Do you stand out in your job search on LinkedIn?

I recently wrote a blog post for our Hiring and Retaining Top Talent Blog titled “A Baker’s Dozen of Techniques for quickly finding top talent on LinkedIn” When you review this list of the best practices of how employers and recruiters use LinkedIn to find top talent, are you guilty of not using all the tools LinkedIn provides for personal branding, networking, differentiating yourself from the competition?

Next Steps: Listen to our Home Study Job Search Course and work through the exercises to learn how to network on line and leverage LinkedIn, explore the FREE audio recordings of our Internet Radio Talk Show on using LinkedIn in your job search, or join our LinkedIn Discussion Group and focus on the topics related to using LinkedIn to “stand out”.

Tell us about a few of the stories of how you’ve landed a job or received a great job lead based on one of the Baker’s Dozen of Best Practices?

Barry

photo credit by Jill Murray

7 Steps to end Job Search Voyeurism

In my last post on Job Search Voyerism, I mentioned that I would explore each of the 7 Steps in more depth. In future posts, we’ll jump into even more detail about each of these steps.

Step 1: Join the LinkedIn Group for Job Search which my Partner, Brad Remillard and I facilitate. Click here to join this vibrant and active group.

Step 2: You have my permission to “lurk” or “kibbitz” for two weeks. After that, you must promise to become active in the group. There are approximately 1500 members in this group who network with each other in their job search, share ideas and strategies about jobs, interviewing, networking, salary negotiations, and much more. Many members of the group also pose questions for help, such as asking who knows someone in a particular company, how to overcome a negative in the interview, or how to prepare for a homework assignment.

Step 3: Start to comment on job search articles and sites in the news tab that other group members have shared. Start to comment on the discussions that other group members have started. Start your own discussion point, ask a question, and make a request for help on some element of your job search.

Step 4: Follow Brad and Barry on Twitter. Check out the variety of tweets, useful job search articles, and comments we make about postings by candidates. Start tweeting about your job search.

Step 5:Sign up to receive our Career and Job Search Blog in whatever feeder you use to read blogs. I highly recommend Google Reader. Make sure to post comments on the blog articles Brad and I write.

Step 6: Now that you’ve joined our LinkedIn Discussion Group on Job Search and you’ve practiced and gotten the hang of being an active community/group member, start joining other groups that fit your function expertise (ie marketing or financial management), industry specialization, and alumni group. Become active members of these groups.

Step 7: Now that you’ve subscribed to our Career and Job Search Blog, you understand how to read blog postings in a feed reader like Google Reader, and you’ve started commenting directly on blog postings, start subscribing to a few blogs that are in your functional expertise, industry specialization, alumni group, and in the area of job search, job hunt, interviewing – basically anything to do with finding a job. Become an active contributor on those blogs.

These are just a few small steps in beginning to create a personal brand for yourself, improving your job leads and referrals, strengthening your job search networking, and starting to make your voice heard to “differentiate” yourself.

As a bonus tip, download a few of our recorded Internet Radio Show Broadcasts in which we talk about being active in your job search in social media, like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Tell us what you’re doing right now in your job search that is similar or comparable to the steps laid out in this post. How are you making your voice heard?

Barry

photo credit lintmachine

Stop being a job search voyeur – let your voice be heard

Many candidates join groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, Ning, Yahoo and on a variety of other platforms  to languish in “lurker” land. What’s the use of joining a group unless you’re willing to actively participate? Is not one of the major reasons for joining groups on-line or off-line  to network in your job search?

One of the most powerful methods of networking for job hunting is to become known to other group members through your posting of job search-related articles, sharing of informational links/sites (a major element of active Twitter networking), that might help other job seekers, and commenting on the posts by others. Learn about networking in our 5-Step Career Success Methodology.

Through your active “voice”, others in the group get to know you, trust you, and start to go out of their way to help you when you become a valued member of their community.

Not becoming active in sharing your “voice” in these groups you join is the equivalent of “being beige” – fading into the woodwork. See the blog post I wrote titled “Networking Failure –  Stop Being Beige”.

For those who are a little shy, reserved, and introverted, what better method exists to let your voice be heard?  You don’t have to engage in physical groups, you don’t have to formulate a response on the spot (you can think about it, analyze, and carefully craft your on-line message). and you don’t have to portray yourself as an extrovert in a live setting.

