Do you know that many written CVs are fake or have been changed?
On your CV is everything true?
Your on-line CV is much more accurate than your written CV. Why?
Because on Linkedin or Viadeo, you are in touch with your ex colleagues, ex bosses or ex clients…and they know your position and what you were doing. So you can’t pretend being a marketing director
whereas you were working as a Marketing manager. When connecting with
you, they will look at your profile.People would spot you are cheating on your CV straight away…what kind of credibility or trust would you have?
CVs online are ruled by peer pressure which means CVs are under the eye of your ex colleagues and you can’t lie too much. Your lies could be seen by everybody.
Especially if you google your name, your linkedin/viadeo profile appears in the first page!
In that context, CVs online tend to be more accurate than the written ones which are only seen by the recruiter or the hiring manager.
Written CVs can be slightly changed or even faked…as long as only one person looks at it…but if it is a whole bunch of people, the risk of being uncovered is much larger.
Conclusion: recruiters use more and more Linkedin and Viadeo to find candidates as it is a free and trustworthy source of candidates.
What do you wait for?
Secrets of the Job Hunt: Why CVs online are more trustworthy
Distribute a Booklet
Do a booklet relevant to your industry with helpful information and give it away. Everyone loves a freebie so give away something that demonstrates your expertise. In my case, for example, I designed, wrote and distributed a free booklet on how to do a reference check correctly, called Don’t Hire a Liar. The booklet subtly points out the benefits of using a professional – like myself – to do their hiring. The booklet hot-links to a supplemental software program for reference checking which my firm sells. You could embed a hot link to your web site, resume or bio.
Give the booklet away everywhere you can.
If you send a printed version to someone make sure you indicate where they can get extra copies for their colleagues.
Ideally give a web site address people can pass on to others.
Advertise it on your web site and through those newsgroups frequented that hiring mangers in your target market and their recruiters frequent.
If you print your own business cards, put the URL for link to the booklet on the back.
A War Story
A methodical strategy paid off for this ExecuNet member who was very active in her local human resources groups. She contacted the national headquarters for the names of local chapter presidents, and mounted a campaign of contacting each one every two months. Her persistence paid off when she received an offer.
Compliments of Lauryn Franzoni, ExecuNet www.execunet.com
Compliments of David Perry and Kevin Donlin
Interviews: How to Answer the Job References Question
Your job references are important to your job search success. They’re the last step in the interview process, and you have to take just as much care with them as you do with anything else–like your resume, your interview skills, your brag book, or your 30/60/90-day plan. A great reference could easily be what convinces a hiring manager who’s on the fence about you to go ahead and hire you. And a bad one can knock you out of the running faster than you can blink. Recommendations carry a lot of weight.
When you are asked in a job interview about your references, don’t lead off your answer with a list of names. Get to the meat of what the hiring manager or recruiter wants to know by talking about what kind of references you have: titles, positions, and so on. Which references are the best ones? Former managers are always at the top of the list of desirable references for any job seeker. If your last job situation was less-than-ideal, you might have to get a little more creative to get a good reference. For instance, you could ask a high-level client, a colleague, or a manager you didn’t directly work for but who knows your work.
But it’s not just job titles that come into play when choosing a reference that will make you look good. You have to choose someone you know thinks a lot of you, someone who knows about the job you’re going for so that they can speak to your strengths, and someone who can express himself or herself well.
If you’ve got a lineup of good references, you need to know some job-reference etiquette: (1) Keep your references updated with regular e-mails about your career and pass on things that might be helpful to them, just like you do with the rest of your network; (2) give them a heads-up when they are about to be called for a reference, and use that time to tell them about the job and what skills they might focus on; and (3) be sure to thank them for helping you out.
Career Transition Confusion? 7 Types of Psychological Motivation
• Are you in Career Transition and confused about your career direction?
• What career will make you happy?
• What are your extrinsic and intrinsic needs, your unmet needs?
• Have you ever had a high paying job, where you were miserable?
• Have you had a less prestigious or lower paying job, where you were happy?
Most career tests only access your extrinsic needs and ignore intrinsic needs. Read on to learn about career motivation factors which impact your career transition.
As a business career counselor, I help clients explore their career choices and uncover career paths which meet their needs. Career testing is an important part of the process. Choosing the correct assessment tool and having it interpreted by a qualified person is essential. This process will help you uncover career options and expand the range of potential careers which you can consider. Most people do not even know the entire range of jobs or job titles which they are qualified for. They may only apply to a limited number of jobs and may be stuck in a rut. A thougthful approach to career transtions can help you determine your industry, sector, job category, functional role and job titles.
Career Testing: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly http://tinyurl.com/yfaa964
If you are confused or unclear about your career direction, this confusion can ruin your chances in an interview. A counselor who is experienced in your business sector, can also tell you if your career choice is realistic and help you explore labor market trends. You do not want to jump into a new career sector, only to have it go belly up in the next six months. When considering what would make you happy at work, consider what motivates you and what your needs are. What will motivate one individual, may not work with another.
