume that your spell check is a good editor!

Be sure to read through your resume, and have a trusted friend review it as well. (Or a professional!) You never know when “public” may become indecent.  The list goes on and on: their/there, and/an, faculty/facility, board/bored.

In the meantime, take a look at this video for a good laugh!

Be sure to visit my colleagues’ posts on the subject:

Where Are the Wild Things, Anyway?, @WorkWithIllness

Is Your Job Search Making You Feel Like a Smashed Pumpkin?, @DebraWheatman

Hiding in Plain Sight, @WalterAkana,

Don’t make these frightful resume mistakes, @LaurieBerenson

How Not to Be a Spooky Job Seeker, @heathermundell

A Tombstone Resume:Eulogizing Your Experience, @GayleHoward

The Top Ten Scary Things Job Seekers Do, @barbarasafani

Oh, Job Search Isn’t Like Trick or Treating?, @careersherpa

A Most Unfortunate Resume Mistake No One Will Tell You, @chandlee

Oh no. Not the phone!, @DawnBugni

Halloween Caution: Job Seeker Horror, @resumeservice

Boo! Are you scaring away opportunities or the competition? @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Your Career Brand: A Scary Trick or an Appealing Treat?, @KCCareerCoach

How to avoid mistakes on your resume, @Keppie_Careers

Sc-sc-scary Resume Mistakes, @erinkennedycprw

A Flawed Resume is a Scary Prospect, @KatCareerGal

Job Search Angst: Like Clouds Mounting Before a Storm, @ValueIntoWords

Does Your Career Costume Fit You?, @expatcoachmegan

Photo by PumpkinWayne

How to dress for success, online and in person

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The latest issue of Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Magazine is available. (I am co-editor along with Jessica Lewis.) It covers the topic of dressing for success, both in person and online. [Read more…] about How to dress for success, online and in person

What job seekers can learn from employers

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At the Society for Human Resource Management, Atlanta conference, I made a point to attend several sessions addressing social media. These sessions were directed to recruiters and human resource professionals responsible for attracting top talent to their organizations. Job seekers can learn a lot from the conversations. [Read more…] about What job seekers can learn from employers

What’s age got to do with your career?

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There’s no question that generational issues play into job search. I wanted to share a few key details I learned in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Atlanta’s conference this week, “What’s Age Got to Do with It?” Presented by Maureen Kelly, Atlanta Regional Convention, Heyward Williams, Georgia Power and Rosalia Thomas, IBM, the talk focused on how companies can help retain workers who may be retirement age and touched on generational issues in the workplace.

Boomers

The session addressed the issue of how companies can plan for and harness the power of their more experienced workers who may plan to retire in search of flexibility, but may still be willing to and interested in contributing to the organization’s brain trust. Job seekers may not realize that some companies are actually concerned about the fact that their more seasoned, knowledgeable workers may leave the organization high and dry when it is time to leave. With the projected number of people aged 65+ expected to grow exponentially, it’s an important topic to consider.

The presentation shared the following statistics:

– By 2010, 40% of the U.S. workforce will be over 40.

– Regarding the federal workforce (1.6 million civilians):

  • 50% can retire in the next 5 years
  • 70% are supervisors
  • NASA: scientists and engineers over 60 outnumber those under 30, 3 to 1.

In 1991, 11% planned to continue working past age 65.

In 2010, 33% expect to continue working past 65.

When I was tweeting this session, I heard from several Twitter friends questioning if people really wanted to stay in the workforce, or if financial considerations were primary decision factors. In fact, the presentation suggested that 71% of these workers are happy with their job and do not want to leave. (Per CNNMoney.com). (Of course, this is just a statistic, and will vary from person to person, but there was a strong feeling in the room that people WANT to work because they enjoy it and want to continue to contribute.)

The presentation noted these companies as having best practices regarding keeping their experienced professionals engaged in programs such as mentoring, consulting, advising, etc: Pfizer, Georgia Power, IBM, WellStar. These are companies that value age and experience. This is important to note.

(An aside: for those interested in exploring “encore careers” – work that combines passion, purpose and income, check out http://www.encore.org/.)

Gen Y

At the end of the talk, Rosalia Thomas from IBM shared some interested points regarding her impressions of Gen Y employees. In her view, Ys want everything quickly, want to move up and quickly take on leadership roles. They don’t offer any loyalty. She believes they focus mainly on how they will benefit from the job and how they can move to the next job. In fact, she related a story of a young hire who explained that she was only in the job for as long as she was benefiting, and planned to move on as soon as it was feasible. While Ms. Thomas’ explained that Gen Y job seekers have seen their parents burned by loyalty, the explanation didn’t seem to temper her opinion of employees so blunt about their goals and plans.

Ms. Thomas seemed very concerned with the trends she is seeing with Gen Y employees. It is important to point out that, while being loyal to a company may not be realistic or even expected, it may not behoove entry-level workers to be quite so direct about their plans. There is a lot of focus on authenticity in the blogosphere, but, for Gen Yers who wish to gain traction in certain companies, this talk was a reminder that those sentiments may not be received well.

All of this advice is fine, but you need help actually find a job? Check out THE CAREER SUMMIT for lots of great career advice.

The topics include everything from how to think about finding a job you love, to what has changed in search, demystifying the recruiting process, online career management, interviewing and (last but not least) — strategies and tips for your resume, social media profile and job search. Read more HERE or visit the site HERE to learn more.

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