Are you overwhelmed by all the Social Networking Sites?

What is all this buzz about social networking? How many sites do I need to join?

If you find yourself asking these questions, maybe it is time to “think before you act”.

I find that many of my clients are asking me these questions, especially those in the 35+ age range.

 
Well, let’s start with the basics. 

 
Social networking sites are very important in terms of building and maintaining your online identity and brand. And for me, participating in these networks is not an option. You need to participate if you want to be credible in the job market. Prospective employers and recruiters will Google you and check out your online presence before they even consider inviting you in for an interview. Participating in these social networks will help you enhance your brand and improve your Google rankings.

 
The other reason to participate is for you to increase your pipeline of networking contacts that you can then meet up with in the physical world.  Neither one of these (enhanced brand) or (increased pipeline) will happen overnight but if you start now, you’ll be in the game and can begin to reap the benefits sooner rather than later.

Personally, my preference is to have clients pick one social networking site, perhaps two and become an expert in how to get the most out of the sites-DO NOT DILUTE your efforts by joining every available social networking site. For business professionals, my preference is LinkedIn, which has over 20 million users. But joining the site is not enough. You need to be active and visible. So, don’t just throw up a quick profile and do nothing. Develop a wel- branded profile which articulates what differentiates you from everyone else in your field. Join groups, answers questions and be active. You will get out of it what you put in.

Find yourself online and monitor your online identity

In my work with my clients, I am finding that many clients are relying exclusively on their resume to propel their job search. In today’s job market, especially given the increasing competition from recent layoffs, THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!!! You need to have a well thought out and articulated online identity. Recruiters and prospective employers research the Internet to dig up information on you prior to even considering you for a job.

If you're sending out numerous resumes and getting a poor response rate despite your fabulous accomplishments, then I suggest you (1) get a handle on your current online presence and then (2) work to enhance your online identity.

Step One: Find Yourself Online and Then Monitor Your Online Presence

Considering how important your online brand is, you should know what is being said about yourself. You don’t want to be caught off guard during your search.

Google makes it very easy for you to do this. Set up a Google Alert on your name, which allows you to monitor any new information about you that comes online. (Go to http://www.google.com/alerts to use this feature).

This alert acts as an automatic search agent for the criteria you provide, and allows you to receive quick updates by email of any new information that appears on you on the web which contains your name.

You can also just Google yourself to see what existing information is already out on the Internet. Here are some helpful tips on how to do this:

1. Put your name in quotes            "Randi Bussin" or Randi S. Bussin"
2. Take the quotes out and search again                Randi Bussin, Randi S. Bussin
3. Search all of your e-mail addresses and phone numbers
4. Search your name and company names. (past and present)
5. Type your name and your zip code. Your name and your home phone. Your name and your city

Many of my clients have been asking me recently if there are any special tips for looking for a job in these turbulent economic times.

 
Here are some thoughts and tips that might be helpful to you in your job search:

1. Talk to individuals in your industry to get a better handle on how your profession is being affected by the current economic environment. Which firms are well positioned? Is there any specific work that needs to be accomplished in the short term?
2. When networking, be sensitive to the fact that many companies and industries are cautious about hiring. Don’t just focus on yourself, your fears, and needs. Ask the person you are meeting how their company is handling the current situation. Ascertain which skills and competencies are most in demand in light of the recent changes?
3.  Is the current economic environment creating any special employment opportunities? Are there any opportunities for part-time, temp or consulting work to get your foot in the door?
4. Smaller niche firms which have not been hit as hard recently are looking to meet and engage top talent. Don’t ignore second- or third-tier companies; just do your homework first and make sure their leadership team and financial backing are stable.
5. If you have not been happy in your field for some time, maybe now is the time to consider a full-blown career change—trying something that you are passionate about and have had on the back burner for some time.
6. Stick with growing industries—green tech/clean tech, health care, biotech, etc.
7. Get a good handle on your transferable skills, talents, and assets. Be able to succinctly articulate what makes you stand out form the crowd (known as your personal brand). There is just a lot more competition out there and your marketing message needs to be crisp and compelling.

 If you are interested in exploring a career change, consider joining our next group coaching for career transition. Aspire’s Career Transition Action Program will commence again in January. Please visit our website for more details:

 
http://www.aspireforsuccess.com/career-transition-group.php 

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I read a great blog post on Career Hub about the importance of "putting yourself out there".

This sounds like a very obvious comment and suggestion to make to job seekers, but most job seekers do not understand it. I get many calls from job seekers who are struggling and not getting interviews, and who have been out of work for a long time. When I question them about how they are looking for a job, they proceed to tell me about all the surfing they are doing on job boards and how many online resume submissions they have made. This is what I call "passive job search" and the results are minimal, at best.

To find a job, you need to "put yourself out there", talk about the value you can bring to an organization, meet new people and "actively" look for work.

This is a great article to read on the topic. 

  http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2008/10/you-have-to-put.html

I have been getting alot of questions recently from clients in the Financial Services sector about whether they need to rethink a new industry in which to work.

My response is that if the economy has affected your industry and it looks like employment prospects might be dim, it is probably a good idea to target growth industries. Health care, high-tech, green and clean energy and life sciences are industries that still have a lot of steam in them.

However, before you leap into a new industry, you'll have to be prepared:

1. Follow your passion. Find an industry that interests you so that there will be a level of excitement and passion for the products/services.

2. Do your homework. Learn as much about the industry as you can through professional associations, training or even reading industry guides such as Vault and Wetfeet.

