Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

What does Starbucks’ new logo have to do with your job search?

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It’s all the buzz in the Twittersphere – Starbucks, the legendary coffee company – is changing its logo. As you can see in the image, the most recent transformation (bottom/right) leaves off the Starbucks name and seems to try to disassociate it from its coffee roots.

A Reuter’s article quotes Starbucks‘  Chief Executive Howard Schultz as saying, “Even though we have been, and always will be, a coffee company and retailer, it’s possible we’ll have other products with our name on it and no coffee in it.”

It’s not unusual for brand loyalists to revolt when a company makes a major change like this (for example, GAP recently ditched its new logo due to pressure on social media channels). But a new logo without the company name? That is an interesting move.

The Reuters article quoted James Gregory, chief executive of brand consulting firm CoreBrand:

“I think it’s nuts,” he said.  “What’s it going to be — the coffee formerly known as Starbucks?”

The new logo probably will not hurt cafe sales in the near term because most Starbucks customers are enthusiasts, Gregory said. But, he said, a nameless logo was a bad fit for Starbucks products sold by grocery stores and other retailers.

“There you’re dealing with people who aren’t enthusiasts. You’re looking at something that’s almost generic, and it’s not shouting out as something that is Starbucks.”

THAT (bolded) is the quote that really grabbed me, and convinced me to jump on the bandwagon and write about this issue. (Which, admittedly, as many on Twitter have noted, is not a matter of life and death.)

If you’re a typical job seeker, you can’t do what Starbucks is doing — go generic. They are banking on the fact that enough people recognize their logo and brand that they do not even need a name to go with it. Is that what you are doing? Maybe your resume and job search materials are okay if you already know the person you need to meet. (Akin to a Starbucks loyalist shopping in a grocery store who sees a new product, with the nameless logo, but automatically makes the association that it is a trusted brand’s item.)

Going generic is a big gamble, as Gregory noted in his comments. It might work for current customers/people who already are “sold” on you, but, unfortunately, job hunting today is more about impressing the people who DON’T know you already. The people who are NOT already your fans. What are you doing with your materials (and your networking efforts) to impress them?

This situation is a great reminder to job seekers and everyone planning to manage a successful career: look at YOUR materials (they are, essentially, your logo). Look at your resume, LinkedIn profile, social networking bios — are you generic? If you have not already built a name for yourself to the point that employers are knocking on your door, you cannot afford the equivalent of a logo with no name. (It’s possible that it’s not even a good idea for an otherwise very established brand like Starbucks; only time will tell.)

Stay tuned to the blog for tips and tricks to help you stand out online and in person! (And maybe a blog about how Starbucks may be trying to do the equivalent of a career change — and what you can learn from that!)

Best Careers for 2011

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Following job trends has some advantages. I report on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Careers” article every year. (This year, I am excited to announce that I’ve been invited to join U.S. News’ team of career bloggers — starting in mid-January!) In my many years following this report, categories often do not change very much from year to year. That is a good thing for anyone using the list to make a career choice!

For example, the article notes that “All of the healthcare jobs on last year’s list have made the cut again this year, plus two new positions: massage therapist and athletic trainer. While the field of athletic training doesn’t offer the sheer number of positions as nursing or dental hygiene, it outranks nearly all other healthcare occupations for expected job growth.”

It’s important to remember that jobs on this list are not necessarily easy to land! Although jobs are cut from the list if they have a higher-than average unemployment rate, the article notes that, with 9.6% unemployment, there are still (statistically) five unemployed people for every job, compared to an average of 1.7 people for every job in the three years before the recession.

Do Your Research

Every job seeker should keep an eye on his or her industry and make plans for the future with an informed outlook. I like to remind readers that it’s a good idea to set a Google alert for organizations and fields of interest to you so you’ll be aware when there are newsworthy ups and downs in your market. Clearly, there are trends in industries. While there are no guarantees, keeping an eye on these surveys and data should help direct those seeking career change make their plans.

Learn what you can about the number of job opportunities, salary expectations, educational requirements, job satisfaction — make a list of what is important to you and conduct a personal analysis to determine a good direction for your career.

Luckily, there are more and more resources every day to help you with your research.

You can go “old school” and talk to people you know or people they know via informational interviews. Or, expand your networking circle by using Twitter to research your job, LinkedIn to connect with new colleagues, Facebook (via BranchOut or Jibe) and Quora to meet new people who may have advice, information or recommendations for you.

Learn what blogs are popular and respected in your niche (I like to use Alltop.com as a great resource) and find out what your mentors are saying. Find them on Twitter (WeFollow.com is my favorite list for Twitter) and learn who they talk to, what conferences they attend (and what they think of the speakers).

Hop on a Twitter chat to connect with people in your targeted industry. Before you know it — with skill and persistence — you can become one of them! (Read this story of someone who has decided to lead the way in his industry, even if his colleagues are not already joining him on social media.)

