Networking: Are You Feeling Burned Out?

A few months ago I wrote about a question that seemed strange at the time.  The question was is there such a thing as too much networking?

That particular question came from a reader and had to do with a concern about over-exposure and efficiency.

But a new and really interesting question was raised on my LinkedIn group today that brought up a related but very different question.

The question asked whether others had seen a reduction in attendance at networking events around the Orange County area.  The discussion then headed to an interesting theory.

It suggested that people are burning out on networking events.  Are YOU?

I haven’t done a survey on this, but I think there is some truth in the idea.  Especially for people who have been out over six months and who have not seen networking deliver a new job.  Despite all of us out there saying that networking is the single most important job search activity.

When you first start networking, everything is new.  Everyone is friendly and open to new relationships.  And if you are doing it right, you are picking a few people each week.  People with whom you can build a deeper relationship.

But over time, if the effort has not delivered big leads.  You start to get out of bed a little slower.  You start to hem and haw.  Getting there late, leaving early or not going at all.  You do that little dance in your head: Should I stay or should I go?

And then you start getting lazy.  You stop communicating your specific job search objectives.  Stop handing out your networking business cards and one page networking bio.

I’ve seen it.  As I introduce a long time job seeker with a newer one.  The veteran has a different energy.  A lack of excitement to meet new folks.  Jaded.

And that attitude, created from experience, influences your own motivation to keep going.  And it likely influences new people you meet.  To spend less time with you.

So if today’s post is about the issue of reduced attendance at networking events and a theory as to why (burnout or fatigue), the next one will be full of solutions.

Come back early next week for: 5 Ways To Keep Networking Fresh And Productive

If you don’t have a good memory, sign up to get e-mails of all new posts automatically.  Add your e-mail to the form (top right, above) and you can forget all about  . . . having to remember.

What are you seeing in your community.  Are fewer people coming out?  If so, where are they going instead and why?

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How to write an impactful resume « Courting Your Career

Crafting an effective resume can be difficult. There’s the formatting, grammar, punctuation and, most importantly, your content. To stand out from the crowd, it’s not enough to create a laundry list of job duties. You also have to talk about the impact you made while you were in that position. Whether you’re looking for your first job, or if you’re making a mid-career transition, there are two simple questions that your resume needs to address.

What? Most job seekers have this one down cold; what you did at that job. To address the “what,” read the job description carefully and identify the most important attributes and skills the hiring company is looking for. If they list management experience #1, don’t list it as the 8^th bullet under your most recent job. Also think about what not to include. If your title is customer service representative, there’s no need to list a bullet that talks about customer service unless it involves a specific situation or outcome above and beyond what could be implied from your title.

So what? Once you’ve established the “what,” you must address the “so what?” For each bullet, what were the results? What was the impact? If you presented a recommendation to upper management, was it adopted? If you developed a new process for doing business, did it save time and/or money?

Before applying to another job, read over your resume bullet by bullet to make sure you’ve answered both the “what” and “so what.” When you do, you’ll be well on your way to having a resume that gets results.

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Presenting a Consistent Image During Your Job Search » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

There’s an old adage in communication: “Tell the audience what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you told them.”  In other words, preview, present, and review.  The objective of this communication strategy is to make sure your message gets across.  While saying something five times may seem redundant to you, you can be sure that it will stick in the mind of your listener.

The Preview: Your Resume

During your job search, your resume serves as the preview of who you are as an employee and what you have to offer a company.  Your resume should include a summary of your accomplishments and a branding statement that sets you apart.  Regardless of the specific focus of your resume, you want to be sure that you’re presenting the same image at other times during your job search as well.

The Presentation: Your Interview

An effective resume induces an employer to call you in for an interview.  It can be helpful to review the resume you submitted to an employer prior to your face-to-face meeting or phone call with them.  This way, the information you’ve already presented will be fresh in your mind.  You can use the information summarized on your resume to relate to specific qualifications for the job and to discuss your previous accomplishments in more detail.  However, you don’t want to just repeat the existing summary on your resume—the employer is interviewing you because he wants to know more.

