Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Should You Have a Board of Advisors?

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Recently, Marci Alboher’s Shifting Career’s article in the New York Times hosted a guest author on the topic of a personal board of advisors:

A personal board of directors is simply a collection of people who know you, are interested in your well-being, and have useful points of view. You consult with them on a regular basis -– say once every six months….A person doesn’t have to be famous, influential or even successful to be a good board member. All that’s required is knowledge in a particular area. Your sister may offer better insight than the head of a trade association.  

In the comments section of Alboher’s post, many laughed at the idea, suggesting that these advisors use to be called “friends.”  However, as Alboher notes in her introduction, assembling a personal board  is not a new concept.  In the press toward personal branding, professionalizing advice that we might normally seek from friends and family is not a surprising jump.

Someone who is stuck in a career or job and doesn’t know what to do next can benefit from purposefully assembling advisors. Networking throughout your career is one way to create an informal group of advisors (maybe even a mentor if you are lucky). 

Of course, it is important to vet your advisors.  You don’t want people who will always agree with you, but you do want people who know you, your situation and are skilled in the topic about which you need advice.  Asking the wrong people (those who don’t have your best interests at heart or don’t know what they are doing) defeats the purpose.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to hire advisors.  For example, if you need tax, financial planning or legal advice, you may want to consult a professional.  (Shameless plug:  if you need a resume written, do seek advice from those in your field, friends and relatives, but recognize that most of them probably do not have resumes that optimize their skills and accomplishments. You’ll do better if you hire someone to write it for you.  I’m not the only one offering this advice!)

Keppie Careers has a board of advisors to inform us about career trends in various industries.  Need a resume?  Job hunting advice?  Keppie Careers will help you every step of the way!  www.keppiecareers.com

Don't Flush Your Interview Down the Toilet…Top Interviewing Blunders

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A recent survey of hiring managers compiles the Ten Wackiest Job Interview Mistakes. 

Suffice to say that it isn’t a good idea to allude to your plans to go out drinking after the appointment, flush the toilet during a phone interview or explain that you were fired for beating up your last boss.  (Another pet peeve I’ve seen is when interviewees answer a phone call DURING the interview.  Not a good idea.)

Some interesting and useful information to note from the article:

More than half (51 percent) of hiring managers cited dressing inappropriately as the most detrimental mistake a candidate can make in an interview. Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer came in second at 49 percent and appearing disinterested ranked third at 48 percent. Other mistakes included appearing arrogant (44 percent), not providing specific answers (30 percent) and not asking good questions (29 percent).

Don’t flush your interview down the toilet!  Keppie Careers can help with a mock interview, brand-new resume and career coaching:  www.keppiecareers.com

Connect the Dots Resume Writing

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Initially, readers may give your resume a 7- to 10-second glance.  Really.  (When I started this work over 10 years ago, we use to say it was 20 seconds.)

You have a very small window of opportunity to make an impression.  It is your job to connect the dots between what you offer and what the employer seeks.

You could be perfect for the job, but unless you quickly capture their attention and connect your skills with their needs, you won’t land an interview. Consider how to make yourself the perfect candidate. Specify your skills and accomplishments in your resume; don’t assume the reader will stop to think about what you have to offer. It’s your job to fill in the blanks and help the reviewer envision you working for them.

Two key “dots” for you to connect involve:
(1) knowing your skills and what you have to offer and
(2) having a clear understanding of your prospective employer’s needs.

At Keppie Careers, we are skilled at helping with these important steps. Some strategies to consider…

** Knowing Your Skills **
Assess your skills and accomplishments. How? Talk to your friends and co-workers. Review written evaluations of your work. Think about the skills you use/d in your positions. Study a skills and accomplishments list.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy? What type of work do you hope to do in the future? What skills do you have that will be the stepping stones to getting to the next rung of your career ladder? Once you identify what you have to offer, it will be easier to connect the dots between the employer and you.

** Knowing the Employer **
What does the organization value? Use the job description as a guide and research the company using the internet and any available published material. For example, if the organization uses the words “team player” four times on their company home page, you will want to emphasize your ability to work well in teams. If possible, conduct informational meetings with people in the organization or those who know about it.

Once you can articulate your skills and you know what the employer wants, target and tailor your resume. Communicate exactly how your skills are a good fit for their position. Include accomplishments and buzz words that support your candidacy. The more specific connections you draw between you and the job, the more likely you are to land the interview.

Consider these sample resume bullet points:

Before:
Conducted patient interviews and managed data collection for large survey.

After:
Demonstrated analytical skills and cultural sensitivity as leader of team conducting, coding and verifying 1000 patient interviews using SAS software.

The original bullet point expects the reader to jump to the conclusion that the applicant analyzed data. “Managing data collection” may imply analysis, but it is best to be specific. The terms “coding” and “verifying” clarify additional explicit skills.

The “After” bullet quantifies the size of the study and notes the applicant’s abilities regarding cultural sensitivity, which the writer knew from her research was something this company valued. It also mentions the software used.

Detailed descriptions are the keys to effective resume writing. Clarify skills and include quantifiable information whenever possible: numbers, percentages and dollar amounts all resonate with employers. Bring your resume to life!

Do you need to re-write your resume for every job? That would be impractical for most job seekers However, if you want to get your foot in the door, your resume must clearly outline how your skills and accomplishments solve a problem for the employer.  It is your job to offer clear reasons to interview you.

Let Keppie Careers help you create a resume that can be tweaked to appeal to a variety of jobs and organizations!

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.