Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Networking tip: where to find great information to share

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Ball social mediaIf you want to impress your online audience with your expertise, you’ll need to share useful and interesting content via your social networks. It can be a challenge, because you don’t have a lot of extra time to peruse many online sources to tap into the best resources to post on your various social networks. Luckily, there are many sites that provide useful, easy-to find information. These are some of my favorites.

LinkedIn’s Pulse

Find it under the “Interests” tab on your LinkedIn toolbar. You can choose to follow influencers, major media outlets and topical content areas. It’s extremely easy to share the content to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter right from Pulse.

Alltop.com

This is an online, virtual “magazine rack” of blogs. Use the search bar to identify topics that interest you and follow the blogs that produce the content to interest your audience.

SmartBrief.com

Offering many free subscriptions to online newsletters, Smartbrief editors read and cultivates what is published about topics of interest and sends newsletters with links to articles and brief summaries. They have newsletters covering health care, marketing, education, business, finance and more.

These are just three places to find useful content to share. Feel free to post your favorites in the comments!

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How to Address Gaps in Your Work History

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GapDo you have gaps in your work history? Perhaps you were unemployed or took time off to spend with your family? No matter the reason for the gap, the best way to handle it is to address it on your resume so it does not raise a red flag for the employer.

Consider the following approaches to address gaps in your resume.

Avoid Gaps

Perhaps you weren’t working for an organization during a particular time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t include something to cover the time period. If you don’t already capture the “empty” dates via continuing education or a degree program, fill in the time slots by listing volunteer work or consulting. Describe what you did in terms most relevant to target employers, and they may not even notice the section technically covers a gap in work history. For example, if organizational skills are key for the job you want, and you served on your local school’s Parent-Teacher Organization running special events, include the information as you would any job.

In general, employers are most interested in knowing you’ve been active and involved in using key skills for the gap periods. Think back to times when you may not have been working and do the best you can to fill in those dates with descriptions on your resume.

Take Classes

Education and continuing education is a great reason for a work gap. If you think it won’t be clear why you have some otherwise unaccounted time on your resume, list your degree program or other classes in your experience section in addition to your education section. Provide detailed information about projects, especially group projects, and don’t forget to include skills you used to accomplish those goals.

Include Details in Your Descriptions

If you left a job for a specific reason, include some type of description in bullet points about that job. For example, if a company eliminated your entire department due to financial considerations, you may list it as a bullet point: “Company closed publication department due to budget issues.” It isn’t necessary to include this type of description unless you believe it absolutely necessary to explain an otherwise unexplainable gap in your resume.

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Be Prepared to Discuss Gaps

Sometimes, the best way to address a gap is to wait for someone to ask about it and to have a good story to tell. Keep in mind; if you have a gap in your resume, you are in very good company. Millions of people overcome this challenge, and so can you. Even if you were fired, you can explain away the situation in a positive way. Do not allow any negative feelings from the situation to come through when you’re connecting with a networking contact or potential employer. You don’t even need to specify you were fired. Instead, you may explain, “My employer and I had divergent ideas about how to handle the problems facing our organization, so I moved on.”

You’ll have explained the gap without raising any concerns.

How have you addressed you work history gaps? 

 

Make social networking work for your job search

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tree-1090854_1920When research shows 93 percent of recruiters use social networking tools to help them identify and hire qualified applicants, it makes sense to create profiles on networks where you expect people in your industry to spend time. This raises the question: how can you really make the most of time you spend using social media?

Identify the best networks for your industry. Where are you most likely to “meet” people in your field? Search the networks you enjoy and see if your colleagues and contacts are using those networks. LinkedIn is a natural fit for professional use, but you could be surprised to find an active Twitter chat or Google+ hangout.

Create amazing profiles. You wouldn’t go to a networking event without getting dressed, would you? Likewise, don’t start stepping out on social media until you’ve put together profiles and bios that articulate your value proposition. People should easily understand what you offer when they click through to learn more about you.

Post useful content. Be a resource to your community. While you want to feature your story and your skills, be sure you’re providing value to the people who follow you. Don’t share too much self-referential information, and make a point to pay attention to what interests your community the most. What “goes viral” (is most popular) in groups where you are a member? What attracts the most comments and shares? Put your “researcher” hat on and take action accordingly.

