5 Networking Tips For Shy or Introverted People

Original Post: August 6, 2009 by Rich DeMatteo

Being shy can be a networking asset, you just need to know how to use it.  Remember, the world craves balance.  If networking events were made up of entirely extroverts, they would drive themselves crazy.  Here are COTJ's 5 networking tips for shy or introverted people:

1. Utilize Social Media – Begin networking first on Linkedin, Facebook, Myspace, or any web 2.0 destination that connects you to people with similar interests.  Start building up your contacts/friends list, and build up your relationship with these people.  Once you feel comfortable, invite them to join a networking event with you.  This may help the lessen any intimidation you may feel of going it alone.  

2 . Use being shy to your advantage - People absolutely love carrying on about themselves, so provide an ear for them to let loose on, and you'll make a friend in the process.  Don't be intimidated by louder, extroverted net workers.  They need you, and they know it.  Just be yourself, be polite, listen, and sacrifice your ears over to the extroverts.

3 – Set networking goals -  Make it your mission to talk to X amount of people and/or set a goal on how many events you'll attend each month.  If nothing else, just set your mind on having fun and enjoying each event.  A positive mind set is critical.

4 – Know when to speak up -  Lay low until a question surrounding your area of expertise is brought up.  Once you feel confident, speak loud and clear.  Keep it short and to the point, and you will look like a star.  

5– Smile -  Simple right?  Not only does the upside down frown bring a look of confidence, but you'll instantly become easier to approach as well.  Heck, smiling may even force/trick you into having a good time.  Not smiling can leave a negative impression that you're intimidated, uncomfortable, uninterested (maybe the worst), tired, or just sociably awkward.  I know this is weird, but just in case you honestly don't know how to smile, click HERE TO LEARN.

What it Feels Like to Get Fired

Original Post: What it Feels Like to Get Fired:

"Today I got fired from my summer internship. Okay, so that’s a lie. I wasn’t fired. It was the last day of my internship, and I wasn’t offered a full-time job after graduation—which feels like getting fired when it was “my offer to lose.” I think I said that I was fired so I could feel like Heather Armstrong, a now-famous blogger who got fired for blogging about work. Alas, I didn’t get fired for writing about work—although that is definitely not okay—at least not while you are still working there. I got fired for a lot of other things—like being late to meetings a lot, not listening well, and being “too aggressive.”

When responding to the feedback I received, my voice shook like I would cry, but I didn’t, and I’m proud of that. Still haven’t cried. Don’t plan on it.

I’ve never been fired actually. I’ve come quite close several times. When I worked at the movie theater and grocery store in high school, my till would come up missing hundreds of dollars sometimes. My bosses repeatedly asserted that they would have fired anyone else, but they were all sure that sweet, zany Kaneisha had not stolen money from the register only to then diligently show up to work four times a week after school. I surely hadn’t stolen the money. I can just be very absent-minded at times. My customers were probably yelling, “Look!” and then pulling money out of the register when I turned my head to see what was so exciting. The managers at the movie theater and grocery store hired me, but in the end, it wasn’t a good fit.

And neither was this internship. When receiving my feedback, some of the things were spot-on, but others caught me completely by surprise. In my head as I read my feedback: “People cared about what I was doing and wanted to be included? They wanted to see my spreadsheets?! I didn’t even want to see my spreadsheets!” But then again, that’s part of why I was fired. You’ve got to take the whole job—not just the parts that you like.

Getting fired feels like getting broken up with. More than anything, you just want to hear that they really did care for you, that there really had been something special there at some point. It just didn’t work out. You’re a lovely person with a lot to offer—just not to offer this particular person breaking up with you.

Just like when getting broken up with, I eloquently expressed my thoughts and feelings to the other party, and ended the interaction as amicably as I imagined it could be. Then I promptly vented to my girl friends, my beau, my Grandma, and sought refuge in a self-help book (This time it was Think and Grow Rich). Yep, that’s the usual routine after a break-up. Or when I get fired.

Looks like it’s time to find a new relationship aka job. 10 months and counting until I graduate. I’ve decided my ultimate goal is to work for myself. Does that make me a career spinster?

Read Your Résumé from the Bottom Up to Reduce Errors

Original Post: Read Your Résumé from the Bottom Up to Reduce Errors [Resume]: "

Getting a job in this tight economy necessitates making a great first impression, which leaves little-to-no room for typos and other résumé mistakes. The Washington Post details some ways to help outline your credentials more accurately.

Photo by kafka4prez.

While most of their suggestions aren't revolutionary (see: printing out your résumé), one of their tips seems like an interesting way to help avoid glaring errors. According to the post, prospective employees should review their résumés from the bottom up. The writer contends that this backwards approach will more fully ensure that you don't skip over sections, as opposed to reading from the top down, which may lead to skimming more readily than working your way up.

In interviews with 150 senior executives from the nation's 1,000 largest companies, 40 percent of the respondents said that just one typo on a résumé would kick a job candidate out of the queue for consideration. Thirty percent said it would take just two mistakes before the résumé was discarded.
"The way we see it, there's so much competition out there. There's no room for error," said Natasha Melgar, branch manager of the Washington office of the staffing firm Robert Half International. "The résumé is the first opportunity to present yourself."
With unemployment in some areas in the double digits and job postings drawing hundreds of applicants, I understand the need to quickly weed people out. But zero tolerance for one or two résumé typos is too harsh.

The article also offers some embarrassing résumé gaffes to watch for. Hit up the full link to check them out, then let us know what you do to ensure that your résumé appears spotless in the comments. And remember to ditch these six words from the fold when creating yours.

Tiny Typos Can Add Up To a Big X On Your Résumé [Washington Post]

Are You Hiring? Look Out For Fake Job Reference Agencies

What Not To Do

Original Post: Are You Hiring? Look Out For Fake Job Reference Agencies [Employment]: "

Are you looking for a job? Do you need positive references, but don't have anyone left from your old employer who would say nice things about you after the incident with the office bagel tray, shaving cream, and a box of gerbils? Don't worry. You can take care of that with a few hundred dollars.

Yes, Alibi HQ, a company better known for providing fake invitations, conference programs, and phone screening to give people plausible cover stories, also provides employment services. They provide fake references and employment verification services. From their page:

If you're in need of Fake Job Reference services, we'll provide a local or toll free number for your previous employer or employers. We'll answer all incoming calls as the fictitious company and confirm your dates of employment, indicate that you are eligible to be rehired.

The reader who shared this with us is looking at the situation from a hiring perspective. As should you. This is why it's a good idea to double-check numbers provided to you. Reverse lookup is your friend. If there's no Yellow Pages listing for a number that your prospective renter or employee claims is a law firm....big red flag, right there.

FAKE JOB REFERENCES [Alibi HQ]

(Photo: matt512)

Avoid these 9 phone interview mistakes

Original post: http://blog.brand-yourself.com/2009/phone-interview-tips/

Bethany Stringer posted an article on 9 phone interview blunders.

1. Do not stammer or use excessive slang. Uh, um, and like are horrible fillers in speech. It is better to pause momentarily to collect thoughts than it is to explain that you were the, uh, like, uh head, uh cashier. Practice answering potential questions with a friend or family member to help weed out these unnecessary (and unprofessional) words.

