Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Jobseekers: don’t overlook the power of your words

By

As an avid social media user, I can be a bit cynical. It takes a lot to make me say “WOW” or to convince me to want to share a video here on my blog. (Mostly because I prefer to read things myself instead of click through to a video.) However, today, I saw a tweet from @CareerDiva, Eve Tahmincioglu. She said:

made me cry/see why RT @TheBloggess [she shared a link here – I share it below] The power of words.

(You can find The Bloggess online as well!)

Since I trust Eve, I clicked through to the video, said, “WOW” and decided to share it here so you can all think about the power of words.

Most of you come here because you’re looking for a job. But, have you thought about the power of your WORDS, and how they can help you land that job? Watch this video. I hope it makes you think — not only about the obvious things, but about how you can take control of your situation and adjust your approach to reach a different outcome. Let me know what you think. Does this video make you say, “Wow?”

photo by Calamity Meg

Job search advice from recruiters

By

Last week, I was a guest at an iRelaunch Return-to-Work Conference in Atlanta. It is always a pleasure to have a chance to hear from recruiters, and, in this case, also from a number of women who returned to work after taking some time off. Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin, the co-founders of iRelaunch and authors of Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work, put together several terrific panels and seminars for those attending.

The employer panel included:

Elizabeth Russel, Director of Change Leadership — Emerson Human Capital

Kathy Davis, Recruiting Manager — Accenture

Michelle Wilkinson, Leadership Recruiting Manager — Wellpoint Inc.

The panelist share a number of good tips for job seekers…

Ms. Russel commented on how important it is to demonstrate your ability to manage projects, an across-the-board skill to demonstrate on the resume. Other top picks to highlight? The ability to meet deadlines, manage a team and to fit the organization’s culture. Ms. Davis noted the importance of referencing key words in a resume and suggested using LinkedIn to connect with people at your target companies. She believes it is a great idea to use Twitter to network and gain and share information and explained it was important to “make your voice heard.”

The recruiters differed in their opinions about cover letters, with Ms. Davis saying she doesn’t always read them, while Ms. Wilkinson believes a cover letter is “quite important.” This is typical of advice regarding cover letters — some read them, others ignore them, so it’s a bit of a toss-up for job seekers. The best advice seems to be to write a strong cover letter, in case it is valued.

The panelists agreed it was important for the candidate to indicate on the resume why he or she left a job or had a gap. For example, “left to care for ill parent” or “stayed home with infant daughter.” They even suggested noting things on the resume such as, “department closed” or “company bought out.” Ms. Russell suggested not “over explaining” a gap, but believed (as did the others) that it was important to account for time off of paid work.

Job seekers may be interested to know that the employers agreed volunteer work, especially board-level work and significant volunteer contributions should be highlighted on a resume when appropriate. In fact, Ms. Wilkinson explained “community work is key at WellPoint,” so showcasing it would be particularly significant. This is a great reminder to identify an organization’s key culture points in order to illustrate why you are well-suited for the job. Sometimes, that cultural fit can really make a difference between two equally qualified candidates.

As for resume length, the general rule of thumb was two to three pages, and all three women agreed referrals from within the company were valued. They suggested asking the recruiter or hiring manager about appropriate intervals for following up and emphasized it was a great question to ask at the interview.

Their final words of wisdom:

Ms. Wilkinson: Know what you want to do. The worst thing is when a candidate does not know. Do your homework about the company and industry and be prepared for the interview.

Ms. Davis: Don’t sell yourself short. Take phone interviews seriously – be sure to smile, even though you’re on the phone; it makes a difference!

Ms. Russell: Dress up for those phone interviews. Be open minded. Recognize your next role may not have existed five years ago!

photo by K’vitsh

How to make it easier to find you online

By

Job seekers often hear how important it is to make it easy to find information about you online. Why? A Cross-Tab research study, Online Reputation in a Connected World, points out:

  • 75 percent of HR departments are expected to research candidates online
  • 89 percent of hiring managers and recruiters review candidates’ professional online data
  • 86 percent of employers believe a positive online reputation influences their hiring decisions—and nearly 50 percent say the influence is “to a great extent” and they expect it to increase

Further proving how important it is to be discoverable online is an ExecuNet Inc. research study, 2010 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report:

  • 90 percent of search-firm recruiters regularly Google candidates to help draw a complete picture of that individual—up from 75 percent in 2005

If you have a common name, it may be difficult to distinguish yourself online. About 2,000 people on LinkedIn share their name with someone on the FBI’s most wanted list, says James Alexander, founder of Vizibility.com, a company that creates tools to help professionals and companies stand out on the Web.

