Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

30-Day Job Promotion – a review. Win a copy!

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30.day job promotionJ4475I am a big proponent of “driving your own career bus.” I believe that each individual maintains responsibility for his or her career path. Sometimes, driving your own career bus means identifying red flags at work that indicate a potential lay-off, sometimes it means finding a new job because you really hate the current position or because there are no growth opportunities. However, sometimes, driving your own career bus means purposefully seeking a promotion at your current job.

Some may ask, “Can I really work on getting a promotion? Isn’t it more about waiting for the good news from my boss?” If that is your approach, RUN, don’t walk to get a copy of 30-Day Job Promotion by Susan Britton Whitcomb. So much about your career is in your hands, and you need to have good information and advice to empower yourself to drive to the next stop in your career plan!

Susan takes the reader, step-by-step through a series of tasks and considerations. First stop? Figure out what the promotion will really do for you? Are you sure that is the job you want? The fact is, while you may have a more prestigious title and earn more money, it is important to consider how a promotion will impact your life and day-to-day happiness.

There are many important factors when considering seeking a promotion. A few covered in the book: timing and your promotability. With detailed charts, checklists and explanations, the author helps the reader uncover key issues and outline a game plan.

Susan reminds readers that being promoted is “all about value” (p. 132). You need to know it AND you must be able to communicate it well if you expect a positive result. Suggestions of what to research, sample scripts and success stories round out this useful book for anyone thinking about taking the next step in his or her career.

Win a copy of 30-Day Job Promotion by commenting here or on these blogs. Comment on all of the posts to improve your chances  in the random drawing!

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Secrets of the Job Hunt

If you’re thinking a new job is a better idea than a promotion, you may need some 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.

How to get an employer to review your resume – spoon feed it!

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spoonfeed2136507155_3b31d1f9ab_mYesterday, I reminded you that it’s  not a good idea to order your Chinese food in French. Or, more specifically, to use the language that your targeted employer will understand when writing your resume. Today, another food analogy:

Food analogy #2: You need to spoon feed the employer exactly what you have to offer.
In other words, you would not hand an infant with no teeth a whole apple to eat; he or she wouldn’t know what to do with it. (For the uninitiated, take my word for it here. The baby may just throw it back at you and still be hungry. And crying.)

Instead, you would offer applesauce and manipulate the spoon full directly into the infant’s mouth. Similarly, (see where I am going here?), you need to give the employer exactly what he or she needs and understands with regard to what you offer that will help him or her. Just like a baby couldn’t really care less about YOUR needs, your potential employer cares most about his or her own requirements and is not all that interested in what YOU want.

To extend the analogy, you better not be serving up green beans if the baby employer wants bananas! To top it off, the bananas need to be peeled and mashed and on the spoon if you want a chance to succeed.

So, two lessons from this analogy.

#1 – The resume is about the employer and how you directly fit what he or she wants. Spending a lot of time including things on your resume that are unrelated to the job at hand is only going to confuse the employer and make him or her wonder why you are interested in THIS job.

#2 – Don’t expect the employer to spend a lot of time figuring you out. If you aren’t making it easy to “eat” your resume – if you are passing crunchy apples when applesauce is preferred, you are not likely to pass the initial screen, no matter how great your underlying skills may be.

The fact is, recruiters and hiring managers are too busy to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your job is to break things down for them into easily digestible, bite-sized pieces AND spoon feed it directly to them. When you do make solid connections between what they want and what you offer, you will find that your search goes much better and your chances of landing an interview increase exponentially!

If you are ready for a change and could use some help with your search, follow THIS LINK to learn more about me and how we can work together!

photo by seandreilinger

Some takeaways for job seekers

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takeaways342261936_7ada1a750b_mEarlier this week, I was interviewed for the Career Success Radio show with Andy and Carrie Robinson. I love doing interviews, because they always inspire me to write about something that came up in the discussion.