Virtual Counseling, Choosing a Qualified Counselor http://tinyurl.com/yeny8of
In graduate school, my professor always said “Career Counseling is Personal Counseling.” You cannot help someone with the intimate details of their career without knowing who they are as a person. In addition to testing, a skilled counselor will also access your lifestyle needs, personality, motivators, family responsibilities etc. These are factors which are not usually included in most career tests. Our social, emotional and psychological needs will impact our happiness and satisfaction with a particular work role. Your career path and career needs are unique.
I’d like to share a story about friend of mine from University. We both studied Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and then went on to graduate school. We completed our Clinical Psychology internships at a Drop in Addictions Clinic, for the Canadian Federal government. Our job titles and job duties were identical. We were both assigned roles as junior counselors had to counsel clients suffering with addictions, provide relapse prevention workshops and conduct clinical and psychometric testing. What I loved the most about my job was meeting with clients, talking through their issues and helping them problem solve. What I liked the least about my job was completing all of the government paperwork in triplicate and the bureaucracy associated with a Federal job. In contrast, my friend dreaded meeting with clients and she preferred working with the clinical data and doing research. She would get incredibly anxious before meeting with a client or before presenting and would endlessly rehearse what to say. As much as possible, she avoided meeting with clients and did as little of this as she could.
We both completed our internships and then proceeded to our first, job search. My friend realized that she didn’t want to work with clients directly; she wanted to do psychological or gerontology research in a laboratory. She was much more comfortable working with data and devices than people. To avoid going into a counseling practice, she immediately went on to do her PhD. I couldn’t wait to begin my first job and work with real clients. I loved counseling, teaching and writing. You couldn’t pay me enough, to work alone in a lab and sift through reams of statistical data. You couldn’t pay my friend enough, to present lectures to 500+ students and counsel individuals on a daily basis. Our education and experience is similar; yet our career paths are quite divergent.
When considering your career needs, you will need to differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is internally driven and comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards. The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task. Extrinsic motivation refers to the tangible rewards you receive from your work such as salary, compensation etc.
The chart below was created for clinical, counseling work. To see the original chart go to http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html However, I have adapted it for use in a career counseling context. I use this chart in client sessions and together we sort through these motivators. Each of us will have different different balance of variables which can make us happy. There isn’t a right or wrong answer when it comes to career exploration. If you are in career transition, I’d encourage you to explore the relevance and strength of each of these motivators below.
SWOT Analysis of your Competitive Advantage http://tinyurl.com/yzbj8p5
Sources of Motivational Needs
How can each category of needs affect your happiness at work?
Behavioral
• Push vs Pull. Is it your goal to obtain desired, pleasant consequences (rewards, salary, bonus’)? Is it your goal to escape/avoid undesired, unpleasant consequences (angry boss, unhappy customers, failed projects)?
• Are you just running away from your current profession or are you genuinely attracted to a new profession?
Social
• Are there positive role models or people who you can emulate?
• How important is it for you to be a part of a group or a valued member of the work team?
Biological
• How important is your actual work environment: do you prefer a lively or sedate work environment?
• What do you like in your office? Does your décor impact the senses (taste, touch, smell, etc. decrease hunger, thirst, discomfort)?
Cognitive
• In your work tasks, do you like a low key or high stress environment? (ie: book-keeper versus air traffic controller)
• Is it important for you to do meaningful work or to understand why your contribution is important?
• How comfortable are you with uncertainty, changes and/or cognitive disequilibrium?
• Do you enjoy solving problems or making decisions, or would you prefer others do this for you?
• Do you like calculations or figuring something out?
• Do you prefer to eliminate threat or risks?
Affective
• How comfortable are you with conflict (increase/decrease affective dissonance)?
• Are you drawn to activities which increase good feelings?
• Are you drawn to activities which decrease bad feelings?
• Do you need a high level of work security? Do you attempt to decrease any threats to your self-esteem?
• Can you typically, maintain high levels of optimism and enthusiasm?
Conative
• Do you like to choose your own performance goals? Do you like to strive towards company-selected goals?
• Is your career choice related to your dream job?
• Do you strive to develop or maintain self-efficacy at work?
• Do you prefer to take control of your work life?
• Do you prefer to eliminate threats which impede attainment of your dream job?
• How much control would you like others’ to have over your career?
Spiritual
• How does your work relate to your life’s purpose?
• How does your work connect you to your spiritual or religious self?
If you are in a career transition, I'd encourage you to spend some time on accessing your career needs, before diving into a job search. Your career happiness is at stake...
