Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Have social networking for job search questions? Join me at the Decatur, GA Book Festival

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If you’re in the Atlanta area, you may already be familiar with the Decatur Book Festival. The web site calls it the “largest independent book festival in the country.” I’ve attended for the past several years, and always enjoyed the variety of activities, vendors, authors and information available.

This year, I have a book to sell, and I am delighted to announce I’ll be in the Atlanta-Fulton County Library’s booth (#127) selling Social Networking for Career Success on Saturday from 2 – 4 pm (or later, if I have lots of visitors).

When you buy my book directly from me, I’ll send you a free copy of my Google+ Guide, a $6.95 value!

The library will also have crafts and storytelling for children, library card sign-up and information about what’s going on at their 34 branches

Please stop by to visit, ask questions about how to use social networking for career success and to pick up a copy of my book and Google+ Guide!

Learn more about what’s going on at the Festival on their website, and be sure to stop by the Atlanta-Fulton County Library’s booth on Saturday from 2-4 to meet me!

Improve your resume by asking yourself, “So what?”

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Last week, I had a chance to join CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield on the air to provide tips for job seekers. We went over some “before” and “after” resumes. Here’s part 2 of a several-part series dedicated to improving your resume. (Don’t miss part 1, showcasing resume headers.)

OLD RESUME

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

Managing Web Editor, XYZ Company
New York, NY  March 2008 – Present

-Manage high-traffic Web site for 1.5-million member organization.

-Edit and write content for Web magazine, marketing materials and internal memos and reports.

-Project manager for Web site overhaul. This includes planning and testing design, navigation and developing streamlined functionality to stimulate e-commerce activities.

How could this description be improved?

  • Underlines look dated. Usually, you’ll only include months in the date section if the experience was one year or less.
  • Bullet points shouldn’t just list WHAT you did, but focus on HOW you did it so it relates to the employer. Decide what they need you to do and show that on your resume. Ask yourself, “SO WHAT?” for every bullet point and provide an answer in your resume. Incorporate skills and accomplishments when giving the answer.
  • Be sure all bullets are consistent – parallel tense. Begin each with a verb: manage, edit and “project manager” don’t match.
  • Don’t make your resume a laundry list of “stuff” you’ve done.

NEW RESUME

CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS

Managing Web Editor, XYZ Company  New York, NY   2008 – Present

  • Analyzed site traffic using Google Analytics, Lyris HQ Agency Edition and SiteCatalyst. Identified strategic patterns, trends and popular content and recommended changes to site, resulting in 17% increase in page views in only three months.
  • Supervised site’s overhaul in compliance with company’s goals. Conducted needs assessment, identified market opportunities and planned and tested design, which stimulated e-commerce and increased profitability from $15M to $20M in 2010.
  • Authored content for Web and email newsletters and created and recorded podcasts highlighting organization’s mission. Management attributed increased membership rates to high-quality online and audio content.

What is better about this description?

  • Decide if your title or the organization name is more important. In this case, the resume focuses the reader on job titles. Be consistent across the entire resume.
  • Incorporate details important to the employer. Use key words (for example, the names of the programs to analyze site traffic).
  • Show your impact – use $ amounts, %ages and other numbers when possible. (These answer the question, “So what?”)

photo by y-a-n

Stay tuned for another post with resume tips!

 

 

Overcome job search frustration by making some changes in your job hunting routine

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Whether we are in for another recession or not, if you’re looking for a job, the economic news is a little scary. A recent job fair in Atlanta attracted so many participants, people waited outside in the heat for hours, just to get in the door. Many left, frustrated, because they were told to apply online.

Last week, I joined CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield on the air to share some tips with job seekers. (Stay tuned for a link to the segment.)

Here are some tips to help you change directions if things aren’t going well.

Biggest job seeker mistakes:

  • Using the same resume to apply for every job and not personalizing it for employers’ needs. You need to spoon feed your resume to the employer. If you aren’t customizing it, you’re doing the equivalent of feeding a toothless infant a whole apple — she’ll likely use it to play a game of “drop and get.” Ideally, you’ll offer applesauce to a baby, and a resume detailing what you can do to solve the employer’s problems.
  • Applying for the wrong jobs. It’s tempting to apply for “just any job.” After all, YOU know you can do anything, right? It’s possible you can, but writing to an employer with a broad statement offering to be interviewed for “any” job is a recipe for disaster. The employer doesn’t know what to do with you and thinks you are desperate. In other words, you don’t hear back.
  • Ignoring social media resources or assuming they won’t make a difference. How many job seekers have been looking for work for over a year, but have never even tried using LinkedIn, Twitter or even Facebook to see how social media may help get them out of their job hunting rut? Too many, in my opinion. Using social media well is a big step in the right direction.

