Woman Around Town’s Editor Charlene Giannetti and writers for the website talk with the women and men making news in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the world. Thanks to Ian Herman for his wonderful piano introduction.
Before we dig into the topic of job boards and how to approach them, let’s look at our own approach to an online job search. Thankfully it’s not all that hard nowadays to get your resume in front of employers, but getting a job still remains as difficult as ever and that’s our goal, right?
The online job board world is a network of sites and message centers that enable employers to connect with job seekers much in the same way as online dating sites; by using algorithms to match certain key indicators. (‘Algorithm’ is just a fancy word for “secret formulas that crank out answers based on what you input”)
I intend on giving you a WAT Resource List of job sites in the next column, but before we go forward without knowing the opportunities that are out there, let’s see some things you need to know about job boards:
Many of the sites themselves will ask you to sign in using your email. This is common practice and might even be good for those of you that want to receive email alerts about possible job matches. Just remember to use an email that is professional (see my previous story).
Any site that asks for payment upfront without a trial period should be looked at carefully. I know a few that are “pay-only” sites, but, in general, be hesitant about paying for job results. There are too many free ones out there to try first and usually the employer pays any upfront fees.
You will notice many of the job sites will take you to another employer-based site calling for yet another sign in process. Although ridiculously time-consuming and redundant, this is not a scam and for many larger corporations it’s basic protocol.
Have both a WORD and PDF version of your resume open on your desktop and available for attaching to emails and sending. Not sure how to make a PDF out of that Word or other text document? Simply go to “File” and hit “Save As” and it should offer you the option to save your resume as a PDF version.
Once you get to searching for jobs, you can quickly become lost in a maze. On each site, you will want to refine your search. Trying different modifiers will help until you get the idea.
Here’s what I call a “Street Tip” because it’s off-the-record-unofficial and, in reality, unproven other than by myself and my friends:
Street Tip! Obviously you want to enter your location and your job title as parameters in a search, but maybe start with a wider net and then make it smaller. That will allow you to see at what point things like salary and job descriptions change. If you are a graphic designer, first start with a search that includes “Art Director” and see what results come up. Besides seeing how this position is different from yours, notice something important: if a company is hiring a position above you, there is a good chance that after that person is hired, he or she will want to bring in new people. So if you see an opening “above” you, make a mental note and in a month or two send a resume and a nice cover letter.
Next week we will see a Resource List of job sites to use and give tips for how to best use them in your job search. Remember that these sites have slightly different ways of working but some general basics apply. Sites designed for people in your industry, niche, or job title will often yield higher percentage results. On the other hand, larger sites can offer a better overall look at what the landscape looks like. You will want to use all of them, but do so systematically or this job search can turn into a full time, non-paying job itself.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
Linking to others on LinkedIn is really easy. If you look for and link to people you know you will quickly see other possible people to link with, automatically generated by the software much like it does on other social networks. As I said in the past, there are two philosophies about making “friends” online and only you know what’s best for you. Make connections with anyone you want; there are no rules other than those driven by your own personal tastes.
You should also get a recommendation or two, especially if you see and link up with past employers on the site. Requesting a recommendation on LinkedIn is easy; just go to “Settings” and then “Manage Recommendations.” The technology makes asking for a recommendation online easier these days, but in general this is not something you should take lightly. We could dedicate an entire piece to the subject of business recommendations and it might not be enough to emphasize its relative importance.
Whether you’re a job seeker or a business owner, there is no single more powerful tool for furthering your ambitions than a well-timed, glowing and sincere recommendation. And if it should come from someone considered to be a trusted source then your chances of success will go through the roof.
How do you ask for one? Start here: impress people. It’s good practice and you will be surprised at how it reverberates throughout your career. And it’s never too late to start.
For a business recommendation for LinkedIn you can also follow these basic rules to be more successful in getting good recommendations:
Contact people you know. Although you may “friend” anyone, you should only ask for recommendations from people you know.
