Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Considering relocating for job?

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If you are having a hard time finding a job, have you considered relocating? It’s not always an easy or obvious choice, but in some cases, being open to a relo may be just the change you need to land an opportunity.

Consider Indeed.com’s ranking of the “number of unemployed per job posting for the 50 most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S.” While these statistics can be a bit misleading (they indicate the number of jobs per the number of people without specifically taking into account the types of job), they list the following as the best U.S. cities to find work:

  • Washington D.C.
  • San Jose, CA
  • Baltimore, MD
  • New York, NY
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • Oklahoma City, Ut
  • Hartford, CT
  • Boston, MA
  • Seattle, WA
  • Austin, TX

Another recent listing of places to consider working is from a study reported by Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com/CNN by Apartments.com and CBcampus.com, which list the top 10 cities for new grads are:

  • 1. Atlanta – Average rent:* $723: Popular entry-level categories:** sales, marketing, customer service
  • 2. Phoenix – Average rent: $669: Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, training
  • 3. Denver- Average rent: $779: Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care
  • 4. Dallas – Average rent: $749: Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care
  • 5. Boston – Average rent: $1275: Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, training
  • 6. Philadelphia – Average rent: $938: Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, health care
  • 7. New York – Average rent: $1,366: Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, marketing
  • 8. Cincinnati – Average rent: $613: Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management
  • 9. Baltimore – Average rent: $1,041: Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management
  • 10. Los Angeles – Average rent: $1319: Popular entry-level categories: sales, training, health care

Anthony Balderrama, from CareerBuilder’s The Work Buzz suggests these questions to consider when evaluating a move:

  1. What is the entire cost of the move itself?
  2. What is the comprehensive cost of living adjustment?
  3. When is your last day on the old job and your first day of the new one?
  4. What are your career opportunities in this new city?
  5. What does saying “no” to the relocation mean for your career?
  6. If you’re switching employers, what are your career opportunities at the new company?
  7. Do you want to move?

Giving a move serious consideration? Be sure to visit the Riley Guide’s list of resources if you are planning to make a career move. Links include cost of living calculators as well as moving companies!

photo by mattindy77

Use SlideShare to demonstrate your expertise – and a free resource

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Have you considered using SlideShare as a tool in your career search arsenal? This network allows you to share presentations, documents and PDFs with a network of 25M monthly visitors. You can easily embed your SlideShare presentations on LinkedIn and via your blog or website, which helps you reach a potentially new audience.

SlideShare itself encourages you to share ideas, connect with others, and generate business leads via their site. These are some of the things you can do on SlideShare (per their site):

  • Embed slideshows into your own blog or website.
  • Share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share privately.
  • Synch audio to your slides.
  • Market your own event on slideshare.
  • Join groups to connect with SlideShare members who share your interests.
  • Download the original file

If you are a job seeker, you will want the most professional slides possible. I have a resource for you! (Note: I am affiliated with Fast Track Tools and work for Ken Revenaugh, the founder.)

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This week, they take on “flexibility” – an often overused term in business. This free template will help you stand out from the crowd when you incorporate flexibility as a concept in a presentation or slide show.

CLICK THROUGH TO SEE the free, downloadable template and subscribe to Fast Track Tool’s blog so you won’t miss any of the templates that are available for your use with no copyright limitations. Collect them all and you will have a slide library that really WOWs your audience.

You may also keep up with FastTrackTools via Twitter @fasttracktools and  join the Facebook community! Connecting will ensure you don’t miss special subscriber or “friend” only offers down the road.

Evidence that Twitter is important for job seekers

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Last week, I attended (and spoke) at the Career Management Alliance conference in New Orleans. It’s always great getting together with colleagues and meeting new friends, but one of my favorite things about conferences is that I come home with several blog post ideas!

One tidbit I found very share-worthy was from Paul Forster, CEO and Co-Founder of Indeed.com. Did you know that the word  “Twitter” is the fastest growing term to appear in job postings appearing in job boards? Take a look at this chart:

These were the top ten words found in job postings, per Indeed.com’s research:

1. Twitter
2. Cloud Computing
3. iPhone
4. Facebook
5. Corporate Social Responsibility
6. Blogger
7. Pediatrician
8. Hospitalist
9. Social Media
10. Speech Language Pathologist

To clarify, this does not indicate the number of jobs working FOR Twitter, but reminds us that companies who are seeking experience using Twitter (based on the fact that they include that word in their online job postings) has grown exponentially.