The Review: Your Thank You Note

After meeting with or talking by telephone to an employer, a professional thank you note can serve to remind the employer of why you’re a particularly outstanding candidate.  You want to use language consistent with that of your resume and the accomplishments you discussed during your interview.  You may choose to actually include your branding statement at the top of the letter, or you can incorporate the language from the statement throughout the body of the note.  Usually, the interviewer will have spoken with multiple other candidates by the time he receives your thank you letter, so the letter serves to remind him of your resume and interview conversation.

Your online presence

One final consideration is whether any information you have online, such as a LinkedIn profile, is consistent with the information presented throughout your job search.  An employer may look you up online during the “preview” stage, before he ever meets you, or he might look you up in the “review” stage when he’s trying to decide between several candidates.  Since you don’t have control over this part of your job search, it’s important that your message be consistent throughout all the phases of finding your new job.

Remember: preview, present, and review.  Presenting a consistent message will help you stick out in the minds of employers who meet you!

For a free resume analysis submit your resume via e-mail to info@greatresumesfast.com. To view professionally-written resume samples visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com.

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Social media – the future of IT recruitment? :: Contractor UK

IT recruiters deal with very niche job-seekers, often searching for candidates with narrow sets of skills for specific roles, from web designers to PHP developers, writes Robert Leggett, managing director of recruitment outsourcing firm Omni RMS.

Despite the IT jobs market currently being saturated with candidates as a result of the downturn, there are constantly fluctuating skills shortages within the IT sector, so its recruiters must be on their toes when it comes to sourcing contract or full-time IT expertise. At the same time, IT candidates should also work harder to make themselves stand out from the crowd. Social media could be the answer that both IT recruiters and IT job seekers are looking for to respond to these respective challenges.

The Three Pillars

There is an assortment of social media sites that recruiters and candidates in the IT sector are exploring. From micro blogging site Twitter to photo sharing app Flickr, the list seems to grow longer by the day. But there are currently three main social networks where IT recruiters and IT job candidates are most likely to be found – LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

LinkedIn - not for dummies

LinkedIn connects professionals. When users join, they create an online CV outlining their qualifications, career history and specialist experiences. Professionals at the niche end of the IT skills market should input as much detail as they can in their profiles, while being as specific as possible about their services. Using keywords that you know a recruiter or headhunter will search for is essential. Ensuring this relevancy helps increase your chance of receiving meaningful contact from an agent, and securing a contract suited to your skills. Typically, the most connected IT job candidates have integrated other website features and plug-ins, such as those from job boards or contract bidding sites, on LinkedIn.

From an HR standpoint, one well-known tech darling is using LinkedIn to allow people seeking employment in its ranks to connect with its current employees. The firm scores another point on transparency using social media by making job openings 'portable,' letting anyone post, message or update their status across all the major social media channels.

The typical IT worker on the network is most often seen posting links to projects, 'Plan Bs' and connecting with organisations they think they could be of service to. Crucially – just because a skilled IT worker is not job hunting right now, it shouldn’t mean this site is overlooked. As they say, it’s not what you know, but...

Face(book) the commercial, and the social

Facebook is an example of how social tools have been adopted for commercial means. Although it was almost unheard of for organisations to have a Facebook presence a year ago, now many companies – including IT recruiters – are logging on for business purposes. Much like LinkedIn, IT recruiters can use Facebook to bring potential candidates altogether in one place, advertise their current positions and initiate conversations. This last, social-sounding activity should not be overlooked: creating dialogue among a targeted audience was often the first step by those IT professionals who report receiving the most relevant business leads from social media.

However given Facebook's more informal tone as a social network, IT candidates on-site should take extra care to delete those incriminating photos from last weekend to disappoint any prying employers/clients. As with LinkedIn profiles, Facebook can be used to present your work and set up groups with interests that you define, particularly useful for open source or collaborative projects.

Twitter - not for twits

It's not just freelance brand managers and marketers who are exploring Twitter for better returns for their client companies. The site works by posting updates (or ‘tweets’ as they’re known in the ‘Twittersphere’) of no longer than 140 characters. Although this limitation, or 'USP,' depending on your view, can be initially daunting, the results can be creative.

Posting links to news articles, asking questions or ‘retweet’ing information you think may be of interest to others are all standard practices on-site. IT groups and recruiters, including in the contract market, are using Twitter to connect with influential people in the sector, start conversations, contribute to 'memes' and form alliances.