Clearly, there are many, many ways to learn what everyone is saying and — most importantly — to insert yourself into the conversations (via participating in social media, meeting local colleagues, attending professional conferences, etc.) to really get to know about a field.

Here is U.S. News & World Report’s list of top jobs for 2011, broken down by categories considered promising growth fields:

Science and Technology

– Biomedical engineer

– Civil engineer

– Computer software engineer

– Computer support specialist

– Computer systems analyst

– Environmental engineering technician

– Environmental science technician

– Hydrologist

– Meteorologist

– Network architect

Health care

 

– Athletic trainer

– Dental hygienist

– Lab technician

– Massage therapist

– Occupational therapist

– Optometrist

– Physician assistant

– Physical therapist

– Physical therapist assistant

– Radiologic technologist

– Registered nurse

– School psychologist

– Veterinarian

Social Service

– Clergy

– Court reporter

– Education administrator

– Emergency management specialist

– Firefighter

– Marriage and family therapist

– Mediator

– Medical and public health social worker

– Special-education teacher

– Urban planner

Business and Finance

– Accountant

– Actuary

– Financial adviser

– Financial analyst

– Logistician

– Meeting planner

– Public relations specialist

– Sales manager

– Training specialist

Creative and Service

– Commercial pilot

– Curator

– Film and video editor

– Gaming manager

– Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration technician

– Interpreter/Translator

– Multimedia artist

– Technical writer

Be sure to review U.S. News’ entire, informative article outlining the various opportunities and their methodology.

Please comment if you know anything about these professions! Would you recommend them? What are your experiences? Share in the comments!

Don’t forget that clear, concise, optimized job search materials AND a strong, well executed plan are key for job search success! I can help with every part of your job hunt! Need a great resume? Tips to use social networking? Interview coaching?  If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans, learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, don’t forget those social networks! Be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community! Since we’re on the subject of doing something new…Are you on Twitter? Jump on and touch base with me @keppie_careers.

photo by Court reporter

Keppie Careers selected a “Monster 11 for 2011” best job seeker resource

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Somewhat ironically (maybe?) my friend Hannah Morgan, also known as @CareerSherpa, posted a blog yesterday acknowledging that it is important to take credit where credit is due, about the best way to keep track of your accomplishments at work. For those of us who aren’t about tooting our own horn, this is a good reminder.

Why is Hannah’s timing ironic? It was posted the same day that Monster.com announced “The Monster 11 for 2011: Career Experts Who Can Help Your Job Search.” I was thrilled and flattered to be named to the list, along with my good friends Hannah and Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter (@valueintowords) as well as  colleagues: Heather Huhman (@heatherhuhman) (all also of the Career Collective), Penelope Trunk (@brazencareerist), Eve Tahmincioglu (who tweets in rhyme @careerdiva), J.T. O’Donnell (@careerealism), Chris Perry (@careerrocketeer), Donna Svei (@avidcareerist), Abby Kohut (@absolutely_abby) and Louise Fletcher (@louise_fletcher).

As Monster notes, there are many, many other great career pros who write and tweet advice for job seekers. (Be sure to follow the #CareerCollective hashtag for some of them!) I am proud to have been named on this list with these terrific colleagues. I’ll use this post to help me track my accomplishment, as Hannah suggests. Have you considered creating a blog or website to help you track and share your milestone career moments? Contact me….I am creating a product to help you do just that – even if you don’t know anything about starting a blog or creating a site!

Monster suggests you follow them on Twitter: @HotJobs_editor or @MonsterCareers, where they often reference these and other career experts’ work! Also, be sure to check out Monster’s HR and Recruitment Bloggers top 11 for 2011 list. It was exciting to see so many of my Twitter friends and colleagues listed there.

photo by unfurl

http://monster.typepad.com/monsterblog/2010/12/monster-11-for-2011.html

Keep upbeat to improve your chances of landing a job: here’s how

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I recently noticed some of my friends on Facebook taking advantage of apps such as “my year in status” that analyze their status updates and list out their top-used words. If you use Facebook, no doubt you’ve seen this, too. How would your updates look? We all have friends who seem to post about their every headache and punctuate every status update with “UGH” and similar exclamations that tend to be negative. Then, there are those whose posts stand out because they are always positive – and hopeful – even when facing really tough circumstances, including illness and joblessness.

Think about it. Are you more likely to want to hire Debbie Downer or Sally Sunshine?

Clearly, it is easy to feel discouraged and hopeless if you are in the midst of an unsuccessful job hunt.

Eve Tahmincioglu recently wrote about the issue of hopelessness in her MSNBC column:

The nation’s jobless rate has been hovering near 10 percent for many months now, but one of the most disturbing statistics is that as of October, 6.2 million, or four in 10 unemployed Americans, had been out of work for 27 weeks or more. That’s the highest number on record, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, keep in mind, as Eve notes in her post: “Feeling hopeless — and appearing hopeless to others — can actually keep you from landing a job, according to Savitri Dixon-Saxon, associate dean of the School of Counseling and Social Service at Walden University.”

