How to Manage Your Career with Social Channels

How to Manage Your Career with Social Channels Recruiters [like me] use social media to connect with talented people â€" and connect them with pretty amazing companies.  But, what happens when you’re an active job seeker â€" but not active on social media? Does that mean you won’t find a job? Yes and no. Quick fact: 35% of employers are less likely to interview applicants they can’t find online -CareerBuilder Survey So, how does a job seeker [whether active or maybe just “window shopping”] bridge the gap between being a non-social savvy job seeker to a job seeker that can essentially get headhunted by a recruiter [like me] using social channels? Let’s start with the basics… I chat with many job seekers every week â€" one common question I’m asked: “Which social media platforms should I be on to get noticed by a recruiter?” I always reply: “It depends.” Tip: Determine who your audience is. [i.e. Audience= recruiters/companies/CTOs] If you’re an active job seeker the no-brainer-thing-to-do: create a LinkedIn profile [it’s free]. You may also want to create a Twitter Instagram account as well [I’ll get to that part later]. Tip: If you’re an Interaction Designer looking for work â€" is LinkedIn ideal? Yes and no. It can be difficult to showcase your portfolio on LinkedIn- but what about creating a Dribbble account? BINGO! The main idea understand who your ‘audience’ is before you sign up for any social channel. Next comes the social media audit. What does that mean? Review any Social Media Platforms you currently use: Website (if applicable) LinkedIn (if applicable) Facebook Twitter Instagram Tip: If you decide to use [Facebook, Twitter, Instagram] to support your job search efforts- review the content that is posted on these channels. Tip: If the channels noted above are chosen for personal use ensure you review your privacy settings. Now, let’s start with some basics [Resume vs. LinkedIn] From my experience I prefer LinkedIn; however, recruiters, hiring managers and companies still prefer to see a resume as well. Note: you can also download a PDF version of your LinkedIn page [this may pass as a resume for some jobs you apply for]. After either creating a LinkedIn account [check out their help section if you need support with this] or logging into an existing account: this is where the magic happens. Let’s start with giving your LinkedIn profile life: Ensure your Profile is up-to-date [including the summary section ensure there is content under your employer section [i.e. you can include years of experience, clients you’ve worked with, skills you’ve mastered, industry events you attend] Also include a portfolio in your summary section [especially for designers] Ask for testimonials [from previous employers, colleagues, schoolmates] Showcase Skills [I’ll get to this part soon] Tip: Avoid titles like: Ninja, Guru, Self-employed, Looking for Opportunity. Why? When recruiters do a Boolean search string in Google â€" they’re searching for specific titles that are relevant to the jobs they are promoting [i.e. Software Engineer OR Communications Specialist] Tip: Are you a contractor or consultant? I’d recommend the following as your title header: Software Consultant â€"Next available for work February 1 Tip: What about a remote contractor? LinkedIn users can change their location to remote â€" I’d recommend not listing your location as ‘worldwide’. Want to be contacted? Easy. Include your email address in either the summary section of your LinkedIn profile OR include it in the ‘Advice for Contacting’ section on your profileâ€" [you can also include any other forms of contact based on your preference]. Want to connect with Recruiters at the company you wish to work for? Go for it! Not sure where find them? Quick tip:  Search recruiters on LinkedIn. Make sure to complete an advanced search. See below. Next â€" Twitter/Instagram Tip: use the same profile picture for all your social media profiles to create consistency. It will help recruiters recognize you. Tip: By adding appropriate links [i.e. LinkedIn profile link or personal website] to your Twitter or Instagram account this will allow a recruiter to be able to reach out to you. These are just a few tips and tricks to allow you to proactively manage your career using social media â€" you can also stick to the basics by applying for roles on Indeed and Monster â€" determine what works best for you and your job search efforts!

Learn How to Write a Resume the Right Way

Learn How to Write a Resume the Right WayIn order to write a successful resume, you must follow this simple and easy tip. But what if your skill is writing, not reading? Then it's time to learn a few pointers on how to write a resume.Skills - There are several skills that you will need to know when writing a resume. One skill that you can use to make your resume stand out is the use of buzz words. Your resume will only have the best attention if you can add some one word buzz words to it. This can be used for all your desired areas like your experiences, education, professional qualifications, etc.Skills that you will need to have while writing a resume include: organization skills, highlighting skills, basic problem solving skills, sentence structure, spell check, writing style, editing skills, critical thinking skills, and writing credibility. Once you know about these, you can start learning on how to write a resume.Resume Needs - After knowing about these basics, you should have some of these skills on hand to give you the best resume possible. As you read and try to apply the skills you have, you will have to keep in mind the length of time you are doing this. You can't just throw away basic skills just because you don't want a long resume.After reading the skills you need, you should be able to start planning how to improve your resume. If you plan properly, you can be assured of having a well-written resume that will catch the attention of the potential employer and increase your chances of getting the job.Editing skills - Remember that the resume you have is like a book you have to edit at times. A well-written resume will have your information grammatically correct and all of the information should flow smoothly. If you think your resume is not looking professional yet, it's still time to tweak it and make it better.Stylistic Resume - Though the resume you have is just a snapshot of your skills, it will still look like a great resume if you make small changes. It's a good idea to use some colors to emphasize some skills and not everything will look bright and clean.Finally, you should know that writing a resume can be challenging. If you're anything like me, then you may need to keep yourself entertained while you're going through the process. So with those pointers, you can go on with the proper way of writing a resume.