Simply tweeting a FAQ about your services, preferred language or industry has proven itself to be an effective conversation starter which, on its own, has convinced Twitter-phobes to sign up, overcome with wanting to have their say on the issue. On a daily basis, Twitter also sees IT vacancies linked to by interested parties, with users able to feed information to their 'followers' from their website or blog.

Don’t rule anything out

There’s not a ‘right or wrong’ way, as such, to use social media. The medium is constantly changing so, not dissimilar to those skills gaps in the jobs market, the best IT recruiters and IT candidates will stay on top of the evolving trends. Whereas LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are popular today, that’s not to say they’ll be the most effective tools tomorrow. Plaxo, 'your address book for life', as well as location-based social networks, like FourSquare and Gowalla, are already trying to hog the social media spotlight. So for all IT-business professionals, the minimum you should do for social media is to log on - keep an open and ethical mind, and enjoy exploring how to use these tools for their own benefits.

via contractoruk.com

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World Cup Lessons and Personal Brand Strategy | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

It’s World Cup season, and soccer has taken over the airwaves, television and Internet. The FIFA World Cup only occurs every four years, so naturally it draws a lot of hype and attention from soccer and sports fans alike. On Saturday the much-anticipated England – United States showdown captivated Facebook, Twitter, and Web forums for the duration of the match. Fortunately, this one can teach you personal brand strategies that will help you come out out on top (and hopefully not tied.)

All About Teamwork

Everyone is raving about USA’s teamwork. They seem to communicate well with each other and team up as much as possible—even if their defense is rather weak and their offense often seems to be off, but that’s another topic entirely. Your personal brand strategy needs to follow USA’s example. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are behind you, helping you promote yourself positively and efficiently should you take the time to learn how to do it right.  Pass the ball to these social media outlets so you can build a real team of followers and connections, and hopefully score more than one goal in an hour and a half period. If you don’t have the time to be a team player, at least keep up on one of these sites and update the others here and there when you have a minute. In the time it takes to dribble down the field, you could have tweeted out some articles, posted updates on Facebook, and answered some questions in your LinkedIn groups.

Proactive Offense Wins Out

If you let your profiles on these sites just sit there, they will be as useless as soccer balls sitting in the middle of the field, untouched. Just as England was able to score in the first four minutes of the game from quick thinking and fast execution, with the right personal brand strategy you can score helpful connections with effort and a little bit of time as well. Retweet and reply to people you would want to connect with and who could potentially help you with your career in the future. Though they’re not going to just hand you a job—unlike Green did for the USA; thanks!—networking and making connections is never a waste of time or energy. It doesn’t take a lot of work to keep up to date on those you’re connected to and engage them in worthwhile conversations.

If You Find an Opportunity, Run with It

USA came close to taking the lead when Altidore broke away and his shot deflected off both the goalie and the post. Had he not taken that opportune moment to really turn up the heat, fans wouldn’t have the rush of excitement or much anticipation for later games. Everyone complained about how England was so much better than the USA team, but with some maneuvers like Altidore’s, he proved their team still had a lot of skill to work with as well. Don’t miss out on good opportunities because you’re too afraid to take a risk. Not all of them are going to work out, but you should never give up or get discouraged. Had USA or England stopped shooting just because they missed so many before, the scores would never have moved past 0-0. Taking risks makes things interesting, and can produce unexpected, exciting results.

In It to Win It

Even if you dislike soccer, your personal brand strategy should model after some of the main themes in this soccer match: teamwork, risk-taking opportunities, and taking action. No one wants to watch a boring soccer game where the players just idly pass the ball back and forth across the field without any effort, so don’t allow your personal brand to fall between the cracks online. Be a scorer like Clint Dempsey, an opportunity-seeker like Josey Altidore and more careful than England’s Robert Green. Before you know it, you’ll have an unstoppable personal brand.

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Changing Careers in a Recovering Economy - Career blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

Many countries may now be in recovery from the global recession, but the damage done to economies worldwide is somewhat long-lasting, especially in terms of the labour market. The UK officially came out of recession in January 2010, but the figures for the first quarter of the year show that the unemployment rate actually continued to rise. That's not to say you should rule out a career change until things properly 'pick up'. You could be waiting years! Many inspiring new careers are started during or immediately after a recession, as are many businesses that go on to become global brands. Whether you want to change to a different type of employment or you want to become your own boss, it is possible to do so right now.

