Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Desperately seeking a job

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calendar3000315559_bd77043616Stop. Deep breath. You’ve been looking for a job for a long time. Maybe it’s been longer than the “average 25-week search reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.” What should you NOT do? You should, absolutely NOT, under any circumstances act desperate for a job. Even if you are. No matter how you feel, act like the confident, competent professional you know you are. Why?

A Forbes post by Susan Adams recently revealed data from a survey of 500 executive recruiters that suggested executive level job seekers are “are preparing poorly for interviews, putting together weak resumes and appearing too desperate to take any job that comes their way.”

Biggest mistakes, according to the article?

Not listening well during an interview. Using your mouth more than your ears is usually a red flag – no matter what type of job you seek.

Letting people know you feel down and out.

“Susan Weil, a New York career transition coach, recalls one client, who was an unemployed banker, finding himself in a social situation with people from his field. When asked what he had been doing lately, he answered, “I’ve been up to nothing.”

Wouldn’t that have been a great opportunity to talk himself up and possibly made some new connections?

Don’t spend a lot of energy trying to apply for  job that you’re overqualified to do. While there are strategies you can use to overcome the “overqualified” label, chasing after these jobs is not a good use of your time.

Go the extra mile…Write a thank you note. Send it with a stamp. Make sure it is personalized.

The article suggests that “… you may have to talk to 150 people before you get a job.” Does it sound like a lot? Maybe that is good news for those of you who haven’t been talking to many people…Maybe it can give you hope that there IS something new you CAN do to get your search moving!

Learn what I can do to help you with your search!

photo by unique gifts

Tired of looking for a job? Jump start your job hunt – here's how…

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divein204029032_5875c6a292If you’re involved in a long-term job search (the average is 25 weeks, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics), you may be getting to the point that you can’t imagine doing something different that will move your search forward.

If you haven’t started, dive into social media and Web 2.0 applications! Yes, this can take some time if you are going to do it full force. But, you have time, so go for it! Start searching for blogs in your niche. Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop list is a perfect place to find blogs in an array of topics, but you can certainly use Google to find current information in your field of interest. Spend some time researching and exploring. See if you can identify the stars in your field. Use online mechanisms to connect to them!

How? Post smart comments on their blogs. See if they use Twitter and follow them. (Read more of my suggestions about using Twitter for the job hunt HERE.) Make sure that you are using LinkedIn effectively. You may be amazed at  how quickly you can connect and “befriend” people online.

Consider authoring a blog. If you are a strong writer, there isn’t a better way to influence your Google rankings and demonstrate authority in your subject matter. If you have the time, why not try? You have nothing to lose. Ideally, you will start a blog at www.yourname.com, but if you just want to dip your toe in the waters, consider writing for Examiner.com. I am the National Career Coach Examiner and would be happy to help you get started if you are a strong writer with a niche topic in mind. (For example, maybe you want to be the “Seattle PR Examiner” or the “Miami Accounting Examiner.” Contact me if you are interested in learning more!

Stop and think about what you really want to do. Use your time to assess yourself, your goals and plans for the future. How often are we forced to take a moment to really think about the future. This is your chance. Do you like the way your life is going? Are you happy with your path? If not, consider a coach to help you figure out a new direction.

Learn a new skill. Have you been thinking about taking a class in something that will help you with your job? Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to knit? This is a good time. Doing something new and learning a new skill is good for your attitude and will help you in multiple ways. If you can be excited about something that you can obviously control (since your job search SEEMS less control-able), it should help your outlook.

There is so much information and opportunities to learn new things online for free. High-profile and talented people are offering free teleclasses, webinars and seminars all of the time. If you plug in, you’ll learn about these opportunities and benefit from them. Take advantage of your public library as a resource for information. Check in with the librarian for information you might be missing!

Don’t be afraid to pay for some great content as well! Once you know and trust a source for information, invest in yourself and your plans and learn something new.

Don’t wait until you have an interview scheduled to prepare for the interview! Do you know what you’ll wear to an interview? Does it fit? Is it clean and pressed? How about your shoes? Do they pass muster? Don’t wait until you’ve been searching for two months and get a call for an interview tomorrow to look in your closet!

Once you have an outfit ready, start planning and practicing what you will say in an interview, in a networking situation…Use your time to get ready. Consider hiring Keppie Careers to do a mock interview so you will really know what skills you can improve. If you are prepared, when you start pulling in opportunities, you won’t panic!

Of course, much of your “free” time will be taken up with job hunting. Don’t forget that many of the activities listed above are part of your job hunt. I would be remiss if I didn’t specifically mention that networking (in person and online) is key – spend more time doing this than searching for online postings. Are you on Twitter? Tweetups are a great way to meet new people and learn how you can help each other. Make sure your resume and materials are top-notch and use your time to prep for everything you will need.

Of course, no list of things to do would be complete with suggesting volunteering with an organization you support. I’ve already shared great reasons to volunteer if you have some free time. You never know when you might meet someone influential for your career and/or learn and use new skills. Volunteering is an amazing opportunity to do some good while helping yourself as well!

What ideas do you have?

Need some help getting started with any of these ideas? Learn more about how I can help you get a job.

photo by soylentgreen23

Does your resume need to grow up?

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I see a lot of resumes. Some, quite honestly, need to grow up! If you are writing your resume in the style you learned in college, but college was…5, 10, maybe even 15 (!) years ago – it’s time for an update!

Certainly, styles have changed. Content has changed. (The previously required “Objective” is no longer even suggested, for example.) Suffice to say that a lot has changed! Do you really want to be sending the equivalent of “your father’s resume” when you apply for a job at that hip start-up? Or, even to the newly redesigned and rebranded business down the street? Probably not!