Make it easy for them! Offer to write a sample that they can customize, include specifics you may want mentioned and remind them of something you did and its outstanding result. Don’t expect others to remember everything about you.
Email or call the person along with sending the LinkedIn request. Tell them that you sent the request and that you really appreciate their consideration.
Tell the person why you are asking. It gives you a chance to let this person know how much you respect him or her.
Offer to return the favor.
Try and get three recommendations. The truth is without any you might be fine and with seven or eight you might do really well. Don’t fret over it. Three is a fair amount. Those that have thirty or more recommendations on LinkedIn, I tend to think of as people who overcompensate, but maybe that’s just me.
If you can, get a list of people you want recommendations from and go about it right, contacting them beforehand and making it easy for them. Ask them if you can use this recommendation in any form and let them know they might have to answer an email for such things like LinkedIn. This way you can also have quotes available from them when people ask in an interview what your past employer might say about you and it will sound authoritative. Plus you will know exactly what people will say about you if called upon as a referral later.
Everyone loves a good recommendation. It reminds us of how much we are appreciated and how we actually do touch others lives. Give it that kind of thought when you ask for one and give others recommendations that are fair and helpful if so deserving. I highly recommend it.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
Staying with our LinkedIn leg of our journey (read our previous story) let’s get to uploading a photo of yourself. As much as we don’t like it this photo is a key piece to your profile. If a picture is worth a thousand words than a really good picture of you may be worth a thousand bucks or more. OK maybe that is an oversimplification, but we all know that today’s world is visually driven and that the Internet has only raised the stakes, so let’s take a moment to look closer at choosing a photo.
When looking to make your way in the business world you can help yourself by finding an image of you that shows everyone looking at it that you are professional, presentable and most of all, that you understand how to choose a professional photo. Once the photo has met those criteria and only after that should you get “creative” with your online photo.
What I mean by this is that your best bet is to simply take a great color photo of your face, looking happy, and just start there. Smiling is always a plus. This photo can be, or might be, one that you see next to your bio on a company website. These types of photos almost always work best for a LinkedIn profile unless your last job was at Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Of course there are exceptions. If you’re in a creative position such as Graphic Designer, you might do something tasteful but keep it simple. Sometimes simply going all B&W on us is enough to stand out in a distinct and interesting way. But if you’re searching for a position on Wall Street or looking for a business partner for your bakery, my advice is to first keep it simple and think about some things to avoid:
Shots of you sitting on a park bench eating lunch. Seriously keep it to your face, no body shots and no funky backdrops.
Looking hysterical, it’s better to just smile or appear neutral.
Shots of your pets, a sock puppet or an avatar. (You’d be surprised.)
Changing it every month. This shows indecision and insecurity. Keep a photo up for long periods of time so people can learn who you are.
Special effects. Save the sepia tones for your Facebook page.
Now please hear me: You do not have to hire a professional to get this photo done! If you have a professional photograph that you like that’s great but this is not necessary.Have a friend do it. If you hate it, you can change it just don’t keep changing it. Most photos taken by a friend should be easily uploaded to LinkedIn but there are technological specifications.
Your LinkedIn picture can be as large as 4MB in size and can be in the following file formats: GIF, JPG, and PNG. It must also be within the maximum limit of 4000 x 4000 pixels. To upload a photo to LinkedIn simply go to your profile page and click on the space where your photo would be that says “Edit Photo”.
If you’ve been reading along and perhaps have your own business and want to start to see how LinkedIn can better help you then click on the solutions page and see ways in which LinkedIn is working directly with small businesses.
But for many of us there’s a one more important leg on our LinkedIn journey that needs discussing next week, that of actually “linking” up with others and getting recommendations. We’re getting there.
So for now just smile and say cheese.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
I know what you’re thinking, you searched high and low and you found next to nothing about yourself online and you’re afraid that this is all too much to overcome. You couldn’t be more wrong.
Here’s what we need to do: paint a picture of yourself that you would want people to see. Never picked up a brush before? Don’t own an easel? Follow me to get a hold of your inner Rembrandt.