Allow me to offer a starting point for beginning the journey of letting your voice be heard on-line to improve your job search networking:

Here are Seven Steps you Can Take to end job search voyeurism:

Step 1: Join our LinkedIn Group for Job Search

Step 2: “Lurk” or “kibbitz” and then get active

Step 3: Start to comment on job search articles

Step 4: Follow Brad and Barry on Twitter

Step 5: Subscribe to our Career and Job Search Blog

Step 6: Join other LinkedIn Groups and become active

Step 7: Subscribe to other blogs and comment frequently

In my next blog post, we’ll explore each of these Seven Steps to ending Job Search Voyeurism.

Barry

photo credit by Stewart

Do You Avoid Contact in your Job Search Networking?

I coach High School Girls Basketball and I’ve noticed that the most successful girls love the physical contact of playing basketball – they attack defenders, they draw contact going to the basket, they get physical underneath the basket, and they don’t escort dribble-drive penetrators to the basket.

Job Search is like basketball (my HS daughter who also plays basketball frowns ever time I tell her I’m making another basketball metaphor – I just can’t help myself)

Candidates who are job hunting must seek out the face-to-face contact with others to conduct a successful job search. It’s not enough to sit behind a computer screen all day reading emails, answering job postings, and participating in on-line discussion groups. Learn the fundamental elements of job search networking and personal face-to-face contact through our 5-Step Career Success Methodology.

The very best job search networkers reduce their job search time by half or more through turning the job hunt into a contact sport like basketball. Discover the best practices of master networkers who make job search networking a contact sport.

Here a 5 key thoughts to begin an introspective look at whether you’re doing enough in the physical contact element of your job search:

1. Do you belong to a job search networking group that meets at least every other week in your local community with people at the same level as yourself?

2. Are you asking for and obtaining information interviews with hiring managers who currently do not have any openings?

3. How many meetings are you doing every week with the “A” list of your network – those who are strong connectors and influencers – those with extensive networks – the 20% of your network that will generate 80% of your job leads and referrals.

4. Are you active in at least one non-profit group in your local community by which you’re making a valuable contribution and as a side benefit expanding your network?

5. Do you attend the meetings of the professional networking groups and local chapters of trade associations in your local community. For example, if you are a Controller or CFO, are you attending the FEI, FENG networking meetings. If your company is a manufacturer, do you also attend the local chapter meetings of APICS – the American Production and Inventory Control Society?

When you start getting out of the house and meeting people – one-on-one, in groups, at events – great results will start to happen. One of the basic elements of networking is that people are uncomfortable making referrals and giving you leads until they trust you. To gain trust, you’ve got meet and know people on a more personal level than email, twitter, Facebook wall postings, and lurking in discussion groups.

Barry

photo credit karenphotos

Job Referrals – Do you base them on luck and hope?

Do you get enough job referrals in your job search?

Are you willing to roll the dice on your network?

Is the quality and quantity of job referrals based more on hope and luck than a consistent and focused effort on ensuring you’ve got the right network in place to deliver the outcomes you absolutely must have?

When was the last time you gave your network a check-up?

One of the services we offer is a Networking Assessment and Strategic Networking Plan to measure the strength of your network and recommend solutions. Through this service, we’re stunned by the lack of proactivity and initiative in a job search by candidates to continually tweak and improve their network.

Here are a five key questions you should be asking yourself about the quality of your network. We’ll discuss these 5 questions about your network and much more in our weekly Internet Radio Talk Show on Monday June 8th at 11 AM PST on LATALKRADIO.com. Join us for an hour of an in-depth discussion around “Generating Job Referrals in your Job Search“.

1. Do I have a large enough network to generate the referrals needed for the type of job I’m interested in obtaining?

2. Are there a significant number of hiring managers in my network who hire for this type of position?

3. Is there a significant number of people in my network who know on a 1st degree basis the hiring managers who would hire for this position?

4. Are there trusted advisers in my network who provide services to my ultimate boss that might hear of opportunities and make job referrals (One example might be a advertising account manager selling advertising services to the marketing promotions manager who would be your direct boss at a consumer products company. Another example might be the CPA auditing a company who is working directly with the Controller who might be your potential new boss?

5. Are there a large number of people in your network who are not competing directly with you for the position, but might hear about the job opportunities due to their proximity to the type of work you’re interested in obtaining (For example, the engineer in the R&D function might be aware of a product development role in marketing or the materials specialist role in the supply chain department).

Try ranking yourself on these 5 core questions about the strength of your network on a scale of 1-5 (1 being you’re a long way from completing your job search and  5 makes you a rock star in networking). Which one of these 5 components of an effective network should you spend time developing.

Are there gaps in your network that you should be focused on filling?

