Month: June 2015

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THIS Week’s Special Event: A LinkedIn PRIMER… 8:45 AM, Thursday, July 2nd at The Egg and I Restaurant in Addison

If you have already set up your basic “footprint” in LinkedIn, your TASK#1 is to make a simple decision… do you want to use LinkedIn…

  • To PUSH your story out to the marketplace?… PUSH Strategies can help you harness the power of direct marketing. Or
  • To PULL interested individuals and potential employers to you?… PULL Strategies will help you to optimize your SEO, using concentrated keywords to draw people to your Profile. Or
  • For BOTH Push and Pull strategies to get the best of both worlds of personal marketing and branding activity. Draw people to your Profile with focused used of keywords, but keeping it narrative and interesting enough to make your story more ‘reader-friendly.’

TASK#1

Your FIRST task is to set-up your basic profile information… note that in our twelve step process, this comes after developing your (initial) Market-Ready resume and validating it by ‘coaching’ your References.

For your first pass at a Profile, go to the top navigation bar and select Profile/ edit profile… all editable elements will have a pen icon that lights up when you move your cursor over…

  • Your Headline… THE Prime Real Estate that search engines look at first, and that follows you around everywhere you go in LinkedIn. Start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume’s contact information and Positioning Statement (including defining KEYWORDS)
  • Your Qualification SUMMARY… the place search engines look second (are they in the right neighborhood?) Again, start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume text.
  • Your Professional Experience… This is the ‘meat’ of your story and is easily centered on your KEYWORD strategies. Once again, start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume text.
  • Your formal Education and Training… Again, start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume text.

AS A START, Yes, your LinkedIn Profile is a direct reflection of your resume!  DEVELOP YOUR DIGITAL BRAND by making the PUSH/PULL decision mentioned above and adding to your basic communication strategy appropriately.

TASK#2

How do I use Linked-In for my job search? LinkedIn is a powerful search engine. Last year over 5 billion searches were done Linked-In.

To get started with digital search for the right employment, go to the tool bar on top with the Linked-In logo; there is a search box, a magnifying glass on a blue tab and an advanced tab. Click the advanced tab and it opens a screen with the option of searching for People or Jobs, the default setting for people. Using the advanced tab allows you customize your search. In the keywords filed, enter your search terms, for example, “mortgage underwriter,”  your zip code and 25 miles from your zip code (generally the distance most people are willing to commute to work) it returns a list of people with those terms in your network.  If you click on the jobs tab and enter “mortgage underwriter”, your zip code and 25 miles from your zip code it returns a list of all the jobs posted on Linked-In within 25 miles of your zip code.

The dropdown menu at the top left allows you to further customize your search by a person’s name, title, company and other search criteria. On the jobs tab, simply listing a company, your zip code and 25 miles, if will return all of the positions posted on Linked-In at that company.

One last point on searches: once you have run a search, and it’s one you want to save, click on the “save search” next to a gear wheel in the upper right corner of the search screen. Name the search & select the delivery option – daily or weekly – the saved search becomes a search agent that will return any new jobs posted since your last search on a daily or weekly basis. And it’s possible to have multiple saved searches & search agents with different search terms.

Stay tuned to this blog for Task#3

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NEXT WEEK: A Special Event, A LinkedIn PRIMER… 8:45 AM, Thursday, July 2nd at The Egg and I Restaurant in Addison

LINKED-IN – Who, What, Why, How?

What is Linked-In? Linked-In is a part of the vast social media available to us all, and is the preferred professional site. LinkedIn is about your personal BRANDING, as seen in a well-developed profile or it can be used as a business page; Where Facebook is about connecting and identity (connecting with family and friends and sharing ‘life’); and Twitter is about events (…and sharing ‘life’).

Who is on Linked-In? Over 288,000,000 members worldwide and that number grows DAILY!!  You can participate as an individual or as part of specific Groups.

Why should I use it? LinkedIn is the best way to connect with people and organizations who could potentially hire you. A recent survey indicated that over 75% of Linked-In users indicated it helped them learn about people & companies. This is useful before making contact with someone for an informational interview or in preparing for a job interview, since you want to know about the person interviewing you. It’s helpful for finding connection points on areas of common interest.  In a single word, it’s like your ROADMAP to efficient networking activity.