How to Get Past Your Biggest Career Obstacles - Classy Career Girl

How to Get Past Your Biggest Career Obstacles In my research with talking to thousands of women stuck in their careers, there are three most common career obstacles  that hold women back from launching their  dream careers. I find it best that we just get all this in the open, so you become aware of your roadblocks. Once you know what is holding you back, then you can tackle it and move forward. Which of these career obstacles is standing between you and your dream career? How to Get Past Your Biggest Career Obstacles 1. Time How to find the time to launch your dream career? This is one of the most common questions and issues I  receive. Here are some things that I hear over and over again that you’re dealing with procrastination, there’s more to do than time allows and you’re missing out on your family. You’re really having a hard time finding balance, and you’re really not sure how to carve out me time.  You really don’t want to waste your time either and you really want to get this dream career launched fast. [RELATED: 7 Essential Steps To Your Dream Career] 2. Fear A lot of you are backing off from what you truly want to do because you’re hesitant to be who you really are. You have  a fear of being yourself. You’re also losing confidence in yourself. You have a lot of self-doubts and are really scared or feeling guilty to launch your dreams. You are  thinking, Am I good enough to make my dreams to a reality? Am I ever going to get hired? I’m never going to get hired. I’m never going to be able to launch my dream business. You are afraid to dream too BIG. These are the things I hear from you over and over again. Some of this might ring true for you. Then there’s also a fear of living up to other people’s expectations and having lots of constant negative thoughts. What if it doesn’t work? This is your mindset.  The good news is, you can move past fear.   3. Direction You have so many ideas, but you have no solid plan of action, and you are not sure where, to begin with launching your dream career.  You are fine tuning all your ideas, and you want someone who’s going to really help you do that because you are feeling so disorganized. Instead of moving forward, you are just standing still. I’ve been there too, but guess what? Reading this blog post truly is your first step to getting unstuck. Identifying where you are at right now is your starting point. These are your roadblocks. So this is what you are battling now but where you want to be I want you to visualize for a second. Sometimes we never really let ourselves dream. It’s really important that you identify what you want and what your desires are. Not what your shoulds are. The second step to getting unstuck is figuring out what YOU really  want and targeting your destination. Its all about  making a no excuses policy with yourself that you can and will achieve the success you want. This is the one thing I did that made my dream career happen. I want all of you to write this down right now Do what you can, from where you are, with everything you’ve got. I did all I could, with what I had, from where I was. At one point, that meant having a 3-month old hanging on my hip who had a tongue tie so I was literally breastfeeding, pumping and then bottle feeding her around the clock. It was crazy, but I kept going in the direction of my dreams. Business School Graduation! Celebrating surviving three years of working full-time, going to school at night and starting this blog on the side! It is all about taking baby steps and imperfect action.  Do what you can, every day. If you do just that, I know you will be a success. So, visualize yourself jumping out of bed and going to work. Even if you don’t exactly know what you want to do yet, it’s ok. Just visualize what your life would be like. Would you be happier? Would you be more fulfilled and excited about life? Would you have more time for your family and social activities? Would you feel proud to tell someone where you work and what you do? Would you feel alive? All these things are possible no matter where you are at right now. I’ve been at rock bottom too, stuck in a job I hated with so many personal things not going my way, including miscarriages, failed IVF, foreclosures, and losing close family members. I know many of you are dealing with major life experiences and career obstacles right now. The one thing that got me through my tough times  was staying focused on my dream career and dream life. I knew it was out there for me and that all of my negative life experiences were for some purpose. That’s the only thing that got me through, and look at where I am now. You can create and live your dream life, just like I have, no matter what you are going through right now or how hard you think it might be to make a complete change.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Beating the Sunday Night Blues

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Beating the Sunday Night Blues When I was a kid, I hated Sunday evenings. I'm sure I wasn't alone -- I think kids throughout the ages have hated Sunday night because it means doing homework and going to bed early because it's a school night. Kids know that on Monday they face another week of teachers, tests and more homework.As an adult, I still get a sort of melancholy feeling when the sun begins to set on Sunday. The weekend is coming to an end, I'm nagging my kids to do their homework, and I think about the new week that will be full of challenges and problems in my professional and personal life.And, again, I know I'm not alone in this feeling. My doctor once admitted to me that he always has to take a sleep aid on Sunday nights because he can't stop thinking about everything he will face at work on Monday. Another colleague told me that she becomes so blue on Sunday afternoons that she plays Billie Holiday and drinks several glasses of wine.I'm not advocating pills or booze to get you through the Sunday night blues, but I do think there's got to be a better way to cope with it all. While it's a good sign that you need to be looking for another job when you start to get depressed on Saturday (been there, done that), I think most of us go through some letdown on Sunday.Wouldn't it be great if we didn't let our jobs take away from our weekends? If we found some ways to make Sunday evenings special instead of depressing?I asked some people what they did to get through the Sunday night blues, and many didn't have an answer. But a few people had some good ideas, and I wanted to share them with you:* Game night. A friend said she gets her kids to do their homework early so that after supper they have a couple hours of play time as a family. She said that keeps everyone occupied with fun instead of contemplating a new week of work or school.* Books and bubbles. A co-worker told me that she always indulges in a good book and a warm bubble bath on Sunday evenings.* Play hard. A neighbor told me t hat the key to dealing with his stress on Sunday evening is to get together with some friends and play basketball at a local rec center. He said the physical exertion helped him sleep better.If you have anything you do to deal with the Sunday blues, I'd love to hear from you and share them with others.del.icio.us

