Best of Branding: Top 5 This Week | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

Here is the Top 5 This Week – @andywergedal

Get Found. What a cool concept. In grammar school (is it still called that?) we were expected to complete every task, assignment and test alone. In the real world we work in teams. Don’t be a loner, get a team, get help and Get found!

Here are this weeks Top 5

1. Job Search – Hide and Seek – [Career Brander]

Hide and seek, a classic children’s game. The premise is simple. One child is “the seeker” and all the rest are asked to hide. The last one hiding is the winner. Job Search is just the opposite. You want to be the first one “caught”. Thus, you need to be the most obvious place “the seeker” will find you. Put another way, you need to visible in the most likely place “the seeker” will be looking.

2. I Got A Contact Name… How Do I Reach Them – [The Wise Job Search]

It’s great if you are given a phone number and/or email address with a name, however, with a little creativity and initiative you can certainly find other ways to get in touch.

3. ResumeTracker Organizes Multiple Resumes for Job Searches – [LifeHacker]

You probably don’t send the same exact resume for every single job opening, and keeping track of what you sent can be a confusing pain. ResumeTracker does a smart job of organizing and labeling your multi-versioned resumes for later reference.

4. Online Reputation Management Now a Full Time Job – [Gigaom.com]

Managing what’s being said about them online has become “a defining feature of online life” for many Internet users, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “especially the young.” The center surveyed 2,253 users over the age of 18 about their attitudes and behavior online, and found that younger users in particular are more likely to both search for information about themselves and modify what they share with others, and also tend to be less trusting of social networks and other sharing sites.

5. The Elevator Pitch You Are Not Ready To Deliver – [Tims Strategy]

Well, the reality is that 99% of us haven’t practiced this speech. And it is unlike the one we practice in the mirror where we are sharing our background with a room of fellow networkers. But I will say the correct approach here is like the one on one conversations we have at networking events. The ones where we ask a few good questions, share a few key strengths and make sure that at least one memorable aspect of our lives is shared.

As a pioneer in thought leadership, Andy’s primary professional role is the communication bridge between technology and executive staff. An expert in project management methodologies Andy excels as the agent of change. In hs spare time, Andy has a passion for helping people find jobs. He takes great pleasure in thinking out of the box. Checkout his blog at 40×50.com and on twitter @andywergedal.

via blog.brand-yourself.com

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My Favorite Resume and CV Template: Introducing TruFocus

If you’ve been looking for a resume or CV template that really works.  One that instantly sets you apart from other candidates.

Well, I have one that may do just that.  It’s not wildly different from thousands of other templates out there, but it is different enough in the right places.

And I’ll explain why.

But first, why still a focus on the resume or CV when there are so many new digital ways to share your experience with the world?

Truth:  A traditional resume or CV is still the only document universally requested by HR, recruiters and hiring managers the world-over.

So yours better be good at communicating your unique skills.  And highlighting meaningful accomplishments.

Yes, you must have a solid and well-written LinkedIn profile.  And wherever you are online (Twitter, Facebook), make sure you are sharing the best parts of you.

But if your resume or cv stinks, it won’t matter if they found you first on LinkedIn.  And liked you.  It won’t matter that you were fun and interesting on Twitter.

Because everyone who only sees your resume or CV will have a very different view of you.

So, here’s the template I like so much.  It is the one that I created for my personal use and the one I suggest others follow when I do resume reviews.

It is available now as a free download for job seekers.  One that you can use and share freely with others.  If you like it.

There are seven sections:

1.  Name and Contact Information

No major surprises here.  I leave off your street address.  Partly due to safety issues and partly due to relevance.  Save it for the application.  The address to your LinkedIn profile is added.  Says you are social media savvy and gives you a chance to highlight some early recommendations.  Assuming you have a few on your profile.  You should have at least 10 (4 bosses, 3 peers, 3 direct reports).

2.  Your Positioning Statement

First you need to know how to write your positioning statement.  Once you have figured that out, it becomes the first words someone reads about you.  4-6 words.  To instantly create a first impression.  It is an important statement that you will support with content from the next two sections.

