Career Musings

We all clamour for that cup of coffee, and in my case, that cup of tea, to start our morning. On a Monday morning like this, we probably need more than one cup to get us started. What if you were being offered something much better than that cup of coffee or tea; something to put your career on the fast track to success? You can have it. It’s offered at our CareerTips2Go Café, and it’s longer lasting than what you get at Tim Hortons, Starbucks and even McDonald’s. Here’s what the Cafe provides:

1. A Coach-on-Call to assist you with your resume, interview, and other job search questions.
2. Step-by-step instructions on how to how to create your own story-telling resume.
3. Opportunities to learn how to leverage social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+) to build your professional network.
4. Tactics on researching companies, bypassing the gatekeepers and getting to the decision-maker
5. Strategies to increase your confidence and boost your self-esteem.
6. Access to up-to-date interview trends and case studies.
7. Coaching on how to articulate your accomplishments, strengths and potential to your next employer.
8. Up-to-date career resources and techniques at your fingertips.
9. On-demand coaching customized for you.
10. An objective voice to tell you like it is even though it might hurt.

Drop by and see what we have on the menu, and give us some feedback while you are there!

Do you own your name? “Of course, I do”, you say! Last week I hosted a free teleconference for job seekers and professionals to gauge their career plans for 2012, and see if I could help them achieve their goals. I offered some options on how they could up their job search game in the new year, and differentiate themselves from their competitors. A few days later, I had coffee with someone who had missed the call, but who wanted to bring me up-to-date on her next career move. She told me about her plans for the year and about her new website. While discussing the website, I suggested that she claimed her name on the web by registering it as a domain. Her eyes opened widely as in “What do you mean?”

These days whether you are a job seeker or an entrepreneur, one of the first steps to building your personal brand is to claim your name – register your name as a website. I learned this early. You see, actor Jude Law’s former nanny has my name, and I wasn’t aware of it until I heard of the scandal surrounding their alleged affair. Soon after that, I claimed and registered www.daisywright.com and www.daisywright.ca, as domain names through Hostmonster (Affiliate Link). I have since given up the .CA domain.

Why is it important to own your name? The hiring process has changed for job seekers, and personal branding has become very important.  Recruiters and employers don’t rely solely on traditional methods to learn about or evaluate potential employees. They are swamped with résumés, phone calls and emails. It is, therefore, your responsibility to change the way you market your stories and your skills to employers, and raise your visibility because your résumé and cover letter are no longer enough. The same is true for entrepreneurs.

To begin your brand-building process, your first step is to register your name as a domain, if it’s still available.  Use it as a one-stop haven for your social media tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube (if you’re venturing into videos). When employers and recruiters begin searching for you, or when you need to connect with someone of influence, it’s easy to send them a link to your own website which houses your other profiles.

In a recent Fast Company article, the writer tells a story of how a 16-year old high school student emailed her out of the blue, and asked to join her as a guest on her TV show. He did not send a résumé, but instead included links to his website, Twitter account, Facebook page, and three relevant YouTube clips. This is a 16-year old! He has already learned how to use the web to his advantage–building a strong and positive personal brand before he even reaches his adult years. Twelve months into his brand-building exercise, he is already a well-known regular tech TV expert and blogger–and he’s not even out of high school yet.

What about you? Are you ready to step forward and do something as daring as ‘Mr. 16-year old’? Do you own your name on the web? Are your profiles up-to-date and housed in one place? Have you scoured your Facebook profile to make sure that everything is professional? Do you have blog? If not, are you contributing your expertise to industry blogs? If a recruiter or employer begins searching for someone with your stories and skills, will you stand out from the herd, or will you stay hidden in the crowd?

CEOs, HR Executives and recruiters encourage job seekers to use social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogs to improve their chances of getting a job. One CEO stated in a Boston Globe article that, “We often find hires because of their activity in social media and, especially, the blogosphere.”

A recruiter said, “We like to see candidates who have filled in their LinkedIn profile completely. Upload your resume, and if you are a blogger (and it is relevant to your career), post the link to your blog. With respect toTwitter, she said,”We use Twitter directory tools to find candidates whose bios match our hiring needs.”

The field is too competitive these days for you to continue doing what you have always done and expecting different results. You’ve got to be willing to go the extra mile in bringing visibility to your story. It’s time to up your game, begin building your personal brand and let the job vacancies find you.

Sources:

Five Steps to a Better Brand

Social Media Advice for Job Seekers

Hear ye, Hear ye! This is hot off the Press! LinkedIn has just released its list of most overused professional buzzwords for 2011. They did this after analyzing 135 million professional profiles on their website. Some of these same words were on the list in 2010, and have resurfaced. Check your résumé or LinkedIn profile to see if you are guilty of using any or all of these:

1.      Creative

2.      Organizational

3.      Effective

4.      Extensive experience

5.      Track record

6.      Motivated

7.      Innovative

8.      Problem solving

9.      Communication skills

10.    Dynamic

As much as we might want to eliminate or reduce the use of these words and phrases, employers tend to lag behind with the use of clichés. Their job postings still include many of these words. Their applicant tracking system still contains these words and phrases, yet if the words are not incorporated in a candidate’s résumé, the résumé does not stand much of a chance of being seen by the human eye.

One way to overcome or minimize the use of these words is to give examples or tell stories of:

• how you were creative
• what problems you solved
• what really got you motivated, and
• how many years of experience you have.