2. Do not reply in all yes’s and no’s. Answer with some personal experiences that are relevant to the job in question. Yes/no answers do not help sell your personal brand to the interviewer.

3. Do not lose focus. Remember this is an interview, not an exposé. Keep answers pithy and to the point. Go to an area where there will be limited distractions and both people can hear each other clearly.

4. Do not volunteer information. This is hopefully a preliminary interview, so there’s no need to commit to a salary requirement at this point. The salary the company is prepared to offer may be higher than what was expected, or, likewise, your requirements may be a bit more than they can afford.

5. Do not just roll out of bed. Since the caller cannot see you, it is tempting to appear disheveled. Getting up early, eating a good breakfast, showering, and dressing (does not have to be business attire) will relieve stress and make you more prepared and alert.

6. Do not be a robot. Show the interviewer that you are excited about the position with specific references to what is fascinating about the company. The energy and excitement will be apparent in your voice. Have an upbeat, positive attitude, and smile. It is surprising how much one can hear the change in a person’s voice when he or she smiles.

7. Do not wing it. Prepare ahead of time with some traditional questions and have your resume and the job description handy as well as any additional information about the company. Have a list of your attributes with situational examples that would be considered important for this job. Write down important questions that you have for the interviewer beforehand (focus on learning more about the specifics of the job, money can be discussed in person).

8. Do not have a hurried interview. When you are already running late for a meeting at your current job, or are dashing to pick up Jimmy and Janie from school is not the time to interview. While one would ideally be in a quiet setting with no other pressing engagements when the potential employer phones, sometimes it’s just not possible. Politely ask if it would be alright for you to call him or her back later and suggest a time (the sooner, the better).

9. Do not forget to thank the interviewer. After working diligently to answer questions, showing passion for the company and job offered, and standing up and smiling at someone who cannot even see your face, do not blow the interview in the last five minutes. Be certain to leave a positive final impression. Thank the caller and state that you are eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to discuss the position with him or her further face-face.

Many people advocate watching yourself in a mirror (to help you remember to smile) and don't forget to brush your teeth. You will unconsciously cover your mouth and mumble your words.

How Cash Over Credit Can Save You Money [Saving Money]

from Lifehacker by MainStreet.com

Avoiding pricey credit card fees isn't the only reason to opt for cash over credit (although it's a good one).

Nowadays, using cash over credit has some additional post-recession benefits. After all, with consumer demand low, some businesses, including auto dealers and electronics retailers, are offering better deals for cash-carrying customers. Other service providers may cut you a deal, too.

So why pay cash over credit? Let us count the ways:

Flee the Fee-Fest: With new credit regulations coming down the pike next year, card carriers are rushing to add new fees and charges to card holders before the hammer comes down next February. Some of the new fees, like fees for paying bills over the phone via credit card or higher fees for tardy payments, may drive cardholders over the edge, and have them leave their plastic at home and more cash in their wallet.

Use Cash, Cut a Better Deal: Retailers are beginning to rebel against the automatic fees that come with credit card purchases. Car dealers, hotels, and high-end electronics dealers are increasingly open to offering lower prices if a buyer pays with cash. Take the travel site Tripadvisor.com. The online site offers more hotels and at better prices for customers who give up the greenbacks.

Doctor Dollars: Paying your doctor bill with dollars gives new meaning to the term cold cash. If you need to see the doctor for a virus or other malady, offer to pay your bill in cash. Physician's offices are overrun with paperwork, and could be amenable to lightening the paper trail if you offer a couple sawbucks on a $50 tab. That's a 20% discount – and don't be surprised if your doctor goes along with the deal.

Instant Accountability: People who pay bills with plastic may spend more knowing that bill really doesn't come due until 30 days later, when their credit card bill shows up in the mail or via email. But paying a tab using cash means the money is coming out of your pocket right now. Being more cognizant of how fast your household budget is being depleted should save you more money in the long run.

Credit card holders who have become attached to the perks of plastic, things like card rewards, theft protection and the convenience of avoiding ATMs and waiting at the counter for change from a $50 bill, may balk at using cash.

But stand firm. By weaning yourself away from the plastic with the big bank logo on the bottom, you're saving money, gaining some leverage, and sticking it to the very same people who drove your interest rate up when went over your limit.

As the old saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold … and paid for with cash.

5 Typical Job Search Leaks

Tim Tyrell-Smith wrote that there are 5 leaks in your job search strategy. You can find the original article here. Tim wrote this for [JobMob]

5 typical job search problems

Hole #1 leaks Time: Inefficient Strategy

If you wake up every morning, hop on the computer and search for jobs (via Monster or AllJobs) for hours, there’s a hole in your bucket.

You are losing valuable time every day.

Time that could be spent meeting with real people, completing informational interviews, and using Linkedin, Plaxo or Xing to find contacts at your target companies. Since you cannot and should not search for work 12 hours a day, focus your key search hours on the right efforts.

Hole #2 leaks Opportunity: Uninspired Elevator or Introductory Speech

So you stand up at the big networking event when it is your turn to speak in front of 50 other people, some of whom might be able to influence your job search.

You speak too softly, don’t make eye contact, don’t deliver a compelling message and forget to share your job search objectives. When will you be able to fix that one? You’ve just left a forgettable impression on 50 people.

Fix this leak by learning to speak with a powerful voice, find at least 10 people to reach with your eyes and work hard to develop a compelling story for your career. Be interesting.

Hole #3 leaks Credibility and Friendship: Ineffective and Self-Focused Networker

If you are uncomfortable meeting new people. If you stumble in conversations. If your focus in networking is to solve your own problems.

Leak, leak, leak.

Networking is about giving and getting. In that order. No matter your stage in job search. Even if just beginning, there is always someone worse off than you. Someone you can help. And, of course, word gets around. If you are a giver, you will get from others. If you are a taker… well, the leak will get worse.

Hole #4 leaks Interview Potential: Poor or Incomplete Marketing Materials

When your resume or CV is too long, unstructured or lacking measurable accomplishments, you give little option to a hiring manager or recruiter. You give them a reason to filter your candidacy to the “HOLD” or “NO” folder.

If you do not create a significant impact in two pages, you will miss out on phone interviews and you will be less likely to be invited into HQ.

Also, make sure you have materials prepared for all occasions. Going to an event where the search is performed more informally? Have a “one sheet” version of your resume and carry networking business cards that include your contact information, key strengths, a clear positioning statement and your specific job search objectives.

Hole #5 leaks Energy: Random Acts of Desperation

Sometimes in job search a little bit of frustration sneaks into your mind. Perhaps that interview that you thought went so well… didn’t. But you feel a need to reinforce your skills via a phone message, e-mail and a hand-delivered note in the hopes that the company will realize they made a mistake by not offering you the job.

Not only is this damaging to your psychology, it does not endear you to the hiring manager. If they want you, they will call.

Really.

Make sure you have lots of irons in the fire to prevent a hyper-focus on one position - even if you think it is your dream job.

Follow up

So now it’s time to inspect your bucket. Are you seeing any leaks?

Hiring Consultant Warns: "No Connection Between Credit History And Job Performance"

Hiring Consultant Warns: "No Connection Between Credit History And Job Performance" [Discrimination]: "

Almost half of all employers use credit reports to judge job applicants, even though credit histories have no relation to job performance. Personal finance goofs are only relevant for jobs that deal directly with money—cashiers, account managers, and the like. For everyone else, negative credit reports keep otherwise capable people from securing a job to help avoid further financial problems. So why do so many companies still ask for credit reports?

