Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use

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workinggirlfor-about-the-book-copy1It’s not often I review a book whose author self-proclaims NOT to be an expert! (In this case, not an expert “in the field of work. Or in any other field.”) If you are a believer in the value of experience, however, I think you will agree that Karen Burns, author of  The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl has a lot of great insights and useful information to share with readers seeking a job, a career or just a nice way to spend an afternoon reading an empowering story about work! (Don’t miss her blog – an equally good read!)

Karen’s claim to fame is that she held 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities and 4 countries. (Mind you, she started when she was 9.)  All that job hopping and experiences led to a lot of terrific life lessons. One of my favorites was the chapter on “Advanced Job Hunting.” Here, Working Girl notes:

The best way to get a job you will LOVE is to figure out:

  • What you want to do,
  • Where you want to do it,
  • and WHO you want to do it for,
  • and then go apply at places that supply all that, whether or not they “have an opening (p. 96).”

Another reason I liked this book? It gives advice that mirrors what I tell my clients! For example, job seekers should:

  • Be prepared. (To talk about what you have to offer.)
  • Be cool. Job hunt from a position of strength.
  • Be irresistible.  Build a website. Write a blog. Comment on other blogs.
  • Be in the loop. Ask for help.
  • Be thorough. Find as much as you can about potential employers.
  • Be persistent.
  • Be real. (Not arrogant.)
  • Be patient.

(Read more on pages 97-99.)

This book encourages readers to take their own paths (even suggesting reading the book itself in random order) and reminds job seekers and careerists that, while there are certain factors that may be out of their control, the journey along the way can be exciting and even fun! I’d recommend this terrific guide to anyone who needs some practical, down-to-earth advice about job seeking, job hopping and finding your career bliss!

Here is Karen’s video about her book:


You know what you want to do, but need help getting there? Learn how I can help you find a job!

New Media Atlanta – lessons for job seekers mimic those for business owners

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chriseditedDSC00965-800x572It’s always fun to get together with all of my social media friends! Atlanta has a great community of tweeters, bloggers and social media enthusiasts.

Yesterday, I attended the New Media Atlanta, a conference organized by Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix. (In the picture, I pose (from far left) with my friends Stephanie A. Lloyd and Stephanie Frost with key note speaker and social media guru, Chris Brogan.)

Listening to the speakers and panelists, one message came across very clearly to me:

Advice to entrepreneurs and business owners for using social media to improve their prospects parallels the advice I offer job seeking clients.

Below is a recap of my tweets from the conference. (In reverse chronological order.) See if you don’t agree that job seekers can learn a lot from information aimed at business owners!

For non Twitter users, #nmatl is a “hashtag” used for the conference to make it easier for people to follow the conversation on Twitter. If you search that tag on Twitter, you will find the entire stream of tweets about the conference.

MY TWITTER RECAP

. @chrisbrogan talking about “share vs. hoard.” Good for #jobseekers to think about-SHARE. You may be surprised at results

Don’t collect business cards like Pokemon via @chrisbrogan at #nmatl. DO: LISTEN-ASK-RECIPROCATE-COMMENT-COMMENT BACK

Business opportunities come to people who connect ppl to other ppl – via @chrisbrogan #nmatl

.@chrisbrogan reminds us that #jobseekers shouldn’t start looking for a job after they’ve been fired. Manage UR relationships along the way

“Your competitor is doing it.” @chrisbrogan on social media for businesses. SAME for #jobseekers. Find your niche & what you offer. #nmatl

. @chrisbrogan says “Reciprocity is a powerful thing” – YES. #Jobseekers – listen up! #nmatl

Integrate social media with all of your marketing efforts-advice for businesses from #nmatl. Also ++ for #jobseekers. Don’t rely on 1 thing.

Branding advice works for #jobseekers-Simple story, be articulate and intelligent! Take the time to KNOW YOUR STORY! #nmatl

#nmatl – Branding – Find a simple story in product and present it in articulate & intelligent, persuassive way – Bill Bernbach via @tobydiva

Brent Leary says “Listening to customers yields more than asking.” Same idea for #jobseekers-use your ears and mind to connect. #nmatl

Jeff Turner shares useful tool to monitor # convos: http://tweetgrid.com/irc #nmatl

Jeff Turner: “important to take risks.” Lesson for job seekers: Take a chance! Connect w/someone new. What’s worst that’ll happen? #nmatl

Relationships matter in web of interconnections. Key for jobseekers-networking = relationships. No matter what you call it. #nmatl

I posted a blog on the day of the conference that I’ve been holding for a while, but seemed perfect: Job seekers (and business owners) pitch what you offer, not what you WANT. I think this is a good reminder of many of the lessons that speakers shared. A lot of it boils down to a very basic message:

USE YOUR EARS FIRST! Listen, respond, connect.

It’s not rocket science, but clearly not everyone is doing this or doing it well. If you do it well, you can fuel your job hunt and/or entrepreneurial plans. Don’t get left behind!

Since this is all about connecting, here are some people I had a chance to either meet for the first time and/or spend time with again at the event and links to their Twitter accounts:

Stephanie A. Lloyd, Stephanie Frost, Marna Friedman, Taryn Pisaneschi, Robyn Cobb, Marisa Sharpe, Stone Payton, Todd Schnick, Jenny Devaughn, Chad Rothschild, Jeff Turner, Bert Dumars, Victoria Dunmire, Chris Jordan,  Kevin Metzger, Willie Jackson,  Andrea Walker and Sandra Spiller.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get to know some of my new friends and to possible business opportunities in the offing!

If you need help using social networking (Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc.) for your business or job search – I can help! Please learn more about what I can do to help you!

Job seekers need to pitch what they offer, not just what they WANT

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I’ve started participating in a few in-person networking groups recently as a career search expert. Have you been to this type of group – where everyone stands up and gives their elevator pitch? I noticed something in a few of the groups I attended – most people focus their pitch on what they WANT and don’t include anything along the lines of what they OFFER.

Think about it…If someone approaches you and starts talking about themselves and what they want, how closely will you listen? Statistics demonstrate that people don’t typically have very long attention spans to listen to other people talk.

Now, think about talking to someone who focuses on YOUR needs. A little more interested? I bet you are! Who doesn’t want to hear someone describe how he or she solves your problems!

The lesson for job seekers: your pitch needs to focus on your target and how you have just what he or she needs!

Need help with your job hunt? Learn more about how I can help you!

JobShouts co-founder describes tool for job seekers

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jobshoutsWhen I attended ERE Expo earlier this month, I had the chance to meet a lot of terrific people. Two new friends are the co-founders of JobShouts.com, Robin Eads and Michael Quale. JobShouts is a tool that helps connect job seekers with opportunities via social networks. Robin was kind enough to give a brief overview in this video.


To read Job Shouts’ most recent press release, CLICK HERE.
For more about Job Shouts, visit jobshouts.com

Need help getting your job search up and running? Learn how I can help!

Not convinced that social networking can propel your job hunt?

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If there is one thing that I learned at the ERE Expo conference targeted at recruiters and career professionals earlier this month, it is that social networking is a key way that recruiters identify and source candidates. Have you been hesitating to use social media for your job hunt? Maybe you think it is a fad? Take a look at this video from Socialnomics…

A few key points:

Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months! If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest.

80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary way to find employees.

Are you making it easy for people to find you? Watch this if you think social media is not important. It may just change your mind!

Thanks to my friend Andy Drish for sending a link to this video on Twitter!

Let me help you navigate the social networks to propel your job hunt!