Harry Joiner tells you why you should be using LinkedIn and how to do it effectively.
Harry points out that one of LinkedIn’s strongest features is the ability to collect testimonials from other people. The system doesn’t allow you to manipulate testimonials, and because each quote is linked back to a real person who also has a LinkedIn profile, they have great credibility.
This will be my last post at this URL - we are moving the Blue Sky Blog to www.blueskyresumes.com/blog.
Please come on over and subscribe to the new feed.
The new and improved blog allows comments and trackbacks (my lack of programming knowledge precluded that on our old blog) and will allow me to devote more time to blogging and less to maintaining the blog.
We’ll be moving the archives over, but leaving this blog here so that old links/bookmarks will still work.
I look forward to seeing you all at the new site!
Source: Louise
Seth Godin is rerunning an old piece today. He’s writing about the role luck plays in launching a new product or service. But he makes an important point that applies to career marketing just as much as it does to product marketing:
The way to grow in the future is to acknowledge how important luck is and to diversify your risk. Do that with lots of products, not just one or two. Cut your overhead so you have plenty of chips, ready for another spin of the roulette wheel.
You can’t know where a recruiter will look for his or her next candidate, and you can’t know when it will happen. What you CAN do is ensure that you are visible in as many places as possible - not just post your resume online and wait for the phone to ring.
Diversify your job search efforts and you will make your own luck.
Source: Louise
I just received this email to my company’s general email account (info@…):
Dear Staffing Agent (Is that what I am now? A Staffing Agent? What is a Staffing Agent anyway? My name is right on the website for anyone to find):
A few weeks ago I contacted you expressing interest in working with you. As I had mentioned then, I am looking for a position in the design field. (So why are you writing to a small career management service that doesn’t list a designer on its staff list, and hasn’t advertised for one?)
I was wondering if you had come to a decision to meet with me (Yes. That was a pretty easy decision actually since we don’t employ designers) or have been able to forward my documentation to another office (which other office? I don’t have another office.) Enclosed are my updates and my resume and the link to my online portfolio. (Well, great. Thanks. Although I’m still not sure why I received this email).
Mass emails like this are spam - they’re just as bad as the Nigerian prince who wants to give me all his money, or the notice about the penny stock that’s about to shoot up in value and make me rich beyond my wildest dreams.
If your email isn’t carefully targeted and addressed to a real person, please don’t hit ’send.’
Cross-posted at Career Hub
Source: Louise
Like HR Guy, I’m surprised at the comments made on Ragan’s recent recruiting.com post about networking. Ragan contacted a current Google employee looking to make contact and add him to her network. His reponse was “TAKE MY NAME OFF YOUR LIST.” She reports receiving a similar reaction from a number of Google employees.
Most of the commenters on her post seem focused on whether recruiters are always honest about their intentions. To me that misses the point.
In this day and age, I think it’s the height of arrogance (and ignorance) to assume you don’t need a relationship with as many recruiters as possible. None of those people will be working at Google until they retire, and at some point they will be looking for a new position.
It wouldn’t have taken much longer to type a polite response, and it could have resulted in a great job 10 years from now, or a connection that ultimately helped a friend or family member get their next opportunity.
Are recruiters often selfish? Yes of course! They’re trying to make a living. Do they sometimes fudge the truth when approaching candidates? Absolutely! But when you need a new job, it’s always nice to know you can pick up the phone and contact people who actually, you know, have vacancies to fill.
Cross-posted at Career Hub
Source: Louise
Gah! Bad work makes me angry and bad treatment of other people makes me even more angry. We have a policy at Blue Sky - you’ll love your resume and see results, and if not, we’ll happily refund your money. I do this because it’s the right thing to do, and also because it’s good business.
I just took on a client who paid $1,000 to another firm for a resume and cover letter. She wasn’t happy with the results (for good reason) and asked for a refund. She was refused. Now no doubt that resume writer will tell me that she had the client sign an agreement upfront and that it clearly states there are to be no refunds. To which I say Pah! Agreement Schmeement. The client didn’t get value for money and so you need to give the money back.
