Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Why Your Job Hunt Isn't Like Barry the Bee's, Part I

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Have you seen the Bee Movie? With Sex and the City being all the rage this week, I don’t image that an older release/kid’s movie is exactly top of mind for most theater goers. However, the Bee Movie had a lot of great lessons for job seekers. (Who would have thunk it?)

In case you’re not familiar, here’s a brief synopsis:

Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees’ honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey.

I hadn’t realized all of the great career themes in this movie! There is a telling scene when Barry and his bee buddy are on a roller coaster tour of the hive designed to help them choose their life-long vocation. Yes, a graduate bee must pick a career for the REST OF HIS LIFE. Of course, choices in the hive are somewhat limited. (Can you say, “make honey?”) In an insular world of the hive, it’s all about ONE choice for life. You don’t get to be a worker bee and later switch to being a pollen seeker…Choose wrong, and you are doomed.

Barry Bee strikes out on his own, but in his naivete, he makes a mess of things when he tries to save all of the honey for the bees. (Think “the end of the world as we know it.”)

Compared to the bees, human job seekers have a walk in the park! Just think – you don’t have to commit to a job for life. If you decide to take an atypical career path (as Barry ultimately did), you probably do not have the potential to destroy life as we know it on earth (as Barry almost did).

Recently, I’ve worked with several clients who are exploring career options in a variety of fields. It’s important for them (and you, if you are considering a job hunt) to realize that there may be no “perfect” job or career, but that’s okay! Your job choices are not carved in stone…Jobs, like the rest of life, are as fluid as you allow them to be.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog with more reasons not to stress too much about your job hunt!

Keppie Careers will help you relieve job hunting stress. Take a load off of your mind and hire us to navigate the job search process: www.keppiecareers.com.

Smooth Sailing for Your Job Hunt: Heat Up Your Interview Skills

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Sailing on the Sun

Photo by Auer1816

Seeking smooth sailing for your interviews?

Logically, once you have a hot resume and network for success, it’s key to focus on interviewing skills to win the job. A summary for those hoping to heat up their job search for the summer season:

Prepare for your interview. Decide how to connect your skills to the employer’s needs.

Avoid typical interviewing blunders and turn your interviewer into a fan!

Know how to answer the most important underlying interview questions.

Have structured replies to behavioral interview questions.

Don’t forget to follow up your interviews with a timely thank you note.

Know what to wear. Know what NOT to wear…

Don’t miss interview red flags. Don’t get involved in a bad situation if you can help it!

Keppie Careers will conduct mock interviews and help you prepare to blow your interviewer away with clear, concise and correct answers to important interview questions! www.keppiecareers.com

Heat Up Your Job Hunt With Hot Resume Tips

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Photo by Lallyna

Keep the sun rising on
your job hunt with a hot
resume!

A job search can be so overwhelming…A resume may represent a huge obstacle if you have been thinking of looking for a better job or making a career change. How can you put something together that will give you the best chance of landing the position that you seek?

Obviously, the easiest plan is to hire Keppie Careers to handle your resume! You won’t believe the peace of mind that can come from having a trained professional write your resume. Here is a summary of things to think regarding your resume if you are getting started on a summer job hunt:

A resume is a marketing document, not a laundry list of “stuff” you have done.

The point of a resume is to demonstrate your value to the employer. You must connect your value to their needs.

Be sure that your resume represents your career stage. For example, if this is not your first job out of school, you may want to consider moving your “education” section from the top of your document.

Remember, although no one resume style or type is right for every job seeker, there are some do’s and don’ts for resume writing!

A resume should include skills and accomplishments, including soft skills. It is okay to brag a little in a resume Just be sure that you support anything in your resume. Employers frown on the “perfectionists” with strong “attention to detail” who have typos or grammatical errors in their job search documents!

Save time, money and sanity! Hire us to write a top-notch resume that will get you noticed for all the right reasons! www.keppiecareers.com.

Heating Up Your Network for Job Seeking Success

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endless summer

Photo by Rougerouge

How about heating up your network on the beach? Maybe your surfing buddies (or suntanning crew) can connect you to your next best career move. Networking and personal referrals will help you win jobs. You don’t have a crew? Here’s where to unearth your network…

Your network is everyone you know (and everyone they know). Make a list. Include friends, relatives, neighbors, acquaintances and current and past business associates. Start inviting people to join you for coffee. Ask them to tell you about themselves and their jobs. At every meeting, ask for a suggestion of someone else to meet. Do not limit yourself to people who think will help you. Have an open mind and meet with those you DO NOT think will help!

Create a profile on linkedin.com. Use the free tools offered to find people you know and ask to link with them. Tell everyone you know about linkedin and ask them to sign up. To really expand your network, connect with a LION (Linkedin Open Networker.) Use linkedin to help you identify people to contact for informational meetings.

Research organizations in your area that may have opportunities for you. Seek informational meetings with people in those organizations. NOT HR people – those who actually do the type of work you would like to do.

Remember that networking is about building relationships. Consider what YOU can do for others. How can you help them? If you take a sincere interest in giving rather than taking, your network will grow organically.

Keppie Careers will teach you how to network. We’ll also write your resume, teach you interviewing and other job seeking skills and assist you every step of the way! www.keppiecareers.com.

Heat Up Your Job Search: At a Crossroads? 10 Tips to Get Your Job Hunt on the Right Track

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Photo by Alan by the Sea Used by permission.

To really start off this week’s “Heat Up Your Job Search” series, an overview of job hunting techniques to get you in the swim of things! Stay tuned this week for more specific compilations on networking, resume writing and interviewing!

  1. Talk to people you do NOT think can help you. Just because someone isn’t in your field doesn’t mean they don’t have useful information for you. (Or you for them.) Our lives intersect in so many points. Think of someone you consider least likely to be able to share good information with you for your search. Meet for coffee. You may be surprised!
  2. Network generously. Think how you can help others instead of what they may offer you.
  3. Optimize your online presence, but don’t waste time zapping a lot of resumes to ads on large job boards. The possibilities to connect are endless: Blogs, networking sites such as linkedin.com, large and small social networks provide opportunities to “meet” professionals from every industry.
  4. Evaluate your resume. Is it top notch? If not, consider hiring Keppie Careers to rewrite it for you! A professionally written resume will shorten your search and may qualify you for a higher-paying position.
  5. Customize your resume for EVERY job. It is worth your time. 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.
  6. Evaluate your interviewing skills. Are you selling yourself? Your resume got you in the door; the interview is your chance to show the employer that you really have what it takes to join their team.
  7. Vet your references. They have the potential to seal the deal for you. Do you know what they might say?
  8. Appearance matters. Cut your hair. Shine your shoes. Invest in a nice suit.
  9. Don’t let your job hunt consume you. Frequent exercise, support or networking groups and chocolate can be good stress relievers! Don’t spend every minute on your job hunt. You still need to have a life! Plus, you never know – it could be someone you meet on a trip to the grocery store or a seatmate on an airplane while on vacation who winds up linking you to your next job!
  10. Consider hiring a career coach. Would you set your own broken bone? Wire your own home for electricity? Do you cut your own hair? Most would say “no.” The same standard should apply when job seeking. If you aren’t an expert on the job hunt, getting some advice will help you advance your search. It may also save you time, money and sanity in the long run!

Keppie Careers will write your resume and help you every step of the way! www.keppiecareers.com.