reCareered: Question Of The Week - How should I let my network know that I'm looking for work?

This week, a reader asked if he should use a direct email campaign for his job search. While there are many career professionals who like this approach, I find it to be self defeating, risking more harm than good. Here's why.

On alternate Fridays, I'm posting a job search question from one of our readers. This was a question posted in response to my posting on Linkedin Answers “Candidates - What's your most difficult job search question?”

M.S. shared a question about his own job search, and asked:

"What approach I should use in the messages I send? Is it best to be direct or indirect in the messages I send to business owners or executives? For the direct approach, I could say that I would love to hear about positions they might have where I could put my e-marketing skills to work. At the worst I will just find that there isn’t much of a response."

My thoughts and experiences are going to be different than those of most career coaches, outplacement professionals, recruiters, college placement offices, and "rules of thumb". Most of these sources will advise candidates to take a direct approach. Typical advice would be to craft an email, stating that you are in an active search mode, possibly attaching your resume, and asking for help or referrals.

While those approaches worked 9 years ago, when email was still fairly new, it's less effective today - and can cause you to damage relationships unknowingly. I'll sum up the points below by asking in reply - Do you think that spamming your contacts is a good idea? Will it generate the response rate that you want? Will spamming your network help or hurt your relationships?

There are a number of differences between today's job search environment and that of 10 years ago that cause a direct approach to be ineffective:

• There are far more job seekers today: Not only are there more unemployed, but there are many passive job seekers also - as many as 60% of the workforce by some reports. Most of your competition spams their network - because "everyone" recommends it.
• Your network is already inundated by email: The people you are trying to reach get hundreds of emails per day. They can't possibly read all of them, and can only respond to a small percentage. The people you want to reach have jobs to do.
• Proliferation of spam: Spam today is more than just ads for Canadian pharmaceuticals, insurance, and penny stock tips. As our email boxes fill to overflowing, business professionals react more unfavorably to spam. resenting the time unsolicited emails take from their day.
• Backlash against spam: Over-messaged recipients can get upset due to unsolicited emails and messages. As our inboxes overflow, we've gotten used to being asked for permission to message first, and quickly grow impatient with emails that don't provide us value. Those are the emails that get deleted, or worse ... sent to spam or replied with "Please remove".
• iPod & Blackberry nation: As more professionals use smartphones as their primary email reader, especially for personal emails, attention span for non-urgent emails have shortened as our inboxes explode. If it's not valuable to us, we tend to delete first, ask questions later.
• Sending blast emails demonstrates What's In it For Me (WIFM): Most of your readers won't find value in what you want, or to quote M.S. "I would love to hear about positions they might have where I could put my e-marketing skills to work."
• "The Update email": This is the email we all get, often from people we barely know, or who are social network connections, that give us the whole history of their job search. Most recipients don't care. However, if you restructured the email to tell me about the problems you've been solving, how you are created value, or the value you are creating freelancing or at volunteer organizations - you have a much better chance of getting attention.

Fortunately. there are better alternatives. These can work as well for an accountant as a marketing person, from entry-level to executive. Use the power of social media in the way it was intended - to engage in discussions, rather than spam. Here's some ideas of how you can utilize your social network to engage in job search discussions:

1. Create a newsletter or blog: Use a newsletter or blog to provide value to your readers, give them ideas, demonstrate the value you can provide by describing past projects and the problems you solved - show them WIFT (What's In it For Them - see http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/job-seekers-tell-your-readers-wift.html).

Use Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter Status: Use your social media status to start discussions of projects, rather than asking if your network knows who's hiring. Use your status as a megaphone to provide value, rather than spam.

Discuss on Industry sites and forums: If you are a marketing person, find the top marketing forums, sites, social networks, and blogs. Contribute value by starting discussions, engaging in discussions ... if you've picked the right forums you reach your hiring managers and show the type of value you provide to a group ... and could provide to their company (see http://recareered.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-use-social-branding.html).