So many people forget that the resume style they used right out of school isn’t going to be the right choice now that they have actual “work experience.”

I hear from many job seekers who have many years of experience, but are still spending a lot of time listing awards won in college that have no significance for today’s reader. Many job seekers fail to move their “Education” section to the bottom of their resume once they have a position and enough experience under their belt (and no specific reason to keep Education on top).  A few still list their high school diploma, even when they have a bachelor’s degree.

There is no fail safe ”one size fits all” advice for resume writers, but most job seekers will want to make these changes and more to their job seeking documents before applying for their targeted jobs.  Otherwise, they will appear less experienced than they may be and jeopardize their chances for an interview.

Take a look at the “before” and “transformed” resumes on my site. Which one does your resume most resemble?

Need help with your job search? Contact me!

Do you know what your “invisible resume” says?

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foggy3072712788_0f57d48dbaI bet you’ve thought a lot about your resume (hopefully), and you may have even spent some brain power evaluating your “digital footprint,” but have you ever considered your “invisible resume?” I recently read a terrific piece by Dr. Vicky Gordon, CEO of the Gordon Group, a Chicago-based leadership and organizational development consulting firm, for the Harvard Business Review that explains the concept and offers job seekers a lot to think about! (Hat tip to my friend @jonathanduarte for tweeting about the article!)

Your invisible resume, in essence, is your reputation! Just as your digital footprint impacts how people will think about you, your reputation, as the old saying goes, absolutely precedes you. When is the last time you stopped to think about what your supervisors and employees think (and say) about you? You don’t want your “invisible resume” to be, as Gordon notes in her post, “visible to everyone but you.” If you are a little foggy on the subject, Some examples from the Harvard Business Review piece:

The vice president of sales for a major technology company delivered the numbers quarter after quarter. Relentlessly pushing for higher sales, he thought of himself as passionate about the business. During a 360º feedback exercise, he discovered that his colleagues saw him as “unreasonably demanding” and “a slave driver.”

Another example:

The co-founder of a highly successful online company had difficulty delegating responsibility. He would assure people that he would get to the work that went into his office, but somehow he never did. As a result, his colleagues regarded him as untrustworthy, and people began to question his integrity.

Gordon makes several suggestions to help you increase your awareness of your “invisible resume” (bold points are her’s, commentary is my own):

Find out what’s on your invisible resume. The only way to do this is to actively make a point to consider what other people are thinking about you. Ask them!

Ask your manager for substantive feedback beyond perfunctory annual performance reviews. Do you know how you stand in the pecking order of your organization? Would you be surprised to be passed over for a promotion? Not all managers are skilled at offering useful feedback. It’s your responsibility to manage your own career. In this case, ignorance is no excuse. Make it your business to find out what you need to know. Gordon suggests “going directly to HR or…asking your manager.”

Begin to rewrite the story. If you find out that your invisible resume doesn’t read the way you would like, it’s in your hands to make a change. Changing how people perceive you is not easy, but with direct communication and some honest reflection and work, it is not impossible. You may even want to consider enlisting the help of a coach to address your needs and create a plan for change. The fact is, you will need to change how you act in order to adjust how people perceive you. It is not easy, but you can’t do anything unless your recognize the problem and move for change.

Establish channels for ongoing feedback. Gordon recommends “regular 360 degree feedback…augmented with more frequent feedback from a trusted peer.” She reminds readers that it is a good idea to identify a trusted mentor who can offer honest and useful feedback.

Periodic self-assessment. It’s easy to be “too busy” to purposefully manage your own career. I advise my clients to “drive their own career bus” with regard to the job search, and the same advice applies to anyone who hopes to go places professionally. Stop and identify areas for improvement before it’s too late!

Need some help with a job hunt? I can help!

photo by aidanmorgan

 

Structure your time to land a job sooner

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clocks.60496147_3330a11d13_mHave you been thinking about how you are using your time? My friend Jessica recently wrote about the topic of how she spends her job seeking time. She breaks it down pretty well – and notes that it keeps her pretty busy, eight hours a day!

When is the last time you really sat down to review how you were spending your hours? I think about this all the time as a business owner. What is the best use of my time? How can I help the most people? What are the best ways to approach new clients? What are efficient uses of my hours? How can I automate or outsource administrative tasks? What can I do to achieve my personal and business goals more quickly? Are there things that I need to say “no” to in order to stay on track and/or maintain my sanity?

I think many people struggle with these issues, but they are magnified for job seekers, who often allow themselves to be adrift in a sea of “job hunting” that doesn’t have much structure.

I have a client who lets me know that she is doing “a lot of networking” and applying for jobs, but is really frustrated because she has not landed something yet. She believes that she is doing everything she can. However, when I ask about what she is doing (specifically) or re-suggest a particular site or something to consider, she typically has NOT followed up on that suggestion.

So, some advice!

I’d suggest you make a list of all the things you are doing – people you are informational interviewing, companies you have researched, jobs you have applied for and other job seeking activities you have been doing so you can best evaluate the course of your job search. I know you feel that you have been doing a lot, but if you outline things, it may help identify deficiencies if there are any.

Take a good, long look at your list. What can you do MORE of? What can you do better? Maybe it “feels” like you are really busy and you have a sense you are doing a lot, but in reality, you can’t break it down in writing. Make yourself accountable. It makes a difference.

Need some help moving ahead with your search? Learn how I can help!

photo by Leo Reynolds