Hiring consultant Nancy Schuman explains:

Some companies believe they can deduce how a person will handle their job responsibilities based on how they handle their personal finances. Others use the information to gauge how long a person might stay in a position if their debt load is higher than a position pays. It is also used to verify employment history and a social security number.

There is no clear connection between a credit history and job performance, and many job seekers consider it to be an unfair way of screening candidates, however, no Federal discrimination law specifically prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of a bad credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state credit laws help to regulate how an employer can obtain and use their findings. An employer must gain your consent in writing to do a credit check and the report they receive is different than one viewed by a credit agency or an individual. Full account numbers are not revealed and they won't see a credit score, but they will be able to see late payments, collections and bankruptcies. If you are actually denied employment because of your credit report, the company must notify you so that you may view the report on which the decision was based.

An accurate credit report is best defense against a discriminating employer. Every year, consumers find 13 million errors staining their credit reports. Request a copy of your report from each of the three credit reporting agencies at AnnualCreditReport.com (not FreeCreditReport.com!) Challenge anything that looks like an error. If you can't scrape strikes from your report, talk to your potential employer clearly and honestly and help them understand what led to financial transgression, and explain how it is completely unrelated to your future job performance.

Does Bad Credit = A Bad Candidate [Long Island Press via Fair Credit Reporting Act]
PREVIOUSLY: Repair Your Credit By Disputing
Check Your Credit History Year-Round, For Free
(Photo: ninjapoodles)

Why Resisting Change is Boring

Why Resisting Change is Boring: "

In recent posts (here and here), I’ve been sharing about some of the powerful life skills and lessons I’ve been gleaning from impro story-telling. Impro is a form of theatre where the story is made up by the team of actors as they act it out. Nobody knows where the story will go, because they’re creating it together on the spot, often in collaboration with the audience. The context of uncertainty that’s created within the impro games and story-telling sessions is in many ways similar to the fast-paced, high-change, unpredictable environments that many of us are living and working in these days, so I’ve found a lot of the impro perspectives and skills are highly relevant to thriving in this era - particularly the perspectives on embracing, rather than resisting, uncertainty and change.

Why we resist change

You’ve probably realized this yourself: on a deep level, we guard ourselves against change. From a survival point of view, our bodies are designed to avoid change and keep returning to homeostasis. And there’s a good reason for this - the body can only tolerate a small amount of change at a time, and when it comes to integral systems such as blood pressure and body temperature, the body can tolerate very little variance. So the body instinctively resists change, in order to survive. And when we’re living our lives automatically, rather than consciously, the mind becomes a servant to the body, and we’ll find ourselves fearing and resisting change in all areas of our lives. But, while the body is concerned with survival, and avoiding change will probably ensure your survival (until you die at least… it’s gonna happen in the end), our hearts, minds and spirits need change and growth in order to thrive. One of the impro mantras that we learned in the impro workshop really affirmed this idea for me:

“When you’re changing, you’re interesting…”

When you’re changing, you’re interesting

As with all entertainment, impro is interesting and entertaining when there’s something happening, and since you rarely have props on the stage, the interest and entertainment is all in the individual actors, their characters and how they relate to each other. Think of your favorite movies or books - one of the things that makes the main characters interesting is that they are in some way changed by the events or interactions in the story.

For me, this is so true in life. On some level, we’re all perceiving a story in each other, and we’re all putting out stories about ourselves. And the reason why some people attract more attention and interest (and fame/ money, etc) is that they’re putting out interesting stories - stories in which they’re changing. It’s the reason why people like Madonna have remained interesting over the years. She’s reinvented herself regularly, because she knows that she has to keep changing if she wants to remain interesting to her audience. And it’s the reason why actors like Hugh Grant have faded into the distance - he hasn’t changed and so he’s no longer interesting and we’ve moved on. I think this is a powerful idea to consider when it comes to relationships and leadership. If you want to be successful at relationships and leadership, you’re going to need to be committed to your life-long learning, change and growth.

What about the times when people reject us when we change?

I know that some people will say that they think that relationships can be shaken up and damaged by change, and I think this confirms the idea that, “When you’re changing, you’re interesting.” Often the reason the relationship ends is because one person was changing and the other person wasn’t, so somebody outgrew the relationship. I’ve seen this in my relationship with Andy. We got married when I was twenty and there were people who said that I was too young, that I wasn’t old enough to have “found myself” yet, and that we were taking a risk because we could still both change a lot and outgrow each other. While a lot of people see marriage as a limiting institution, when we got married, our vows were pretty much that we were committing ourselves to helping each other be more, and to live and expand our potential. And that’s what we’ve done. Andy is not the man I married, and I’m not the woman he married. And thank God for that! We’ve both been continuously changing, and that’s one of the things that’s kept us interesting to each other over the past 11 years we’ve been together.

So, I’m interested… how have you experienced the impact of change on your relationships? How has changing made your relationships (and your life) more interesting?

Photo by Wok

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MineYourResources/~3/bCcMS4UfS5E/

The Future of Work: Future-proof Your Career With Scenario Planning

Original Post: The Future of Work: Future-proof Your Career With Scenario Planning: "

Rounding off our week of features on the Future of Work, I thought it appropriate to consider methods of exploring the future, in particular ways to help you think about your career trajectory.

Perhaps one of the most well-known and used mechanisms for understanding possible futures is scenario planning. Scenario planning essentially helps construct “storylines” that draw together factors from various overlapping domains — politics, technology, culture, demographics — into narratives that can sometimes yield surprising, serendipitous insights.

Scenario planning has a long history of use as a predictive tool in the military and large organizations, but it’s also surprisingly applicable to individuals who wish to model, simulate and explore their own personal future.

A recent piece in Wired outlines a method for personal scenario planning to help workers consider and imagine their career future, and model the factors that might influence it.

Conveniently, Wired’s artilce distills scenario planning into five easy steps:

1. List driving forces. Which events, trends and variables affect your career? Categorize them under “uncertainties” and “relative certainties,” ranked by importance. These are essentially the determining factors in your career.
2. Make a scenario grid. Map your possible futures by selecting the most important uncertainties (from above) as axes of a 2×2 grid, you can then begin to populate each section of the grid with the description of a “potential future,” based on your chosen factors.
3. Imagine possible futures. Rewrite your potential futures as fictional, but plausible, news stories to make each scenario more tangible and real.
   
4. Brainstorm implications and actions. Here you begin to strategize how each possible future could be navigated. Begin with the implications of each scenario, followed by discrete actions. Some actions might work in multiple scenarios, indicating that these are the most secure paths forward.
5. Track the indicators. The scenarios you’ve established prepares you to absorb what’s ahead and recognize events and developments which signal if elements of particular scenarios are in play. Testing your actions against these indicators regularly helps you anticipate your reaction to various futures.

Wired’s article uses the example of an aerospace engineer seeking to future-proof his career over the next five years. There’s no reason the same methodology couldn’t be applied to the world of a designer, developer, consultant, journalist or any of the multitude of web working disciplines.

