Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Improve your resume using these tips

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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 1 of a several-part series dedicated to brushing up and improving your resume.

Review these suggestions to see if there are any changes you may want to incorporate in your resume.

OLD HEADER

Jill Jack
123 Main Street – New York, NY – 212-555-0000 – [email protected]

Objective

Innovative, highly motivated, dynamic team player with extensive experience, stellar writing skills and the ability to effectively manage concurrent projects seeks opportunity to contribute in Fortune 500 Company.

What’s wrong with this header?

  • It does not include social media references, and relies on an old-fashioned email address. (While I, personally, don’t discriminate against an “AOL,” or “Hotmail” address, it can make you appear a little dated and not in tune with modern technology.) Consider a Gmail account, with the added benefit of a Google profile.
  • I do not recommend using an objective. Your objective is to get the job. Use that space to include headlines and bullet points describing your fit for the job. In addition, the objective here uses overused words (innovative, highly motivated, dynamic extensive experience). These words are not very descriptive; avoid “empty” words in your resume.
  • It doesn’t have a clear focus or specific job goal.
  • It’s difficult to tell here, but the font is Times New Roman. Consider choosing a more updated font, such as Trebuchet, Verdana, Calibri or Tahoma.

NEW HEADER

Jill Jack
123 Main St. – New York, NY –  212.555.0000 – [email protected]
http://www.linkedin.com/in/JillJack – @JillJack – gplus.to/JillJack – JillJack.com

Multimedia Manager — Communications Strategist — Content Developer
Market savvy, writer/editor experienced in producing profitableonline, video and ezine content.

“Jill combines a flair for the creative, an intuitive understanding of market trends and consumer needs with her unbeatable technical, writing, editing and management skills. I’ve never known anyone who can evaluate the landscape, design a strategy and execute on plans as well as Jill.”
– Peter Pan, Overseeing Editor, XYX Company (View this and other endorsements via LinkedIn)

What’s better about this header?

  • It incorporates social media URLs – indicating this person is involved online and up-to-date. By inviting the reader to review her Twitter stream and LinkedIn profile for additional information, it’s clear (no matter how old this job seeker may be), the candidate is an early adopter (showing a Google+ account) and clearly willing to learn new things. Only showcase these URLs if you are using social media professionally. However, don’t assume no one will find your Twitter and other social media outlets.
  • Notice this resume includes a link to the job seeker’s personal website/social resume. Having this online portfolio really demonstrates she is using technology and is up-to-date.
  • This header uses important resume “real estate” at the top of the document to hone in on important points: job titles and key skills. It avoids “empty” words that don’t describe a connection between the candidate and the job. It’s important to select KEY words from job descriptions, company websites and LinkedIn profiles from others in your industry.
  • It includes a recommendation from someone found on LinkedIn. This is a great way to help tell your story and to prove your qualifications from an outside perspective.

Watch the video here:

Stay tuned for more tips to help you evaluate and improve your resume!

photo by cobalt123

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.

Tips to make the most of the “Apply with LinkedIn” button

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LinkedIn recently announced a new option for job seekers and hiring managers, their “Apply with LinkedIn” button. Adam Nash, VP of Product Management for LinkedIn explained the new button is part of LinkedIn’s strategy to:

  • Be the “home” for people’s professional identity. He noted LinkedIn’s focus on helping LinkedIn users put their best foot forward when applying for jobs.
  • Provide insights for users and opportunities to learn from a community, thus making people better at their jobs
  • Be “everywhere,” helping professionals access their networks access information and resources.

Nash noted LinkedIn is a “professional operating system for the web” and an “extension of “professional web,” a designation he believes the new “Apply Now” button solidifies. He explained the button helps package and “bring the power of LinkedIn to anyone.” Whether someone is applying for a job, or hiring for a large or small company, he believes this new tool will help.

Any employer or job seeker (who has a LinkedIn profile) may use the button free of charge. In fact, LinkedIn reports:

 “Thousands of companies have the Apply with LinkedIn plugin accessible on their websites today, including LinkedIn, Netflix, LivingSocial, Photobucket, Concur subsidiary TripIt, Foodspotting, GazeHawk, Munch On Me, and Formative Labs. LinkedIn has also teamed up with key Applicant Tracking System (ATS) partners who have enabled the Apply with LinkedIn plugin for their customers today, including Peoplefluent, Jobvite, SmartRecruiters, Bullhorn, and Jobscience.”

“How people hire hasn’t really changed in 15 years,” Nash said. He explained that today, we have an opportunity to know who the people hiring are and to identify whom they know. “Business software needs to acknowledge those relationships,” he said. Distinguishing it from other online applications, LinkedIn’s button offers anyone using it information about how they are linked to the person posting the job and/or the organization, whether or not the job is posted in LinkedIn.

