moving forward

Can you hear the holiday music playing? It's my retail opinion that the Halloween costumes aren't even out of the store before you can hear Bing busting out those warm and fuzzy Christmas carols. Although this post is not sponsored by your local shopping mall, there is a gifting message for you. Give the gift of a job ~ or at least a job recommendaaion. Some of you  might be aware that HR departments give employee rewards for referrals that result in sustained employment. That can be upwards of a couple hundred or thousand bucks. Hellooooo holiday presents.

~OR~

There is a new website that makes job gifting a breeze. It's called Top Prospect. Just found this sucker and it looks like a great way to look through your friends and match them up with open job positions which could result in YOU getting a little green (cash that is, not envy).

Point, click, and connect your way to good career karma. Yes, this does get your buddy a job but ask them to return the favor. Call it a holiday present. Now you don't have to regift the loud Christmas sweater crazy aunt Suzie gave you 'cause you are low on financial resources.





Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'E' for Employment.

rome wasn't built in a day

Have you ever read Moby Dick? I did for school. Was not a fan. Was a little slow for my little attention span. Wish I had the cliff notes. Today, however, I can share with you the cliff notes version of a recent job search event I went to. 

The Advertising Women of NY, or AWNY, is a local, professional association that has brought tremendous value to my life. The association has a career development arm that offered an event this month that focused on digital job searching. [would have been cool if they really took on the digital theme and streamed the event online] 

I saved my job search shekels and $35 later was registered for the two hour event. Half hour was spent networking and an hour listening to a panel talk about online job searching. Pammy Brooks from 24/7 Real Media (moderator), Rochelle Geller from Rochelle Geller Associates, MaryAlice Almendinger from Google, and Virginia Hanchar from Mediacom composed the expert panel. Here's what the ladies had to share about online job searching:

PB - 24/7 Real Media

• LinkeIn is a game changer.

RG - Rochelle Geller Associates

• LinkedIn is a great resource to use when romancing a company.
• Just because LinkedIn is available and convenient is not a reason to present an informal or unprofessional side.
• Right now hiring managers are looking for big picture thinkers and in the weeds workers.
• When delivering the experience of you, consider your intuitive and empathic sense of self. 

VH - Mediacom

• Aim for positively assertive when following up on a job interview. 
• Researching a company gives a candidate competence and confidence. 
• Take the time (or money) to have a complete online profile created to represent you. 
• Don't underestimate your relationships with people. It's like managing an PR campaign for yourself.

MA - Google

• When Google gets a resume, a real person reviews it. 
• Aim to make all your communications powerful and valuable. 
• Don't apply for multiple positions at one company at one time. 
• We use key words to create boolean searches for qualified candidates. 
• Google looks for four things in a candidate: experience, cognitive ability, leadership in your professional or personal life, and "Googliness".
• A candidate will be considered questionable if we see inconsistencies across resumes and online profiles. 

fail to plan and plan to fail

We all wanna make a buck. How do you do that quickly and with integrity? 

No, honestly, I am asking YOU. How do you do did? 

[email me if you have the answer - I promise a profit split]

Professional coaches have decided to accomplish this is by offering free seminars. Coaches are doing this to attract potential clients and gain back end percentages or fees. What does this mean to you, my digital career connecting crew? YOU can get FREE guidance and inspiration. Here's the deal...

Consultants and coaches offer no cost seminars over the phone or online video about a variety topics that might interest you. Here's a couple career-cash examples:

WouldYouHireYourself.com

• Dan Jessup, Groupon’s Head of People Strategy, discusses precisely how candidates can attract attention in fast-growth markets and land their ideal job.
• Jean Allen, partner at top search firm Heidrick & Struggles, is a veteran financial services recruiter and she discusses how she has seen candidates succeed in the job search so you can land the position you want at the company you want
• Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world’s largest networking organization, shares cutting-edge networking strategies to broaden and strengthen your networks. 

SoulAndProsperityEntrepreneurs.com

• Sage Lavine, Unlock your Purpose & Make Money Living It!
• Rha Goddess, Live Your Dream Now! How to Stay True, Get Paid, Do Good
• Pam Slim and Desiree Adaway, Partnerships: How to join forces with other business owners, non-profits and sponsors-for impact, for influence, for profit, and to change the world.

These are just a few examples of video and tele-summits offered recently. The key to this free, value loaded info session is to participate live. If you miss the session then you more then likely have 24-48 hours to catch the recording. After that time, it'll cost you, usually around $50 for the series. Considering you can participate from anywhere there is a phone or computer and it only takes an hour and an email address ~ why not give it a try? 

