Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Making lemonade out of a layoff

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Have you heard of the movie Lemonade? “Lemonade is an inspirational film about 16 advertising professionals who lost their jobs and found their calling, encouraging people to listen to that little voice inside their head that asks, “What if?”

The trailer for the movie is below…Take a look – you may be inspired!

Thanks to my new partners Simon North and Nisa Chitakasem, for sharing this video via the Position Ignition Career Advice Blog. Position Ignition is all about helping you get clear about what you want to do next with your career and how to make it happen. They focus on helping people who are wanting a more purposeful, rewarding career and those who are considering a career change.

photo by pink sherbet photography

3 career lessons from the soccer field

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Have you ever watched small kids play soccer? It can be a real trip! (Pun intended.) While watching a game last weekend, I thought of 3 lessons job seekers can learn…

Do you know which way you should be kicking?

In the game I watched, there is no goalie in the box. So, sometimes it is tough for the kids to remember which way they should be kicking. (This is complicated by the fact that they switch sides during the game.) Every once in a while, a kid scores a goal for the OTHER team. Ooops…But, 9 of 10 times, the kid is so excited to have scored a goal, it doesn’t matter!

A lot of job seekers are like this. They don’t keep track of what direction they are going, where they want to “kick” and which “goal” is their target. The big difference between job seekers and 4-year olds on the soccer field – it is no joke to “score” for the other team.

Think about this – what can you do to be sure you are moving in the right direction for your job hunt? Are there better ways to track your research and information that you have gathered? If you are not organized, all of your hard work may go to waste.

Do you go, go, go – and then stop?

I can’t tell you how many times I saw even the best players (a relative term when it comes to 4-year olds on the soccer field) take the ball down the field – go, go, go and then, just as it seemed a goal was inevitable – come to an abrupt STOP. On the sidelines, parents had their hands on their heads…WHY STOP? “Keep going! Take it in!,” they shouted. But, it was too late. Stopping allowed another player to take the ball off in the opposite direction. Opportunity wasted.

I’m sure you can envision how this relates to job seekers. Everything is in forward motion, going great. Then, maybe an unexpected obstacle or maybe just nerves forces a stop – just enough to allow things to turn around and put an end to an opportunity.

How can you make sure that you don’t allow (or cause) an abrupt end to your positive, forward motion? Being prepared helps. Why waste all that energy you expended landing an interview if you are not going to give it your all? You need to take the ball into the goal – not stop just as you are planning to boot it in. Think about this when you are in the midst of your search. What can you do to keep moving? Maybe it is networking more (or better). Using social networking tools to expand your loose network? Coming up with a better, more succinct pitch for you and your skills. A better resume – one that helps you open doors AND helps you identify what you have to offer? Obviously, there are a lot of ways to help you stay in forward motion…Take advantage now, before you bring the ball to a stop.

Don’t take the ball from your own teammate

Kids are so focused on getting the ball, they have a tendency to steal it from their own teammates! This is another wasted opportunity, as someone’s forward motion comes to an abrupt stop at the hands (um – feet) of a teammate who should be helping.

Does this happen to you in the job search? People who should be helping you are inadvertently throwing roadblocks in the way? This happens when well-meaning friends or family members think they have something to add to your job search, advice about your resume, or stop to offer information that turns out to hurt more than help? Or, maybe you are facing stressed out family members who are less than supportive of some of the techniques you may be trying to fuel your job hunt. (These are the people who think you should be staying home applying for jobs online all day long and get annoyed when you explain that isn’t the best approach.)

Picture these folks as the kid who takes the ball from his own teammate. The soccer player just needs a little educating, some practice and some self-control. Similarly, your friend who isn’t helping you needs you to explain how he or she can help you succeed. Take the time to do the educating. Share an article about job hunting that proves your point or explains your methodology. Most importantly, though – be sure you are doing everything right. If you are the player kicking the ball in the wrong direction, you shouldn’t be surprised when a team member takes it from you!

photo by burienundressed

Body language matters in your job hunt

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I’ve been writing about listening skills last week don’t miss 7 tips to become a better active listener and 6 ways to become a better listener. One point that came up several times – body language is an important element of good listening. Think about it – eye contact, nodding, leaning in to listen – all of these help your conversation partner recognize how engaged you are and helps him or her feel valued as part of a conversation.

Body language may be more important than you think in a job hunt.

Kate Lorenz wrote about the topic for CareerBuilder.com. She said:

Research has shown that the first impression you make on an interviewer really sticks. In one study, untrained subjects were shown 20- to 32-second videotaped segments of job applicants greeting their interviewers. When the subjects rated the applicants on attributes like self-assurance and likeability, their assessments were very similar to the interviewers’ — who had spent more than 20 minutes with each applicant.

Seems like focusing on your body language – and first impressions – matters – a lot!

I once wrote a term paper about the importance of body language. The quote I remember from it,

“Don’t underestimate the power of body language,”

from The Little Mermaid, is no less true today!

(Yes, I really quoted a Disney movie in my paper. It worked.)

Did you know that people who are positive and confident outperform their peers in their job searches? Research shows that persistence and a postive attitude pay off in the job hunt. You can always pick out a pessimist by his or her body language – slumped shoulders, eyes down, expressionless (or frowning). No one wants to hire someone who seems sad or pessimistic. Straighten up, smile and make eye contact. Your body language speaks louder than your words.

In fact, research also shows that body language makes up more than half of how our communication is perceived. That means that you may be describing your greatest business accomplishment, but if your posture isn’t good and you don’t make effective eye contact, you might as well tell the interviewer about the time you lost your portfolio on the way to a presentation.