I recently took part in an Arup-hosted scenario planning session at TED Global 2009, in Oxford. Over the course of two hours, around seventy people teased out a set of priorities for addressing global problems, using Arup’s own Drivers Of Change scenario planning tools. It was a fascinating exercise in anticipating future developments, and something that I’m certain would work well on a personal and individual scale for managing a career.

I’d love to see an enterprising and imaginative group create a crowdsourcing-driven application for personal scenario planning. Perhaps we might even see the evolution of scenario coaches to assist freelancers, in particular.

Read more at “Your Future in 5 Easy Steps: Wired Guide to Personal Scenario Planning.”

UpMo.com Offers Uber Personalized Job Searches And Counseling

UpMo.com Offers Uber Personalized Job Searches And Counseling: "

With unemployment rates still high, the competition among online job boards is heating up. One startup is hoping to take a piece of the pie by offering a highly-personalized job search feature. UpMo.com has launched the Intelligent Job Hunt, a tool that determines a job hunter’s ideal career path and job opportunities based on an algorithm.

Intelligent Job Hunt’s algorithm identifies and prioritizes job matches based upon certain aspects of a user’s career, including past, present and future jobs, network (i.e. LinkedIn) connections, professionals they’d like to emulate and personality attributes. UpMo also attempts to pinpoints the activities you should be doing and the specific job opportunities you should be pursuing to increase your chances of getting the job you want.

Of course, the bells and whistles that accompany UpMo’s job search platform aren’t free. UpMo’s membership fee is $6.99 per month, whereas CareerBuilder and other job search engines are free. The algorithm itself sounds impressive and perhaps could be a powerful tool for those looking to get highly personalized job guidance, but needs to be tested further to prove its success in the space. And it’s a competitive space chock full of job search engines, including the fast-growing Indeed, Yahoo’s HotJobs (Which Yahoo may be abandoning) and Monster.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

7 Quick Rules for Networking To Your Next Job

7 Quick Rules for Networking To Your Next Job: "

Network your way to your next job by following these rules.

This a guest post by Yvette Francino.

1) Become familiar with the social networking tools like LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter

Networking has always been the most important strategy in finding a job.

Before we had social networking tools, we dug out our list of contacts and blindly went out trying to find people that might be able to help us with our job search. There are “leads meetings” where people exchange business cards and give their elevator pitches. These methods are still useful ways to network. However, by using tools such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter we are able to be much more intelligent with how we network.

Social media tools allow us an easy way for keeping in touch and expanding our networks, finding mutually beneficial relationships. These tools, particularly LinkedIn, are absolutely essential in the modern day job search.

There are also many tips and tricks that are particularly geared towards helping job seekers.

2) Don’t wait until you need something

The best time to network is before you need anything.

Networks can help with a lot more than a job search. A community of people can help each other in many ways. Building up a strong network when you are happily employed can help you progress in your career and build lifelong professional friendships. Don’t wait until you’ve been laid off to connect with your colleagues in LinkedIn and Facebook.

However, if you’re new to the social networking scene and are in need of a job, it’s not too late. Go ahead and get start building your networks using social networking tools and by getting involved in communities of interest. Invite all the friends from your email address book (not just those that you think will help you with your job search) to join your networks.

3) Seek to help and support others

Participate in your networks, looking for ways to help others.

Join networks aimed at job search and pass along tips and tricks. Help your contacts find leads to companies they’re interested in by searching your own network. Pass along what you learn from others. By helping other people you are also helping yourself become established in the community as a resource.

But don’t limit your help and support only to job seekers.

Look for opportunities to help people in your area of expertise. Connecting with friends on Facebook or Twitter allows an easy way for you to stay up-to-date on what’s going on in your friends’ lives. Simply giving them a quick message of friendship can spread a feeling of happiness.

4) Be personal and genuine

I’ve heard advice from several people that when you’re networking you shouldn’t tell people directly that you’re looking for a job. You befriend them, find out more about them, help them with something, and then in the course of the conversation they will find out your in the job market. I understand that this should be the philosophy in sales.

Build the relationship first before you start selling.

However if you’re meeting someone specifically because of a job search, I think it’s important to be upfront. Let people know that you are looking for a job, but don’t “sell” yourself. Enjoy the friendship and support you receive and give it willingly and genuinely to others. And don’t limit yourself simply to email or social networking tools. Meet new people often – not with the sole purpose of finding a job, but with the purpose of meeting new friends and getting to know people with shared interests.

5) Have a confident attitude

One of the hardest things I ever had to do was fundraising for Leukemia and Lymphoma.

I had committed to raising $4000 which meant I had to ask a lot of people for money. I hated putting them on the spot until one man – someone I barely knew whose son was in remission– donated $500. The next time I was raising money, I asked him again, but told him I didn’t want him to think I was taking advantage of his generosity. He gave me another $500 and said, “I would be hurt if you DIDN’T ask me. Be proud of what you’re doing.”

Though not everyone has this generous attititude about giving, I realized that when we are asking people for help, our attitude makes a world of difference.

When we ask someone to meet so we can talk to them about a job opportunity, we shouldn’t be apologetic or feel that we’re imposing. Certainly we want to be grateful for the meeting, but we are not only learning from them, but sharing of ourselves. Initiating a new relationship, whether or not it results in a job, is something to feel good about. Don’t go about networking as though you’re a charity case.

Go in being proud of what you can offer to others.

6) Thank those who help you

An attitude of gratefulness is one that helps keeps your community strong.

When someone helps you in your job search, make sure they realize how grateful you are. Social networking tools can help you keep in touch and keep up with your friendships. Of course, for people that have gone out of their way to help you, personal contact is better than an email or Wall message.

Treat your biggest supporters to lunch or surprise them with a gift in thanks for their efforts. And certainly offer to return the favor of help in any way you can.

7) Pay it forward

When someone helps us, we know how good it feels and we naturally want to spread that feeling to others that might need it.

One of the best things about community is the contagious feelings of happiness it can bring to pass on to others the support that we’ve received. Social networking tools have made it simple by allowing us to easily share advice or information that we find useful. With Twitter, we simply have to “Retweet” to pass along information. With FaceBook and LinkedIn we can easily post links to our status pages of helpful information passing along to our own networks.

If you found this article useful, you can help me by spreading the word through your networks. Additional articles about social networking and the job search can be found on my blog. My contact information and connection information for LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can be found there. Looking forward to having you in my network!

About the Author

Yvette Francino blogs about social media at geekgal-yvette.blogspot.com.

This article is part of the 3rd Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest. If you want Yvette Francino to win, share this article with your friends.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or email and follow me on Twitter for more ideas on job search networking with social media.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

How Many Resumes do You Have?

Jul 29th, 2009 by Nut

If your answer is "one," then you're missing out.

Having one resume means that you're most likely to apply to just one type of job, and going to limit how many open jobs you apply to. Which means you probably won't find a job as quickly as someone who has four or five.

The reason is obvious: you'll have more options if you have several different types of skills so you can apply to different types of jobs.

So can you just fire up a word processor and create five different versions of your existing resume? Nope, that would be pointless.

Instead, try to get more experience at your current work. Freelance on the side. Blog. Get "another job" in the sense that you're still with your current company but you wear different hats and see what you're good at. You'll make yourself a more valuable employee and you'll get the experience you need to open up all kinds of different jobs when you decide to move on.

Take myself, for example. I was hired to do one thing and one thing only.

