Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Best Careers for 2011

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Following job trends has some advantages. I report on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Careers” article every year. (This year, I am excited to announce that I’ve been invited to join U.S. News’ team of career bloggers — starting in mid-January!) In my many years following this report, categories often do not change very much from year to year. That is a good thing for anyone using the list to make a career choice!

For example, the article notes that “All of the healthcare jobs on last year’s list have made the cut again this year, plus two new positions: massage therapist and athletic trainer. While the field of athletic training doesn’t offer the sheer number of positions as nursing or dental hygiene, it outranks nearly all other healthcare occupations for expected job growth.”

It’s important to remember that jobs on this list are not necessarily easy to land! Although jobs are cut from the list if they have a higher-than average unemployment rate, the article notes that, with 9.6% unemployment, there are still (statistically) five unemployed people for every job, compared to an average of 1.7 people for every job in the three years before the recession.

Do Your Research

Every job seeker should keep an eye on his or her industry and make plans for the future with an informed outlook. I like to remind readers that it’s a good idea to set a Google alert for organizations and fields of interest to you so you’ll be aware when there are newsworthy ups and downs in your market. Clearly, there are trends in industries. While there are no guarantees, keeping an eye on these surveys and data should help direct those seeking career change make their plans.

Learn what you can about the number of job opportunities, salary expectations, educational requirements, job satisfaction — make a list of what is important to you and conduct a personal analysis to determine a good direction for your career.

Luckily, there are more and more resources every day to help you with your research.

You can go “old school” and talk to people you know or people they know via informational interviews. Or, expand your networking circle by using Twitter to research your job, LinkedIn to connect with new colleagues, Facebook (via BranchOut or Jibe) and Quora to meet new people who may have advice, information or recommendations for you.

Learn what blogs are popular and respected in your niche (I like to use Alltop.com as a great resource) and find out what your mentors are saying. Find them on Twitter (WeFollow.com is my favorite list for Twitter) and learn who they talk to, what conferences they attend (and what they think of the speakers).

Hop on a Twitter chat to connect with people in your targeted industry. Before you know it — with skill and persistence — you can become one of them! (Read this story of someone who has decided to lead the way in his industry, even if his colleagues are not already joining him on social media.)

Clearly, there are many, many ways to learn what everyone is saying and — most importantly — to insert yourself into the conversations (via participating in social media, meeting local colleagues, attending professional conferences, etc.) to really get to know about a field.

Here is U.S. News & World Report’s list of top jobs for 2011, broken down by categories considered promising growth fields:

Science and Technology

– Biomedical engineer

– Civil engineer

– Computer software engineer

– Computer support specialist

– Computer systems analyst

– Environmental engineering technician

– Environmental science technician

– Hydrologist

– Meteorologist

– Network architect

Health care

 

– Athletic trainer

– Dental hygienist

– Lab technician

– Massage therapist

– Occupational therapist

– Optometrist

– Physician assistant

– Physical therapist

– Physical therapist assistant

– Radiologic technologist

– Registered nurse

– School psychologist

– Veterinarian

Social Service

– Clergy

– Court reporter

– Education administrator

– Emergency management specialist

– Firefighter

– Marriage and family therapist

– Mediator

– Medical and public health social worker

– Special-education teacher

– Urban planner

Business and Finance

– Accountant

– Actuary

– Financial adviser

– Financial analyst

– Logistician

– Meeting planner

– Public relations specialist

– Sales manager

– Training specialist

Creative and Service

– Commercial pilot

– Curator

– Film and video editor

– Gaming manager

– Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration technician

– Interpreter/Translator

– Multimedia artist

– Technical writer

Be sure to review U.S. News’ entire, informative article outlining the various opportunities and their methodology.

Please comment if you know anything about these professions! Would you recommend them? What are your experiences? Share in the comments!

Don’t forget that clear, concise, optimized job search materials AND a strong, well executed plan are key for job search success! I can help with every part of your job hunt! Need a great resume? Tips to use social networking? Interview coaching?  If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans, learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, don’t forget those social networks! Be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community! Since we’re on the subject of doing something new…Are you on Twitter? Jump on and touch base with me @keppie_careers.

photo by Court reporter

Keppie Careers selected a “Monster 11 for 2011” best job seeker resource

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Somewhat ironically (maybe?) my friend Hannah Morgan, also known as @CareerSherpa, posted a blog yesterday acknowledging that it is important to take credit where credit is due, about the best way to keep track of your accomplishments at work. For those of us who aren’t about tooting our own horn, this is a good reminder.

