Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Enhance Your Linkedin Profile for Job Seeking

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In light of the fact that linkedin has become a source of choice for people who love to hire passive job seekers (those who may not actually be seeking a new job), I thought it would be a good idea to remind readers to pay attention to your linkedin profile!

First, a note on visibility….

If you use linkedin, you know that your visibility goes up the more links you have. Your second- and third-degree connections help put your profile in front of more people. I am a 3rd degree link to all three candidates for President! (Yes, Obama, Clinton and McCain are all on linkedin!)

There are several ways to increase your connections:

  1. The preferred way is to link with friends and colleagues. When I started on linkedin, I convinced a friend who always sends mass emails to a g’zillion friends to join linkedin. In about a day, she had over 100 connections, all of which became my 2nd degree connections.
  2. Another easy way to increase your visibility is to link with a LION (linkedin open networker). These LIONS have over 500 connections and welcome any invitation to link. You gain visibility to all of their connections with the click of a mouse.

Your profile…

First things first – Be sure that anything in your profile is spelled and punctuated correctly! Typos scream “don’t hire me” to anyone with a critical eye. Have someone with an eagle eye proof your profile. (Keppie Careers will be happy to assist in revising or proofing your profile. Email me at [email protected] for details.)

Especially if you are looking for a job, focus your profile to include skills and experiences that will be of interest to potential employers. As with a resume, don’t just list what you did – help the reader envision you working for them by highlighting your skills and accomplishments. As you would with your resume, use active and interesting language.

Unlike a resume, you can use mini paragraphs in your profile. Keep it short – large blocks of text are hard to read. It should be somewhat conversational to grab the reader’s attention. It is okay to use “I, me or my” in your profile, unlike in a resume. (Don’t overdo it, though. You don’t want to appear self-centered!)

Make use of the “HEADLINE” feature. It goes right under your name and is the first thing people see. If you are a marketing professional, you can say so! Maybe you are a “Skilled problem solver and community builder.” Think of a tag line that grabs attention and describes you.

Be sure to edit your “Public Profile” to have a vanity URL (that has your name at the end).

I really like the “Summary” and “Specialties” sections. This is where you can briefly sum up what you offer. If you have a “Highlights of Qualifications” or an “Accomplishments Summary” section on your resume, it should be easy to transfer it to linkedin. The “Specialties” section is like a list of tags – keywords that describe you and your work.

If you have a website or blog, use the “other” category and name your site when you add the URL. Also, you can edit your linkedin URL in your profile to include your name.

Ask colleagues and clients to “recommend” you on linkedin. They can say all of the flowery, fabulous things about you that you can’t say about yourself! Only ask those you know will write a quality review. Most people will discount a poorly written recommendation.

Especially when you are job hunting, your linkedin profile may be your golden ticket. Make sure you keep it shiny!

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Keppie Careers will help you with every aspect of your job search…Resume writing, linkedin summary editing, interview prep, career coaching…Contact us to see how we can take your job search up a few notches! www.keppiecareers.com

Job Search Taking Too Long?

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In a recent post on nytimes.com, Eilene Zimmerman compiles a list of things to consider if your job search is going on much longer than you’d like.

Since this is such an important and timely topic, I thought I’d share these suggestions and my commentary!  Be sure to also read my previous blog, Tips if Your Job Search Goes On and On for more tips.

Zimmerman’s article suggests:

Ask for frank advice.  Do you have friends or colleagues who can offer a critique of your resume, professional presence and interview style?  Ask for their honest assessment.  (Miriam’s suggestion – consider hiring a career coach, as most people will not give you honest information.  Or, they don’t really have the answers that you need.)

Customize your resume. I have written about this topic frequently. You must target your resume and include keywords from the employer in your resume.  Many companies, especially large corporations, use computer software to review your resume.  The computer scans for key word matches. Mimic the language from the ad.  Use the organization’s website to inform you of the most important traits they seek.  Then, incorporate them into your resume.