That was over a year and a half ago and now I'm not even doing that original job. Things have changed and because I was able to wear many different types of hats, I'm now doing several different things. Which is good because my time isn't spent doing just one thing (a little variety is always nice) and I'm expanding my skill set even further by adding experience.

Right now I could probably create at least four completely unique resumes. Almost like four totally different people.

So I don't have five or six…but I'm working on it.

Having several resumes is a good way to make sure you're expanding your skills and it will also help you when you go job hunting. You won't ever have to feel like you "have" to get a job in just one specific field. You'll have your choice as long as you have the skills to apply to several different types of jobs.

Image by woodleywonderworks

Budget on an Irregular Income [Budgeting]

from Lifehacker by Adam Pash

In this economy, many of us are looking for a little extra cash wherever we can get it, which means your income may vary greatly from one month to the next. So how do you budget accordingly?

Personal finance weblog Get Rich Slowly tackles the sometimes complicated subject of budgeting for an irregular income. The post is written from the perspective of a professional blogger, but it applies just as well to most anyone who's self-employed or does freelance work. In a nutshell, the author suggests projecting your cash flow as best you can and then building your budget with a couple of different bank accounts.

• The first is your "business" account (without quotes for those of you who actually own businesses), which is where you deposit all of your income. My business account is a high-yield savings account with ING Direct. (You might use FNBO Direct or some other bank. Just choose something with a high interest rate.)
• The second is your personal account, and it's from this that you'll pay your ongoing expenses. There's no need to open a new account if you already have one that will work. I just use my existing credit union checking account.

From this money, pay yourself as if you were an employee. Your monthly salary is whatever you calculated as your monthly budget, your minimum monthly income from the past twelve months.

Head over to the full post for a thorough rundown and several useful tips on the finer points of budgeting with your irregular income, then let us know how you've handled your budgeting in similar situations in the comments.

How to Budget for an Irregular Income [Get Rich Slowly]

Indeed Now Gets The Most Pageviews For Job Searches In The U.S.

Indeed Now Gets The Most Pageviews For Job Searches In The U.S.: "

With the unemployment rate still above 9 percent, a lot of people are hitting the job boards. One set of companies that are growing under these conditions, at least in terms of Website traffic, are the job search engines. But the one that seems to be growing the fastest is Indeed. In July, Monster’s job search engine was up 33 percent in U.S. pageviews, CareerBuilders’ was up 56 percent, and Indeed’s was up 90 percent (comScore).

Not only is Indeed the fastest growing job search engine it is also now the largest in terms of pageviews. In July, it passed CareerBuilder, with 171 million pageviews in the U.S. versus 159 million for CareerBuilder. Yahoo’s HotJobs had 96 million (which Yahoo is reportedly abandoning), Monster had 73 million, and SimplyHired trailed far behind with 26 million.

In terms of unique visitors, CareerBuilder is still larger with 10.1 million in July versus 8.7 million for Indeed, which is No. 2. But Indeed is growing faster in that metric as well (up 76 percent versus 19 percent for CareerBuilder).

All of these numbers are for the core job search at each site, and do not include other parts of their sites such as resumes, advice, or career tools.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Real World Example: The Logic Recruiters Use To Find Candidates

Real World Example: The Logic Recruiters Use To Find Candidates: "

Knowing how recruiters reason can help improve your chances of being chosen as a candidate.

This is a guest post by executive recruiter Todd Porter.

The following is a unique micro-perspective on the recruiting process as it applies to one specific search I’m currently working on (August 2009).

The classic recruitment problem

Hiring managers and job seekers often feel like they are being shortchanged in the recruiting process.

• Hiring Managers see too many candidates that don’t fit what they are looking for, whereas…
• Job seekers often feel that they are perfect and don’t understand why they aren’t being considered.

Have realistic expectations

Here is an e-mail I sent to one of our Israeli customers in Houston.  It explains why I had not been successful in filling a controller position.

This exercise had these goals as objectives:

1. Explain the points we thought were important in the search
2. Make sure the compensation range was right
3. Explain our main problem
4. Explain what type of candidates we are seeing
5. Let our customer know we are NOT giving up

From the information provided, the customer can adjust the search criteria or they can decide they will try another method to fill the position.

The e-mail said:

Avi,

I’ve been trying to analyze why the search for your Controller has been so difficult and why we haven’t been successful, “YET”.

I really don’t think the issue is compensation.  I think candidates with the skills you are looking for should fit into that (US) $70k to $85k base range, where you have asked us to search.

The trouble has been there are a lot of people that do not fit the profile.

If I condensed our interpretation of what you need/want in a Controller, I came up with these items:

• Nuts and Bolts accounting (preferably with a CPA)
• Small company as opposed to large
• Main Finance person at that company
• Must be a similar environment that relates to a your company (i.e. Manufacturing and Inventory)

I understand the environment of a ’smaller company’ that you want the individual to come out of.  I think the main problem is your COO’s point of reference is Israel, where there are 3,000 to 4,000 businesses.  Most of these companies are in the size (if not necessarily the industry) where an individual has to perform the type of position you are trying to hire.

I think the make-up of most (or a very high percentage) of the companies in the U.S. and Houston don’t fit this profile.  They are much smaller or very large.  On top of that, the vast majority of finance people don’t come close to the exact scenario you and the COO want.

First, most CPAs are probably going to have the wrong background with most just being Tax and Audit people.

Most large company Finance people or even Division Controllers aren’t going to have the breadth of Finance to do the GAAP, FASB…. type of accounting you need/want.

So, when we look for the types of companies and environments where these people live (or have lived), we then find them in these flavors:

Imposters

individuals faking it and not performing, willing to move but you won’t want or need

Climbers

just passing through and tough to land because of compensation

Plodders

not motivated to move to another position

Attached

fully happy with what they are doing and nothing could get them to look other places

Unemployed

not working for the wrong reasons.  At best - caught in a situation of either the economy going bad or internal politics or company being bought

Our goal has been to find those Attached individuals where we can motivate and convince them to consider your position. We’re also considering individuals that are unemployed, if for the right reasons.

We’re networking through the financial community and have partners assisting us on the search.

To see if the financial people you are looking for exist, we have skimmed the Internet resume boards looking for the right combination of characteristics.  Few candidates come close to fitting the profile and none of them have hit the bull’s eye of the target.

On top of all this we still need to spread your desire to have an individual with High Energy, Maturity, Right Chemistry to fit the environment…..

I had to go through this analysis in my head (and writing it down here) to better understand why we haven’t found the person and maybe come up with a different approach to solve the problem.

I don’t want you to think this is impossible or that we are giving up.  The number of candidates is just very, very limited. We’re adjusting and looking for new ways of finding the right individual, as well as convincing them to consider your opportunity.

We will touch base early next week.

Todd

Test your expectations

Almost every individual I spoke to about this opportunity thought they could do the job.  Many told me they were perfect.  Some could have probably done the job but few would have satisfied our customer.

The information in the e-mail allowed me to measure individuals on all the points, to know if they hit the target and more importantly, the bull’s eye.

Conclusion

The week after I sent this e-mail, we sourced an individual that hit all the bullet points.  The customer quickly agreed and told me, “…background and experience matches our search criteria.”

The interview is set for next week.