Resumes Templates For Easy Way to Get Jobs

Resumes Templates For Easy Way to Get JobsResumes templates can be customized and used to create a resume in minutes that will highlight all of your outstanding characteristics. Customizing a resume is the fastest and easiest way to find employment and build your future with a resume that you have created using one of the many excellent resume templates available on the Internet. The variety of resumes templates available online makes it easy to find just the one that best suits your needs. With a wide variety of resume templates available, and now more than ever there are job postings on the Internet that require a custom resume or CV to be filled out by the candidate.In an old fashioned method you would first go to job boards and job sites and search through the listings for positions that you are interested in applying for. The internet has changed how we do business and finding work can be easier than ever. With an online resume sites, you can fill out multiple resumes without le aving your computer or cell phone. You can even upload your resume onto the internet and have employers find you. Having a resume online can help you get more interviews and land a new job.With all of the great things the internet has to offer you, you need to use resumes templates and online job boards to help you find the best jobs. It is always best to take advantage of the time saving features available to the modern day office worker, and the easiest way to get resumes to be posted is to have them customized.Resumes templates are easy to download and you can fill them out and then post them to websites such as MyStyle, BackM.com and others. If you need a job, a resume can help you get it. Your resume and cover letter can make the difference between getting the interview or not.There are so many resume templates available that it is easy to find one that will best meet your specific requirements. All of the best resume templates are well formatted and can easily be customized wi th your specific information and traits for anoutstanding resume.Because of the many benefits resume templates, your resumes, resumes have become the go to resource for many career seekers. Many companies now use resume templates to make sure they have all the essential information on hand before their new employees start showing up for their orientation.Most people like the online application, because it is more flexible, easier to navigate and faster to fill out than the old-time routes. While looking for jobs today, job seekers are using resumes templates to make sure they have all the essential information in their application for the upcoming job hunt.Resumes templates are a fast and easy way to do just that. You can save time and have a resume online instantly. You can create an attractive resume in a few easy steps and then post it online to get the results you are looking for.

Are Thank You Notes Important in Executive Job Search - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Are Thank You Notes Important in Executive Job Search

Blog swap - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Blog swap - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog As an experiment, Chris Corrigan and I are swapping blogs for a week. Ill be posting to his blog (Parking Lot), and hell be writing here. Ive been having online conversations with Chris for a while, and I ran into him at the Practice of Peace conference outside Seattle in november. He works as a facilitator, change agent and problem solver and is a frontrunner in the use and development of Open Space Technology. To me, this blog swap is an experiment in writing to a different space. To go to new (virtual) surroundings and see what that brings. To play with the format, and see if its fun. To improvise around a set of topics that may or may not arise from the new place. To simply try something out of the ordinary. Lets see what happens. Welcome Chris, take it away. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Adjust Your Career Transition Attitude - Hallie Crawford

Adjust Your Career Transition Attitude Pounding the pavement for a job search is tough. Let’s face it; it’s not going to appear on anyone’s top 10 list of fun things to do. But if you go into you job search with the wrong attitude, it’s going to be a downward spiral with a potentially unhappy ending. The good news is… you can help prevent this. You need to make career decisions from a position of strength or possibility and not out of fear, weakness or other negative feelings. It may take practice, but creating that feeling of strength and optimism can happen. This will help you to bolster you outlook on your job search: Worrying does NOT help Taking action does. Do something about the challenges you’re facing. This not only helps you tackle each challenge head on, it also empowers and motivates you to continue to achieve success along your career path! Evaluate your decision making process Take some time to notice how you approach your decisions. Are you approaching them with confidence and strength? If the answer is yes, then you’ll know that you’re getting a positive outcome as a result of this positive attitude and actions. If you approach decisions with fear or anger, then, conversely, you’ll notice the result is much less constructive. Practice being positive â€" Consciously practicing being positive may feel strange at first so take small steps. How are you feeling about the decisions you are making. If you are experiencing ‘bad vibes’ then it might be time to shift your mindset, or to table that important decision until you feel more comfortable and confident. Invest in yourself While money may seem tight right now, one of your best bets is to spend resources making yourself invaluable to your current or potential employer. When you invest in your education â€" through additional classes to beef up skills or through advanced programs to learn new skills â€" you enhance your value and marketability. Heres to having a career you love! Career Transition Coach