The key to doing so is good planning. A change in career must be well planned at the best of times, and career planning takes on an even more significance in periods of economic transition. Trying to chase several different career ideas at once will leave you catching none of them. Making a decision on the one particular career you'd like to change to will greatly improve your chances of success. How do you decide which career you'd like to move to? Research is the answer and it'll also help give you a clearer path once you've decided which role you're pursuing. Continue to-or start to-read about careers you're interested in. Find information on the World Wide Web. Use your network wisely by asking relevant contacts intelligent questions. Here at Position Ignition we help people at various life stages determine what type of career is right for them.

So you've done your research and used others to help you focus on the one career you want to pursue. Now the question is how to pursue it at a time when there are fewer job openings. Continue to research and use your network in order to find or even create job openings. Identify organisations that have the role you want and research ways into them. Find out as much as you can about what they need in an employee right at this moment. Don't try to fit your qualities and skills around the organisation, instead match the organisation to what you have. Joining an organisation that values what you have is a lot easier than joining an organisation where'll you have to reinvent yourself, losing your sense of self in the process. Continue to use your network wisely and don't waste your time, or others'. Online networking can be very useful, but don't forget the network of those closest to you, people you know well 'off-line'. Think about whom you're going to approach and what you're going to ask them for. If you approach those closest to you, the strength of your relationship will enable you to be honest and precise about what you need, if you've truly pinpointed what it is you want to do.

By the time you get to the stage of an informal meeting/discussion, or an interview with an organisation, you should have planned how to communicate why it should be interested in you. You should also have planned how to find out what it needs and expects from you. This phase of planning is vital if a) you’re going to convince interviewers that you can make a successful transition from your current career to the role on offer and b) you’re going to be clear on how well your qualities match the needs of the organisation.

Once Position Ignition helps you pinpoint a new career to pursue, we don’t leave it there. We continue to offer support throughout the rest of the planning stages and beyond. So if you’re thinking of changing careers right now and you’d like some guidance, get in touch and we can start the planning together!

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Movin' On Up: Looking for New Job Opportunities? Advice to Improve Your Results

How are you looking for new job opportunities? Are you waiting for them to just appear or are you actively seeking them out? Searching for a career is a full-time job in itself, and it’s important to exhaust all your avenues for finding employment. To help you be more proactive with your efforts, here are some tips to improve your job search efforts today.

Attend networking events. If you know what industry you want to work in, try to get plugged into professional meetings in that field. This will give you an opportunity to network with others who work in that field and make valuable connections. Introduce yourself to them and don’t be afraid to tell them what your goals are. When you attend these meetings, always have your résumé and business cards on hand with you and pass them out. You want people to leave that meeting with a good impression of you.

Talk to people. You never know if somebody knows somebody who is looking for a new employee. Make it a point to get out there and just meet new people. When you’re at your local coffee shop, strike up a conversation with those around you. Ask others what they do for a living, and then tell them about yourself and what you want to do in life. Also, keep your friends and family updated about what’s going on with you. It never hurts to share your story with others.

Volunteer for organizations. Seek out volunteer opportunities that would provide you with experience related to what you want in a job. If you like marketing, volunteer to do some writing for a non-profit organization. If you want to do construction, contact Habitat for Humanity to see if they have any projects for you. These are great ways to build your skill set and be able to measure the impact of your results.

Get online. Check out company websites and others like Indeed.com to search for job openings. Submit your résumés online, along with a copy of your cover letter. Be sure your contact information is included. Apply for all the job openings you qualify for. The more you apply, the more your chances go up of hearing from an employer about a possible interview.

Also, set up social media networking accounts such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, if you don’t already have one. This is another great way to make connections with others. You can include information on these profiles about your skills, experiences, and what type of jobs you’re looking for. Again, you never know who could see your online profile and want to meet you.

Instead of waiting for opportunity to knock on the door, it’s important for you to take some initiative and push that door open just a bit and introduce yourself to new possibilities. If you keep approaching the job hunt the same way you always have, you will get the same results. Try these tips to help find the job you want.

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