Send emails with links to discussions, blog posts, web sites, etc that provide value: If you want to use Direct email, use it to provide value and WIFT, rather than ask about openings.

Create a website or online portfolio to show off your work: It's easy and inexpensive. There are a number of free alternatives, including Google Sites, Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, and hundreds of inexpensive choices where you can easily post examples of your work, case studies, and the problems you've solved. Presenting your background in this way adds value to your network, because you're giving ideas while you promote your work (see http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-online-portfolios-put-you-at-top-of.html).

Don't burn your network: Rely on your network for high return information, rather than just asking what's on their website's job tab. Your network has a higher value of inside information, than just randomly asking if a contact knows of any openings. Your network's highest value is in Guerrilla Job Search tactics, to give you the inside information that allows you to understand company problems, so you can present yourself as the solution (see http://recareered.blogspot.com/2009/11/guerrilla-job-search-tactics.html).

The beauty of this approach is that it can reach far more than just your network and by not directly asking for a job you provide value, encouraging more attention. This approach can be used to help change industries or job function, and can be used by active or passive job seekers (your employer won't have problems with your involvement in the industry - it makes your company look good as long as you don't give out company secrets).

The more you provide value, the less your messaging is viewed as spam, the fewer times the delete button is hit, and the more likely you'll be recruited as a great fit to fix problems just like the ones you described.

via recareered.blogspot.com

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Career Hub: How to Shed Your Resume's Invisibility Cloak

Long gone are the days when the resume was just a dry listing of employment dates, titles, and responsibilities. Even before the Web and digital transmission of resumes began to play an important role in hiring, resumes had evolved into powerful self-marketing tools—at least those resumes that afforded their candidates any reasonable chance of success in the job market.

As online job boards and candidate sourcing became the rage, as Don so aptly put it, “the digital dump truck backed up to the hapless employer’s email and overloaded him with résumés still stuck in the past.” Those whose resumes sold the employer on what could be delivered by that candidate afforded some advantage, but suffered along with the rest—covered in the invisibility cloak provided by hundreds if not thousands of other submissions.

Harris Interactive’s poll of employers in June of 2009 indicated that a whopping 45% of employers now use social networking sites to source job candidates, completely bypassing the traditional post a job, then weed through the resumes submitted or found by keyword search scenario. This is a huge increase from 22% only one year previously.

So it would appear that the key to what is termed “digital visibility” is not just to post your resume on the Web, but to build a presence spanning social media, industry association, and topical forum websites—“hang out” where your colleagues and superiors in your field do. Comment on relevant blogs, and/or maintain your own blog.  Engage others (including recruiters who lurk on these sites) in meaningful conversations, and at some point you will be asked to provide your resume, blissfully free of its invisibility cloak.

via careerhubblog.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Trial by Fire? No, it's a Bad Interview | My Global Career

Corporate interviews have become endurance tests, a common way of simulating how candidates will respond if hired. Job candidates sitting on the hot seat can expect to hear the same questions posed four to seven times in a single afternoon. While job seekers are judged on every little detail, feeling pressure not to make mistakes, paradoxically, interviewers often believe they have latitude to come across as aloof, disorganized or rude.
But in a future tightened labor market, candidates may experience a role reversal. Savvy employers may drop the fortress mentality – lowering a drawbridge across the moat of fire. For example, some firms may devote more of the interview process to “sell” candidates on the company.
Not surprisingly, job seekers have a litany of complaints about the interview process. According to a study of 3,725 job seekers, conducted in five global regions by Development Dimensions International (DDI), in conjunction with Monster, the biggest complaints interviewees make are these:

Interview Habits That Most Annoy Job Seekers

Source: Development Dimensions International, Inc.