3.  Next A Career Summary

This is written (1st person) in a few brief, strong and confident sentences.  If you have an “objective” on your resume, remove it and replace it with a career summary.  A “career objective” is information for the eyes of your network and belongs on your one page networking bio.  Not on your resume.  The career summary is here to support your positioning statement with your big skills and key accomplishments.

4.  Followed By 6-10 Key Strengths

You can either bullet these or separate them as I have done here.  But make sure they can be quickly and easily scanned by a human.  Not just a computer (30 comma separated strengths are hard on the eyes).  Listing key strengths allows someone to quickly determine relevance to requirements on the job description.   The key strengths further support your positioning statement and career summary by identifying the specific characteristics or experience areas that cement your qualifications.

5.  Your Recent Experience

This is perhaps the most poorly organized section in all the resumes  and CVs I’ve seen.  The biggest issue?  People confusing responsibilities with accomplishments.  Or only including the former.  If you only include responsibilities on your resume, you will not stand out.  And you will not illustrate your value in a way that others can.  Using strong, relevant and measurable accomplishments helps hiring managers envision your doing those same great things on their team.  Your responsibilities should be written in one or two short sentences to clarify the role played, departments managed, etc.

Worth mentioning here is the use of  a company description.  Including one can be a big help if a prior company is not well known.  It can add credibility when none is apparent from the name.  For example, your company might have the number one brand of commercial floor cleaning products.  Who knew?

6.  Your Early Experience

The only thing to illustrate here is that your early experience (10+ years ago) is less relevant and should take up less space on your resume.  Less detail on what you did and fewer accomplishments to share.  Ten years is a long time.  Of course, if your best job was 10+ years ago or if it is an important job to illustrate key abilities or industry knowledge, you can always add a few more points as space allows.

7.  Your Education

For some resumes, this section can be vital.  If you have a recent degree (MBA, PhD) that you want to highlight or if you went to a top university that you know hiring managers are looking for in a candidate.  But for most, this section is more of a rubber stamp.  Degreed?  Yes.  Great.

And for others, this section represents a tough question.  Do I include dates for my education? Since there is a problem with age discrimination in some parts of the world, including dates tells a hiring manager fairly quickly how old you are.  My personal opinion is to leave the dates off if you are worried about it.  Takes away the worry.  And the truth is that your relative age will become obvious at the interview.

8.  Other

You’ll notice I don’t include any other information on the template.  A lot of resumes include add-ons:

• awards, certifications, seminars attended, hobbies, references, personal accomplishments, photos

I don’t include any of those on my resume.  And they are not on the template either.  Because I don’t think that they are a part of the criteria that most managers use to decide an interview schedule.  Of course, there are always exceptions.  I met a CEO/COO recently who was trying to decide whether his mountain climbing passion belonged on his resume.  In his case, mountain climbing (hard, requires strength of body/mind) supported his positioning statement (i.e. aggressive, hard charging decision maker).  Made sense.  I have seen good use of a photo (it’s on LinkedIn already, right?) but I have seen too many bad uses to recommend it for everyone.

I hope this TruFocus™ Resume and CV Template helps you focus your content within a few pages.  After all, a resume or CV is a marketing document.  You need your best content to be found quickly and easily.  And you want people to read it.  That’s why the top four sections fall within the top half of page one.

If you’d like to see my version as an example, comment below and make sure you include your e-mail in the comment form (no one can see it but me).

via timsstrategy.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Former Employer Gives Her Lukewarm Reference - The Career Doctor Blog

Eileen writes:

After being on the job market for several months — and a finalist for a number of jobs — I found out that my former employer may be giving me a marginal reference.

I am having some colleagues call to find out what he’s saying. But, if that’s true, how do I get around not giving him as a reference since I worked for that company for 14 years? That alone screams problem. I can’t have a potential employer call someone else at the company — any calls would be referred to my boss. It makes me wonder how many jobs I might have lost because of this.

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The Career Doctor responds:

Yours is a tough situation because whenever you have had a long stint with one employer, it does indeed make it a bit harder to have references outside the company — but you have to do so.

I am kind of surprised to hear about the marginal reference given the litigious environment we are in — where most employers shy away from saying anything negative for fear of being sued by their former employee.

And while I do not want to discount the importance of references — some employers call every single reference you provide — I also think the stronger you are as a job candidate, the stronger you dominate the others competing for the job, the less likely a marginal reference is going to affect getting the offer… so, also take some time to strengthen your interviewing skills.

