06 Jun
Make Sure You’re Helping (Not Hurting) Yourself On Social Media
A few years ago, barely a week when by without news of someone getting fired because of something they posted on social media. As awareness grew people have become more careful.
That’s a good thing.
Particularly if you’re looking for a new job.
Today, 70% of employers research candidates on social networking sites and 47% say that they’re unlikely to contact a candidate for an interview if they can’t find them online, according to a 2018 Career Builder survey.
What are they looking for?
58% —Information that supports the candidate’s qualifications for the job
50%—If the candidate has a professional online persona
34%—What other people are posting about the candidate
22%—A reason not to hire the candidate
What turns employers off?
Most, if not all, career professionals will tell you to avoid being negative. Even if your boss is the devil incarnate, it’s not something you should share. Here are some numbers: 25% of survey respondents said a primary reason they didn’t hire a candidate was because they bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee.
15 Mar
Smarter Career Moves Club on Clubhouse
If you’re on Clubhouse and looking for career information and advice look for our new Smarter Career Moves club.
Smarter Career Moves is the place to learn strategies, techniques, and activities that will help you move your job search forward and advance your career
Join our events to get information and practical advice from career professionals. This is a space to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Come with questions and don’t be afraid to ask.
11 Jan
Does Your LinkedIn Profile Make You Look Out Of Sync?
Anyone who’s looking for a new job or potential clients has been told they need to be on LinkedIn. That’s true.
It’s also true that you need to be on LinkedIn because whether you like it or not, your LinkedIn profile, or lack of one, is part of your personal brand.
Certainly, recruiters and hiring managers who receive your resume will review your LinkedIn profile. So will potential clients and people that you meet at conferences, seminars, or networking events who want to learn more about you. Make sure what they find is your best self.
That includes having a headshot.
Headshots Are Essential
I know there are people who resist putting up a headshot because they’re afraid of discrimination. Yes, it’s out there. There are people who will think you’re too old or too young. Too ethnic or not ethnic enough. They may take an instant dislike to you because you remind them of a former boss or a neighbor they don’t like.
However, the benefits far outweigh the potential risks.
Despite its business focus, LinkedIn is considered social media. LinkedIn’s research shows that LinkedIn profiles with a photo get 21X more views and 9X more connection requests.
20 Apr
10 Strategies That Will Boost Your Job Search Success
These are extraordinarily difficult times. Unemployment is climbing. People on furlough wonder if they’ll be returning to work. Shutdowns across the country make it challenging to look for a job.
Despite everything, this is not the time to stop looking for a new job. The job market has changed dramatically, but jobs are still out there. Employers are hiring. There are steps you can take to move your job search forward.
Here are 10 job search strategies that work. But reading this list isn’t enough. You need to act. You can’t do all of them today, but you can get started.
#1 Make a list of your target employers, companies where you would most like to work. Set up Google alerts to help you follow them in the news. Start contacting family, friends, former colleagues, etc. to see if they know anyone who works for one, or more, of your top employers.
06 Jun
Are You Wasting Your LinkedIn Profile’s Potential?
If you are looking for a new job having a robust LinkedIn profile is essential. Full stop. Sadly, most don’t use LinkedIn to their best advantage.
It’s not just the barely completed “skeleton” profiles still displaying LinkedIn’s generic blue background that make career professionals cringe. It’s the misguided things people do deliberately.
#1 Quotes in the Headline
A lot of people seem to think that having an inspirational quote as their headline will somehow help them. It won’t for a few reasons. First, recruiters search LinkedIn based on jobs, skills, etc. and it’s unlikely inspirational quotes include “skill” words like “performance improvement “ or “business development.”
Second, recruiters want to know if you’re qualified for the job they are trying to fill. If you do come up in a recruiter’s search but your headline doesn’t indicate your qualifications, they may go on to the next profile in their search.
If you feel a quote expresses your philosophy, management style, etc. by all means use it in the Summary section.
13 Feb
How To Use LinkedIn To Increase Your Opportunities
Whether you’re actively looking for a new job or just want to keep your options open, LinkedIn has a lot to offer. Of course, you need to have a robust LinkedIn profile. Today, LinkedIn is like Google for people, without an optimized profile it’s unlikely you’ll be seen in a recruiter’s search.
But creating a compelling LinkedIn profile is only the beginning. Over the last few years, LinkedIn has added several functions that can help you move forward in your job search.
Here are 4 ways to up your chances of finding a job through LinkedIn.
Tell Recruiters Your Looking
If you’re actively looking or even open to new opportunities, LinkedIn lets you tell recruiters you’re looking for free. It only takes a few minutes to go into your Settings & Privacy and set up your Job Seeking Preferences.
Once you click on Manage Job Alerts, LinkedIn allows you to edit your Career Interests. In Career Interests, you’ll have the opportunity to select Job titles you’re considering, types of jobs you’re open to, the size of the company you’d like to work for, and more. LinkedIn notes that while they can’t guarantee your employer won’t find out, they “take steps to keep Recruiter users who work at your company, as well as related companies, from seeing the career interests that you share.”
23 Jan
How To Increase Your Chances That Recruiters Will Contact You
If you’ve been looking for a new job for more than 5 minutes, you’ve heard that you need to target employers. Most often, the advice is to develop a list of target employers, i.e. the employers you would most like to work for. Then, find a way to network your way in.
This strategy is recommended for a few reasons.
First, the best way to hear about jobs is by regularly checking the career section of your target’s website and/or knowing someone who works there. As a former recruiter, I can say that the only reason that businesses don’t post open positions is when the person doesn’t know they are being replaced.
Second, a resume given directly to someone at a company is more effective than responding to an ad on a job board. This can also be incredibly helpful if done after you respond to an online ad.
FYI, if a recruiter contacts you about an open position where you have a connection be sure to mention it. They may ask you to reach out to your connection to help grease the wheels.
10 Jan
How Not To Look Old When You’re Looking For A Job
Job seekers begin to worry about age discrimination as early as their mid-forties. Serious concerns begin around 55. And the truth is, age discrimination or ageism is out there.
There are a lot of reasons, not related to skills, that people don’t get hired. They may be considered too young or, in some cases, the wrong gender.
They may not get the job because, subconsciously, they remind the interviewer of a former boss they despised.
Conscious and unconscious biases exist.
While you can’t control them, you don’t have to feed into them either.
If you’re concerned about age discrimination, do what you can to not look old and outdated during your job search.
08 May
3 Reasons Recruiters Aren’t Calling You
As a businessperson, I go to a lot of networking events. Some, like SHRM, provide professional development. Often, I’m speaking at job seeker groups. Wherever the event, I always meet people who are looking for a new job.
Their most common complaint is not getting interviews.
Before becoming a resume writer, I worked as a recruiter. That means I reviewed countless resumes and spent hours on LinkedIn looking for candidates. That experience gives me some insight into why recruiters call some candidates but not others. Here are 3 reasons.
12 Jul
4 Ways To Increase Your LinkedIn Connections
LinkedIn connections are valuable for several reasons. Building your connections expands your network. Having a larger network means you have more 2nd degree connections which gives you the opportunity to view a lot more profiles.
And maybe more importantly, it allows a lot more people to view your profile as well.
For example, potential employers who might want to learn more about you.
Another reason to increase your number of connections is perception. If you work in sales, marketing, or public relations, for example, potential employers will be looking at the size of your network. If you have 154 connections on LinkedIn they may wonder how much of a network you actually have.
So how can you build your LinkedIn network?