Please go to linkedin.com so we can begin. Now there are various philosophies on creating an online presentation for yourself and many ways to do it, we are just going to go ahead with linkedin as one of the ways I think people should strongly consider. Up to now linkedin has touted itself a social network for business professionals, and for some employers it has begun to be used in various other ways including as an important part of the hiring process.
Remember that third email address you set up just for a place to receive various email offers and complete necessary sign-ins in our story about setting up your emails? Well now is the time to pull that one out and sign up for linkedin just to look around. Search for positions you might want some day and see how people present themselves. Once you think you’re ready, you can delete the account by going to LinkedIn’s close your account section and join with your primary email address.
Before you get too excited with your new profile remind yourself that creating a good profile as opposed to creating ‘just a profile’, takes a few days in some cases. In fact next week we will deal with the choosing of your photo and other items. For now let’s stick to the nuts and bolts of it.
A) First, get your name up there and capitalize the first letter in each part of your name, not all caps and not all lower case. Next – and this is tres importante, is that it asks for you to enter your “professional headline” which will be positioned directly under your name and be a huge part of who people see you as, and how you come up in searches. Think about it from all angles. Use it to communicate value – as an example, an executive hiring manager might be better explained here as a ‘Human Resources Manager’, or something that translates across industries.
B) Lists of past employment can actually be a little longer in scope than on your one or two page resume. What I suggest is copying the information directly from your resume onto the site and then if you think it shows more of you to list experiences further back then do so but do not feel the need to elaborate on anything over 12-15 years in the past. A simple job title and years worked are fine. When you finish it should look like your resume with those few extra jobs listed from way back when.
C) Fill in the specialties section but be cautious. Don’t list ‘juggling knives’ unless you want that to be part of an interview – because it will be if you list it. DO list languages, software knowledge and certifications.
Now before you make a friend or go linking up there’s something to consider: are you joining this site to connect with people you already know and strengthen those relationships are you trying to do that and meet new people? The battle lines have been drawn for these two camps and people choose whole social networks based on these two philosophies, which some of us (who, me?) find fairly entertaining. As you see some have even chosen to become “LIONS” (LinkedIn Open Networker) while others vehemently oppose but have yet to come up with a clever acronym for “TIGERS.” I will direct you best I can next week with some advice but in the end you should come up with your own reasons for joining, and also know that you can always change your mind.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
Imagine if you will, your resume is finished, looking as if it were written on parchment paper in gold leaf, and I tell you to take it, roll it up, put it into an old wine bottle and toss it into the sea. Maybe some of you would expect that from me, but more to the point, resumes alone are about as likely to be found by that one special person as that wine bottle bobbing around the surf.
Self-marketing tip: In poor marketing, actions are put into place without any thought about goals and strategy. In average marketing, generic actions are put into place as a one-size-fits all solution. In good marketing, no actions take place before you have a goal and a strategy. So before we get that resume “finished” you need to know what jobs you want (your goal) and how best to get them (your strategy). (See my previous article on what goes into a resume).
Let’s suppose you want to become a financial analyst. You have a resume ready and maybe it’s tremendously impressive but even within industries, hiring trends tend to change with the wind and what was in demand last year might already be SO last year. So do your research and be current.
To have your resume become known to the search engines that employers use and more importantly to make sure that when it is found it hits all the right “keys” and gets you an interview you will need to insert certain key words, which are simply words that the industry has deemed important and that allow your resume to be seen as “sufficiently qualified”. To find keywords go to www.indeed.com again and take a look at your competition. See words that are used over and over and how they are used.
Many keywords come in one of a few categories:
Job titles
Names of industry-specific tools or knowledge
Special industry descriptors or value items
Names of software or hardware that one needs training to utilize
Special certifications that are a pre-requisite
To show you an easy example if I were to make a bartending resume some keywords I might use would be: “wine knowledge,” “customer service,” and “T.I.P.S. Certification.”
