Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Need a Roadmap to Drive Your Career Bus?

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Since this week’s posts have been about managing your time and focusing on your job hunting goals, it is a good time to share information about a resource developed by my new cyber-friend, Jason Alba: Jibber Jobber.

Jibber Jobber is an online tool with both free and paid features. Need help keeping up with where you’re applying for jobs? Need to track when to follow-up with employers or networking contacts? Jibber Jobber is for you! This is how Jason describes some of Jibber Jobber’s features:

Jibber Jobber allows you to keep track of all of the information that you collect during a job search. Track the companies that you apply to. Track each job that you apply for, and log the status of each job (date first interview, thank you letter sent, etc.). Want to know where you sent your different resumes? Jibber Jobber can track all this and more!

But then you need to go a step further – work on those relationships. Jibber Jobber allows you to track the relationship with each person, log important information about your contacts, and manage the relationship as it is enhanced. Keeping track of these relationships, and proactively working on your network may be the most important thing you do to help you land your next job.

For an explanation of the differences between the free and premium services, click here.

In addition to creating Jibber Jobber, Jason is an expert in social networking and the author of the books, I’m On Linkedin, Now What? and I’m On Facebook – Now What? After following Jason on Twitter and keeping up with his blog, I recently had an opportunity to speak to him about his business and how he hopes to help people who need help organizing their job hunts and managing their contacts.

His goal is to “Help people who want to manage their career.”  In addition, having experienced a job loss that served as the impetus for starting this business several years ago, Jason hopes to help people understand what it means to manage their own careers. He uses his blog to help educate readers about career management and provides ideas, resources and inspiration to everyone who has a job and/or a career!

I’m sure anyone involved in a job hunt can benefit from investigating Jibber Jobber and by taking advantage of its great tools! Take a look at Jibber Jobber and let me know what you think!

If you want to receive free up-to-date tips to help with your job hunt, Click here to subscribe to receive future blogs sent directly to you!

Need more help with your job hunt? Keppie Careers will assist you every step of the way! From a great resume to step-by-step job hunting assistance – Keppie Careers is here for you! www.keppiecareers.com.

Photo by ChinCillaVilla

The Secret to Goal Setting and Driving Your Own Career Bus

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I admit that I was a bit skeptical when I first read the hype surrounding the book and movie The Secret. However, upon reflection, I believe the ideas in The Secret can be useful and empowering to job seekers.

For those not familiar, The Secret involves the belief that the universe will send you what you ask of it. In other words, believe it and it will come. Entrepreneur, public speaker and business coach, Jane Pollak suggests actually writing down your goals and carrying them with you on a daily basis. She notes in her blog, Leading, “That act alone has made enormous differences for me personally as I continue to meet my goals.”

So, as we move deeper into the dog days of summer…Consider listing some goals and carrying them with you in your wallet. Take a look at them when you’re waiting in line or stuck in traffic. You never know – this type of focus could be the difference between achieving your goals and staying stuck! Drive your own career bus!

Keppie Careers will help get you unstuck! A job hunt is hard work, but we are here to support you every step of the way. Let us know how we can help you…Need a resume? Don’t know where to begin? www.keppiecareers.com.

Photo by Steve Took It

Fight Age Discrimination in Your Job Hunt – Manage Your Digital Footprint

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You thought social media was for the “kids?” Blogging, Twitter, Facebook…You don’t have time to engage online with a bunch of people – you’re busy with your job hunt! Think again!

Yesterday, I posted about the value of social networking for the job seeker. Then, as I usually do, I went through my blogroll to see what’s out there in the career space. Coincidentally, Marci Alboher’s blog for the New York Times, Shifting Careers, reminded readers of another great benefit of getting involved with social media such as blogging, Twitter, Facebook, linkedin, etc. It can help keep you looking young in a job market with a tendency to discriminate against older workers.

If you haven’t looked for a job in a while and/or aren’t tuned in to managing your “digital footprint” – what comes up when someone “Googles” your name – it’s time for a quick lesson in social media. The long and the short of it is this: an online presence is key to how people will perceive you. Especially if you are in a “young” industry that discriminates against workers over 40, appearing connected to new ways of presenting yourself (your brand, as it were), may help you open doors that seemed closed.