Why is Hannah’s timing ironic? It was posted the same day that Monster.com announced “The Monster 11 for 2011: Career Experts Who Can Help Your Job Search.” I was thrilled and flattered to be named to the list, along with my good friends Hannah and Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter (@valueintowords) as well as  colleagues: Heather Huhman (@heatherhuhman) (all also of the Career Collective), Penelope Trunk (@brazencareerist), Eve Tahmincioglu (who tweets in rhyme @careerdiva), J.T. O’Donnell (@careerealism), Chris Perry (@careerrocketeer), Donna Svei (@avidcareerist), Abby Kohut (@absolutely_abby) and Louise Fletcher (@louise_fletcher).

As Monster notes, there are many, many other great career pros who write and tweet advice for job seekers. (Be sure to follow the #CareerCollective hashtag for some of them!) I am proud to have been named on this list with these terrific colleagues. I’ll use this post to help me track my accomplishment, as Hannah suggests. Have you considered creating a blog or website to help you track and share your milestone career moments? Contact me….I am creating a product to help you do just that – even if you don’t know anything about starting a blog or creating a site!

Monster suggests you follow them on Twitter: @HotJobs_editor or @MonsterCareers, where they often reference these and other career experts’ work! Also, be sure to check out Monster’s HR and Recruitment Bloggers top 11 for 2011 list. It was exciting to see so many of my Twitter friends and colleagues listed there.

photo by unfurl

http://monster.typepad.com/monsterblog/2010/12/monster-11-for-2011.html

Keep upbeat to improve your chances of landing a job: here’s how

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I recently noticed some of my friends on Facebook taking advantage of apps such as “my year in status” that analyze their status updates and list out their top-used words. If you use Facebook, no doubt you’ve seen this, too. How would your updates look? We all have friends who seem to post about their every headache and punctuate every status update with “UGH” and similar exclamations that tend to be negative. Then, there are those whose posts stand out because they are always positive – and hopeful – even when facing really tough circumstances, including illness and joblessness.

Think about it. Are you more likely to want to hire Debbie Downer or Sally Sunshine?

Clearly, it is easy to feel discouraged and hopeless if you are in the midst of an unsuccessful job hunt.

Eve Tahmincioglu recently wrote about the issue of hopelessness in her MSNBC column:

The nation’s jobless rate has been hovering near 10 percent for many months now, but one of the most disturbing statistics is that as of October, 6.2 million, or four in 10 unemployed Americans, had been out of work for 27 weeks or more. That’s the highest number on record, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, keep in mind, as Eve notes in her post: “Feeling hopeless — and appearing hopeless to others — can actually keep you from landing a job, according to Savitri Dixon-Saxon, associate dean of the School of Counseling and Social Service at Walden University.”

A study led by Ron Kaniel of Duke and reported in MIT Sloan Management Review found that “Optimists fared better than their less-optimistic peers in some important ways…For one thing, the optimistically inclined MBA students found comparable jobs to their peers — but found them more easily, with less-intensive job searches.  Even better, two years after graduation the optimists were more likely than their less-optimistic peers to have been promoted.” (Hat tip: Maggie Mistal.)

Sandra Naiman, author of The High Achiever’s Secret Codebook: The Unwritten Rules for Success at Work, points out that while this certainly is a challenging time, there are steps that can help people stay upbeat. “The key is to engage in activities that provide self-satisfaction and build self esteem,” she says. She offers the following suggestions:

  • Engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself.
  • Achieve tangible results. It can be as simple as cleaning out a closet, organizing the garage or waxing the car. It can also be related to volunteer or family activities, such as writing a neighborhood watch newsletter or making cookies with the kids. Make sure, that at the end of each day, you can point to something you accomplished.
  • Surround yourself with positive, supportive people. Avoid the people who always see the glass as half empty or those who drain your energy.
  • Keep promises to yourself.
  • Reward yourself. Children aren’t the only ones who need a “gold star” at the end of the day.
  • Follow a healthy routine. Eat well, exercise and take good care of your body.
  • Allow yourself some down time. You can’t be up and optimistic all the time, so give yourself permission to have a bad day. If you diligently follow the above suggestions, you can count on tomorrow to be better.

Read more suggestions:

Stay positive and upbeat while job hunting

You control your job hunting destiny

It might be easier to stay positive if you have a coach in your corner! Need help getting your job search jump started? Not sure you can put all of the great tools at your disposal to good use? Need a great resume? Learn how I can help you propel your job hunt forward.

photo by Proggie

Important LinkedIn change impacts job seekers

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Watching changes in social networking platforms and keeping up-to-date on their ever-changing tools can be a full-time job. My colleague, Jason Alba, author of I’m On LinkedIn, Now What?, posted yesterday about a new development in LinkedIn search that is important for job seekers. He explains that when a non-paying LinkedIn user reviews a third-degree connection’s profile, LinkedIn does not share that person’s name in the headline. (It lists the first name and last initial — see photo below/right). 