In this case, Andy and Carrie asked me for some closing thoughts for their job seeking listeners to consider. How to sum up things for a job seeker in just a few minutes? For someone who writes (and tweets) about the topic daily, it’s a challenge to choose just a few topics.

There are jobs. If you optimize your search and your materials, “the economy” will not keep you from finding a job. It is easy to think that the situation is out of your control as a job seeker. However, I believe that job seekers control a lot more than they realize. I like to suggest that my clients “drive their own career bus.”

Do not ignore the power of social networking – the connections you can make online are only limited by the amount of time you have to pursue them. You may be surprised to learn that people you hardly know are willing to connect and provide you with information and contacts that are key to landing your next opportunity. Job seekers who shrug off LinkedIn and Twitter do so at their own risk.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a positive attitude and planning your search. Job seekers must take the reigns and be focused and purposeful. In my experience working with clients, those who plan are successful and those who leave things to chance experience a much longer than necessary search period. 

Finally, it’s important to ensure that your job search materials are up-to-date and optimized. If your resume isn’t targeted and packed with skills and accomplishments, it’s no wonder that you aren’t getting interviews! Does your LinkedIn profile match what you are saying on your resume? Are you taking advantage of all of LinkedIn’s features? If not, you are missing opportunities left and right!

Do you need help getting your search in gear? I can write your resume and teach you how to optimize your social networking to help you land the job you want. Contact me to see how I can help!

photo by artisan shooting

Change the way you navigate your job search

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lexus1756317452_5ca5508533_m1As a career coach and blogger, I am constantly seeking inspiration and looking for messages to convert into job search advice for my readers. So, when I watched a commercial for Lexus recently, one sound byte really resonated with me:

You can’t change traffic, so change the way you drive through it!

How true – there is so much that individuals do not control. The economy. The weather. The neighbors’ barking dogs. I bet someone once told you, “You can’t change other people, but you can change how you react to them.”

How much happier would we be if we stopped trying to change the things that we cannot alter and instead focused on what we do control – our responses?

The job market is a case in point. What if job seekers stopped “oh woe is me-ing” and instead focused on what they DO control – the way they navigate their searches. The playing field has changed, and it is important to adjust to the new terrain.

Here are some tips to help you take the wheel:

Draw Your Own Career Map

Identify your goals. You can’t get anywhere until you decide the destination! What characteristics and traits make you special? What are you (or do you hope to be) known for in your field?

Review trends and industries with career potential and determine if there are matches between your skills and interests and those fields. Instead of cursing a business with a shrinking job market, re-adjust, re-tool and re-train to take advantage of new possibilities.

Once you know your direction, optimize your resume. Be sure that it is skill and accomplishment focused, not a list of “stuff” you’ve done. (If you’ve been blaming your age or experience level (too much/not enough) for your lack of interviews, take a good look at your resume. It may be holding you back.)

Design Your Vehicle – Brand YOU!

Once you identify a destination – drive there! Learn how to position yourself as the expert in your field. Use all of the tools at your disposal to create a “vehicle” (your brand – it doesn’t have to be a Lexus!) that will drive you where you want to go.

If you haven’t looked for a job in a while and/or aren’t tuned in to managing your “digital footprint,” it’s time for a quick lesson in social media. Presenting yourself well both online and in person will help open previously closed doors. Optimize Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and other social networking tools to make connections and share information.

Take the Keys!

The key to a successful career is to network generously. There is nothing more important or more useful for your job search. Your success depends on your ability to broaden your professional circles and to reach out to a diverse socio-economic group of people. Professionals who habitually facilitate introductions earn goodwill and reputations as valuable resources and colleagues. Become that professional; it will help you overcome obstacles to career success.

Start the Ignition – Communicate Your Value

Your ability to promote, communicate and connect your value to colleagues and superiors is crucial. Hone this “soft” skill – practice your writing, emailing, speaking, interviewing and presenting skills. Join Toastmasters. Make a point to learn how to communicate well. When you can articulate why your role is vital, you will help secure your future.