About the author

Todd Porter started H.T. PROF Executive Search in 1997. Located in Atlanta and Boston, the company recruits primarily for Israeli companies hiring anywhere in the U.S.  He can be reached directly at TPJOB [at] HTPROF [dot] COM.

This article is part of the 3rd Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest. If you want Todd Porter to win, share this article with your friends.

Subscribe to JobMob via RSS or
email and follow me on Twitter for the best insight from job search professionals around the Web.

-- Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and Professional Blogging Consultant

Indeed Ranks the Most Crowded Job Markets [Job Search]

Indeed Ranks the Most Crowded Job Markets [Job Search]: "

Indeed, a Hive Five winner for best online job search site, posts a ranked list of U.S. cities, showing off the ratio of unemployed folks in a city to the job listings Indeed can find for it.

It's far from scientific, as both Indeed is not the absolute standard for job finding, and not every unemployed person is hunting for jobs in that city. But it is intriguing data porn—and thoroughly disheartening for those living in California or, like certain Lifehacker editors, upstate New York. If you're hunting for a job, this list won't preclude you from landing a great gig in any of these cities, but it might help you prioritize where you spend your energies.

Best and Worst Job Markets [Indeed.com via TechCrunch]

No One Cares About Your Resume, and Why You Should

This post was written by Daniel Bowen and originally appeared on his blog Young And Frugal, a site dedicated to Business and Personal Finance for Generation Y. If you like what you see here, be sure to check out Young And Frugal. Original article here

NEWSFLASH: No one cares about your resume.

What's that you say? You've spent hours perfectly crafting every word in order to make yourself look fantastic on paper? You even read my advice on resume building? That's very kind of you, but I repeat, no one cares, and here are 5 reasons why.

• Resumes are boring. No one wants to read them, not even recruiters. It's a chore that takes time, and realistically the last time you did read one (instead of glance at it) was when you were writing your own.

• People are lying to protect your feelings. When was the last time you or someone you know told a friend you wouldn't forward their resume on because it was crap? When was the last time you asked for resume advice and everyone told you it looked good? Friends think a lot of things, but very few friends will be brutally honest to help you, if no one is giving you constructive criticism try sending it to other people.

• Your resume won't get you a job. Do you really think someone is going to hire you based on a piece of paper?

• You're exaggerating. Everyone does it to a point, but did you really collaborate with the team on the $300 million dollar project, or did you just make copies for them? If by chance someone does read your resume, they are reading it with a skeptical eye and taking it with a grain of salt.

• You are sending it into a black hole. Applying online? Unless you have a persons e-mail address not a generic recruiting address, it will most likely never be seen by  a human eye. Even if you are sending it to a real persons address, remember it's a chore to open it and they probably don't want to.

With all this said, it's true, no one cares about your resume, but you should still care. As much as it kills me to say it, resumes are still very important, and here are 5 reasons why:

• It's not for other people, it's for you. Your resume should be a running tally of every impressive thing you have done, and you should use it as a refresher to remind yourself of these things. It should be up to date whether you are job hunting or not, and when you accomplish something of note, write it down. You can always shorten your resume, it's very hard to lengthen it. Know your resume backwards and forwards and be able to expand on everything on it without fumbling. Even know what doesn't make the final cut, your resume will help you in the interview (but be careful to not only talk about what is on the resume).

• It is currently the most accepted way to showcase yourself. We are fast approaching the days when someone will say "send me your link" instead of "send me your resume," some early adopters have already started this with LinkedIn, however, for the time being the resume is still the most accepted way to showcase yourself.

• Key words help you get a foot in the door. Remember that black hole I wrote about? There is a way out, and that is through key words. More often than not applying to a generic recruiting e-mail address will send your resume into a software program in which it will be looking for key words. If it matches the key words, then someone might look at your resume to see if you fit the bill and invite you in for an interview. So remember to use industry language. (Note: although this is my most hated form of applying for a job, I actually did get my current position this way. It never hurts, but don't get your hopes up.)

• Be true to yourself. A little embellishment is expected but always be true to yourself and NEVER lie on a resume. Lying on a resume is career suicide and it will come back to haunt you. It is better to not get the job by being honest, than to get it by lying. Just ask George O'Leary, former head coach at Notre Dame who was forced to resign because he lied on his resume.

• It won't make you, but it can break you. First impressions are important, and the resume is frequently someones first impression of you. While it may not make you, it can definitely break you, so in the off chance that someone actually looks at your resume, it needs to be easy to read and perfect. One misspelled word and you are through.

As Gen-Y becomes more of a staple in the work place I see a lot of this changing, particularly the accepted resume format. I believe we will transition to websites with professional bios being the standard (non-boring) way to showcase yourself. But in the meantime, I'll continue my love/hate relationship with resumes.

Common mistakes. Easy fixes. (part two)

from getpickd

This post is part two in a series on common mistakes made by job applicants and easy fixes for addressing those mistakes.

Warning: Arriving early to an interview may adversely affect your chances of being hired.



It is important to show up on time for an interview. This is a rule of thumb that won't come as a surprise for most readers of this post. Incorrectly, most job applicants believe it is important to simply not arrive late to an interview. However, it is nearly as important to not show up more than five minutes early either. With many employers, arriving too early for an interview is only a slightly lesser offense than arriving late.

Why is arriving too early a blow to your chances of winning the job? The answer is quite simple. One of the primary goals of the interview process is to determine a prospective candidate's understanding of, and ability to operate within, the norms of a professional environment. One of those norms is an understanding of how your actions impact others around you and your respect for your co-workers schedules and time. Showing up early, or late, for an interview (or for any business meeting) is disruptive to the person you are meeting. To understand this, consider what occurs when you arrive early. The people with whom you are meeting will be notified that you have arrived. From a cultural perspective, most people don't feel comfortable making someone wait for them as it is considered rude—so the person you are meeting now has two options: a) they can interrupt their schedule to meet with you early, or b) wait for the scheduled time and be made to feel anxious about making you wait. In either case, you have made a bad first impression.

As an employer, I understand the motivation to arrive early for an interview. As with any meeting, you want to build in enough time so that you can be reasonably sure that you can find the location, and be prepared if any unexpected transportation delays occur. Building in a buffer for these things is smart, but it means that you will often arrive at your destination earlier than the scheduled start time. If you arrive 10, 20, 30, or more minutes early, find something else to do with your time. Find a coffee shop and read the paper, tour the neighborhood, or check out the local bookstore. Just make sure not to lurk pensively outside the office suite—this just makes people nervous. You should not actually enter the office suite where you are interviewing until five minutes before the scheduled start time.

Following this rule of thumb won't win you massive points with prospective employers, but it will start you off on the right foot.

Christopher Hertz is the CEO of New Signature, a Washington D.C.-based information technology firm.

Common mistakes. Easy fixes. (part one)

Common mistakes. Easy fixes. (part one)

This post is part one in a series on common mistakes made by job applicants and easy fixes for addressing those mistakes.

"What would you describe as your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"

This is one of the more frustrating (and most common) questions that a potential employer might ask you during an interview. It is also a question that most applicants respond to incorrectly.

Let's start with the worst possible (and most common) response to this question:

"My greatest strength is also my greatest weakness." This is generally followed by a discussion about how the applicant tends to work too hard, or that they pay too much attention to detail, or some variation of this. As an employer, I'm not a big fan of this question, but I do ask it, specifically to see if the applicant will respond in this manner. Even if you are being honest, this response will come across as completely phony.

