Creating A Professional Online Presence Is Crucial For Today's Job Market: Here's How

/

Let’s face it, the job market is becoming more and more competitive. Although I unfortunately haven’t experienced other job markets around the globe, I would imagine that no matter where you live, getting noticed is becoming more and more difficult. Employers are now going towards the online application process, limiting the amount of face-to-face contact.

It’s one of the shortfalls of the Internet, but how can you use the Internet and technology to your advantage to stand out instead of being looked over and forgotten?

Many people often think that the “Internet stuff” is just for technology careers and young people, but it’s not. There are many cases where having a solid online presence has proven beneficial to people of all ages and industries.

It All Starts With The Right Mentality

Just like anything, creating a professional online presence starts with a firm purpose and a mentality that you will give it your best shot. You can’t just start a “blog”, never publish any solid content and then expect to attract potential career opportunities. No – you need to have a vision and a purpose for what you hope to gain.

Also, despite your efforts, you’ll likely not see immediate results. It may take several months before you start seeing the benefits of creating your online presence.

So, Why Should I Create A Professional Online Presence?

So if you won’t see results right away and it takes a lot of effort and vision and purpose… why even do it? Why not just put that same effort and time towards other things that might yield a quicker return? Because effort shows. And vision shows. To who? Your potential employers, career contacts and people who share the same passion and interests as you.

How does that phrase go again? It’s not what you know, it’s who you know? Yes. That’s it! Well, that’s what creating an online presence is all about. Some people have accidentally fallen into a career by doing this without really “trying” and have become very successful. However, for many (and probably the majority) it takes a lot of effort, but also quite a bit of know-how.

Alright, I Want To Do This! Now How Do I Go About It?

There are several things you need to do to achieve your goal of creating a professional online presence. But as you read this, don’t look at it each of these as individual things you have the option of doing. Instead, think of all of them as just a piece of the whole picture. Without one part, the picture isn’t complete.

Don’t Share Anything You Don’t Want EVERYONE To See

This is the golden rule with social media and there is never an exception. Perhaps you’ve heard about the recent mishap with Randi Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder’s sister and previous marketing director, who posted a personal photo which someone then posted to Twitter. Many of the original tweets about this have been deleted, but you can read the full story on CNBC, BuzzFeed and other news sites.

In response to all of this, Randi Zuckerberg shared a valid thought:

Digital etiquette: always ask permission before posting a friend's photo publicly. It's not about privacy settings, it's about human decency

She then replied to a follower inquiring about why she posted that:

25 Dec 12

@randizuckerberg What made you post this?

@monicawharton I think people often forget that there is a human on the other end of a post or tweet! Sometimes they need reminding :)

To which Buzz Bishop responded:

Yes, Randi is right – we should be courteous of each other and that certainly is essential in creating a professional online presence, but we can’t assume others will do the same for us! Thus, we must adopt the rule that we won’t post or share anything that we don’t want everyone to see.

Will this photo ruin Randi’s professional presence online or her career? No. But what if she made the mistake with a much more personal photo or status? We never know the future or potential consequences for what we do, so it’s best to play it safe.

For more information, check out the article Clean Up Your Facebook Account Before You Go Looking For Work.

Be Open & Share Your Interests, Skills & Passions

Alright so now that I’ve pounded that in, I’m going to go on the contrary to say that you need to be open about yourself. Some people aren’t comfortable with this and although I think that it somewhat has to do with personality, I think the primary reason why they aren’t is simply because they don’t have a solid understanding of the word “open”.  This doesn’t mean you put all of your life’s secrets on the Internet – just let people know who you are, what you do and hope to do, and why you do it.

There are many ways to go about doing this and I recommend combining some of them. Sure one or two might suffice and stand alone by themselves, but when using the techniques in this article, combined with multiple platforms, you will have a much better chance of achieving your goals, meeting more people, all while doing it quicker than if you were to just use one method.

Create a Personal Website &/Or Blog

If you’re like me (or were like me), you read that title and thought to yourself:

Ugh. I can’t make a website. What would I put on it? I don’t even know code! Plus, it’s too expensive.