I hope these questions stimulate your introspection about the quality and strength of your network to generate good job referrals.

Barry

Networking Failure – Stop Being Beige

Dale Dauten had a post the other day on the Career Realism Blog that caught my eye. Dale is a well-known author and blogger on networking. In his blog post, he “turned” a couple of phrases that really caused me to start thinking about why networking fails for most people – particularly candidates in a job search.

He suggests to “Stop Being Beige”. Dale offers metaphor of don’t wear beige and lean up against a beige wall. STOP being invisible in your job search, in your career in the office, and taken to an extreme — in life.

This conjures up images of fading into the woodwork of your network, being invisible in groups as a lurker, and hiding behind your mother’s skirt when you were 3. You don’t have to be the life of the party or the center of attention – but you do have to engage with others. Great things come from engagement with other people. If you’re uncomfortable in group gatherings (an important element of networking is getting out meeting others in groups), take some courses to overcome your fears and discomfort. Practice with your friends.

Risk a little – go a networking event (conquer your fears Geronimo – If you haven’t read the children’s book series on the mouse that conquers his fears I would encourage reading them – if the mouse can do it – so can you! Social Media Sites and On-line Social Networking is great – but no substitute for classic face-to-face “pressing the flesh” and physically meeting other people.

Dale Carnegie offers courses. There are hundreds of on-line resources about conquering your fear of engaging with others – blogs-webinars-articles-coaching. Toastmasters is one of the best places to build confidence speaking in front of groups – one of the best things I ever did in my 20’s was to participate in a Toastmaster’s Chapter for a couple of years.

My daughter plays on a high school varsity basketball team. Up until the last year she had pretty much mastered the art of being beige. Now she can’t be beige. She craves the play time on the varsity team. She’s learning at a very early stage in life that if there’s something you really want – you can’t afford to be beige – or you’ll ride the bench and observe from the sidelines – that’s no fun.

Read a new book once a week. Job Search, Networking, Personal Branding, Self-Help – the list is endless. Are you learning how to avoid being beige. What’s the last great book on job search or networking or personal branding you’ve read?

Have you read our book, This is NOT the Position I Accepted, which  has an entire chapter devoted to job search networking.

We offer as a service a Strategic Networking Plan for Executive Level Candidates –  have you asked for an initial assessment to determine if you’re a victim of being beige?

Brad and I moderate an Internet Talk Radio Show and cover a wide range of job search frustrations, mistakes, and best practices. Have you entered our virtual library of archived radio shows and listened to the programs on networking.

What are you doing right now to change and transform yourself from being beige?

Getting the ‘Dirty Ear’ When You Network? (You Better Hope Not!)

Barry

Who’s Afraid of Job Search Personal Branding?

Why is it that so many people don’t get started creating their personal brand?

Is it lack of time, fear of failure, not knowing what to do?

I don’t get it! Story after story, case study after case study, success example after success example -thousands of stories, case studies, and examples have proven that personal branding works

So – we cycle back to the original question – Why is it that so many people don’t get started creating their personal brand? Brad and I cover personal branding for your job search frequently in our Internet Radio Talk Show. Check out some of the previous broadcasts from our Radio Talk Show Library.

What are known for? What subjects and search terms would employers use to find you on the web?

If employers typed a particular search phrase into Google, would you appear as one of the top 10 listings?

Trends are beginning to show that companies are using job boards less and search tools/social media sites to find candidates. Are you still conducting a job search like it’s 1999 or are you conducting a job search leveraging all the tools now available in 2009?

Tell us why you haven’t started your strategy of personal branding yet – here’s some tactics top talent candidates use in personal branding – are you doing any of these?

• Signing up for accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, Digg, Friendfeed, Google Reader, Google Profile
• Completely filling out the profile information on each of these sites
• Frequent updates and particpation in group discussions, answering questions, posing questions, offering recommendations and ideas
• Creating a blog and posting everyday about your subject matter expertise

What’s holding you back?

Barry

Does the Hiring Manager Believe You?

Although we might not like to admit it, most hiring decisions occur through likability, rapport, and personal chemistry. Not only do you have to prove that you’ve got “the right stuff”, you’ve got to market it/sell it with enough enthusiasm and excitement that the hiring manager really believes it.

How do you overcome this natural tendency to focus on first impressions in the hiring process? One major technique is to do a better job in preparing to interview – this reduces and eliminates the employer bias toward style, personality, and presentation.

We identify this preparation as one of the five key elements of a successful job search.