Let us know if you find a series you really like.

expect what you inspect

I heart this online job search idea.

Let me introduce you to Bianca Cadloni. Bianca likes Chipotle, employment, and social media. Her online recipe for job success is to build the Bianca brand around her skills and interests. In this case, we're talkin' 140 bytes of burrito. Yup, this Mexican lovin' maven is tweeting her way into a job.

“When I saw the job listing for social media and public relations coordinator, my heart skipped a beat. It was as if my love of PR, social media and Chipotle came together to give birth to the job description I had been dreaming of since I took my first bite of a sustainable chicken taco. ” - Bianca Cadloni

Bianca has developed a personal website that reflects Chipotle's look and feel. This whole idea is a great way to approach a job search. What brands do you love? Is there a place who's flair or flavor you would consider becoming a champion for? If you could campaign and win entry, what brand would you embrace?

The business world would be a more *spicy* place if we could all go to work for our BFF brand.

don't put your eggs all in one basket

:-) = happy

:O) = clown

vizualize.me = new resume

We can all thank Eugene Woo for translating us from boring text versions of ourselves into fascinating infographics of ourselves. Yes friends, soon (it's in beta) there will be a web app that generates an infographic of your resume based on your LinkedIn profile. Vizualize.me is the key to a new colorful career.

Check out what Vizualize.me whips Woo's wesume to wook wike ;-P

Wouldn't use this as the primary source of career collateral but it's a fun supplement especially if your chosen field uses visual flair. It's free and within a couple clicks you could see your working history in a whole new way!

it's crunch time

Think Amazon's 1-Click ordering. Think social media buttons at the bottom of any internet article. Now think online job submission. This digital combo is LinkedIn's recent attempt at streamlining the web employment process.

“Our goal with Apply With LinkedIn is to help every professional put their best foot forward, anywhere across the web when they take that leap to apply for a new position,” - Jonathan Seitel, LinkedIn Technical Product Manager

Reviews are mixed about the Pros and Cons.

PROS

*Helps potential employees hit application volume numbers faster.

*3 clicks to application and 0 cover letter.

*Uniform and searchable submission data for employers.

CONS

*Mass employee impulse applications.

*Employees in the relationship building process are being undermined. Eroding LinkedIn's job board point-of-difference that it creates personal and direct connections from employee to employer.

*Increased time and money waste for employers having to sift through an even larger applicant pool. Good candidates getting the boot because there are too many considerations.

Technology help or hinderance? You decide.

the whole nine yards

Do you like me? Yes, it's my un-answerable question BUT in the new age of social media measuring, "like-ability" is all the online rage. Tell me what you think - is at the tip of our digital tongues. User reviews can tip the scale when it comes time to make a decision. In this day and age, you can Google 'best nyc hamburger' [editorial side note - I pick the Original 5 Napkin Burger, although I do like the S.S.] and make your choice based on the quality and quantity of ranked consumer stars. Example)

How does this relate to online job searching? Let me introduce you to Indeed.com where you can read and write reviews about employers. Consider adding to your job research what past employees say about working in an organization. Consider letting future job applicants know what your experience was with a particular company. For example, the company Reputation Institute looks like it has some work to do...

In this time of consumer generated media, I ask you friends, take to the internet and help a user out. Let us know where the great company culture exists or tell us about the never ending TPS reports.

Log on and unleash.

everthing from soup to nuts

Act One - Scene One

Employer:

Thank you for coming in today. We'll let you know about our next steps.

You:

Great, thank you. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Act One - Scene Two

[You are done with your interview. You really want the job. You are sitting there in your new suite and wondering what's next.]

----------------------------

Say it with me folks, THANK YOU NOTE.

Yes, you are psyched up that you had a great connection with your potential next boss. You are cool with the commute. You've even crossed out your bosses name on the business card he/she gave you and written in your own. This could be it. Your next job.

Only you don't get it. Why? Because you were one of the 22 percent of people who didn't write a follow-up thank you note. CareerBuilder released a survey that shared, "more than one-in-five (22 percent) hiring managers say they are less likely to hire a candidate if they don’t send a thank-you note after an interview".

Good news my electronic community, 89 percent of hiring managers say sending this follow-up acknowledgement through email is cool. Heck, 50 percent prefer it! I know you are disappointed about having just bought a bunch of forever stamps. Write your mom instead. 'Cause an email is a quicker, cost effective way of becoming a real contender for employment.