OK. Here are two ideas for improving your reference situation.

First, confront your former boss — in a professional way. Mention that you have heard s/he may not be giving you the strongest reference and ask if that is true, why is it true. Remind him/her of all your accomplishments and loyalty to the organization. Even if you can’t change his/her mind, you might get some interesting insight about how this boss really sees you.

Second, unless you reported directly to the president or CEO of the company, there is ALWAYS the possibility of using other people inside the firm as a reference. You could ask another manager you worked with, a co-worker, one of your employees, a supplier or contractor you worked with. Identify people you worked closely with who know your skills and ASK them to serve as a reference; you do NOT need to always use a direct boss as a reference.

via careerdoctor.org

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Blue Collar Job Search – Job Seeker Newsletter | JibberJobber Blog

This is a continuation of the series of Blue Collar Job Search posts.  Have you figured out that most of this applies to white collar job seekers? Funny how that happens.

Yesterday I met with my buddy and we talked about creating a regular job search newsletter.  This is something I had blogged about before but I couldn’t find the post, so I’ll write it again

After going through various things, including word-smithing a pretty good elevator pitch, we were ready to let people know how they could help him with his job search.  The first newsletter will include a brief introduction to his situation and let people know how they can help.  In just a few words it will share his value proposition, his relevant history that helps paint a picture of his breadth and depth, and then he says “and this is the elevator pitch I’m working, I’d appreciate any feedback.”

In that introductory email his contacts learn certain things:

• That he is in transition (this is critical – not everyone knows)
• That he has a strong background and is skilled and competent
• What kinds of companies he would like to work for, or what kind of work environment he is interested in

And then his elevator pitch seals the deal – they are given some really good, concise information about him and what he’s looking for.

I thought this type of newsletter would be sent once a month but as I thought about it with him I think it is appropriate to send it every 2 to 3 weeks, depending on what’s new in his job search.  In other words, if he is networking and finding new companies and is active then he has new stuff to put in his newsletter, and he needs to stay in front of his circle of friends that can help him.  If he doesn’t do much then don’t send it so often (hopefully he’ll send it every two weeks, which means he is keeping busy!).

The future newsletters will include the following points (not what I’ve listed in the introductory job seeker newsletter, above):

• A list of the companies he’s contacted, or wanted to contact,
• A list of job titles he is applying or interviewing for,
• A list of companies he’d like introductions to.

The key here is CONCISE.  Keep it short, don’t get off track, and give just the right amount of information so people can help you (as opposed to writing too much (won’t be read) or off-track stuff (too dramatic and paints you in a sour light)).

This is the job seeker newsletter… appropriate for my blue collar buddy as well as the white collar job seeker!

via jibberjobber.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Your Blog is Not Your Job

Your blog is not your job (unless it is). Twitter is not your job (unless someone’s paying you to tweet). Facebook isn’t your job.

These are just communications tools. We use them. We use them to make media. We use them to weave marketing, sometimes. We use them to tell stories about your organizations or our wants or whatever it is we’re talking about. Spending hours updating status, spending hours chatting, doing things that take us away from our objectives can sometimes feel easy.

Some ways to stay vigilant:

• Use an egg timer. If you’re going to venture out onto Twitter, time it.
• Keep a sticky note of your objectives in sight of your monitor.
• Ask yourself for every blog post what your goal with that post should be.
• Ensure that you’re doing this all with some goal in mind, and can you measure that goal?
• Tend to your main objectives first, and use the secondary time for social media.

Your mileage will vary. You’ll see results in some of what you do. But if you’re doing it because it’s what you think you’re supposed to do, keep your eye on things. Stay vigilant.

Yesterday, my blog was not my job, so I didn’t write one. Today? I have two speeches over the next few days. That was my job first, and then this post.

We do want to keep our social presence up, and we can’t let our blogging fall too far behind, but to remember your job from time to time is to remind yourself what will yield the most value in your day.

via chrisbrogan.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

Job Search Engine by CAREEREALISM : CAREEREALISM

By CAREEREALISM Staff

Lots has been written about the power of networking to find work – and rightly so. Statistics show overwhelmingly most jobs are landed via referral. It’s estimated there are actually millions of job openings right now that aren’t posted. Thus, the argument for networking to find a ’secret’ job posting is a valid one.