If I am not on Linked-IN, how do I become a member? Enter www.linkedin.com in your Internet browser and register as a new member. If you have already set up your basic “footprint” in LinkedIn, your TASK#1 is to make a simple decision… do you want to use LinkedIn…

  • To PUSH your story out to the marketplace?… PUSH Strategies can help you harness the power of direct marketing. Or
  • To PULL interested individuals and potential employers to you?… PULL Strategies will help you to optimize your SEO, using concentrated keywords to draw people to your Profile. Or
  • For BOTH Push and Pull strategies to get the best of both worlds of personal marketing and branding activity. Draw people to your Profile with focused used of keywords, but keeping it narrative and interesting enough to make your story more ‘reader-friendly.’

TASK#1

Your FIRST task is to set-up your basic profile information… note that in our twelve step process, this comes after developing your (initial) Market-Ready resume and validating it by ‘coaching’ your References.

For your first pass at a Profile, go to the top navigation bar and select Profile/ edit profile… all editable elements will have a pen icon that lights up when you move your cursor over…

  • Your Headline… THE Prime Real Estate that search engines look at first, and that follows you around everywhere you go in LinkedIn. Start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume’s contact information and Positioning Statement (including defining KEYWORDS)
  • Your Qualification SUMMARY… the place search engines look second (are they in the right neighborhood?) Again, start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume text.
  • Your Professional Experience… This is the ‘meat’ of your story and is easily centered on your KEYWORD strategies. Once again, start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume text.
  • Your formal Education and Training… Again, start by simply cutting and pasting from your resume text.

AS A START, Yes, your LinkedIn Profile is a direct reflection of your resume!

DEVELOP YOUR DIGITAL BRAND by making the PUSH/PULL decision mentioned above and adding to your basic communication strategy appropriately.

Stay tuned to this blog for TASK#2

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NEXT Week’s Workshop: Implementing Your Personal Marketing Plan… Thursday, June 25th, 8:45 AM @ The Egg and I Restaurant in Addison

Getting Started SMARTly…

WAVE I

You’ve already begun to implement your PMP when you connected with your intended references back in Step 4.  Your first efforts are rightly aimed at creating visibility for your candidacy, without causing premature rejection.  You may also be using this first wave to settle on your positioning and targeting (Step 2, leading to Step 3)… If you are truly committed to finding your next ideal employment, you’ve already dug a little deeper into assessment (Step 1) of your personality, experience, knowledge, and skill sets.

Your First Wave, then, is beginning to ‘get the word out,’ reconnecting with established contacts, and beginning to develop new contacts… both without prematurely creating rejection.  Waypoint #3 reminds you to “Always have a next contact to make… for the rest of your career.”  This is both an effective career strategy and an efficient job search tactic!

The by-product of a dynamic first wave is the identification of actual job leads… you may even be invited to forward your resume to influential people… and you’ll certainly begin to secure referrals to develop your personal contact network…

Networking is a contact sport

The real value in your first wave is gaining confidence in your job search manner, more comfort in telephone work… KNOWING that, YES You CAN take the chill out of cold calls down the line!

WAVE II

Your first wave of activity will actually create the impatence for turning the opportunities you identify into INTERVIEWS.  Further, having successfully developed visibility in the marketplace, you will now fold in your Internet-based search for open opportunities to supplement your embrace of the OTHER Job Market!

WAVE III

You’ve broken the mysterious “code” of the traditional marketplace… You’ve taught yourself the value of efficient networking.  It IS a skill that can me practiced and mastered.  In your third wave, you’ll be combining your best practices, discovered in the first two waves.  You can become your own best coach!

Thursday, June 25th we will ‘conduct’ a job search in real time, drawing from actual experience of our participants.  This session provides an excellent OVERVIEW of our 12 step Process to regulars and new comers alike.  Our focus is on effective time management to create focus and efficiency in job search efforts.

Who Should Attend?

  1. Anyone who wants to create a strategic plan for the rest of their working life… job changes will occur!
  2. Job seekers who find themselves in a rut…rapidly crashing into the black hole of depression
  3. Any job seeker looking to create focus within their search efforts
  4. Any professional to give substance to their next steps
  5. Newcomers to DFWCareerpilot… including tire-kickers

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THIS WEEK’s Workshop: Developing Your Personal Marketing Plan… Thursday, June 18th, 8:45 AM @ The Egg and I Restaurant in Addison

NETWORKING

Building a network is a vital part of today’s strategic career development. Each planned contact can lead to others if you ask the right questions and explore the possibilities.  Networking is a two-way street, sometimes with you, the information seeker, being able to provide information to the same person from whom you are seeking it, and at other times being a source of information to other people. In order to get information from others, we must be a good source of information. All it takes is being willing to share information, ideas and resources.  It’s the INTER-ACTIVE, front-end of relationship building.