You can also learn more about limiting the effect of first impressions and reducing the influence of personality and presentation by following out Internet Radio Show where every week we explore a different element of conducting an effective job search. The past programs can be downloaded from our radio show library.

Here’s a post from one of the many blogs I follow that offers an additional perspective:

From Amber Shaw of the Geniusopia Blog

Are You a Believable Candidate?

You need to tell them you’re excited about the job because you want to do this kind of work and work for a company like this.  You need to tell them you’re going to be fantastic in this  job because your experience gives you this list of skills.  You need to say this because if you don’t, it’s fundamentally implying that it’s not true.  So you say it.

Except … if you say that you want this job because you want to work at this company but you really want the job so you have a job, they can tell.  If you say you’d be absolutely fantastic in this job because of your whatever but you really mean that you’ll show up and do a good job for awhile and then possibly start slacking off, they can tell.

If you don’t believe it, then they won’t believe it either.

The solution is to only apply for jobs for which these statements are already true.  Just because you fulfill some or all of the requirements for a job does not mean it’s the right job for you.  Just because you want to work somewhere does not mean it’s the right job for you.

It’s the right job for you if you fulfill the requirements, if you want to work there and if you think you’ll be successul there.  Yes, that does narrow down the jobs you apply to, but it also saves you time and means you’ll end up in a job you actually want.

http://geniusopia.com/2009/05/are-you-a-believable-candidate/

Barry

Is it time to clean up your on-line image or personal brand?

Does your on-line image convey exactly the type of person a potential employer would want to hire?

Do your communications – blog commenting, tweets, linkedin updates, flickr comments, facebook postings on your wall or your friend’s walls – convey the communication, writing, spelling, grammar, language a potential employer might evaluate.

Could you get away with the public email address, nickname, avatar, photo streams if you were employed by your ideal employer vs. what you’re doing now on the social media sites.

From an employer perspective – your image or “personal brand” is a conglomeration of all these on-line/public activities. We’ve discussed in a number of our Internet Radio Talk show the issue of personal branding in your job search. Feel free to listen or download the audio from our past shows by clicking here.

Social media has taken what a few years ago was very private between friends and made it transparent for the world to see. First impressions play an important role in helping hiring managers decide whether to call or meet you. We’ve got an active discussion group on LinkedIn discussing this and many other topics related to your job search. Join us on the LinkedIn Discussion Group by clicking here.

Would your Mother be ashamed or proud of you? How about your next boss? The HR department at your next company? What would your co-workers think?

What would your most respected friends offer you as advice about your current on-line image or personal brand? Would they be comfortable telling you to clean it up.

Is it time to apply a little detergent to your on-line image, activities, and personal brand?

It might make the difference between taking months off your job search, add thousands to your annual compensation, and lead to a job that provides a lot of personal satisfaction vs. drudgery.

Barry

photo credit barkdog

Why Networking Fails Most of the Time

Many candidates wonder why they don’t get more job lead referrals and opportunities. Many assume that if they get an account on Twitter, Facebook, and Linked, attend networking meetings, and call all their friends/relatives/former co-workers – the referrals and opportunities should have the phone ringing off the hook.

Not likely!

Even if you have 2000 followers on Twitter, 500 on LinkedIn, and attend two networking meetings a month.

One of the desired outcomes from job search networking is to obtain qualified referrals and opportunities for jobs for which you might like to apply. Why then do very few of these trickle through your network?

The reason very few people are willing to refer job leads and opportunities is because they don’t yet trust you enough to make a referral.

Now you might ask, how do I gain that trust.

One of the ways to gain trust is to start giving back to your network before you start taking. This might take the form of referring job leads you hear about (that you’re not interested in) to others in your network. It might take the form of helping someone in your network develop a better 30 second elevator pitch. It might take the form of tweeting useful tips and suggestions from the job search you’re currently conducting.

The more people in your network see you as a giver, a “connector” of others, and a resource for information, the more they will begin to trust you and want to be givers to you.

This process of building trust within networking to generate referrals takes on average 3-6 months of very active and disciplined work. The result is that you can reduce your job search time dramatically.

We’ve got a very active discussion going on in our LinkedIn Discussion Group for Job Search regarding networking. Join us for that discussion by clicking here.

We also frequently discuss job search networking in our Internet Talk Radio Show on a weekly basis. Grab one of our audio downloads and start networking more effectively. You can listen and download the audio programs from our weekly show by clicking here.

Comment on this blog post about how you go “above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty” with your network to be a giver/connector/resource. Post a comment about the plan you just put together to change the way you network to generate referrals.

Barry

graphic credit Nima