Bring your networking inside.

Who wants to trek outside to networking events in the dead of winter, when it’s dark before dinner? It’s tough to get motivated to attend glad-handing events when you’re not sure the roads will be passable on your way home. Instead, use the cold winter months to ramp up your social networking, which you can comfortably do from your favorite, cushy chair at home.

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Don’t underestimate the value of contacts you make online. All you need to do is impress one person who is inspired to refer you for an opportunity, and you could land a job that was never advertised.

How can you get started using social media to job hunt? Begin by updating your LinkedIn profile. Avoid common LinkedIn mistakes and be sure to fill in everything on your profile. Once you perfect LinkedIn, branch out and create a Twitter profile. Twitter is useful for job seekers because it makes it easy to connect with anyone else who tweets. (Connect with me on Twitter right now!) 

You’ll find companies use Twitter to let people know what they are doing and CEOs often use Twitter to share their thoughts. More importantly, though, regular people just like you turn to Twitter to expand their networks and meet new people. Try it and you may be surprised by how easy it can be to connect with an influential contact.

Get out of the house. 

You need to go to the grocery store, anyway, so think about how you can make it a networking opportunity. Be friendly and talk to people in line, or even the manager of the store. Build relationships with people who recognize you and may be willing to help you with a contact in the future. However, don’t start off the conversation with “Hello, I’m looking for work.” Instead, just be amiable. Ask about the other person – learn something personal that you will remember to ask about later. You’d be surprised by how much more likely someone is to go out of his or her way for you when you are a good listener and follow up on casual conversations.

Consider everywhere you go and anyone to meet an opportunity to network. Especially in the dead of winter, you want to make the most of any time you don your woolly headgear and boots and dig yourself out of your driveway. Make it worth your while.

Set up shop somewhere new. 

A few times a week, take your computer to a coffee shop or the bookstore. Anywhere you can access wifi and have the chance to smile at people will be better than staying in your quiet house all week long. Try not to be the annoying, overly chatty person who talks to people when they are trying to get their work done, but if you do see the same people over and over again, it can’t hurt to strike up a short, informal conversation that could lead to talking about networking contacts in the future.

Work on cold calls.

Hopefully, your social networking has helped warm up some potential cold calls. The dead of winter is a great time to ramp up your cold calls, as people may be more likely to spend more time at their desks. Research and plan ahead so you’ll know what to say when you do get a response to your call.

Use all the resources at your disposal — and make the most of all of them, and winter could just be your lucky season for job search.

This post originally ran on AOLJobs.

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It’s important to note — video resumes haven’t become mainstream, yet. However, in some cases, they may make a difference in helping someone land an interview.

For example, companies such as the nonprofit Music Saves Lives have successfully incorporated video introductions as part of their hiring and candidate screening process for volunteer positions. Chief Executive Officer Russel Hornbeek says: “By requesting and watching the videos we have found those that truly have enthusiasm for our life saving programs. It’s great to be able to have our on-site touring staff recognize the volunteers chosen for the event we have them scheduled for.”

These video introductions are becoming more common in customer-facing industries such as retail, hotel, and hospitality because they offer the hiring manager an opportunity to observe the job seeker’s customer engagement and relationship skills in action.

However, it’s possible to successfully connect with a recruiter in a more traditional industry with a video introduction. Mike Ramer, president of Ramer Search Consultants—a professional recruiting firm specializing in the financial, energy, biomedical, and human resources fields—agrees that video resumes are a useful way for some candidates to demonstrate their professionalism and to help them differentiate from the crowd. According to him, “If I received a video resume, I would review it, and if it’s impressive, it can absolutely help the candidate.”

MyNextGig.com founder and CEO Richard Linden agrees. “These online video introductions are a great way for corporate recruiters to get to know the job seekers beyond the traditional resume and online social networking profile,” he says. “Many companies don’t like to be contacted face-to-face until the interview. Video introductions allow job seekers an opportunity to build a relationship with the recruiter and on the recruiter’s terms.”

MyNextGig.com’s job board offers job seekers the opportunity to create a video introduction. Its tools allow you to create a digital job profile that showcases your video resume as your application.