A study led by Ron Kaniel of Duke and reported in MIT Sloan Management Review found that “Optimists fared better than their less-optimistic peers in some important ways…For one thing, the optimistically inclined MBA students found comparable jobs to their peers — but found them more easily, with less-intensive job searches.  Even better, two years after graduation the optimists were more likely than their less-optimistic peers to have been promoted.” (Hat tip: Maggie Mistal.)

Sandra Naiman, author of The High Achiever’s Secret Codebook: The Unwritten Rules for Success at Work, points out that while this certainly is a challenging time, there are steps that can help people stay upbeat. “The key is to engage in activities that provide self-satisfaction and build self esteem,” she says. She offers the following suggestions:

  • Engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself.
  • Achieve tangible results. It can be as simple as cleaning out a closet, organizing the garage or waxing the car. It can also be related to volunteer or family activities, such as writing a neighborhood watch newsletter or making cookies with the kids. Make sure, that at the end of each day, you can point to something you accomplished.
  • Surround yourself with positive, supportive people. Avoid the people who always see the glass as half empty or those who drain your energy.
  • Keep promises to yourself.
  • Reward yourself. Children aren’t the only ones who need a “gold star” at the end of the day.
  • Follow a healthy routine. Eat well, exercise and take good care of your body.
  • Allow yourself some down time. You can’t be up and optimistic all the time, so give yourself permission to have a bad day. If you diligently follow the above suggestions, you can count on tomorrow to be better.

Read more suggestions:

Stay positive and upbeat while job hunting

You control your job hunting destiny

It might be easier to stay positive if you have a coach in your corner! Need help getting your job search jump started? Not sure you can put all of the great tools at your disposal to good use? Need a great resume? Learn how I can help you propel your job hunt forward.

photo by Proggie

Should you eliminate buzzwords from your resume and online profiles?

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Job seekers can find a lot of “do” and “don’t” posts about their job hunt. Some of it is good advice, and other, while well meaning, may actually lead job hunters down the wrong path. A good case in point, LinkedIn’s recent post advising job seekers to avoid including any of the top 10 “buzz words” words in their profiles.

These are the most popular “overused buzzwords” in LinkedIn profiles in the U.S.:

1. Extensive experience
2. Innovative
3. Motivated
4. Results-oriented
5. Dynamic
6. Proven track record
7. Team player
8. Fast-paced
9. Problem solver
10. Entrepreneurial

LinkedIn also notes that popular words vary by region. (Not surprisingly!):

While members from the USA, Canada and Australia tend to emphasize their “extensive experience,” Brazilians, Indians and Spaniards identify themselves as “dynamic” professionals. Members in the UK call themselves more “motivated” and the French, the Germans, the Italians and the Dutch see themselves as “innovative.”

On the Career Trend blog, Rob Poindexter wrote about cliches, reacting to a news program, where all of the responses were trite:

Commentator:  What are your thoughts about the war in Afghanistan?
Panelist # 1:  All’s well that ends well.
Panelist # 2:  It’s not over ’til it’s over.
Panelist # 3:  One foot on a banana peel, the other in the grave.
Panelist # 4:  He who laughs last, laughs best.

Rob reminds readers not to let their resumes be a “cliche.” Absolutely good advice; you don’t want a resume that is nothing but buzzwords and devoid of quality content (like the commentators’ responses). But, is it time to do a search and destroy mission to eliminate all buzzwords from your resume and online profiles, as LinkedIn suggests?

Let’s think about it — why are these terms so popular? Because many of them describe exactly the type of person many employers want! So, take a step back and think about this before your revise your profile.

MSNBC’s career expert, Eve Tahmincioglu responded to LinkedIn’s post with a measured, and I believe appropriate answer. She asks, Are buzzwords really a bad thing?:

Admit it, you probably have one or two of these on your resume or LinkedIn profile. But is that really a bad thing? Who cares if they’re buzz words if they convey what you want?

I couldn’t agree more. Of course, if you read your profile and you list every single “cliche” without providing information that supports your claims, it’s probably time for a makeover. You need to show, not tell — focus your efforts on telling a story that is both about you and targeted to your next employer.

It’s not a good idea to “outlaw” words on resumes, even if they may be a little overused. Do I write resumes full of cliches? No, but I do target my clients’ resumes to their desired employers!

The most important thing to keep in mind is that your materials need to be as much about your employer as they are about you. Focus on their needs and make a clear case for why you have the skills and experience to accomplish their goals – and to solve their problems. Might that mean including a few buzzwords? I think so — there is a reason that buzzwords are buzzing! But, be sure your materials don’t sound like the seemingly unthinking, cliche-spewing commentators Rob mentioned in his Career Trend post.

LinkedIn suggests making your profile “more actionable,” which is a great idea, but I don’t think that simply “losing” all the buzzwords is the answer. “All things in moderation!” (I had to get at least one cliche in — but isn’t it true?)

What do you think? Do you have buzzwords in your materials? Will you be doing a search and destroy mission?

photo by autan