Consider what hiring managers want to see. Jobvite’s survey said employers are looking for the following information when they check you out online:

  • professional experience
  • length of professional tenure
  • industry-related posts
  • mutual connections
  • specific hard skills
  • cultural fit
  • examples of work

Illustrate your passion for the work. Illustrate your commitment by keeping up with the news affecting your business. This is easy to do via social media tools.

Be active. Don’t dabble — fully commit! If you see a community you think is worth your time, jump in with both feet and get engaged. Follow thought leaders and demonstrate how you belong among their ranks. Show that you’re interested in company profiles of organizations where you might want to work, too.

Demonstrate good judgement. Show you know better than to spout off on social about something that bothers you. Illustrate what you know about your field, don’t use your social media feeds as a complaint outlet. Jobvite’s Social Recruiting Survey featured a number of items particularly irksome to employers. Numbers represent the percentage of employers bothered by the item:

  • illegal drug mentions: 83 percent
  • sexual posts: 70 percent
  • poor spelling and grammar: 66 percent
  • profanity: 60 percent
  • guns: over 50 percent
  • mentions relating to alcohol: 44 percent
  • political updates 17 percent

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How to Tell Your Career Story So People Will Listen

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tell your storyStorytelling may seem like a topic more appropriate for preschoolers than job seekers, but the most astute and successful job seekers understand how important it is to be able to articulate an interesting and compelling story detailing their work history and accomplishments. Don’t underestimate the importance of outlining your background and describing it effectively. Hiring managers want to hear your story so you can prove you’re a good fit for the job.

Identify Your Relevant Skills

The first step to a great career story is to outline your best skills and accomplishments. What do you want people to know about your work history? How can you explain what you’ve done in your past in a way that convinces your target employer to want to hire you? You need to understand what you offer before you can decide how to market yourself. Think about examples of times when you navigated problems and challenges at work and when you delivered measurable results.

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One easy way to help you decide on a focus for your story is to study the job descriptions that interest you. Highlight all of the skills listed on the job description you’ve used. Use the highlighted skills to help you decide what parts of your story will interest the employer.

Mold Your Stories

With a list of skills and accomplishments that interest the employer, you can begin to outline your career story for each part of your job search.

Networking. Share your story in person and online. Showcase your best skills in your LinkedIn profile. Use the “Summary” to feature a conversational bio demonstrating what you do and why you’re good at it. You can use the first person (I, me or my) in the summary to speak directly to readers in LinkedIn. For example, if you’re in customer service, may say, “Growing up, I always helped all of my friends solve their problems. Today, I do it for a living.” When you meet in person, remember to tell your story succinctly and directly. No one is interested in long, drawn out tales about your skills and background. Narrow your story to a quick “pitch” of about 30-40 words at the most.

In your resume. All of your bullet points should focus on your career story. Include important information about how you solved problems by using the “PAR” method; include details about the problem, the action you took and the results you created. Focus extensively on the job description and incorporate keywords that match the employer’s needs when you explain why you are a good match.

In the interview. Don’t schedule an interview until you’re ready with several stories that will address typical interview questions. Use the “PAR” approach when you prepare so you’ll be able to discuss problems you’ve solved, explain how (what actions you took) and discuss results during the interview. Spend the majority of your time explaining how you overcame the problem and the rest of your time detailing the results of your efforts. Ideally, you’ll mention the long-term impact you had on your organization. For example, “One year later, the office is still following the protocols I instituted.”

Remember, in all cases, be brief, focus on results, address the items the employer wants to know and practice your stories so you’re able to flexibly adjust based on the situation and question. Once you identify the stories to tell, you’ll be well on your way to job search success!

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How social networking helps you get a job

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ComputerDo you consider your job search a marketing effort? Ultimately, you must market (or sell) yourself. Social networking tools provide great resources to allow you to market on your skills and accomplishments as your “product.” As more people join what’s known as the “gig” economy, in which jobs resemble a series of short-term stints instead of dedicated work to one organization, it will become even more important to learn how to market yourself.

Some ways social networking may help you land a job:

  • Your social media streams can demonstrate your good judgement. Focus on professional photos and content.
  • Demonstrate your expertise. People who wouldn’t otherwise know you can learn about what you know.
  • Grow your network and meet new people.
  • Learn new information.
  • Tell your story so no one can steal your thunder.
  • Use social media to sharpen your message.

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