3. Identify your transferable skills. You need to identify your transferable skills and strengths and what your core differentiators are. What makes you stand out among the crowd of other potential candidates?

4. Develop your marketing package. Once you know what your unique promise of value is, then create a comprehensive marketing package highlighting your value, including a resume, leadership profile, LinkedIn profile and an elevator pitch.

One of the resume writers, who works closely with Aspire! wrote a fabulous article on how to manage your online identity. I am including it below for those of you just learning about sites such as LinkedIn and Zoominfo.

5 KEY POINTS TO BUILD AND MANAGE YOUR ONLINE IDENTITY

Like it or not, technology is a core part of almost any professional’s world, whether it be a programmer or an insurance broker. The programmer leverages technology to create business solutions, while the broker might use it to identify new leads, investigate innovative marketing strategies online, or even to look for a new job.

Whether you are a techie or not, there are some critical things that you need to know and do when it comes to the internet. #1 - periodically Google your name and see what comes up. If anything remotely negative appears, you need to know that potential hiring authorities are going to be able to view that same information, so do whatever you possibly can to remove it from the internet or seek out ways to perform “damage control”.

Even if you don’t find anything harmful about yourself, and I hope you don’t --- #2 be sure to check what you have available to the public at large on any networking sites like Facebook,  MySpace or  LinkedIn, (the latter is geared more towards to professional networking).  Employers and recruiters trolling the net are apt to visit these sites to find out about candidates they might be interested in. So keep your profile clean and devoid of any possible controversial topics. It’s okay to have some personal information on sites like Facebook or MySpace, but just make sure it’s innocuous–if not, then use the site’s option to make that information available only to certain restricted groups.

#3 - If you aren’t on LinkedIn or Facebook, I’d strongly suggest that you consider setting up a profile on either or both or any of the other reputable networking sites like ZoomInfo or Ziggs. Not only is it easy to do, even for the technically-challenged, but it’s just plain cutting-edge. These sites enable you to connect with others that you might want to be in contact with or reconnect with, and allows you the opportunity to have access to resources, including possible job opportunities that you might not have ever previously considered.

#4 – Take the time to create a well-written and compelling profile about yourself. Having an online presence on a networking site should provide value to others and help you to build good relationships with the kinds of people that you want to reach out to, so it’s vital that you appear in a very positive and interesting manner.

#5 – Invest time periodically in building your network of contacts, and when you do so, be sure to advise people that if they don’t want to connect with you, they should ignore your invitation and not decline it. This is of paramount importance on LinkedIn because if you receive 5 declines to invitations, you are automatically removed from the site.

To sum it up, it’s easy to build and manage a strong online presence. Just follow the rules of good professional etiquette and be discriminating about the information you choose to share with the public at large because the internet is accessed by more than 600 million people every day.

Jill Grindle is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) who is the President of A Step Ahead Resume, a firm specializing in resume writing and career serrices for serious professionals in fields ranging from insurance to hospitality services to skilled trades. You can learn more about her at www.astepaheadresume.com

Are you are back to looking for your next opportunity in the workplace? Do you have the branded career documents that you need for today’s online job search? If not, here are some quick tips for writing an Executive Resume by Meg Guiseppi, MRW, CPRW. For more tips on resume writing and career branding, visit Meg’s blog at: www.executiveresumebranding.com/blog.

A great interview-generating resume is all about differentiating you and your value from others competing for the same jobs. Here are some trends to consider when writing your Executive Resume.

1. Include personal or leadership branding.

Personal branding is the great differentiator and the best way today to position yourself above competing executive job seekers. To build a vibrant brand message, ask yourself questions such as:

·         What jazzes you about your work each and every day? What are you most passionate about getting to and accomplishing at work?

·         What talents, strengths, drivers, and attributes do people know you for and know they can always rely on you for?

·         What do the people around you have to say about you? How do they introduce you to someone new?

2. Format your executive resume for the reader.

Hiring decision makers at the executive level often review resumes on their Blackberries when they are on the go. Brief, concise, brand-focused statements of value surrounded by enough white space to make them stand out will have the greatest impact, whether your resume is reviewed on a screen or on paper.

3. Keep your executive resume to 2 pages.

Your mission in writing your resume is to generate enough interest in you to compel decision makers to want to meet you. Your resume is not a career history. It is a career marketing document that needs to say just enough about you to achieve your mission - getting you interviews.

4. Use the top of the first page to your best advantage.

The people tasked with reviewing many resumes for any given position usually don’t much time to spend on each one. In fact, they may only give your resume 10-15 SECONDS to grab their attention. You want to immediately capture the reader’s attention. Since the top of your resume is the first, and possibly the only, section that will be read, put your most important and compelling information here.

5. Highlight your key areas of expertise once.

Instead of taking up precious space repeating obvious lists of responsibilities under each position you’ve held, consolidate them in the form of relevant key word phrases in the top part of the first page. For best impact, position them in nicely formatted columns or a shaded graphic box, titled something like “Key Areas of Expertise”.

8 Copyright, 2008, Meg Guiseppi.

With over 18 years professional experience, Meg Guiseppi specializes in crafting personally branded resumes and other brand-driven career marketing documents for executives and top professionals worldwide. She also helps them navigate the daunting ins and outs of Executive Job Search 2.0. Meg is a Master Resume Writer, Certified Professional Resume Writer, and Certified VisualCV Creator. You can reach Meg at her blog: www.executiveresumebranding.com/blog.