This list might lead you to believe that if you want a job, social media and the medical profession are two hot topics! You may also find industry trends, unemployed per job posting (by location), and job posting per capita via Indeed.com’s job trends section.

So, if you are hesitating to dive into Twitter or other social media tools because you think they are insignificant to your job hunt, you may want to reconsider.

Stay tuned for more advice and information from the conference!

photo from FactoryJoe

New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career

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The new year is a great time to think about reinventing yourself. So many people have been displaced from jobs and careers they enjoyed and hope to do again, but many are looking for the next new challenge. How perfect that Alexandra Levit’s new book, New Job, New You – A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career is launching this week!

If you are thinking of reinventing yourself – or even if you are not – the tales Alexandra shares are inspiring. The book offers story after story of people who successfully made changes in their careers and in their lives as a result of a variety of factors:

  • Family requirements
  • Need for independence
  • Desire to pursue additional learning
  • Financial aspirations
  • Pursuit of a passion
  • Personal or health setbacks
  • Honing a talent or skill

In each category, we learn the stories of regular people (just like us!) who have made a move. Just to list a few:

  • Automotive marketer to toy producer
  • Accountant to wedding planner
  • Wine connoisseur to thought leader promoter
  • Stockbroker to pajama manufacturer
  • Paralegal to advertising copywriter
  • Electronic sales executive to motivational speaker

If you have read other career books, but haven’t “seen” yourself in them – this book is a refreshing change. I imagine everyone will be able to identify with some of the stories here -  via the circumstances and/or the choices described.

The personal, sometimes moving, accounts of people who took the reigns of their professional lives may inspire you, but what makes this book so special and useful is that, for each of the categories above, Alexandra includes self-reflexive questions for potential career changes to consider.  She offers specific suggestions, action steps and exercises to help careerists evaluate a fit for the change and a capacity to make it happen successfully. To top it all off – each chapter includes a resource toolkit and suggestions of useful books to read.

I’ve enjoyed all of the books I’ve reviewed by Alexandra, but I think this one is exceptional – a real home run for anyone looking for advice or information to help them move to their “next best thing.” I hope you will pick up a copy for yourself and anyone you know who could use a shot of inspiration and advice! Don’t forget to visit the book’s site for information about special offers and giveaways and plan to attend the book launch party on January 12th if you are in the Chicago area and keep an eye on Alexandra’s blog for regular career advice and information.

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No matter what your job target, you can benefit from personalized advice! 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.

Job hunt stalled? A little preparation goes a long way

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Have you ever watched any of the popular shows that demonstrate how to make a recipe or bake something? Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray – they make it all look so easy. And, you can do it in 5 minutes or less. Presto – out comes a fully baked cake from the oven. Of course, any type of cooking or baking is a lot easier if someone first selects, cuts, chops and measures out the ingredients and cleans up for you after it is done.

I was thinking about this the other day. I have recently done a lot of entertaining (including all my own shopping, chopping and cooking), and I happened to have some extra cut up onions. Once I realized I had a “start” to dinner, it was so easy for me to get cooking. A sauce was brewing in no time at all – and no tears!

I know that job seekers who are able to “get everything ready” for their search feel the same way – that it isn’t so hard getting going once all of the “ingredients” are lined up (such as a resume, online profile and a plan). Of course, comparing a job hunt to making dinner is a stretch, but the concept is sound: getting things ready, having everything in order makes getting started easier.

If you are a job seeker (or soon-to-be job seeker) without everything in order (or maybe you don’t know where to start), Encore.org offers many terrific resources. Their mission revolves around helping people transition to jobs in the nonprofit world and the public sector, so this is a *must use* resource for anyone thinking of making that change.

I blogged about Encore.org’s “Get Started Guide,” and shared their quote from Herminia Ibarra, author of Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, (with regard to a career change) “Doing comes first, knowing second…It’s a transition, not a transaction.” (From Part One of the Guide.)

So – if you are thinking of a change, but don’t know where to get started – get doing!

Part Two of Encore.org’s Guide helps job seekers begin to answer the question, “What do I need to know about job hunting these days?” It offers a number of great resources for anyone considering making a change to a career that will help you contribute to a better world. Visit the site to download it for free!

Be sure to take a look at the stories of people who have made a transition to a career focused on helping others and you may just be inspired to take that road yourself!

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No matter what your job target, you can benefit from personalized advice! 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 bunchofpants