Linden suggests you follow these tips to create a video resume that makes a good impression:

1. Appearances are everything.

2. Short and sweet.

3. Don’t be afraid to be creative.

4. Highlights only, please.

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

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Clearly, there was something significant he wanted to capture. (It didn’t look particularly special to me — just leaves and the sun shining through.) Regardless, he was willing to go all out to accomplish his target photographs.

“Ah ha!” I thought. “THIS is a blog post.” Have you tried approaching your job search from a different angle? When is the last time you turned your focus a bit and thought about how you could do things differently?

Do you ever stop and think about the hiring manager’s point of view, for example? Do you ever read books or blogs written for recruiters or hiring managers? Do you know what they are thinking? What they say they like? Do you consider how your resume and other application materials may or may not appeal to them?

Maybe you’re too busy writing your resume all about you, when you really need to re-focus and write it focusing on the touch points making you qualified for the job? Are you looking backward (metaphorically) in your application materials, when it’s time to turn around and look to the future? Your resume needs to be about that future — it’s not a historical diatribe; it’s a marketing document. Focus it on your NEXT opportunity, even if it means you need to look in a different direction to do it.

Have you thought about applying for different types of jobs? Maybe “your job” doesn’t exist anymore; your field isn’t hiring. It may be time to look at your career from a different direction. Avoid being linear in your thinking; start exploring new opportunities and options. Maybe that includes working for yourself or branching out into a different field altogether. The first step is being willing to look at things from a new angle.

Are you letting people around you dictate your direction (where you’re looking)? This is often the case for young people, just starting out in their careers, but I think it is pretty common for more experienced workers, too. It’s too easy to hear the voices telling us to follow (or stay on) a certain path, when we may be happier looking elsewhere.

Are you looking at the writing on the wall, but ignoring it? Give yourself some credit. Stop and think about your plans, your goals. What are you doing to accomplish them? How can you turn your lens and re-focus your search to help you accomplish your goals?

(For more inspiration from NYC, you may enjoy “Are your perfectionist tendencies helping or hurting you?“)

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While in the impressionist wing, viewing art by French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917), famous for his paintings and sculptures of ballet dancers, I noticed an explanation accompanying many small sculptures (photo at right). Apparently, there were more than 150 pieces made of clay, wax and plastiline that Degas had been ambivalent about preserving in bronze because he wasn’t sure they were good enough.

I thought it a little ironic — this master painter and sculpture, whose art is now famous around the world and displayed in iconic museums, was worried some of his work wasn’t good enough to save for posterity.

Clearly, he had perfectionist tendencies, as the placard near the famous, “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (photo below), indicated he had taken such care to sculpt it, there were an “extraordinary number of surviving sketches in charcoal and pastel, as well as his study of the figure.” You can see some of his paintings of dancers in the background.

Stop and think: what are you doing well that you don’t think is good enough? What are you underestimating about your skills, experiences and accomplishments? Are you convincing yourself something isn’t good enough when, in fact, any more objective onlooker would convince you otherwise? Sometimes, it’s difficult to give ourselves credit for what we know we do well. I remember advising a student when I worked at Emory to highlight her multi-lingual skills (she was in the international health field). She assumed everyone had similar skills, and her accomplishments weren’t unique or special.

Just as Degas didn’t think enough of the many small sculptures to preserve them in bronze, you may be underestimating your abilities and not applying for the right kind of jobs. Maybe you haven’t had success landing interviews, so you think you should look for different (maybe less advanced) work? Have you considered the fact you may simply be underselling yourself in your resume and other marketing materials. (If you even have other job search marketing materials.)

Before you alter your course, make sure you’re giving yourself every chance to succeed in your chosen path. Consider hiring an unbiased career expert to help showcase your best “you” before you metaphorically destroy your clay, wax and plastiline job search.

What career lessons do you glean from this story? Share you ideas in the comments.

Could you use some help highlighting your “best you?” Contact me for a quote for a transformed resume and/or coaching to get your job hunt moving in the right direction. Be sure to consider having your own professional website to showcase your professional attributes and to help people find you online.

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The best part? Over 100 of my colleagues (most of whom I met via Twitter and blogging) provided their thoughts and expertise. Recruiters, social media pros, career coaches — you name it, their advice is included. Take a look at this list of amazing contributors!

I’ve recently launched the book’s site, and have started sharing some blog posts there. I hope you’ll take a look, and please pre-order the book for yourself or a friend!

The post My book! appeared first on Keppie Careers.