The situation is dire when even recruiters harangue their peers. Allison Boyce, Candidate Development Manager, Deloitte Services, asserts in ERE.net (a recruiter publication) that some of her peers haven’t changed tactics to fit the current talent shortage. Boyce says that many of her peers are guilty of:

• Waiting two weeks to respond to résumés
• Missing interview days/refusing to schedule interviews
• Missing telephone screens
• Taking three to four weeks to extend an offer
• Allowing one person’s opinion to override six other decisions to hire.

That sounds like a process ripe for reform. “Believe it or not in the US we probably do the best job of any country in how we treat candidates. It’s absolutely medieval in the UK,” contends Boyce, who emphasizes that she is expressing her own opinions. In Boyce’s view one of the problems is that candidates aren’t told what to expect from the process, which often drags on for months for executive hires.
In theory, job interviews can be “dealmakers or deal breakers” say the authors of the DDI/Monster Study. The study finds that two-thirds of job candidates say that the “interviewer moderately or significantly influences their decision” to take the job if offered.
What does the interviewing process tell job candidates about the employer? “The interview process with the recruiter doesn’t give me much more insight into the company than I already had via my own research and networking,” says B. Lee Jones, former CIO of a midsize, multinational company in Silicon Valley. “The only thing that is sometimes beneficial is their perspective on what the employer is looking for.”
Knowing a recruiter or colleague inside the company can prove invaluable. But unfortunately for most job candidates, researching how employers conduct a hiring process is rarely possible. While it is easy to find corporate mission statements, there is little to no information posted on corporate careers web pages that help a candidate prepare for what’s often a trial by fire.
According to the DDI/Monster job seeker study, at least one interviewer posed the following insightful question: “If you were a dog, what kind would you be?” That’s a tough call, but in a situation like that, I would have to go with pit bull. Let them draw their own conclusions.

via myglobalcareer.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Questions to ask when networking | Keppie Careers by Miriam Salpeter

This is the third in my series about networking. Now that you have the keys to researching your networking targets, and know the fundamentals, you need to consider what to ask when you meet them! The number one thing to remember when networking is that most people have a favorite topic of discussion – themselves!

GL Hoffman had some useful advice at his blog, What Would Dad Say?:

It truly is not about you. It is more about the other person. Ask questions, find their interesting story, learn from them, ask advice. Strive for a conversation that is 25% you, 75% them.

Remember your manners. Smile a lot. Say please and thank you. Hold doors open. Make eye contact. Say “and” more than you say “but.” Be positive. These are the things your mom taught you.

These are great launching off points to consider before thinking of what to ask at an informational meeting.

Don’t forget that it’s important to assess what you want to know! There is nothing worse than having a meeting and walking away without accomplishing your goals. So, have some goals!

Figure out what you need to know about the organization or the person – things that you cannot find out by a quick Google search. Consider asking about the person’s (or organization’s) values, important skills needed to work there and about how they do business. Ask the nuanced questions you want to know. For example:

• What are your biggest challenges? (Or those impacting your field/company/organization?)
• What is the best (and worst) part of your job?
• What would you do differently (if anything) if you were starting over in your field?

At the same time, in case you have a contact who likes to ask a lot of questions, be sure that you can also discuss your unique qualities – your unique selling proposition.

• What are YOUR skills.
• Why are you interested in this field or organization?
• What do YOU have to offer?

Be sure to bring along your resume, just in case your networking contact asks for it, or if you have an opportunity to ask for input and advice.

In the long run, what exactly you ask is less important than HOW you ask it and how well prepared you appear. It is really true that you have one chance to make a first impression…Be interested and interesting and you won’t have to worry!

Feel free to share your great question ideas and success stories in the comments!

photo by leo reynolds

via keppiecareers.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Success Is Made of Little Victories

Everything we do to be successful comes from little victories. When someone takes notice of our success, it looks like something big. It feels like one big moment. But always, and I mean always, it comes from a series of little victories. Look at the successes you’ve had. Did they all come at once? Or did you build up from nowhere to somewhere to somewhere better to a quick fallback to a new success, and then pow? Right.