Another telling body language tool is the handshake.

How many times do we have to tell you – strong and firm gets the job done! BusinessWeek wrote about several different types of handshakes to use and some to avoid. Eye contact along with a firm handshake can make a world of difference to how you are being perceived.

Remember – the little things matter.

In fact, the “little things” may actually be the BIG things! Focus on every aspect of your presentation to ensure that you put your best foot forward with your job search.

photo by Gerwin Filius

If you stay in traffic, it’s going to take you a long time to find a job. Or: More marketing tools to find a job

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Last week, I wrote about hearing John Jantsch speak during his recent visit to Atlanta. (John  is the author of Duct Tape Marketing and the soon to be released, The Referral Engine.) He pointed out a hierarchy of the customer’s experience as marketers see it:

People must KNOW – LIKE and TRUST you…This leads them to:

TRY – BUY – REPEAT – REFER

To sell, you must “create a better customer experience,” which helps solve lead generation issues for those who are seeking customers and clients. Clearly, these marketing fundamentals now rely on creating necessary feelings of trust and encouraging people to try and buy via online channels. It is no surprise that being online and establishing a presence there (in what John calls the “free real estate”), helps move people through the necessary channels for success today.

However, Jantsch made an important point:

“The fundamentals of marketing have not changed,” despite the fact that the tools are different.

I thought that was such an interesting point, and one that is often overlooked. Yes, the mechanisms have evolved and the ways to connect and establish “deeper relationships” are different today than even a year or two ago. (Twitter, anyone?) However, the main points are not different. The  idea is to establish relationships and trust. That is an age-old goal for anyone selling something.

The same is true of job search. I recently helped a client who works in a marketing capacity. He refuses to embrace the “free real estate” of social media for his job hunt, insisting that he does not want to be too self-promotional. This was surprising, coming from a marketing professional, and frustrating for me. I worry that he is approaching his search with only a percentage of what he needs to be successful.

Many of you probably also bristle at all of this “social media for the job search” talk. You may remember a time when all you needed to do was send out a resume, make a few calls, and you would be hired. Unfortunately, those days are over. But, one thing has NOT changed…To easily land, you needed to be able to make a few calls. Today, a “few calls” may translate into having several hundred followers/friends on Twitter, many hundreds of connections on LinkedIn and a professional Facebook page that allows you to leverage relationships with long-lost high school friends and new contacts all in one place.

Having an optimized resume is crucial, but adding a layer – a “social” or online version that is more interactive and allows readers to dig deeper is becoming more important. Just a cover letter was the norm. Now, your calling card may be a blog.

John said it well – “How you move HAS changed, but the point is to create awareness.” That has ALWAYS been the point of job search.

John suggests engaging in social media with this in mind:

  • Listen first
  • Claim your free real estate
  • Publish content – or limit your ability to succeed.

For job seekers, I’d suggest thinking the same way. Connecting and building relationships has always been the point. Yes, there are a lot more ways to get there today. To be successful and efficient, you want to build deeper relationships and expand your network beyond your immediate circle. I cannot think of a better way than by engaging in social media.

Think about it this way: If you needed to get from your home to a friend’s house, and the only way was through treacherous traffic, wouldn’t you appreciate a new bridge that could take you directly there, bypassing the aggravation of bumper-to-bumper cars?

Think of social media as your bridge. If you stay in traffic, it’s going to take you a lot longer to get where you want to go.

Spring forward – The Progress Challenge

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It seems appropriate, on the day that we “spring forward” on our clocks, to share some things that I enjoyed about another book by Dean Lindsay, The Progress Challenge. (Read my review of his book, Cracking the Networking Code HERE.)

Lindsay notes,

“Change is inevitable, progress is a choice.”

In his trademark, high-energy style, Lindsay explains how to BE progress – to choose progress. He explains the connections between how we think about what we do and doing it, and provides a blueprint for meeting this challenge. He begins the book by asking a question that I believe is relevant for job seekers – What is motivational, and are you it?

Have you thought about it? He suggests that “each of us has the need and the opportunity to be motivated every day of our lives” (p 29). He points out, “Why else would others listen to us, utilize our services, hire us, be led by us?” Right from the start, a key career message. How do you motivate others? What impact do you (or might you) have that will appeal to someone?

Lindsay explains how to think about how to move forward and offers many suggestions to help even the most unmotivated candidate shake off the stress, anxiety and general malaise that may be preventing him or her from springing forward.

One coping mechanism that I like? “#5 Find and Create Humor (p. 138). How many times have you stopped to try to find a single iota of irony or laughter in a situation. If even things are so bad, laughing at it  (or thinking of crazy ways that it could be EVEN WORSE) can sometimes provide a little relief. Can you laugh at yourself? Is there any humor there? If not, maybe creating some would help?

The author reminds his readers: “Progress does not demand perfection, only persistence” (p. 198). How perfectly true! I often remind myself that the “Perfect is the enemy of the good” – if you stay paralyzed, waiting for perfection, it’s unlikely you will ever move ahead with your plans. Similarly, progress does not need to be perfect, it just needs to be moving, which requires consistent and frequent effort on your part.

I enjoyed The Progress Challenge and am sure anyone (job seeker, salesperson, manager, leader, anyone with an eye on the future) will get a lot out of the, yes – motivational book, quotes and action plans.

Want to receive a free copy? Leave a comment about what motivates you, what is keeping you stuck – what you think about any of this! I will choose a winner at random and Dean will send you a copy of his book! (He may even send out several!)

Learn more about Dean Lindsay at his website: www.DeanLindsay.com or follow him on Twitter @DeanLindsay.