I’ll tell you this – I thought that exact same thing. That is until the spring of 2012 when I read Thomas Frank’s article The Ultimate Guide To Building A Personal Website. His article is geared towards the student because his blog, College Info Geek, is obviously geared towards students. But like many of his other articles, the same advice can be applied to you if you aren’t a student.

At the very beginning he states 4 reasons why you need to build a website. It’s too long to quote, but if you found yourself saying those things above, you need to read his article – I guarantee it’ll change your perspective. Of course, it’s not just about the why, but the how too, which his article covers in depth flawlessly.

In June and April of 2012, we shared our own advice in creating your own website without any coding skills with sites like About.me, Flavors.me, Sidengo and others.

An Example Of An About.Me Page

I personally believe that WordPress is the best platform to build your website on and although knowing some code might help you, you don’t need to know any to get a basic personal website running – you can always learn how to code for free later. Also, as a quick note, I used to be very intimidated by WordPress – I honestly don’t know why. I created this huge mountain of doubt about why I couldn’t use it. But after reading Thomas Frank’s article, I jumped into it and realized how simple and easy it really is. If you’re having those same doubts, I encourage you to first read his article and, second, jump into it!

If you don’t want to fork over the money (although it’s not much) now for a website domain and hosting, you can always start with a blog. We’ve covered how to get started with a blog on WordPress as well as providing you 5 tips for starting your own personal blog, both of which are excellent resources I encourage you to read and save for future reference.

Find Your Niche In The Social Media Community

So you’ve created your website and blog, now you’re thinking, how do I let the right people know about it?

It’s one thing to tell your friends and family about your blog, but sadly, they aren’t the ones who are really going to benefit you or even care. They might read it occasionally because, well, they know you and they want to show you their support. But they aren’t the ones who are going to aid you in your goal of building your professional online presence. However, they are better than none. So don’t feel like you shouldn’t tell them about it – they just might be interested or even be able to help.

Family aside though, how do you find your niche? Well, first you have to know your niche. What is your blog or website going to be about? I feel you should focus it on you, but if you have additional interests, it might not be a bad idea to create blogs and websites for those too, depending on what they are. Such niches might be cooking, travel, politics, art, photography, film making – the list goes on.

Using Thomas Frank as an example, his niche is college students, thus he runs a very successful blog/website called College Info Geek.

After you have settled what your niche is going to be (it shouldn’t be hard as you should already have an idea what you like and don’t like), go out and network, finding people along the way who have the same interests as you. Remember what I was talking about being open and sharing your skills, interests and passions? This is where it comes into play. There are several mediums which you can achieve this on and I recommend using several, if not all, of them.

  • LinkedIn – the ultimate professional profile
  • Twitter – find people with your same interests, passions and skills
  • Facebook – everyone uses it, don’t forget about making those career-specific posts public
  • Tumblr – a very social blogging platform, great for creating a community
  • Quora – create a name and reputation in your area of expertise by answering questions
  • Pinterest – excellent for creative types such as photography, art, etc.
  • Google+ – still young, but is starting to build communities in several niches

Of course there are many more. For example, if you’re an author you might consider Goodreads or if you’re a videographer or actor you might consider YouTube or Vimeo.

Again, it may take a while to build an audience and find people to interact with, but by constantly using the services you will find new ways to integrate them into your life and create your own system and style.

Blogging & Guest Blogging

Blogging is a medium all in itself. I mentioned Tumblr above, but there are so many platforms which you can blog on. Of course, there’s the famous WordPress, which you probably already know of. It’s really all about what you are most comfortable with. Personally, I’ve used many of them and I really never could decide which one was my favorite, so I have blogs on Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress and previously Posterous. They’re all great.

What’s more important is using your blog as a tool. Once you start creating posts and meeting other bloggers and contacts in your niche, consider guest blogging. Sometimes it pays, but the reward is far better than the small amount of cash that you’ll make with your post. It’s about connections and getting out there. When you establish a connection not only with fellow bloggers, but their readers too, that is when the connecting begins. Remember me mentioning Twitter? Most bloggers have a Twitter account – use it to keep in contact with them.