Here's a better way to respond:

First, state your greatest strength. Make sure you backup your strength with a specific example (or even better, a specific accomplishment). For example, if your greatest strength is your ability to effectively multi-task, you might talk about a time when you coordinated multiple projects with a successful outcome.

Second, state a real weakness of yours (you want to be careful here, don't provide a weakness that will jeopardize your chances of getting hired) and most importantly, talk about what you have done and what you are doing to address this weakness. Everyone has weaknesses and employers want to know whether you are aware of those weaknesses and if you're working to address them (basically, if you're a problem solver). For example, if your weakness is that you have trouble being alert at work in the morning, you might want to talk about how you've started going to the gym before work, and how that's helped you show up awake and ready to perform.

As a reminder, we'll be launching our new online resume service on June 23 at getpickd.com, but in the meantime, be sure to follow our blog for updates, resume ideas, and interview tips. You can also follow us on Twitter @getpickd.

Adam Sterling is the founder of getpickd

A Simple Truth: Being Genuine Brings Success

from LifeDev by glen

Photo by the half-blood prince

There's a Chinese restaurant called the Panda Garden that my family used to frequent every Sunday. I recently read in a paper that it had been voted one of the best Chinese restaurants in Lawrence annually. That's pretty impressive, considering there are a slew of Chinese restaurants in the college town.

The annual award might be because of the cuisine, but I have a different theory. I believe the Panda Garden is consistently voted best Chinese restaurant because of the owner.

The owner is one of the most personable people you'll ever meet. Without fail every day, you can see the owner walking around and chatting with every single table, asking how the food is and getting to know her customers.

She isn't friendly because she believes she'll get more business from repeat customers (which she does). You can tell from the moment the owner approaches the table that she's truly interested in how the food tastes and how your day has been. She's genuinely interested in your life.

It might sound like I'm a regular at the restaurant, but the reality is that I haven't eaten there in 15 years. That's how much of an impact the owner has on my opinion of the establishment. I can remember our conversations and how she laughed and chatted with our family nearly every week.

So how does one go about being that genuine of a person? So genuine that they can take a commercial venture and add a couple dashes of character and personality, without feeling forced?

Blending your true personality with business isn't an easy thing to do, if you're doing it for business purposes.

But that's just the rub: If you're only being genuine because you think people like it when you're sincere, then you're really not being genuine, are you?

Hrm.

So how do you know if you're being truly genuine?

Knowing if you're being genuine is one of the easiest things in the world because it will feel natural. In fact, you'll feel wrong/forced/weird/uncomfortable if you're not being genuine.

Have you ever slept on your arm and then woken up with a numb arm? I do this every now and again, and it's one of the weirdest feelings in the world. I can swing my arm around and not feel a single thing. The arm could be somebody else's, for all my nerve endings are telling me.

This is what being insincere feels like: You're wearing somebody else's personality, and it just doesn't quite fit.

Make a List!

I love Jason Teitelman's method for maintaining your genuine self: Make a list of truths about yourself, and display it publicly, where you can see it every day.

(In the event that you're a compulsive nose-picker, it might be prudent to be a little disingenuous and hold off putting "nose picker" on the list. At least the public list.)

Your Roots

Constantly reminding yourself about who you really are helps you stay true to your core self. Your core self is comprised of all the things that have shaped you:

• your upbringing
• your location
• your likes
• your dislikes
• your temperament
• etc., etc., etc….

Being Genuine Like a Politician

Politicians have exploited their background to gain more votes. Maybe they'll bring out an unnatural dialect, or a sudden interest in the local sports team, or anything else they think they can play off of to win more votes.

The problem with this route is that many people see through this and eventually figure out the smarmy, under-handed tactics. Nobody likes having smoke blown up you-know-where. The same can happen if you try too hard to win affection by being insincere.

Think of the stressful lives those people who have built their entire careers around being artificial.

So, in all things.. be yourself, and people will respect you more than if you tried to be someone you weren't.

Other Tips to Being More Genuine

Show emotion

Being genuine is one of the hardest things because it requires you to be vulnerable. Every person has a "face" that they can put on to hide their true emotions. But the fact is, we've come to accept that emotions are weak.

Not to turn into the macho-guy, but think about the movie Gladiator. The main character, (played by Russel Crowe), is purely driven by emotion, and he doesn't try to hide them. It's one of the most endearing qualities about him. It's ok to show how you're feeling. It's healthy.

Note: There are some of you, (don't worry, you know who you are), that might show enough emotion on a given day for five people. There's something to be said for not being too dramatic on occasion.

Show vulnerability

Being vulnerable doesn't mean that you put on a turtleneck, and start weeping and strum a guitar. All it means is that you allow other people to see what you're really thinking and feeling.

Being vulnerable gives others a way to look into your life, to become closer to you because of your openness about some aspect of your life.

And the True Indicator to Being Genuine…

The owner of the Panda Garden could stay at home and manage the "business" side of things remotely. Paying bills, paying employees, marketing, and many other things. But instead she comes every day to the restaurant and chats with everyone. Why? It's because that's what she loves to do. It fills her, and it would feel foreign and awkward if she weren't doing that every day.

How to close Linkedin account

Close an account and remove your profile from LinkedIn by completing the following steps:

• Log into the account you wish to close.
• Click on 'Account & Settings' found at the top of the home page.
• Click on 'Close Your Account' under Personal Information.
• Select a reason for closing your account.
• Click on 'Continue'.

Hiring Consultant Warns: "No Connection Between Credit History And Job Performance"

from Consumerist by Carey

Almost half of all employers use credit reports to judge job applicants, even though credit histories have no relation to job performance. Personal finance goofs are only relevant for jobs that deal directly with money—cashiers, account managers, and the like. For everyone else, negative credit reports keep otherwise capable people from securing a job to help avoid further financial problems. So why do so many companies still ask for credit reports?

Hiring consultant Nancy Schuman explains:

Some companies believe they can deduce how a person will handle their job responsibilities based on how they handle their personal finances. Others use the information to gauge how long a person might stay in a position if their debt load is higher than a position pays. It is also used to verify employment history and a social security number.

There is no clear connection between a credit history and job performance, and many job seekers consider it to be an unfair way of screening candidates, however, no Federal discrimination law specifically prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of a bad credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state credit laws help to regulate how an employer can obtain and use their findings. An employer must gain your consent in writing to do a credit check and the report they receive is different than one viewed by a credit agency or an individual. Full account numbers are not revealed and they won't see a credit score, but they will be able to see late payments, collections and bankruptcies. If you are actually denied employment because of your credit report, the company must notify you so that you may view the report on which the decision was based.

An accurate credit report is best defense against a discriminating employer. Every year, consumers find 13 million errors staining their credit reports. Request a copy of your report from each of the three credit reporting agencies at AnnualCreditReport.com (not FreeCreditReport.com!) Challenge anything that looks like an error. If you can't scrape strikes from your report, talk to your potential employer clearly and honestly and help them understand what led to financial transgression, and explain how it is completely unrelated to your future job performance.