Confidently Forge Ahead – Start Rolling

Adjust your rear-view mirror, but keep your eyes on the road! Move forward with your plans knowing that you DO control your career. Is it as easy as reading these steps? No, but if you follow this plan, you will be on your way to managing your job hunt and/or your career with finesse and aplomb!

Seize control of what you can! Don’t be a victim of circumstances. Drive your own career bus!

Have you been able to “drive your own career bus?” What made the difference for you?

If you haven’t changed the way you are “driving through” your career or job search, what is holding you back?

Let me know if I can help you by writing your resume, teaching you how to network or helping with your interview! Contact me.

You SHOULD be trying to find a job

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lemonade3216658902_5f786c4cc6_mGL Hoffman, author of the highly regarded blog, “What Would Dad Say,” contacted me to invite a reply to Seth Godin’s guest post on WWDS. In the post, Seth (the author of the most popular marketing blog in the world and 12 best-selling books) says that you shouldn’t try to get a job. His rationale:

There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the act of trying to get a job corrupts you. It pushes you to be average, to fit in and to do what you’re told.

The second is that this act moves the responsibility from you to that guy who didn’t hire you. It’s his fault. As soon as you start spending your day trying to please the guy, you’ve blown it.

The third is that the economy is terrible and the best jobs you’re going to get are lousy.

What does Seth suggest instead? Bon bons and a cruise on the Riviera? No. He says: Start a business. A tiny one.

Well, then.

This isn’t the first time I’ve disagreed with Seth. He caused a stir when he claimed that, if you are “remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular,” you don’t even need a resume. Certainly, there is a small percentage of the population who do not need a resume to land a job. You can probably come up with a set of names, the uber-business people and celebrities for whom opportunities come knocking. (I do agree that we should all aspire to develop a persona that will draw opportunities, but most people will still need a form of a resume for a job, even if it is a formality.)

For the same reason that “you don’t need a resume, you need to be remarkable” is advice that is suitable for a small percentage of the population, admonishing careerists that there are no good jobs and the only admirable thing to do is start a business similarly is good advice for a small percentage of the population.

The fact is, not everyone is well suited to being an entrepreneur. Brian O’Kane, author of Could You Be Your Own Boss says that research shows that successful entrepreneurs have:

  • Strong needs for control and independence
  • Drive and energy
  • Self-confidence
  • A point of view of money as a measure of performance
  • A tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty
  • A sense of social responsibility

and that they are good at:

  • Problem-solving
  • Setting (and achieving) goals and targets
  • Calculated risk-taking
  • Committing themselves for the long term
  • Dealing with failure
  • Using feedback
  • Taking the initiative
  • Seeking personal responsibility
  • Tapping and using resources
  • Competing against self-imposed standards.

Personality type also comes into play. Small Business Entrepreneurs suggests that the “ideal” Myers-Briggs type indicator for an entrepreneur is ENTJ, but having that uncommon type is no guarantee of business success and happiness.

All of this by way of suggesting that some people, even if they are remarkable, may not be well suited to running their own businesses. I don’t think that someone who would prefer to let someone else manage the big picture (and, let’s be honest – the headaches that come from running a business) are corrupt or average – far from it. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is key to success in business and in life. If you know you are not suited to running a business, it’s the last thing you should try to do.

Finally, I must address Seth’s suggestion that there are no good jobs available and that being an employee is about spending your day trying to please someone else. Provocative, but preposterous!

There ARE organizations who value their employees and encourage independent thinking. Read profiles of this type of company HERE and read about GreatPlaceJobs to learn how to easily search for jobs with award-winning employers.

Do I think that some job seekers should pull out all the stops to start a small business? Absolutely. I have advised a number of my clients to pursue that path. It’s not for everyone, though, and if it’s not for you, consider yourself self-aware and astute, not average and corrupt!

Convinced that finding a job is for you? I can help! Even if you are ready to start a new business, you still need a strong resume and online presence. Contact me to learn how to achieve your dreams!

photo by crazyunclejoe

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