Communicate With Your Followers & Those You Follow

Creating a website, blog, social media accounts, content, contacts, etc. does you no good if you don’t communicate. You must communicate. Whether this be through social media, email, blog comments, whatever – it is essential to follow through with your followers and fans. If you don’t, you’ll be forgotten and they will move on to others who are more responsive and value them more.

This isn’t just about the average subscriber to your blog. I’m talking about career prospects and people who can make a difference for you – don’t ignore them, no matter how trivial it might seem.

Conclusion

Again, don’t look at each of these things as individual steps. Yes, each of them start out as little steps, but you can’t do without any of them – they’re all essential to your success of creating a professional online presence.

Each of these things I bring with personal experience, whether it was something I did or didn’t do. I wouldn’t consider myself even close to creating the online presence I want, but each day I strive to do a little bit to get closer.

Have you started to create your professional online presence? Why were you moved to do so? How have you seen its impact on your career?

Image Credits: Young woman looking up at world map via Shutterstock, Young man choosing profession on transparent touchscreen via Shutterstock, It’s all in the mind via Shutterstock, Businessman pressing modern social buttons on a virtual background via Shutterstock, Businesswoman pressing modern social buttons on a virtual background via Shutterstock

via makeuseof.com

4 Things to Leave Off Your Resume

/
Media_httprack2mshcdn_aqazm

Brie Weiler Reynolds

Brie Weiler Reynolds is the content and social-media manager at FlexJobs, the award-winning site for telecommuting and flexible job listings, and a former career advisor. At FlexJobs, Reynolds offers job seekers career and work-life balance advice through the FlexJobs blog and social media.

One area of job searching that confounds plenty of job seekers is what to include on a resume. Include too much information, and you’ll lose recruiters in unimportant details. But, with too little information, recruiters won’t be sure you’re qualified for the next step in the process.

Since most job seekers have excessive information on their resume and don’t know what to eliminate, let’s start with four things you can always leave off of it. These tips will help you better organize your information, and present it in a format that is easy-to-read and quickly understandable for recruiters.

1. An "objective.” This is the statement at the top of a resume that tells an employer what you're looking for -- but it’s got to go. They already know you're interested in their job, so it's unnecessary. Instead, use a "summary of qualifications" to introduce employers to your most relevant skills and experience, and to show them exactly how your experience can fit their needs.

2. Unrelated awards, hobbies and interests. Our CEO once had a job seeker who claimed to be a "pig-wrestling champion" on his resume, which is a great accomplishment, I'm sure. But it had nothing to do with the job he applied for, and it distracted from the rest of his qualifications. Unless it directly adds to your qualifications for the job or helps the employer see how you fit with their company culture (for example, if you’re applying to an outdoor apparel company and you are an avid hiker, that’s a hobby that matches their culture), leave it off your resume.

3. Too much formatting. Keep your resume simple, so recruiters can read it quickly and easily. Don't use bold, italics and underlines all at once. Don't use more than one font, and be consistent in the way you present information. Bulleted lists are much easier to read than paragraphs. Keep your resume single-spaced, and shrink your margins to a half inch. You’ll be surprised at how much space poor formatting can take up on your resume, pushing it far longer than it needs to be.

4. Lists of tasks for each job. Instead of telling recruiters what you did at your past jobs, tell them what you accomplished -- what were the overarching results of your day-to-day tasks? Rather than rewriting your job description, tell recruiters how you did what you did and why it made a difference to your employer and customers.

What you leave off of your resume can be just as important as what you include, so make sure that precious real estate is taken up with relevant, well-stated, interesting information. Recruiters should be able to check off their list of qualifications easily by reading your resume, and come away with a sense of who you are and the value you can bring to their company.

via mashable.com

When You Can’t Get Anything Done… Do One Thing. | Time Management Ninja

/

Sometimes you don’t feel like doing anything.

When you find yourself not in the zone… what do you do?

How do you get things done when you don’t feel like doing anything?

Not Getting Anything Done

The other night I found myself unable to get anything done.

I was tired. Energy levels were low.

My mind just wanted to shut down for the day.

Yet, I had 2 hours of free time on my hands and a todo list a mile long.