In August 2003, I decided to get healthy. So did Kat. We started with nutrition. We lost a little weight. Then we lost some more. We worked on our fitness. Then we did even more. Then I got into running. And by November 2004, I ran and completed a trail marathon. I sure didn’t wake up one morning in November 65 pounds thinner and start running. It was built on several hundred (thousand?) little victories along the way.

Start With Little Flags and Bigger Flags

One way to start achieving your own victories is to know what you’re aiming to accomplish. For instance, if you hate your job, plant a positive flag in the ground that says, “I’m going to change roles/careers.” That’ll be your bigger flag. If you want to get really specific, you should consider adding things like dates to your flags. (Otherwise, they’re more like dreams.)

Then, plant some smaller flags. For instance, having some extra money stashed away so you can cover your transition for a few months might be a good way to accomplish your bigger flag goal. So, how will you get that money? Maybe it will be to start an eBay business. (My friend Marsha Collier is THE author of all the best books about eBay and eBay businesses.) With extra revenue, you’ll reach another little flag that builds up to your next victory.

See how it works? Put out a bigger flag that signifies your victory: “I’ll work independently 8 months from now.” Then, figure out how many little flags you’ll need to put in the sand for all the little victories that will get you there. “I’ll look to start taking in an extra $2000/month within 60 days.” From there, figuring out HOW is a bit more concrete.

Praise Each Little Victory. Then Move on.

On your way to success, make sure you praise your accomplishments. I’m working on my fitness and nutrition again after a long hiatus. At the time I wrote this, I’d lost 10 pounds in my first two weeks. I’m happy with that progress. But, I’m also not going to linger. I’m going to work harder at getting more fit, at reducing my calorie intake a bit more (I’m not eating a fad diet and I’m certainly eating more than enough food), and working those little victories. But I just accept each win, nod, and move on.

Never Justify

One secret to your little victories: never use one to justify a fallback. “Well, I did lose 10 pounds. I’ll just have this vat-sized popcorn at the movie theater.” No. Never. That’s how you got there in the first place. Apply this thinking liberally over all the other things you do. If you get a win with one client, never let that be a reason to mess up with another. Treat every victory as crucial to your success, or you’ll risk eroding your success.

Your Flags, Not Everyone’s Flags

The flags you set for yourself, the little victories, are yours. They pertain to goals you’ve made. Sometimes, on the way to success, our passion to be helpful sometimes overrides our sense that our efforts are our own, and not prescriptive across everyone else. That’s when we risk coming off as preachy. For instance, just because you realize that Twitter and Facebook are the wave of the future doesn’t mean that everyone else who doesn’t is a jerk, behind the times, and doesn’t get it. Maybe those aren’t the flags those people are working towards. Maybe their victories are different than yours.

Work your own flags.

Praise Others Often

The best thing you can do with success is share it. Praise others along the way. Be grateful. Thank others. Share as much of the stage and spotlight as you can. Hoard nothing. Instead, give as much praise away as possible and keep only what you can’t possibly deny to yourself. Your success was made up of many other helping hands. Do what you can to thank them.

Success Accepts Temporary Setbacks and Failures

I called my business New Marketing Labs because I wanted us to always be experimenting. We win business by telling our partners that sometimes we’re not sure the outcome of our efforts until we give it a try. We have, on many occasions, told someone in a meeting, “We’re not really sure if this will yield, but we’re going to try it, and if it does, we’ll do it some more. If it doesn’t, we’ll figure out how to make things work.”

Experimentation, failure, and setbacks are all part of the map. Just don’t dwell on them. Airplanes are off-course 90% of the time, I once read. As long as they land safely and on time (oh, how I wish), that’s good enough for everyone involved. Accept your setbacks (but learn from them).