It then prompts the user with two choices:

1. To expand your network to enhance your opportunity to connect with the user at a second-degree level. (This would be free, but takes effort.)

2. To upgrade to a paid account that will allow the person to easily find full names for third-degree contacts

This is an interesting development, and Jason notes that it probably is a precursor for other, similar moves by LinkedIn to withhold information and potentially encourage more people to become paid members.

However, at this point, LinkedIn really does not have the upper hand in preventing people from identifying full contact information or names of those whose last names it may withhold. I can (at this point) still see the entire actual profile of my third-degree connections (sans last name in the headline). Any information they share in their profiles (including listing an email address or full name in their profile or Summary section, their personal websites, Twitter accounts, Slideshares, etc.) is still readily available.

My advice to job seekers (and everyone who wants to make it easy — and free) for people to know who you are? Include your full name in your Summary section, link your other professional websites and social networks that have links to your work or work products and consider sharing an email in the context of your Summary.

While it is possible that LinkedIn will become draconian and try to prevent us from sharing this information, or that it will set things up so we cannot easily access other identifying information (such as Twitter account, websites, etc.), that is not the case right now.

Help someone find you by updating your profile. And, consider having your own social resume — a website that you control to share information you want people to know about you. Contact me if you’re interested in owning YourName.com, but could use some help creating a fully operational site that search engines will love and will showcase your best professional information!

Consider using Quora to enhance your professional profile

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If you are a regular reader, you know I recommend using social media (Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)  to enhance your network and expand your reach as a job seeker or entrepreneur.  At a recent social event with other contributors and speakers for Social Media Atlanta’s HR and Recruiting track, I met Douglas Kling, (@DouglasKling), Director of Recruiting at HUNTER Technical Resources. He recommended I look at Quora.com, a network focused on asking and answering questions.

Quora calls itself “A continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” Their goal? “To have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.”

Crunchbase notes that Quora was founded in June 2009 and launched in private beta in January 2010:

“One way you can think of (Quora) is as a cache for the research that people do looking things up on the web and asking other people. Eventually, when you see a link to a question page on Quora, your feeling should be: “Oh, great! That’s going to have all the information I want about that.” It’s also a place where new stuff–that no one has written about yet–can get pulled onto the web.”

I found executive recruiter Harry Urschel’s new post in my Google reader while I was writing this post. Harry explains,

“…Quora is unique in the level of professional and expert responses you encounter. Ask a question regarding an Engineering challenge, and it’s not unlikely to get an answer from a Chief Engineer at Motorola or Intel. Ask a question regarding start-ups, and you’re likely to get a response from a Venture Capital expert. Ask questions about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or virtually any other successful site, and you’re just as likely to get an answer from a Senior Executive from one of those organizations as you are from a power user.”

Similar to LinkedIn’s Answers section, there are questions on Quora about a wide array of topics. For example, someone asked: “Are there metrics on how helpful it is to address a user by their first name for account/marketing emails?” One reply was from Ramit Sethi, a NYT bestselling author of I Will Teach You to be Rich.

You may ask a question to the community, or target it to a particular user. Like Twitter, you can choose to “follow” other users and you will have followers as well. When you sign up, Quora offers you the opportunity to link with your Twitter account, and it will automatically follow Quora members whom you follow on Twitter. I found a very small percentage of people I follow on Twitter were also on Quora right now.

How does a site like this help you? In general, it follows the same principle as other social media sites: sharing information and advice in your subject matter area helps you raise your profile. When you answer questions with good information and people begin to turn to you for advice, your digital footprint (how many people know about you online) increases. When more people know about you, your network grows and this improves your chances for learning about (and being recommended for) opportunities — both jobs and entrepreneurial ventures.

Harry noted that Google found his profile and answers and quickly indexed them (therefore indexing his expertise). Since many employers are Googling candidates, having another resource to showcase your knowledge, skills and abilities in your niche topic can be helpful. It’s also possible (as in any social networking site) to build a rapport with an expert or mentor, which may lead to opportunities to contribute to their projects and/or to meet in person.

As someone who has been using Quora for the past few months, Douglas confirms that it is a good use of time and an interesting use of social media. He explained,

“The format allows for interactive discussion amongst subject matter experts on an ever-growing variety of topics. But, it also levels the playing field between the known experts and the unknown experts. The platform allows heretofore unknown experts in a specific space to increase their digital footprint based on the actual quality of the information they provide.”

Check it out: Quora.com. If you sign up, be sure to look for me: http://www.quora.com/Miriam-Salpeter.