This lady is only trusting me because I come highly recommended by a coach she trusts. I am grateful to her for taking the leap and I will make sure that she has no cause to be unhappy with my work, but my blood is boiling at the thought of that $1,000. The resume was rubbish. Either that writer didn’t try very hard or she’s not very good. Either way my client shouldn’t have to pay for shoddy work.
The career marketing profession has a bad rap. Whenever we try to keep money that we don’t deserve, we just make it worse for everyone else.
Source: Louise
Shannon at EXCELER8ion points to Crunchboard which is a new job board for tech jobs and is described as:
The electronic version of the ultimate insider’s network. Use CrunchBoard to connect with the most dynamic programmers, designers, entrepreneurs, executives, venture capitalists and others who are deeply interested in the new web, and looking for their next career step.
There is no charge to search jobs.
Source: Louise
George Blomgren wonders what people are thinking. After describing a vacancy in his company, he says:
Only three out of 14 applicants have indicated an experience level and salary requirements that are even in the same ballpark as those spelled out in the job posting. The rest .. I wonder what they’re thinking?
They’re thinking that they have all these skills and abilities that would work in the position if only George would give them a chance. But of course he won’t, because he asked for those qualifications for a reason.
Don’t apply for jobs you’re not qualified for. Instead, figure how how to GET qualified. A much better use of time and energy.
Source: Louise
Heather Mundell points to a great tool for creating your fantasy resignation letter. The Resignator allows you to choose the type of letter you want to write depending on your mood (choices include abusive, passive-aggressive, bitter or whiney).
Heather posted this under her ‘just for fun’category, but I think it can also be a nice way of letting off steam. Just as long as you don’t actually send the letter!
Source: Louise
I’m really enjoying Spherion’s new blog and Don Boone’s post about blogging caught my eye because he’s writing about the same thing I’ve been thinking about for a while - the different ways in which technology is changing recruitment, and therefore job search. As Don says:
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that blogging may just change the very way we look for job seekers. I’ve never seen a tool with such potential power for candidates seeking career advancement and for recruiters to not only find qualified candidates, but learn more about them before ever speaking to them.
I agree, and it’s not just blogs that are changing the way things work and opening up the possibilities for job seekers. I have been guest blogging recently on various recruitment blogs, and I’ve written several posts on where technology is taking us. I am fascinated by the impact of blogging, as well as sites such as MySpace, Squidoo and LinkedIn because this new transparency offers incredible opportunity (and also carries incredible risk). On Jim Stroud 2.0, I talked about the uncertainty all this brings for job seekers and people in my profession:
The first wave of job boards, which simply moved our existing processes onto the Internet, is already on the way out. We’re at the very beginning of a huge sea change in the world of recruitment and HR management, and while those changes are being discussed on some blogs (like this one) and by some industry leaders, for the most part they’re happening around us while we carry on the way we’ve always done things.
And on Job Syntax, I explaned what I think all this means for job seekers:
I do think that the days of controlling your own image are disappearing fast. With all this information online, it’s just not going to be possible to neatly package and present yourself with a well-written resume or a nicely designed web portfolio. Because employers know they have access to unfiltered information about you, and they will assume that unfiltered information is more accurate than the pre-packaged stuff you gave them.
In the end, more openness benefits one group of people – those who don’t need to spin their background because they’re doing a fabulous job. If you love what you do, and write a blog about it, or create a Squidoo lens, or answer questions on forums, or write articles, or play a key role on high profile projects, or speak at conferences, or take a leadership role in a professional group, or do any of the things that make you a leader in your field, you will be less likely than ever to lose out to someone less qualified just because they wrote a better resume. But if you don’t take an active role in promoting your self every day, a great resume alone won’t protect you for much longer.
Source: Louise