The next thing to pay close attention to is the conversion of your past experience descriptions into strong verb terms and then if possible, quantifying it. Once again I say this with the caveat that it never implies anything untrue. By this I simply mean taking a term like “Helped customer sales for four months” and changing it to a phrase like: “Drove sales and customer service issues to an 8% increase in first quarter.” Make the verb important, at least as important as you were to the process. One thing I notice is that people tend to under-sell themselves and often have no idea that they are doing so. If you were part of a team that helped increase sales, then say it. If you can put a number on it, then do so, just make sure that you can also discuss it in an interview and that you haven’t misled anyone.
OK, great. Take a deep breath; this stuff is hard. Give yourself some credit. If you want to have a little fun with it, then visit www.rezscore.com a site that uses metrics measuring such things as keywords and gives you an assessment of the quality of your resume. Just promise me you won’t take it too seriously?
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
If I asked for everyone reading this article to email me a resume, I imagine I would be fairly impressed with many of them. So why do we need to have a pow-wow about resumes you ask? Because therein lies the problem! With so many good ones out there, how does yours stand out from the pack and get you that interview?
Good question.
Now for those of you who are running your own business or considering it, you probably think you’re off the hook when it comes to resumes. The truth is that in some instances people do go without using them, but I can tell you for certain that most everyone has one, even if it’s on their backup hard drive in the garage. Why? Because simply the act of making one makes you think, truly think, about YOU Inc. and what you bring to any business situation and, if one is ever requested, even by investors, you cannot just whip one up in an hour.
Let’s go over some of the basics. Resumes can have many components but let’s start with the core four:
1) Contact Information – Your name, address, phone numbers and email address belong at the top. Make sure spelling is accurate and of course use a professional email! (See my previous story).
2) A Summary of Objective – Depending on the industry, this section is your first chance to actually SPEAK, so choose every word carefully. Write this and then re-write it and then re-write it again. Show it to someone you trust without your resume attached and see how it reads. It should get a point across without sounding arrogant.
3) Work Experience – So much info, so little time! Again every word counts. We will talk about keywords and positive active verbs in a bit, but for now, just make sure you have a list of all experiences, dates, and supervisors.
4) Education & Training – Always necessary, and yet another chance to shine. Not necessarily proud of your academic life? No problem! You can make up for it in other ways – just don’t lie!
There are obviously more parts to a great resume. With every industry demanding different requisites it would be impossible to detail them all here but a little research can help you find out. First off, try perusing www.indeed.com under the “Find Resumes” section. It’s a great site and we will use it again later in your search. Another place to see some sample resumes is a site by Susan Ireland at www.susanireland.com. I don’t know Susan but she is a one-woman resume machine and she has some good resources on her site.
A lot of people ask me about lying on their resumes. I know this needs to be addressed but I don’t want to sound like it’s coming from a moral point of view because this is, after all, your business. I tell my clients who ask me if they should fudge that faux-promotion at their old firm to bump up their credentials, that it just isn’t worth it. If your company grossed $499M under your supervision and you want to round it up to $500M that’s not going to send off any alarms, but if you willingly deceive people you will probably eventually get caught, and if you were in the running for a job and get caught, you won’t be in the running for long. With resumes being sent around in emails people do check on what you say. So my advice is—stick to the truth.
On the other hand you should choose your words carefully and strategically so that you communicate yourself in the best way possible and make even your most ordinary experiences sound like amazing adventures. If you do that, even without a ton of experience or an Ivy League diploma, you too can get ahead.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
After taking last week’s quiz, you may have some new ideas about your future. You feel energized and want to hop on your computer and get started on your journey. Just a minute! Let’s talk about emails.
Unless you’re reading this on a print out brought to you by your twelve-year old, I think it’s safe to say that you have an email address. Most likely you use it to email your friends, your family, and maybe even co-workers. Until now you probably haven’t had reason to give it much thought. After today, I hope you will.