Author:
© 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Sharon B. Cohen, MA, Counseling Psychology, CPRP. Licensed Counselor. Career Counselor and Career Transition Specialist. Atlanta, GA. "Helping business professionals, reach their career potential!"
Complete Archive of my articles My Career Manager http://www.mycareermanager.blogspot.com/
On LinkedIn: "Sharon B. Cohen"
On Twitter: "Mycareermanager"
Employment Digest: What If I’m Afraid to Negotiate Because of Tough Times and a Slow Economy?
What If I’m Afraid to Negotiate Because of Tough Times and a Slow Economy?
Posted on 05. Apr, 2010 posted by Bill in Employment News, Interviewing
A lot of people wonder whether they should negotiate at all when the economy is slow and companies are feeling the pinch. Particularly, the unemployed, having been out of work for too many months, they are relieved to have an offer — any offer. They fear that if they negotiate, they can upset the trust that has been built up over the interviewing process. They cringe at the thought of being told, “There’s a long line of people who’d love to have this job. If you don’t like my offer, we can always hire another.”
It feels like groveling is the order of the day. But fear not. You’re not negotiating with the economy; you’re dealing with a hiring decision maker who needs you. This is my Eighth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Worry about Economic Strength.
Of course, the amount of “needs you” has changed has changed dramatically over recent years. For example in the heyday of the dot-com 90’s, completely inexperienced new college grads were negotiating hefty comp packages. Companies were so desperate to get “techies” on board that they would agree to practically anything. Negotiations sounded like this: “You want a masseuse to give you a rubdown twice a week? No problem. You want to bring your parrot to work? Sure, how does the bird like his steak cooked?”
Today, even people with years of experience and sterling track records are having a tough time getting any offer. Still, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t negotiate. Just because the playing field has changed, doesn’t mean that you should just meekly accept whatever they offer. Negotiations are part of the hiring game. If you meekly say “OK” to whatever they offer, it will hurt your paycheck (obviously), and may also make the employer value you less.
Think of what happens in another setting where negotiations are expected: the garage sale. Suppose you’re selling an item that isn’t hard to find, say a clock. It works. It’s not a bad-looking clock, but it’s a common item. That’s like the low-demand job market. You put a low price tag on it; you don’t negotiate, and maybe even offer to throw it in for free with another purchase. Your communication affects the potential buyer’s feelings about the clock, and the buyer may even refuse to take it if you offer it for free.
On the other hand, if you’re selling that great-looking expensive leather jacket that’s in mint condition but doesn’t fit you any more, you will be a tough negotiator. You’ll paid the price a bit to give you a little wiggle room because you know people like to bargain at garage sales. By tough negotiating, you communicate that the item has high value. If you set your price too low or come down in price too easily, the buyer may wonder if there’s something wrong with the jacket.
Likewise, by tough negotiating, you communicate your own worth. Good companies expect you to negotiate for your value. Far from hindering your job search efforts, the ability to negotiate helps you get the respect you need to get hired for good positions or to get better raises.
Now, in flush times, you’re more likely to get what you ask for than lean times. It’s probably true that in a tight economy you won’t get everything you ask for. But you can count on one thing being the same in both good times and in bad: if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. It’s never improper to ask. The employer may cry “poor,” and decline but that doesn’t mean don’t ask.
Sometimes asking now will pay off later. I coached a particularly energetic entry-level bank branch manager named Victor to ask for $5,000 more than the average salary for that position. The president said he couldn’t go that high, but said that he pays for performance. Three months later he was impressed with Victor’s results and added five grand to his salary. Would that have happened if Victor had just said, “OK” to the first offer?
So you’re not negotiating with an economy, you are talking to a human being who’s trying to get ahead in his/her career. If you can do the job, you deserve to be compensated. Ask for what you deserve.
Jack Chapman, a veteran career coach is also known as “The Salary Coach.” Jack is author of the bible of salary negotiations, “Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute”, now in its 6th printing. You can buy his book or reach Jack at http://www.salarynegotiations.com.
Outplacement: Measuring value for job seekers?
“It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (“1984,” by George Orwell)
In 1980 there were about 50 Outplacement Firms.
In 1990 there were about 250 Outplacement Firms.
In 2010, counting 2-3 person operations, there are about 1000 Outplacement Firms. The 10 largest support the majority of all individuals in career transition.
Outplacement looks like most industries. Every industry goes through development stages: early adopter, high growth, maturity and eventually a declining phase. The outplacement industry is no different. In 2008 & 2009 the industry swelled, revenues topped $1 billion (maybe $2 billion) and companies in the marketplace delivered record profits. It is our belief the outplacement industry is now in decline and a new, similar, but different industry will emerge with a modified service offering and value proposition.
As this industry has matured, it is our hypothesis, that the service delivery has not necessarily evolved.
We also know a large portion of our Career Brander readership is familiar with the outplacement industry on an all too personal level.