Network. Zimmerman’s article reiterates the importance of asking for ADVICE, not for a job.  Informational interviews, during which you have an opportunity to learn about someone else’s career path and about their company, are KEY to the job hunt.  A great networking idea in the article:

Host a cocktail party and ask each of your friends to bring a friend that can aid in your job search,” said Michael Jalbert, president of MRINetwork, a recruitment firm in Philadelphia. “Gen Y is all about teams and sharing.”

Don’t forget online/social networking. I just wrote about how great linkedin is for the job seeker. Take advantage of opportunities to get your name and profile out.  If you are a good writer, consider starting a blog.  I’ve written about how having a blog is a great job seeking resource.  The Wall Street Journal article, How Blogs are Changing the Recruiting Landscape, reports that one recruitment manager spends one to two hours a week searching blogs for potential hires. In three years, blogs helped him fill 125 corporate jobs. Only take this on if you are willing to work at putting together something professional.  If your blog is sloppily done, it could hurt you.  Blogging about your industry can be a great way to gain a positive reputation.

Zimmerman’s article quotes Kurt Weyerhauser, managing partner of Kensington Stone, an executive search firm in California commenting on the issue of job seekers creating blogs.  He says,

“[Creating a blog] creates a pull strategy rather than a push strategy. Instead of waiting for a response to your resume, you create something — a blog with forward-thinking comments and concepts — and it draws others to you.”

I’ve written about how “passive” job seekers (people who aren’t actually applying for jobs) are desirable.  This “pull” strategy concept – you put something out and they will come – plays on the fact that companies seem to like to hire people who don’t come looking for jobs.

The last two points in Zimmerman’s article focus on the interview and the job seeker’s expectations:

Don’t talk so much about yourself in the interview.  Instead, research the organization’s problems and specifically comment on how you can solve them. Being a problem solver and offering specific examples will  help make you seem more attractive.

Qualify expectations. Looking for a job takes time. The higher up in the corporate food chain you hope to go, the longer it takes.  Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find something right away.

 

Review of Retire Retirement, by Tamara Erickson

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Regular readers know that I have been reviewing Tamara Erickson’s book, Retire Retirement. Although aimed at Boomers (born 1946 – 1964), the book offers insights that are useful across the generational alphabet!  Erickson’s research suggests that work culture will change in the next decade for several reasons:

1.  To accommodate Boomers seeking flexible, new experiences.  As the first generation with the realistic expectation of a 30-year healthy, active life after age 55, Boomers may engage in several new careers!

2. Because of Gen Y’s desire to have a work-life balance and refusal to join companies requiring 60-hour work weeks. 

(It seems as if Gen X doesn’t have much to say in this matter!)

Erickson makes the case that Boomers who wish to stay in the paid workforce will leverage a lot of power:

  • Boomer skills and experience are needed. Employers don’t want to experience the “brain drain” of Boomers retiring in droves.
  • Technology and a changing economy offer flexible ways of working.
  • Research shows that workers over 55 are more reliable and loyal than younger workers.

Erickson encourages readers to dream big and to think optimistically about their plans.  She believes that by 2025, more companies will embrace next-generation enterprises, which she describes as:

Intensely collaborative, continually informed, technologically adept and skilled at on-going experimentation…Companies will adopt flexible relationships and continual active connections to attract both talented employees and loyal customers (49).

As a result, she believes that employees should reasonably expect the following in the next 5 years:

  • Flexible time.  Changing shifts, compressed work week, individualized schedule.
  • Reduced time. Part-time, job sharing, leave-of-absence programs.
  • Cyclic time. Project-based or contract work.  Employees will focus on a project for a number of weeks or months, complete the work and then either take a break or move on to a new contract.  (Read more about this here.)
  • Flexible place. Telecommuting, no fixed location for work.
  • Task, not time. Instead of working 9 to 6, for example, employees would have a task and be required to put in only the time that it takes to get the work done.