Does Bad Credit = A Bad Candidate [Long Island Press via Fair Credit Reporting Act]

Use Social Networks Effectively

from WebWorkerDaily by Charles Hamilton

image via webdesignblog.com

In the current economy, business networking is more important than ever — we need to use lots of different techniques for finding clients. Social networks can be a great addition to our marketing toolboxes. Since I started actively using social networks (only a year and a half ago!), I've reconnected with old friends, and have gotten quite of bit of business that can be directly attributed to connections that were facilitated through these networks.

But social networks can also be great time-wasters, too. However, If you focus on the marketing aspects of the networks, the time spent using them can consist of, as Meryl says, "zero-guilt activities." Here are some tips for using social networks as effective marketing tools.

Join the active networks. There are literally thousands of social networks to choose from (digFoot lists over 3,700). But most are small, not very active, or of interest only in specific fields or geographic regions. I've spent the last month looking at many networks, and have decided that for me, it makes sense to focus on just four.

• LinkedIn. Often described as "Facebook for business," LinkedIn combines a very large user base, excellent tools for finding connections, and lively discussion groups. Its system for making recommendations is very well-managed. It has so many features that its menu system can be obscure at times, but it's well worth learning to navigate through the site.
• Facebook. The growth of this network is phenomenal — it's claiming 700,000 new users every day! Even six months ago, most of my Facebook friends were under 30. Now, even we in the older generation have discovered it: I now have almost as many Facebook friends as I do LinkedIn connections, even though I joined LinkedIn several months before Facebook. Facebook is still a much more informal place than LinkedIn, but it's becoming a valuable business tool as Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups (see below) evolve.
• Twitter. Technically, Twitter isn't a social network, but it can be great for business communication and networking with customers, colleagues and friends. Facebook is highlighting its status update functionality to make it more "Twitterish," so we'll see how the two services compete.
• Yelp. This review site is new on my radar, but so far, I'm impressed with how active it is (at least in my part of the world). Now that it has a function allowing businesses to provide details of their services, it may become a very useful marketing tool, especially since it is now integrating a way to share reviews on Facebook. It is geographically based, however, and home workers may not want to provide a public street address.

Create pages for your business on LinkedIn, Facebook and Yelp. You may also want to create a Twitter account for your business that is separate from your personal account.

Join groups within the social networks where people you know are likely to hang out. In my opinion, the reason that LinkedIn and Facebook haven't become unmanageable as they've gotten bigger, is that they've encouraged the development of small groups where people can talk about shared interests. Increase your credibility and visibility by using your professional expertise to add to these discussions.

Post frequently, but judiciously. Meryl's comments about Twitter overload applies to the social networks as well. I'll also add that services allowing one to post simultaneously to multiple networks, such as Ping.fm, are great, but should be used carefully. The networks have different audience demographics, and this should be kept in mind when you're deciding what and where to post.

Use the networks' automated tools for finding people you know. The networks can, with your permission, review your address book and see who you know who's already on their network. They also have a "people you may know" function that recommends possible contacts. LinkedIn's system has worked well for me; Facebook's seems to be less accurate. The recommendations presented to you are based on background data (schools attended, former jobs) you provide to the networks, so it's worth the time to provide complete information in your profiles — assuming you are comfortable with their privacy policies.

Use RSS feeds to follow what the members of your network are doing. The folks who run the social networks want you to visit their web sites, of course, but I find it more convenient to follow the activity of my connections through an RSS reader.

Add your Facebook instant message account to your IM program. Facebook's instant message system can be added to multi-protocol IM programs. On my Mac, I prefer Adium; the PC users in my company like Pidgin or Digsby.

Use privacy settings to minimize email notifications. For Facebook, the AllFacebook blog has an excellent privacy primer; note, though, that Facebook is in the process of updating its privacy settings. And check out PC World's discussion of privacy settings for LinkedIn. You'll want to use these settings to control how and when the social networks email you. I find that since I follow the networks' RSS feeds, I can turn off most of their emails.

It's exciting to watch as the social media landscape changes every day. In the near future, it's likely that some social networks will become important business tools, while others will fade away. In the meantime, we can learn how best to use these tools to increase the success of our endeavors.

What Makes a Job Not So Bad

by Beth Harris

Having an enjoyable job (or, if you are like me, a job that isn't so bad) is not just about what you do. After working in different corporate settings, and being as free spirited as I am, I realize that as long as I work with my mind and not my hands, I will define what I do as moving paper (as one person told me, in the "corporate" world, we move paper from one side of our desks to the other).

The secret to enjoying your job is enjoying the personal dynamics that you create. Having friends at work isn't the only thing that matters. Liking the people you work with, or at the very least respecting them and seeing them as competent, is just as important.

A few years ago, a job hunting website ran a commercial to advertise their services. The premise involved a person was working for a room full of monkeys. At the time I thought: how could it ever be that bad. And then I worked for a job where it seemed that everyone was literally flying by the seat of their pants, with no direction, and looking for someone else to blame. It really was like working in a room full of monkeys. I walked away from the situation afraid to work in my current industry, and afraid of working with people who wore suits in general.

Thankfully, that experience hasn't happened again. And currently, after learning when I was a teenager that "work" was just not going to ever be something I enjoy, I have made creating a positive relationship with the people I work with my goal. I am doing the typical things: seeking to create mentoring relationships that meet different goals, like finding someone to provide career advice, provide advice about balancing career and life, and provide advice about the networking aspect of my career. I think I am getting there. But the most important people I have found in the working world are not the people you would generally think would make or break your career, like a supervisor. The people who make work most bearable for me (and this is a lot coming from someone who feels her calling is to be a socialite) are the people who pass me in the hallways. This includes people who are have more experience than me and supervise me in projects. This includes people who work with the same people, and provide advice on how to deal with situations. This includes people who, when I see them, brighten my day. And this includes people I pass in the hallway who take a genuine interest in the lives of others, as I do too, to create a congenial atmosphere.

Have no illusions; no job is perfect no matter who you work for and work with, and I would never say otherwise. However, I have come to believe that the best metric of a good job is not what you actually do. Which is why I believe that you must give a situation time. The true metric is the relationships and competency you see around you, and I can say from experience that it makes a world of difference even within the same industry.

http://alawyerandanangel.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-makes-job-not-so-bad.html

Two Different Types of Employees

from Brazen Careerist by bpovlins

Within any business there are two different types of employees.  There's no difference between a huge corporation and a small business in this aspect - there are still going to be employees that fit these two types.

Type 1 - These employees have an agenda.  They may want to rise up to a higher position, or make themselves more marketable for future opportunities.  They start new initiatives.  They mention their ideas to management about how to improve the company.  They form relationships with coworkers they might not normally interact with.  They lead projects.  They raise their hands in meetings and say "I'll figure it out and get it taken care of."  They make things happen.

Type 2 - These employees literally watch the clock.  They do what their told and then waste the rest of their time sitting around and doing nothing.  They complain to coworkers.  The standard response when asked to do something new is "That's not my job."  They get their work done, but there's no new ideas, no progress or improvement.

I think there are a few employees that fall in between the two types that I mentioned.  Maybe an employee that falls into the second group presents a new idea once in a while.  Maybe one of the best employees gets in a rut for a period of time and just kind of "does his job."

The organizations that are going to succeed are those with the highest percentage of Type 1 employees.  Think about it for a minute.  Are you helping your organization succeed?  What kind of employee are you?

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CareerKickstarter/~3/BNST_NQbEO4/two-different-ty...