Most job seekers would agree the opportunity to immediately know if they are connected via their LinkedIn networks to the hiring manager or someone in the target company is a great resource. However, easy isn’t always the best approach for job seekers. While this solution eliminates those pesky hoops job seekers usually need to jump through to apply for work, to best take advantage of the opportunity to apply using “Apply Now,” it’s important to keep a few things in mind:

Read the rest of my tips on my post on in U.S. News & World Report.

How to write a great Google profile

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If you have an ear to the online sphere, you know Google+, Google’s newest social platform, is all the rage. While Google+ is still in “invitation only” mode, early results indicate it could be a keeper. The Wall Street Journal estimates Google+ had 20 million visitors in three weeks. (Google itself declines to comment, and leaders are cagey when asked for specifics.)

Many early adopters are excitedly proclaiming the new network a replacement for everything from LinkedIn to Twitter and Facebook. No one knows how things will shake out in the social networking sphere, but there is no doubt Google+ heightens the importance of your Google profile. If you use Google for search and have a profile already, you may have noticed Google providing search results “from people you know.” Current Google search results may include links (even on page one) identified as being shared by your community. (Assuming your contacts share links regarding the topics you search. They pass along these links by giving articles +1, Google’s version of a Facebook “like.”)

All of this serves to make a profile you probably created casually much more important. If you use Gmail or other Google services, you likely already have a Google profile. Now is a good time to re-visit what you included to be sure to get the most from Google’s new social scene.

Read the rest of the post on my U.S. News & World Report column.

photo by the trial

 

How to find people on Google+

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You may already know the Web is buzzing with information and insights about Google+, Google’s new social network. Reasons to use social networking for business or job search include:

1) To expand the number of people you know and who know you. To find and to be found!

2) To learn new information pertinent to your field from mentors and thought leaders.

3) To illustrate your expertise with a community of people who may connect you to opportunities based on learning about you and what you know.

It seems clear Google+ offers a lot (and a lot of potential) to satisfy these needs.

Today, I wanted to share some advice about how to address #1: How to find people on Google+

Recruiters in the social sphere are already buzzing about using Google+ profiles to find and source applicants. It’s important to know how they are looking and to make your profile as searchable as possible. Google doesn’t share its search algorithms, but there seem to be ways to make it easier for people to find you.

How are people searching?

I do not profess to be an expert at Boolean search. Luckily, I know how to find the people who are! If you’re not familiar with Boolean search, it’s a way to create (usually) complex strings of search requirements in order to find the exact results you want. For example, you can write a Boolean string to find engineers who graduated from a particular school. Depending on how complex the search, it may find engineers with a school name in their title, or only those who actually listed they “graduated” from the school. It’s possible to write a search to find people who work in a particular company, or those with a particular job title.

Kelly Dingee wrote a terrific post on Fistful of Talent about why she’s excited about using Google+ for recruiting. (Be sure to read her post; it may convince you to at least create a great profile and hop on board!) In addition to her ideas information about how she plans to use Google+ and Google profiles for search, Kelly provides what she calls a “simple” search string (to use directly in Google) to find an engineer in Google+:

site:plus.google.com google engineer

Irena Shamaeva wrote a great post about how to search Google+ profiles. Irena links to two searches I think are particularly useful for job seekers. Her first link is to search for people on Google+. This brings you to a page inside Google itself, set up to let you search within Google+ profiles. Search for anything you want to find here. Maybe you’ll be looking for expert career and social media advice? Search {“career coach” and “social media”}. Or, even, {career coach, social media}. You’re looking for someone who works in a particular company? The link brings you to “work at Google.” You can search for “work at” any company!

Hopefully, you are recognizing the opportunities to find people on Google+. As the number of people who sign on grows, the opportunities to find, learn from and connect to people will also grow.

Some additional, useful resources for finding people:

@recruiterdotcom details search strings and how to write them in their post. They also wrote a post about how to find people on Google+. They suggest two new tools to try, which seem similar in results to the link above, but are created outside of Google:

If you’re already using Google+, you may be familiar with “hangouts.” Recruiter.com also highlights a website called gphangouts.com aggregates all the public hangouts on the social network. It includes “recent” and search functions too.

Wait – you want to start from the beginning – what’s Google+? Read this post to get started learning what you need to know.

Stay tuned for more information about Google+. Please consider including me in your “Career Advice” circle. (No one has access to what your circles are named!) Find me in Google+ HERE.

photo by gwen