• 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

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I understand than an encore career can come any time in a person’s work history, not only after a lifetime of working. Are you tired of doing what you are doing? Maybe it is time to think of a new direction, and lucky for you, there is a great resource to help. Here is the information from Civic Venture’s press release:

What: Civic Ventures is partnering with the New York Times Knowledge Network to offer an online seminar for people interested in encore careers. The interactive course will offer practical advice about how to succeed in todayâ€s job market to combine continued income, personal meaning and social impact.

Marci Alboher, careers expert and former New York Times columnist, will be leading the course. According to Alboher, “The idea of encore careers — second acts with social purpose — has started to take hold, but more people are now seeking guidance from experts and others who can teach by example.”

Topics will include: Will there really be enough jobs for the number of people who want to do meaningful work in their encore years? What kinds of job opportunities exist, and how do you make the leap into a field where you may have no experience or contacts? What should you do if you want to work but donâ€t have the interest or ability to work full time? How can you deal with age discrimination?

Who: The course will feature advice from experts as well as people who have or are on the path to meaningful encore careers. Speakers will include:

Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures

 Suzanne Braun Levine, founding editor of Ms. magazine and author of Fifty Is the New Fifty

David Bornstein, author of Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know and founder of Dowser.org

Laura Gassner Otting, president of the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group and author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector

Lester Strong, CEO of Experience Corps and former television journalist

Stephen Alderman, Purpose Prize winner and co-founder of the Peter C. Alderman Foundation

When: Fridays, October 22 and 29, from 12-1:15 p.m. ET / 9-10:15 a.m. PT.

How: The online seminar costs $95. For more info and to register, click here.

Made possible in part by a generous grant from the New York Life Foundation.

—

If you are looking for a job, you may also want to check out THE CAREER SUMMIT. Tons of career advice, all for a low price of $99 for a short time. Check it out now, before the early bird is over.

The topics include everything from how to think about finding a job you love, to what has changed in search, demystifying the recruiting process, online career management, interviewing and (last but not least) — strategies and tips for your resume, social media profile and job search. Read more HERE or visit the site HERE.

photo from gossamerpromise

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There is a reason we hear more about people losing their jobs based on what they do on Facebook than about those finding jobs as a result of their activity there. Let’s face it (no pun intended!) — it was intended as a social network; it’s a place where people go to unwind, unload and vent. It’s where they go to show off their vacation photos or share a video of their infant’s latest sneeze.

That in mind, you can still create a professional-looking profile on Facebook that may very well be the link you need to land your next job. If you’re looking for a new job, you will want to take advantage of every useful tool. I’ve suggested five steps to help you get started on the right foot on Facebook. Read them on my Social Media and Job Search column at Job-Hunt.org.

If you want to learn how to look for a job today, check out The Career Summit…more than a dozen online presentations (including mine) to help you land that next job!

photo by laikolosse

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But, I’ve been doing some research for my book (yes – I am under contract to write a book on using social media for job seekers!) – and so I have been clicking around in LinkedIn a lot more than usual.

When I first launched Keppie Careers online, I spent a lot of time in LinkedIn. That was before I was really involved on Twitter. I remember enjoying answering questions and meeting new people there. Somehow, I got out of the habit once I became a power Twitter user. Asking and answering questions on LinkedIn didn’t appeal to me as much.

So, I am here to say — it’s time to check out LinkedIn if you have not already! They have a lot of new features if you haven’t been there in awhile. For example:

LinkedIn Groups have a totally redesigned landing page. Once you are in your group, it is a much more engaging online experience than before.

The inBox is being redesigned.

You can find and follow your LinkedIn friends on Twitter.

Easily update your network using the People You May Know tool. (It is amazing that it knows the people I know…It’s a combination of feeling like big brother is watching and thinking how cool it is to be able to easily connect because LinkedIn suggested it!)

You can even share videos on LinkedIn – along with your Slideshare presentations!

So, if you haven’t been on LinkedIn for awhile, take a look. There’s a lot more there than you might have realized!

And – if you have a great LinkedIn success story — especially about finding an opportunity via a stranger or using Groups for great networking, please contact me if you are interested in sharing it for the book. I’d also love to hear from any recruiters who have stories to share about LinkedIn successes. I am all ears!

Photo by Coletivo Mambembe

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The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain, in The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield

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