Thus, we’ve decided to reach out to our readership for very informal feedback. We are asking you take a few minutes to tell us about your outplacement experiences. It is our intention to aggregate this information and share with human resource departments as well as our readership, as appropriate. All personal responses will be kept confidential.
Please access the 5 question survey here.
If you would prefer to just send us a quick email with your experiences, please email us at outplacement@careerbander.com Although not identical to the online survey, the core questions are as follows.
1) What was the best and worst thing about your outplacement provider experience?
2) Did you find that your outplacement provider was actually helped you position to find work faster?
3) Did you find the technology provided by your outplacement firm was beneficial?
4) Please tell us one thing you wish your outplacement provider did better.
5) If you could make a recommendation to human resource departments with regard to providing outplacement, what would it be?
We appreciate whatever feedback you can provide.
We feel that the voice of the end-user is too often overlooked in the employee transition process.
__________________________________________________________________
In full disclosure, Career Brander’s services are sometimes marketed as a web enabled Outplacement service and we have Fortune 500, Fortune 5000 and small business customers.
Where the Jobs are - Thousands of Jobs
So everything I read lately says that, even when the economy starts to rebound (and many think it has already started), new job creation will lag. Now who am I to dispute that bit of wisdom? But while that may be true, there are still thousands of jobs out there to be had. In fact, there are probably 10's of thousands of jobs to be had. Now granted, there may not be thousands of jobs that you can fill and they may not all be where you live, but if you are willing to have an open mind and are flexible about where you live (or desperate in the extreme) there are thousands of jobs and I'm about to show you how to find them.
Where to Start in Your Job Search:
- How to get a job – The theme of this story is very similar to what I’ve said in my opening paragraph - yes, the current unemployment rate is still climbing and yes, last week another (very big number) people joined the unemployed, but there are tens of thousands of jobs out there. The second half of the tag line of the article is “Millions of people were hired last month!”. The article is worth a read for several reasons, not the least of which there are plenty of good tips (and they use a headline that is very similar to one I used in an earlier blog “Hey Brother, Can Your Spare a Job?“.
- Successful Job Searching – This article, by About.com, provides a step-by-step guide to finding a job. Categories include Write a Resume, Complete a Job Application, Find Job Listings plus a long list of other resources. The right side of this article has a link to several videos – “10 thinks to do after a layoff” and “How to prepare for a job interview”.
- How to find a job during a recession – CNN weighs in with an article on how to find a job. Another step-by-step article with topics such as trying freelance work, freshen your skills, networking, polish your brand (like my “market yourself”). The middle of the article has additional links to job related articles.
- HOW TO FIND A JOB? - Not sure why there is a question mark at the end of this page’s name, but don’t be fooled by the first page. There are a number of links on this site to resources such as job search, job applications, resumes, cover letters and more. Each link leads to a robust page with information on the topic. At the bottom of the page are several other links to Work Menu (several resources here), Training, Where (like, where to find a job) and Who can help (many more resources).
- The Highest Ranked Job Search Sites (Google) – This is a great link, as it shows the highest ranked job search sites (as per Google) based on page rank, a few of which are included below. You will note that it is a fairly long list (and you will want to start at the top). The other great thing about this link is that it also provides links to Executive Search, Entry Level and Internships, Job Fairs and more. Now, you should note that, just because a site has a high Google ranking does not necessarily mean it is the best site. So what are some of the best sites, see below for a few.
- Indeed.com – This is one of the best sites at the moment and, according to their site, more than 755,000 jobs were added in the last 7 days (and that is not a typo) – thousands of jobs, just as I promised. The first page is a very simple interface, two choices What and Where. You can also click on the Advanced Search which provides a broad range of search options. There are additional links at the bottom for Job Trends, Salaries and Forums. And , you don’t have to post your resume on this site.
- Recruiters Online – “Your key to the hidden job market” is the tag line for this job search site. A very simple first page – Search Jobs, Post or Edit your Resume, and Find a Recruiter. Click on Search Jobs for their very interesting search engine. They provide examples of how you can leverage their job search engine by leveraging keywords. Click Find a Recruiter (at the top of the screen if you are not on the main page). The page lists a few featured recruiters with a search engine on the right hand side. Enter your criteria and the search engine will return a list of recruiters.
- Job-Hunt.org – “Help and links to 13,054 Employers & Job Search Resources” is the tag line for this resource site. Not sure how they got such an exact number, but this site is filled with valuable information. Where to start? The top of the page has a drop down box so that you can review resources by state. The left hand side of the page has Layoff Help, Getting Started (too many links to list here) and links to relevant articles. The center of the page has Job Search News and Job Search Sites and Career Resources. Click on any state from the drop down box and you are immediately transferred to a page which is full of information regarding jobs for your state. This site is definitely worth spending time on and reviewing all of the resources available.
And if That's Not Enough:
Good luck in your search.