How to best use social media

  • Choose the best networks for you – the ones that highlight and show off your skills. For example, if you love to write (and you’re a good writer), a blog might be great for you. If you’re a better talker, consider creating an online radio program. I outline many different social networks in my book, Social Networking for Career Success.
  • Completely fill out your profiles using key words – the words people will use to find someone who does your type of work. It’s important to do this well so it’s easier for people who may want to hire someone with your skills to find you.
  • Find people online in your field of work. Use the various search tools in the different networks to identify potential contacts. For example, in LinkedIn, use “advanced search” to locate contacts and join groups pertaining to your interests. Use Listorious.com and WeFollow.com to find people with common interests using Twitter. See what they are saying online, respond, add to the conversation. Try to become known as a person who is “in the know,” is friendly and giving. Do not ask for job leads until you establish a relationship. You may be surprised by how generous your new online contacts are!

In my next post, I share “before” and “after” resume samples and provide specific tips to help update your resume.

How can Google+ help with your job hunt?

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Have you been trying out Google+ for your job hunt? It promises to be an important addition to social networking strategies for job seekers, and it’s important to try to keep on top of opportunities to engage and grow your communities and to learn new information via online tools. I believe there are three big reasons to use social media:

  • To expand the number of people you know and who know you.
  • To learn new information pertinent to your field from mentors and thought leaders, and
  • To illustrate your expertise with a community of people who may connect you to opportunities based on learning about you and what you know.

Google+ allows users to accomplish all of these goals in similar ways to other networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn; it very easy to open up pathways to connect with people you’ve never met and to engage in an in-depth conversation. This engagement compares, in many ways, to Twitter, where it is possible to connect, meet, and learn from people you don’t already know, without barriers requiring introductions.

Google+’s value add is the fact that Google controls much of search traffic. Any tie to being “found” online and any boost Google+ may provide gives this new network extra value.

Read my post on Job-Hunt.org for tips to use Google+’s features, including your Google profile, “circles,” “sparks” and “hangouts.” Stay tuned for information about the Career+ Chat, sponsored via the Career Collective (and friends).

How to make it easier to find you – in Google+ and via Google profiles

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You’re starting to think Google+ may be a good use of your social networking time? If you read Kelly Dingee’s post on Fistful of Talent about why she’s excited about using Google+ and Google profiles for recruiting, you should be!

One of the big reasons to use social media is to help you find people you want to know. I wrote about how to find people on Google+. Be sure to take a look at my post, because it gives you the tools to figure out the next important piece of the social networking puzzle: How to BE found!

Your Google profile (which you probably own but don’t pay much attention) is important. If you’re not already on Google+, you can find your profile via Google profiles: http://www.google.com/profiles.

If you are already on Google+, you can start to test out how easy (or difficult) it is to find you via your profile by searching the various tools I listed in the “how to find people on Google+ post.”Think of the keywords you want people to use to find you. Are you a graphic artist working mostly in Atlanta?  Search, {“graphic artist” and “Atlanta”}. How many pages does it take to find your profile?

Identify the keywords you want people to use to find you. (Follow that link for advice about how.) Maybe your location is not important, but the fact you design custom Facebook pages? Decide your KEY keywords.

NOW – pack your Google profile with those words. Similar to LinkedIn, where it is easier to find you if you include keywords in your titles, descriptions, skills, etc., it appears Google will index you higher in search if your profile is packed with your keywords. List all of your titles. Include professional associations. List anything including keywords in your profile.

A trick?

Google doesn’t offer a “keywords” section to “tag” yourself in the profile, which would be similar to LinkedIn’s “specialties” section, where it is appropriate to list words and phrases relevant to you. Why not add one in?

In your “Introduction” section, add KEYWORDS: and then fill in all the words and phrases you think will help people find you in search. I did it, and it immediately impacted my search results in Google+. Take a look at my profile.

Try a “before” and “after” search to see if your rankings improve. Let me know how it works for you!

photo by Auntie P