On Thursday, June 18th, we will be taking a long look at developing an effective PLAN… Your Personal Marketing Plan.  Our focus is on effective time management to create focus and efficiency in job search efforts.

To put it another way, “What goes around, comes around.”  A network is not something you establish overnight. It requires work and time, but the rewards are incalculable. If you are in a job search mode and do not have a good network already in place, there are several ways you can begin to build one.

  1. Start with people you know from previous employment.    However, most jobs are not found at the first level of networking.  In fact, very few jobs are found simply by calling the people you know.
  2. Constantly build the layers of your network.  Even at the second level, the number of job openings you will find is still modest. Networking does not usually start to pay off until about the third level, and sometimes even beyond that.
  3. Attend professional association meetings and network.   Most of us probably work in a line of work that has a national professional association to which we could belong, and most of these associations have local chapters.Get the Most From Networking…

Remember TIME MANAGEMENT…

Allow for regular time in LinkedIn in order to direct and focus your networking activity.

Make networking calls in a block of time.  Each call is more comfortable than the one before. Do not call people and ask them if they have any openings at their company… This is almost always totally non-productive.

Be sure to ask the person if they have a minute to talk to you, and when finished talking thank them for their time.

Who Should Attend this value-packed Workshop?

  1. Anyone who wants to create a strategic plan for the rest of their working life… job changes will occur!
  2. Job seekers who find themselves in a rut…rapidly crashing into the black hole of depression
  3. Any job seeker looking to create focus within their search efforts
  4. Any professional to give substance to their next steps
  5. Newcomers to DFWCareerpilot… including tire-kickers

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THIS WEEK’s Workshop: In-Sync Personal Marketing Collateral Materials… Thursday, June 11th, 8:45 AM @ The Egg and I in Addison

Building on the concepts of ACHIEVING CareerFITness, this week’s Event will focus on content issues for high impact, productive collateral materials like a job seeker’s resume, verbal ‘pitches,’ and their LinkedIn Profile.

Homework:  Be prepared to tell us the KEYWORDS you choose for people to find you, and WHY you chose them.

Actions requested:

Bring hard and soft copies of your current resume draft… bring your laptop (or other wi fi-enabled editing tool) if you want to do some self-inflicted, hands on editing of your resume or LinkedIn Profile… everyone will have the opportunity to practice their verbal collateral materials.

The 411…

Let’s consider the difference between good and GREAT.  Why agonize over the creation of “the perfect resume?”  You’ve seen sketch artists capture the real you in a matter of minutes… A traditional resume communicates what you have already done… sort of a historical epitaph of your past.  It is very easily written from old job descriptions.

However, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), a Dutch painter, was NEVER in a hurry.  A masterpiece takes time.  I have never known anyone, including professional resume writers, who are capable of developing and writing a high impact resume within an hour or two.  The upside of getting a resume out quickly is that you don’t sacrifice early opportunities.  Such a “quickie” may work well… especially if you’re seeking a commodity job in a soft job market.  You need a job fast, right???

  Wrong.

  • The time that you spend developing a GREAT Resume Template is some of the most valuable time that you’ll spend while in career transition.  A “GREAT” Resume is a dynamic documentation of your communication strategy, the vital epicenter of your Personal Market Plan. 
  • The downside of a “quickie resume” — when your true objective is to find work requiring professional talent and skills — is that the output is seldom very compelling and persuasive, truly fitting your career objectives.  And in today’s digital marketplace, your quickie resume may have extended shelf life, once “mined” from the giant, online resume/job banks.  It’s a monster of a problem.
  • Developed in parallel with your two-minute drill strategies and your LinkedIn profile, your resume will have clearly positioned and targeted marketing collateral that will serve you well.  Yes, written and verbal collaterals that are in synch with each other, will create and dispense your marketing message.

Next week’s workshop encourages you to communicate what you are capable of and motivated to do in the future, using your past as supportive evidence.  Its easy to make a resume look and read well… but does YOUR resume truly “FIT” your career objectives?  By learning and following the guidelines suggested this week, you will find the “journey” to your destination, successful career transition, to be smooth sailing.  

Plan to attend NEXT THURSDAY at 8:45 AM…

Who should attend:

  1. Job seekers who have not achieved productivity in their ONLINE efforts
  2. NEW Job seekers who need to develop their collateral ‘arsenal’
  3. Those that understand they must ‘tweak’ their resumes from time to time… but don’t understand HOW
  4. DFWCareerpilot ‘regulars’ with specific questions