I was having trouble getting motivated to do anything.

“When you least ‘want’ to do something, is often when you most ‘need’ to take action.”

Determined to get something done… (anything really)…  I picked up one small task.

I figured if I couldn’t get anything else done, I would do just this one task.

Just One Task

I forced myself into doing that one task.

It was a low effort task. It could be done in a few minutes.

It involved scanning a 1-page receipt and emailing it to a colleague.

Within a few minutes it was done. Scanned, emailed, and finished.

It felt good to cross even one item off my todo list.

Glancing at my list, I soon found a few other items that I was interested in addressing.

I was soon doing some related tasks. An expense report. Answering several emails. And more.

You could say that once I got myself in motion, I stayed in motion.

One Thing Done, What’s Next? 

When you find yourself unable to get anything done, try focusing on getting just one thing done.

Sometimes you can’t get it all done, but you can get one thing done.

One-at-a-time. That is how progress is made.

Question: What one thing can you get done today?

via timemanagementninja.com

How to Keep your Google Contacts Up-to-date with Google Scripts

/

You have several incomplete entries in your Google Contacts. Some entries are missing phone numbers, others don’t have any mailing address associated with them while in the case of close friends and family members, you don’t even have a record of their birthdays.

How do you get this missing information from contacts and complete your address book?

You can always send them an email or make a phone call and fill-in the missing details manually or there’s a new and better alternative – you can ask your contacts to directly update their own records in your Google Contacts.

Ask Friends to Update your Google Contacts

It works something like this. Your selected contacts are sent a unique URL that points to a web form. They can fill-in the missing data, press the Submit button and all that information is directly added to your Google Contacts. Simple.

To get started, go to your Google Contacts and create a new group (let’s call it Personal). Now put one or more contacts into this new group – all these group members will get an automatic email from you requesting them to update their own records in Google Contacts.

Next open this Google Script* and follow these steps:

  1. Choose File -> Make a Copy to create a copy of the script into your own Google Drive.
  2. Update the values of NAME and GROUP variables with the actual values.
  3. Go to File -> Manage Versions and Save a new version.
  4. Go to Publish -> Deploy as Web App, choose “Anyone, even Anonymous” under “Who can access the app” and click the Deploy button.
  5. Go to Run -> Initialize to authorize the script. Choose Run -> Initialize to run the script.
[*] If you have trouble accessing the Google script, please download code.zip and copy-paste the content of the three files into script.google.com.

That’s it. All your contacts who are part of that particular Google Contacts group will now receive an email from you (screenshot A). When any of these contacts update their details through the form (screenshot B), you will be notified of the change via email.

Also see: Mail Merge with Gmail and Google Docs

Update Google Contacts

Screenshot A: Your friend gets an email requesting them to update their contact information.

Google Contacts Form

Screenshot B: They can fill the form and their details are added directly into your Google Contacts.

The project is created using Google Scripts and the entire source code is available online. If you ever wish to disable the Google Contacts form, open the same Google Script in your Google Drive and unpublish the web app (under Publish -> Deploy as web app).

Also, this version of the project request essential contact details like Mailing Address, Mobile Number, Skype ID, etc. but you can easily extend the script /web form to include additional fields like Anniversary date, Company name and so on.

via labnol.org

How to Tackle Three of the Toughest Interview Questions

/

Ramit Sethi

How to Tackle Three of the Toughest Interview Questions

You got the job interview. You prepared by studying the company and thinking about your interview answers. Now what? What separates candidates who get job offers from everyone else? It turns out that interviews are not merely about answering the interviewer's questions. Interviewing is a skill that can be systematically improved. Here are three of the toughest interview questions. You'll see what most people say and how to improve your answers to land a top job.

Tell me about your work history

What most people say: "Oh, uhh...well, I started working at Acme Corp doing marketing work. Then I worked at A&B as a marketing manager, managing daily emails. Then I went to C&D, which is where I am now, and I've been in charge of PR and marcom."  