What Happens With Success

Depending on your views, what happens next is usually the most important. When I’m successful, I do what I can to educate others in how they can accomplish what I’ve done, or at least they can have access to the tools I used to get there. Teaching, raising others up, doing what one can to bring success to others is perhaps the biggest measure of the real value of success. It’s not money that determines success. It’s not fame. It’s the chance to help others with their own success that I value most of all.

Our efforts to achieve success hinge on little victories. When it’s all said and done, after 10,000 hours of hard work, the external sense that it all seems effortless is just another external sign that you’ve worked hard to achieve your position. But it’s really only the start of another kind of effort, complete with more little victories to be had along the way.

What about you? Does that describe your own successes? How are you planting your small flags? What do you find discouraging?

via chrisbrogan.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

How to Stand Out at Work | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

What else am I supposed to do besides my job?

I think many people do not realize that while you were hired to do a job, it is also your  responsibility to be a part of the company and to do whatever it takes for the company to be successful.

These are the top 10 things that I think are important for everyone to do at work.  If you follow these guidelines you will stand out and will have the best opportunities to advance:

1)      Always offer ideas and suggestions. Start with your own job and if you have a way it can be done more efficiently, suggest it. Even if your manager balks at it, keep making suggestions wherever you can.

2)      Do not sit quietly in meetings. We have all been in meetings where there are people who talk and people who do not. Contribute any way you can and contribute on a high level. When management is in meetings with you, they take notice of the contributors. Leaders are not silent in meetings.

3)      Do MORE than what your job requires. For example, if you work in customer service and someone needs help, go beyond offering “standard help”. Instead of saying to a customer, “call this number and they can help you”, do it for them! Customers like to compliment great service.   It is a big deal when upper management or the President hears from customers and they are complimenting YOU.

4)      Always offer to help others.  Become the “go to” person- the person that can be counted on to help. If you are that person, it will go a long way!

5)      Be proactive! Anticipate problems that might arise and come up with suggestions to fix them. Do not wait for things to happen and be a “reactive” employee. We all have had those moments where we know we could do more if we wanted to. When you have that moment, come up with a plan and do it (or share it with a supervisor).

6)       Join committees and become a part of the company that goes far outside your role. Join a safety committee or a diversity committee or any other group where you feel you can make a great contribution.

7)      Do things without being asked. If you see that something needs to be done and nobody is doing it, DO IT. Even if it is just cleaning up after a potluck lunch or helping with a company party. I am amazed by how few people do this. People who hang back and help out stand out.

8)      Volunteer wherever you can. If someone sends an email out asking for volunteers – do it if you can. If someone sends out an email about a new initiative in the company, reply and say, “this sounds great! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I would love to be a part of this!”  Management loves this.

9)      If you are part of a team, working on a project, take the lead if you can. Someone has to be the leader, shouldn’t it be you? If it is not you, still contribute at a high level. Throw out ideas and suggestions. Challenge things that do not make sense. If you do this respectfully, you will stand out. Once again, silence does not get you noticed, it gets you overlooked.

10)   Never bad mouth the company to anyone you work with – even your friends. Talk it up and do your job as if you ARE a leader there. If you do not agree with something, ask questions. Running around badmouthing the company or complaining about your job is a cancer in the company. It will kill any opportunities to advance and may even kill your job.

When you are at work, always seek out ways to improve the company.  Become a integral part of taking your company to the next level. If you show that your interest lies far beyond yourself, your job, and your income, you will be setting yourself up to become a future leader in the company.

Jessica Simko is a seasoned senior level Human Resources professional with over 15 years of experience in all facets of Human Resources Management.  She is a Freelance Writer and  Entrepreneur specializing in career/ life coaching and social media.  Connect with her on:
Twitter
Linked In

via blog.brand-yourself.com

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Posterous Turns Email Lists Into Group Blogs

Email -> Posterous -> emails everyone on the list. The email becomes a post.

Awesome!

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