Take a look at Marci’s blog…It tells the story of a 49-year old entertainment reporter who remade her image by freshening up her appearance and wardrobe and creating a hip online presence that made her seem younger than would belie her 20 years of industry experience. She hired people to help her, which is a great idea, but Marci points out that asking fashion conscious friends and teenagers (your children or others’) for advice and information about trends and technology is another option.

The key factor is, no matter how much experience you have, it is important to keep up with what is going on in today’s job market. Video resumes, Wikis, video conferencing, Second Life, podcasts…Job seekers should be aware of these technologies and willing to use them! Be resourceful and aware – you may be surprised to learn that Web 2.0tools can be a lot of fun and helpful beyond networking and job seeking. (Be sure to let me know when you start using a Wiki to plan your next potluck!)

Facing discrimination in your job hunt? We can write your resume to make you look younger. Need help navigating social media and online networking? Keppie Careers is here for you!

If you want to receive free up-to-date tips to help with your job hunt, Click here to subscribe to receive future blogs sent directly to you!

photo by Sarah Camp

No Time! (Like the Present)

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I recently attended a networking event with other business owners. Typically, I pitch Keppie Careers and let everyone know that I write resumes and how I can help those seeking jobs gain clarity and confidence about the job search process.

In addition, to take my own advice to always let networking contacts know how I can help THEM (networking should always be a two-way street), I mention that I am very involved in social networking, blogging and Twitter and that I’m happy to talk about linkedin.com and ways to grow a business using online tools.

When I share this information, inevitably, someone comes up to me to inquire about the TIME it takes to get involved in social networking. Yes, there is a time commitment. Yes, it is worth it!

The same advice applies to job seekers as entrepreneurs:

There are many ways to invest in your career. Investing time to discover and use the most effective online resources is key to success. Once you determine the right tools for you, you want to optimize those tools and leverage them to help you achieve your goals. Writing a half-baked linkedin profile with typos isn’t going to get you far, but putting together a top-notch summary of your skills and accomplishments has the potential to really propel your search to the next level!

Let Keppie Careers help you with your job hunt. Need a great resume? A top-of-the-line linkedin profile? We can help! www.keppiecareers.com.

Photo by Toni VC

Another Reason Not to Spend A Lot of Time on Job Boards

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Have you been spending a lot of your job search time online, looking for job postings and applying for opportunities listed on large job boards? Do you ever believe that your application is going straight into a black hole?

I discourage my clients from spending very much time replying to online job boards. Some recruiters post jobs they may not be filling immediately (or ever), and applications actually may be going into resume limbo.

While there are people who land jobs from sending an online resume, the majority of successful job seekers find opportunities via networking.

Another important point to remember: Organizations like to hire people who AREN’T looking for a job! How ironic is that? Passive job seekers are desirable for the same reason that some people like to date a partner who is “hard to get.” Obviously, posting on a job board isn’t a great way to attract passive job hunters! I’ve written about how linkedin is filling this need for a passive job seeker database for many employers. Some expect it to replace big job boards such as “Monster.”

Yesterday, I read compelling information from Alison Doyle, who just celebrated 10 years of writing the Job Search blog for about.com. Alison reported that job posting online is declining. She points out that the Conference Board notes that is is the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year decline.

Alison says:

Monster’s job postings were down 18% in April and 21% in May. Overall, The Conference Board reported that online job postings dropped 13% in May.

Some of it is, of course, due to the difficult economy and less hiring in a soft job market.

That’s only part of what’s happening. There is also a trend towards actively recruiting candidates on professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Which is why it’s important to make sure employers can find you when you’re job searching.

(Regular readers know that I love to link to other experts who agree with my advice!)

Keep this in mind the next time you sit down to apply for 100 jobs online – employers are shifting their focus, and so should you! This is yet another reason to enhance your linkedin profile. You don’t want a typo or sub-par linkedin description to discourage potential employers from contacting you. Keywords are just as important to your linkedin summary as in your resume! Keppie Careers is happy to help enhance your profile for success….Just email your inquiry to: [email protected].

In a rapidly changing job seeking environment, it is hard to keep up with the latest trends to conduct a well-designed job hunt. Who has time? We do! Keppie Careers will write your resume and navigate you through the difficult waters that a job search may present. Contact us: [email protected].

photo by: jurvetson