Think of your email address as your name. Have a nice ring to it? Even with the .com ending? View this email address as your digital name because that’s exactly what it is. Whenever you send or receive emails, people see your name. It’s free advertising for YOU.
How do you put together this email address? Pick your full name or first initial and last name and put them together as in judyjones or jjones. If your name is common, chances are that someone with your name got there first. You may have to add something to your name, the two-letter abbreviation of your state, for example, such as judyjonesny, or a two-digit number, judyjones67. Yes, you can use a dot (judy.jones) but just be aware that the dot will have to be very clear in all communication or you will lose email to that vast digital no man’s land.
It seems like I shouldn’t have to say this but I will: for your business email, don’t use any nicknames or, even worse, an address that displays a less serious side of your personality, such as pokershark98@yahoo or kimtequila@msn.
If you’re determined not to leave your playful side behind, then sign up for a few email addresses. I suggest three—one for business, one for your social side, and one to handle all that junk mail you receive. No, you won’t have to check them all every day and you can have all your mail forwarded to one email address easily enough. The idea is to have one email address for business as we discussed today, one for personal use such as kimtequila@msn, and then one for those deals online that make you give up your email address so they can then send you endless amounts of junk.
Next you need to pick a provider such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail or any number of other choices. My advice is to go straight to Google and sign up for a Gmail account. No, I don’t have stock in the company. The fact is simple: They have a great email system and a set of supporting tools that are easy to use.
There is one other option and that is to purchase your name at a registry and create a professional looking judy@judyjones.com address. There are many companies that do this but a few popular ones are www.godaddy.com, www.register.com, and www.networksolutions.com.
OK, judyjones59@gmail, nice work. With this out of the way we will continue with our journey.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
Now that you have dared to dream and STOPPED before starting, it’s time to find your compass, in other words, a new direction. Figuring out which way is up can definitely be helpful in your decision-making process. Wondering if that management job at Pfizer you were offered is a lateral move or a leap forward is a common dilemma and the answer depends on many factors.
Take a few minutes to answer the following questions, a mini career choice quiz. The answers may help you determine what you are looking for in your dream job.
You prefer working:
A) Standard business hours with weekends off
B) A more flexible schedule with some weekends or nights
You prefer working:
A) In a large prestigious company with plenty of room to advance
B) Smaller companies with more hands on opportunities
You prefer working:
A) In large teams or as part of teams that do national or prominent work
B) In smaller teams or alone
You prefer working:
A) For a determined salary with possible increases based on performance
B) For a bit less money in exchange for more freedom, flexibility or possible payoff at a later date
You prefer working:
A) Around similar people who understand and enjoy the same things as yourself
B) Around all sorts of people who may not always be like you
You prefer working:
A) Working in a job where you stay close to home
B) Working in a job where you travel as much as 20% of the time or more
You prefer working:
A) In a job where mainly use the skills you have
B) In a job where you may have to be re-trained
You prefer working:
A) In classic business attire or in a professional manner
B) In shorts and flip-flops if at all possible
You prefer working:
A) In a highly driven environment where people work until a job is finished
B) In a place where there is an understanding that family needs come first
You prefer working:
A) On long term projects that may take a year or more
B) On shorter-term projects where you see results quickly
You prefer working:
A) For a company that is highly successful
B) For a company that is successful and socially conscious
Now don’t worry, there is no score to this test. It just gets you thinking about what is important to you. This test shouldn’t decide the fate of your career, but it should tell you something about your direction.
Once you have all of these answers there’s one more important question you need to ask yourself: Would you like to work for someone else and be able to focus on your job description or would you prefer to work for yourself, wearing more hats but also being in total control of your own career destiny? Sound like an easy question? Think again. These days there are fewer opportunities to stay with the same company and move up in the hierarchy. That cushy life-long job that used to exist is about as common as a half-price sale at Tiffany’s. On the other hand nothing can prepare you for owning your own business. Think you work a lot now? So you see, like any journey, setting your compass in advance is a critical first step.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