Consider the following best practices before you press Send:

• send it immediately after the interview
• thank the employer for the interview
• restate your interest in the position
• give one or two keys reasons why you feel you are the best candidate for the job

-END SCENE-

as clear as mud

Remember grade school? Remember getting back your test results in math, history, or science class? Remember wishing with every fiber of your little kid heart that you did well and got a gold star? 95 questions right - 5 questions wrong. Sure you did a good job but 5 questions were wrong. I believe this is the beginning of focusing on The Wrong instead of The Right. We spend more time looking at our weakness then our strengths.

To be clear, I love looking at the wrong and fixing it. It's part of my Restorative strengths. My Restorative strength has been identified through Gallup StrengthFinder assessment. This online resource tool is "based on a 40-year study of human strengths, Gallup created a language of the 34 most common talents and developed the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment to help people discover and describe these talents. The goal was to start a global conversation about what's right with people."

In the book, authors share that people should basically give up what they don't do well and focus on their strengths. The assessment takes 20 minutes. In the end you get a report on your strengths. My top five are: Restorative, Futuristic, Command, Intellection, and Input. What are yours?

Once you know your strengths, revisit your resume and online candidate profiles. This is a whole new context to reframe what you do well. More then likely, your happiest or most productive times at work involve you using your strengths. Your next move is to build success stories around your strengths and share.

Holler your online communities (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) about your next success story, emphasizing your strengths in the workplace and the positive impact of your results. Give prospective employers something to chew on. Demonstrate your value. Celebrate your accomplishments.

comparing apples to oranges

Did you go to college? I did, Ohio (think Bobcat not Buckeye) and Columbia University. Let's go back to those good old college days. Regardless if you went for the education or experience - your affiliation can still pay off. Most schools have a career department you can access online.

Pictured above is the online presence for Columbia's Career Education department. This web resource is an untapped gold mine for Employers, Students, Alumni, Faculty & Admin, and Parents. We're looking at Columbia's site but check out your own institution of higher learning. In fact, check out any universities online career resource section. Not all college websites are password protected. Anyone is free to jump online and avail themselves of the resources and recommendations.

The website College Prowler issues a report card to universities based on their career centers. Pick one of these A+ collage career centers for more EDU JOB support. Within these electronic education employment areas are tools like: online assessment tests, exclusive job boards, community directories, and webinars to name a few.

What's your online alma mater look like?

finally in your element

Getting a job can be such hard work. Isn't there an easier way?

Indeed there is, Constant Online Reader! Winning it.

In this day and age, winning a person, place, or thing is not out of the question. Heck someone can win a chance to meet David Beckham. Someone can win a trip to Mexico. Someone can even win an iPod.

{Wouldn't it be great to win all three?! I can just picture me now ~ ~ sitting on a beach in Mexico, listening to my iPod while my companion, David Beckham, turns his head and smiles at me. Sigh, I don't even need a frozen concoction to help me hang on ~ ~}

Outside of fantasy land, real people like Chris Michalak and Colleen Lewis, are big winners. Job winners that is. Really and truly, Chris and Colleen found out about a career contest, submitted, and won. Chris was offered a softwear engineering position at Interactive Brokers. Colleen was awarded a field scout gig at Glacier National Park for BACKPACKER magazine. There are lots of candidate contestants out there like Chris and Collen. Are you one of them?

No joke, popular prankster Ashton Kutcher is looking for second chair to his position as President of Pop Culture. If you are a social networking, salty dog or BBQ Betty, YOU might be the perfect person for the Popchips position.

After all people, all I can say about this is - it's a harsh job market. We gotta do whatever we can. We gotta work hard for the money, so hard for the money.

take it with a grain of salt

Among us brothers and sisters are people who HAVE jobs but are looking for something else. Perhaps daunted with the yo-yo unemployment numbers - they stay in bad working relationships. Feel for these employed but burdened brethren because Big Brother is on their back.

JT and Dale, at King Features, recently received a question from a job seeker that demonstrates why we should not covet thy neighbors job:

I am currently in a position I hate, working for an employer I dislike. I want to look for a new job while I have a job, but I have a challenge: My company uses some sort of service that notifies them as soon as someone posts a resume on a big job site using the company name. So how do I go about looking for a job when my current job will be in immediate jeopardy?

Yikes, right?! The crew at Talk Jobs subscribes to a Fishbowl Assumption theory that everyone finds out everything. Their advise? Go into stealth mode when looking and be prepared with a well-rehearsed "surprisey-face" or cover story for plausible deniability purposes.

Good recommendations just the same. Have a read...