What you should say: "If you look at my work experience, there are 3 things that stand out. First, I have experience with many areas of marketing, including PR, advertising, and marcom. Second, I have a quantitative background in terms of what I studied, and my recent email-marketing experience. Finally, I've always wanted to take my skills to a larger stage, which is why I moved from A&B to C&D, and now I'm excited to be here talking with you.

Why this works: The hiring manager doesn't need you to walk him through your resume chronologically—he can read what's on the page, after all. It's far more valuable for you to highlight the key strengths of your background. If you've done your pre-interview homework, you'll know what aspects are most important (e.g., in the above example, the candidate noticed that this position would be quantitative, which is why he highlighted his quantitative background).

Tell me about one of your weaknesses

What most people say: "You know, I work too hard and sometimes have trouble with perfectionism."

What you should say: "I've spent the majority of my career working for one industry. In some ways, that can limit my perspective. Of course, I've worked in a variety of departments—and in fact I was promoted faster than anyone else to run project X—but I'm ready to take what I've learned to a different culture and industry, and that's why I'm here."

Why this works: This question is a minefield that traps most candidates. If you answer too honestly—"I'm irritable in the morning and bad at time management"—you're an instant no-hire. But if you answer in a lie, it's transparently obvious. So be honest about your weakness, but be careful to explain what you've done to improve this weakness.

Tell me about a challenge you faced with a coworker

What most people say: "This one time, my coworker and I had a disagreement over something. It was pretty bad, but we worked things out in the end."

What you should say: "I once had a situation when I was presenting business ideas to the CEO of my company. He liked the ideas, but one of the VPs kept shooting them down—and I couldn't figure out why. Honestly, at first I was upset, but after digging into the issue, I realized it was because my plans would impact the VP's work in a negative way. I reached out to him directly, apologized for the oversight, and promised to keep him in the loop in the future. We haven't had an issue since."

Why this works: There are two main reasons the second answer is more effective: First, the longer answer shows how the candidate took control of the situation. Second, notice the difference in specificity. In a job interview, details sell, so the more specific you are, the more memorable you will be.

Interviewing isn't about being inauthentic or sleazy. It's about presenting your very best self to the interviewer and mutually deciding if this is a good fit for you.

Ramit Sethi is the author of the New York Times bestseller, I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He's used these interview techniques to land job offers at companies like Google, Intuit, and a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund.

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

via lifehacker.com

5 Networking Tips You Haven’t Heard | The Fast Track

/

When my friend Ben Casnocha sent me a copy of his new book, The Start-Up of You, I knew that I was going to read something innovative about networking.  After all, Ben wrote it with Reid Hoffman, the cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn, and if anything has changed the game of networking in the twenty-first century, it’s LinkedIn.

I was not disappointed.  Here, please find 5 networking tips from Ben and Reid that you haven’t heard before.  Start using them today, before you actually need them and before everyone else gets in on the secret.  And don’t cringe, some of these sound fun, even for us introverts.

Start Your Own Association

Convene influential friends and colleagues with similar interests to share ideas and resources.  Offer thought-leadership and high-level conversation so that it’s more than just a networking group.  Meet on a regular basis, in a convenient location.  This is a great way to keep relationships strong and receive great insights in the process.

Look for Individuals, not Opportunities

Opportunities are attached to people.  Identify the people in your network who always seem to have their hands in interesting pots.  Try to understand what makes them hubs of opportunity and resolve to meet and develop bonds with more people with these characteristics.

Create an “Intriguing People” Fund

Automatically funnel a certain percentage of your paycheck into a bucket that pays for coffees, lunches, and the occasional plane ticket to meet new people and shore up existing relationships.  Pick a person who is a weaker tie but with whom you would like to have a stronger alliance, and for several months, invest time and energy into building the relationship via shared knowledge and offers to help.

Connect the Dots in Your Network

Pair individuals together who have similar interests, and make introductions via e-mail.  You may not benefit immediately, and that’s okay.  Then, think about a challenge you are dealing with and ask an existing connection for an introduction to someone who could help.  Jump-start the process by offering a small gift – such as a relevant article – to the person you want to meet.