BUT, That Doesn’t Mean You Shouldn’t Utilize a ‘Job Search Engine’ to Find Work!

Notice, I said job search engine. That’s because a job search engine is different from a job board. Job boards have been getting a bad rap lately due to the increased number of bogus listings and scams found on them. This negative press has caused many job seekers to ignore the technological advancements made in on-line job search in the last year. In fact, job search engines have actually created new opportunities for savvy job seekers to get a leg-up on their competition. Here’s how…

20,000+ Companies Have Posted Jobs Directly on Their Corporate Websites…Do You Know Which Ones?

Due to the overwhelming number of job applicants companies were getting when they paid to post a job on traditional job boards, many businesses have opted to stop paying to post on these sites. They just couldn’t handle the volume of resumes – many of which were from people who weren’t qualified for the job. Instead, they chose to only post the job on their corporate website. In short, here’s how the process works today: When a job opens up, the company announces it internally so employees can spread the word to their friends via social media (there’s that networking thing again!), and then they post the job on their site so only people who are truly interested in working for them will find it. By creating these job seeker hoops, they don’t get overwhelmed with applications and find the quality of the applicant (in terms of their skills being a match for the job) increases significantly.

Good News! A Job Search Engine Can Find These Job Postings for You

A job search engine is designed to go out and find any of the jobs that are posted directly on company sites. It then compares these job postings to ones found on major job boards like Monster.com and removes the duplicates. In short, it shows you the jobs only posted on the corporate website. A job search engine offers a job seeker the chance to find out about jobs they would have otherwise never heard of. And, since the engine is updating in real-time, you can run searches daily to ensure you are one of the first to know about a new opening.

Better News! We’ve Got a Job Search Engine for Our Loyal Readers

We’ve partnered with a firm and created our own job search engine for our CAREEREALISM readers. It’s FREE for you to use, but we are holding access to it hostage. Only our weekly newsletter subscribers can use it. To become a newsletter subscriber, simply add your e-mail address here. You will receive our info-packed newsletter once a week (we never SPAM, only send you top content and resources), and you can unsubscribe at any time.

So, if you want to test out our new job search engine for yourself, join our newsletter and we will send you access to it instantly!

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via careerealism.com

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I Do Not Use Correct Punctuation. So What? | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

I have had a couple of conversations over the past week pertaining to my use of correct (or lack of) punctuation in my blog posts. There are many that have lectured me over the correct use of punctuation and grammar when writing my blog… (there it goes) simply because of my so-called lack of professionalism.

To that I say… (there it is again) So what?

There is a method to my madness and I have felt the sudden urge to try and explain myself to the masses that may not appreciate my writing technique. Because there is a personal branding technique built into this entire discussion. I would like to call this technique: the pause affect.  Notice… look closely… I used the word affect instead of effect. There is reasoning behind the use of the word that we will discuss later.

I write as though I am speaking to a group or an individual. I tend to use three periods to show a pause in my mode of speaking or an influx of emotion pertaining to a specific topic or thought. The three periods exemplify the art of a pause when speaking… because it shows a pause in a person’s thought process.

There are many that would say that the use of correct punctuation has a positive influence on your personal brand. I would say that is absolutely correct. I may not use correct punctuation but isn’t the value in the overall content provided? Did the post or article help you in your quest to alleviate a certain pain in your business? We try not to judge a book by the cover and the same concept applies to blog writing. Is the content valuable?

I use the pause affect to show emotion in my posts. If you were to talk to me on the street… I pretty much speak the same way as I write.

Remember…

Content is king and if the point is being portrayed with pause and affect… isn’t there still substance?

What do you think?

Author:

Kyle writes a regular blog at KyleLacy.com and is founder and CEO of Brandswag, a social media strategy and training company. His blog has been featured on Wall Street Journal’s website and Read Write Web’s daily blog journal. Recently, Kyle was voted as one of the top 150 social media blogs in the world (on two websites), and produces regular keynote speeches across the Midwest. He also just finished writing Twitter Marketing for Dummies by Wiley Publishing.

via personalbrandingblog.com

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