Read the rest of the post on my U.S. News blog….

photo by dunkr

Should you leave dates off your resume?

By

Regular readers know I always tell my clients there is no ONE RIGHT way to conduct a job search. Best practices? Yes. Opinions on the best way to do things? Absolutely! The trick is to identify people who provide opinions based on actual information from people involved in hiring. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people advising job seekers based on nothing but their own experience, which may or may not translate effectively to others.

One slightly controversial piece of advice regarding resumes is about using dates. Typically, when I hear arguments about including dates or not on a resume, the focus is on graduation dates, but I’ve recently become aware that some people are advising job seekers to list some of their job experience without dates.

Graduation Dates on Resumes

Some people believe if they graduated from college too long ago, hiring managers will pass over their resume, assuming them to be too old, too inflexible or too expensive to hire (based on the number of years of experience).

Advice to remove graduation dates targets younger and younger people! I had one client tell me he’d been advised to take the years off of his schooling since it had been more than five years ago. That is an extreme piece of advice. Generally, anyone over 50 may be told to make themselves “look younger” by removing graduation dates.

Need help knowing what to say and how to say it in job search?
Check out my new book: 100 Conversations for Career Success

Should you leave graduation dates (years) off of your resume? I’m not a fan of this practice. Why? Because, if you leave off the date, you allow the reader to assume when you may have graduated. The hiring manager will naturally believe you are “more experienced” — perhaps even much more experienced (read: older) than you actually are! If your goal is to look younger, that’s what we on Twitter would label a major #FAIL.

Are there circumstances where leaving off graduation dates may make sense? Possibly. If you could have retired 10 years ago, you probably can’t hurt yourself leaving off your graduation date!

Dates for Experience

I’m working with a client now who has been advised to list certain jobs she held in the past without dates. Not all of her work experience, just a few older positions. At first, I thought she had misunderstood the previous career advisor’s instructions, but from talking to a few people, it appears as if this advice to omit dates on certain job experiences is typical.

My bias is to always include dates on experience; I thought it was crazy to advise a job seeker to leave dates off of certain work experience. (My preference would be to leave off the jobs altogether if they were not crucial to the candidate’s time line. For example, account for the last 10-15 years of experience and omit older jobs that don’t add anything to your candidacy.)

I’ve spent a lot of time with recruiters who influence some of my advice to job seekers. Granted, most jobs are not filled via recruiters, but I believe their take on resume norms is valuable, since they constantly evaluate candidates. I posed the question of dates on a resume to my Twitter community, saying, “#Recruiters -I have a client who’s been advised to list jobs withOUT dates on resume. Planning to blog about this. Love to quote you!”

These are the replies I received. Read them from the bottom up to follow the conversation.

While @RapidBi, an organizational change consultant, believed there could be a case for a resume without all of the dates, clearly the trend in this unscientific survey points toward including dates or risking attracting suspicion.

If someone is telling you to leave dates off of your resume, only do so after carefully considering the possible ramifications. Have I heard of people who removed certain dates (typically graduation dates) and still landed interviews? Yes, I have. Be sure to make your decision from an informed perspective. Ask you advisor or coach why he or she recommends one way or another; don’t be afraid to inquire why. Anyone who knows what they are doing will welcome the opportunity to explain.

— If you’re looking for a job and could use a boost, be sure to pre-order a copy of my book, Social Networking for Career Success AND consider getting your own, personal website – a social resume!

photo by Caro’s Lines

5 things you haven’t tried to help you land a job

By

I know how frustrating it is for job seekers who think they are  “doing everything they can,” but still can’t land a job. It’s empowering to realize there are probably strategies you have not tried and new, assertive approaches to expanding your network and landing a job.

Here are five things you may not have tried that can make a difference:

1.     Seek speaking opportunities. Even if you are not employed, if you are an expert in a subject matter, you should be able to identify organizations interested in hearing you speak. Start locally by finding the Kiwanis and Chamber of  Commerce in your area. Identify local chapters of your profession’s organizations. Join, attend regular meetings, and volunteer to share what you know about topics that interest the membership.

Toastmasters groups are terrific places to practice your presentation skills if you are not a natural public speaker. In addition to improving your communication skills, participating in Toastmasters will naturally expand your professional reach and potentially result in some great contacts.

Benefit: Speaking in front of a group automatically provides you credibility. When you deliver useful information or new ideas, you solidify your position as an expert in the topic. The combination of these could help you literally find the perfect audience for your job search.

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

photo by owaief89