Do the Layoff Test

If you got laid off from your job today, who are the ten people you’d e-mail for advice on what to do next?  Reach out to them now, when you don’t need anything specifically.  Have lunch, coffee, or even a phone call.  You never know what gold nuggets might come out of an informal conversation without an urgent agenda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandra Levit

Alexandra Levit’s goal is to help people find meaningful jobs - quickly and simply - and to succeed beyond measure once they get there. Follow her @alevit.

More Posts - Website

via quickbase.intuit.com

Answering Have You Ever Been Fired? Asked to resign? | Profession Direction, LLC

/

Answering "Have You Ever Been Fired?"

Job seekers often struggle with a termination. Take this example: “I’ve been working in the construction industry. Since the housing bust, business has dramatically declined. Recently, I had a disagreement with a coworker and got fired over this trivial thing I never would have gotten fired for 5 years ago. What do I say about this?”

This client is not alone. We’ve all had positions that didn’t go as well as we had hoped. It could have been the company culture, maybe a lack of support made a job difficult, or it could have been something we did. Whatever the reason, it’s a tricky thing to talk about in an interview, especially if your interviewer has insider information about the situation.

If you are in leadership, you have to be prepared. Your target company might be getting insider information through their networks. You have to assume they know something about what happened in your last role.

The interviewer’s job is to get you to reveal errors in judgment or performance – things they can use to weed you out so they can move on to the next candidate. Will you be “totally honest?” Show negativity or resentment? Be so nervous that you look like you’re hiding something?

The ideas in this article will help you to avoid those mistakes, and will boost your confidence level dramatically. The best strategy to answering to “Have you ever been fired?” in an interview, is to prepare yourself, acknowledge the situation, and move on. Quickly. Here’s where to start:

Process your thoughts

In order to talk about what happened calmly, you need to examine the details of what occurred. Write down exactly what transpired, introspectively acknowledging your part in the events that led up to being let go. Perhaps the firing really was unfair, but to answer this question in an interview well, you need to take the time to process the events so that it doesn’t frazzle you when the question is asked.

To best prepare, deal with what makes you nervous before you go in. Wrestling with your darkest employment demons IN an interview will leave you sweating and stumbling over your words. In order not to blow it, be honest with yourself on paper about what happened, what your fears are, and talk things over with a friend. Then, make peace with yourself, and move on.

Talk to your references

Talk to the people who are in your corner. Ask them what they will talk about if they are called by your target employer. Make sure they have a copy of your resume so that they can have a detailed reminder of your accomplishments.

Next, and this may be a hard one, but call the employer that let you go. Talk to your superior, and acknowledge your role in the termination. State that you have learned from the experience and that you hope to be more successful in your next position. Remind him that you are still looking for work, and ask what he might say about you if he were contacted.

This strategy takes a lot of guts, and it will speak directly to your ability to self-assess, make amends, and strive for improvement. Plus, it diminishes the chances of your previous employer bashing you to the new one.

Show how you have grown from the experience

Determine what can you say to put a positive spin on things. What will make you look more desirable? Perhaps you should have realized sooner that the position was not a good match for your talents. Should have communicated better? Delegated more of your responsibilities?

Think through how your firing has actually turned you into a better leader. Focus on that when developing your answer.

Script your answer

To give the most confident response, you will need to write out what you are going to say and rehearse it. Here is a script you can modify with your details to get you through this question and onto the things you really want to talk about — your successes.

“I really enjoyed my work at the ABC Company and gained valuable experience from working there. I was able to improve sales and customer service. I developed a great team through my new hiring initiatives. It’s unfortunate that things didn’t work out because I enjoyed the work. But, I learned that to really be successful, I have to delegate more to my team. So, I took an online course on personality type so that I can better analyze what others’ preferences might be. I know I’ll put that to use. That is what attracted me to your company, you value…”

Then, turn the conversation back toward the new position and how your abilities match what is needed.

Of, course, if they don’t bring it up, you don’t need to volunteer that you were let go. And, NEVER lie or speak negatively about your previous boss, coworkers, or company. Keep it positive and move it toward how it makes you a better candidate today.

Kristin S. Johnson
CARW, CCMC, COPNS, CG3C, 360Reach Analyst
Profession Direction, LLC

via professiondirection.net