Erickson offers specific strategies for Boomers to negotiate a new work plan.  She encourages this powerful and large group to reinvent themselves and dream big!  The book also outlines a myriad of ways for those seeking a brand new challenge (not with current or similar employers) to leverage their reputation, or “brand.”

Erickson emphasizes that responsibility for a new and improved work life is up to YOU!  Boomers (and future generations) need to plan in advance, position themselves and plot a course to navigate a desired career path.  Many successful workers will map their route years in advance and steer toward their goal.  Others will take advantage of unexpected opportunities.  Either way, a life’s worth of work impacts our options if we wish to work beyond traditional retirement age with the benefit of flexibility and personal choice.

If Erickson is correct about the changes coming to the workplace, Boomers, and younger generations as well should read Retire Retirement to begin to plan how to position themselves in a brave new working world!

Keppie Careers can help you achieve your career goals at any age!  Need a resume?  Job hunting help?  Keppie Careers will assist you every step of the way:  www.keppiecareers.com.

Interview Warning Signs

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When a company is hiring, an applicant should assume that they (the company) are on their “best behavior” during the process.  So, if arrangements are disorganized, interviewers seem unfriendly, people around the office seem unhappy or disgruntled, someone makes a snide remark about the boss or HR is unclear about the position’s duties – consider yourself forewarned.

In Watch for Interview Warning Signs, Liz Ryan echos this sentiment for BusinessWeek.

So often, job seekers, maybe desperate for a new opportunity (or any opportunity) or dazzled by a high salary, close their eyes to all of the red flags raised during the process.  DON’T DO IT!  If you aren’t treated well and with respect during the interview and negotiations, assume things will only get worse once you are on the payroll.

You can almost guarantee that the red flags you noticed but ignored during the process will come into play as an employee.  Unfortunately, the reverse guarantee isn’t true.  If everything smells like roses and proverbial harps play before you are hired, it is no guarantee that you’ve landed at Utopia, Inc.  Remember, everyone is on their best behavior!

Keppie Careers can help you land a new job!  Need help with your resume?  Practice interviewing?  www.keppiecareers.com

Read Any Good Books Lately?

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One of of the best parts of writing a blog is joining a community of bloggers and sharing ideas, opinions and sometimes games!  Today, Anita Bruzzese, blogger, columnist and author of 45 Things You Do that Drive Your Boss Crazy tagged me in what she calls a “new meme being passed around the blogosphere.”  

Anita describes the rules:

Find the book nearest to you, go to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence and then type the following three sentences. After that, you pass the message along to other people you want to bug… uh, get to contribute.

Anita’s contribution:
Of course, the book nearest me is my own, “45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy…and How to Avoid Them”:

Anything that has a “those people kind of edge to it should be ommitted from your language in the workplace.  Speak up if there a problem. If you find something a coworker says is insenstive, take the person aside and calmly say, “You know, you’re giving all women a bad name when you make sweeping, derogatory comments about men.” Focus on the behavior, not the person. Calling someone a racist or a bigot won’t get you anywhere — it will just erect more barriers.”

My contribution:
I have been reading a soon-to be-released book by Tamara Erickson, published by Harvard Business Press – Retire Retirement:  Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation.  This optimistic book takes a look at opportunities and changes that may be coming to the workplace as boomers reach retirement age:

Request a lateral move.  Lateral moves are a particular subset of fresh assignments that allow you to develop new skill sets, thus providing even greater scope of experience, and enhance learning more, than a new assignment based on your existing skill set.  Ideally a transfer sideways would be based on some mix of new knowledge and existing strong capabilities. Expect options to move laterally to become more common; with the changing shape of the workforce, vertical promotions – advancement up the hierarchy – will occur less frequently.

Stay tuned for a full review of Erickson’s book on this blog!

I’m going to pass this game on to some friends at Secrets of the Job Hunt:

Chris Russel of Jobs In Pods, Phil Rosenberg of Recareered  and Sam Blum of Razume.

Please, join in!

Keppie Careers will help make your job search possible!  www.keppiecareers.com