By using this method, the hiring manager or decision-maker can easily see your potential value.

As with everything else, your decision to include or exclude these words requires a delicate balance. The fact is, there are going to be times when using the ‘word or phrase’ is your only option!

Source: LinkedIn’s Most Overused Buzzwords for 2011

Her recent email read “Remember that job posting you sent me about a Bilingual Marketing Manager where they asked me to translate my résumé to French? I want to let you know that I got an offer and I accepted it. I am very excited since there will be a lot of interesting challenges and I am getting everything I want – salary, vacation and benefits. Thank you for all your help and I will keep in touch.”

This message was from a client with whom I had been working for several months. She was having a tough time finding a marketing manager’s position and thought that nine months was unbelievably too long to be looking for work. At times in our conversations I could sense her frustration, but I reminded her gently that job searching could be a slow and tedious process, but if she kept her head up and continued doing the right things she would eventually land the job she wanted. I also told her that giving up was not an option. She hung in there and got the job.

How did this happen? As part of the job search strategy, I encourage my clients to invest time in social media. I do, and it’s not not for social reasons, although that happens. On Twitter, for example, I follow hiring managers, recruiters and job boards, and participate in Twitter Chats with HR professionals, recruiters and leadership coaches to keep abreast of industry trends. Through these channels, I sometimes become aware of job opportunities and if I find that someone in my network seem to be a match for some of these opportunities (whether they are clients or not), I forward the information to them.

This Bilingual Marketing Manager’s job is a great example. It was posted on Twitter by Monster Canada (@Monsterca). When I read the requirements, it sounded perfect for my client so I forwarded it to her. She translated her résumé to French as the company requested, and after a couple of interviews and several weeks of waiting (because of the summer holidays), she landed the job with “everything she wanted…” as noted above.

Looking for a job is a full-time job, as it’s often said, but it requires various strategies to achieve success. The other point is that you may have a great résumé, but if you continue to use ineffective job search methods or rely on one particular strategy, it will not help you land the job of your dreams. Therefore, plan to incorporate social media tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ into your job search toolkit because that’s where employers and recruiters hang out these days. Job boards are still around, but the companies behind these boards are extending their reach via social media. If you are an early adopter ready to jump on the social media band wagon, you will be way ahead of your competitors and achieve your job search goal.

And, don’t buy in to the concept that there are no jobs! Jobs are out there, but you need to assess your skills, employ a variety of tools, be deliberate with your search and visualize yourself sitting at the desk as an employee at one of your target companies!  Remember, “Whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve.”

I hope you have gained some value from this post. Share your comments below, or connect with me if you need to discuss how you can move your career forward. I will be pleased to have a chat with you!

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking with 30+ Internationally Trained Engineers at Humber College about marketing themselves to employers. After I had touched briefly on the Big 3 social networking platforms – LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook – I introduced Google+. “Google what?” they asked. If you haven’t heard of it yet, Google+ is the new kid on the social networking block that arrived on the scene in June. Think of it as a blend of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Now, you may already be suffering from social media fatigue and do not want to hear about another one. However, Google+ is worth exploring. Why? Recruiters and hiring managers are there. Some are already using the Hangout feature to conduct interviews and meetings. Career coaches, resume writers, HR and public relations professionals, and marketing and communication experts are using this same feature to network with each other.

If you are an early adopter, you have a chance to follow these professionals and get to know who the other players in their circles are, who they are connected to and who are connected to them. You will have an opportunity to network with other users who, as they get to know you, may be able to help you in your job search or career transition. Remember, networking is key!

Speaking of early adopters, blogger/author/speaker, Chris Brogan is writing a book on Google+. Imagine that, and the platform is not yet 3 months old. As a job seeker or career changer, you need to be acquainted with all these social networking tools, and they are basically free. Explore and see which one aligns best with your interest and goals, then dive in. As the saying goes, “The early bird catches the worm.” You need to be leading the pack ahead of your competitors.

Years ago when blogs weren’t that fashionable, I suggested to a colleague that she creates a blog to showcase her expertise and distinguish herself as a communications specialist. Of course, it was the intent that someone would notice her extraordinary writing capabilities and contact her. She told me that blogging was a fad that would soon wane! Well, the would-be fad is now main stream.

Don’t get left behind. You already know how difficult it is to find job opportunities through traditional means. The use of social media in your job search is critical. Whether or not you jump on the Google+ bandwagon, you owe it to yourself to find out what it’s all about. Here  is a link that explains the basics of Google+:  Introduction to Google+. Once you have reviewed it, post a comment to tell me your thoughts.

At the moment, you can only join Google+ by invitation, and I have been allotted 150 invitations.  If you would like to test-drive it, send me an email with ‘Google+’ in the subject line and I will send you an invitation. View my profile-in-the-making at http://gplus.to/careertips2go. Remember, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, Google+ is F.R.E.E.

After my Mother passed away recently, I took a respite from everything for several weeks, including my business. I just couldn’t motivate myself to do anything and so I needed something to pull me through. I decided to use the time to ask and answer my own questions:

• What did it take for me to make the decision to move to Canada?
• What did it take to apply for and get a job at the UN while I was enroute to Canada?
• What did it take to negotiate my salary with my first Canadian employer when the initial offer was not what I expected?
• What did it take to get a teaching position at Sheridan College?
• What did it take to start my business?
• What did it take to write my book?

As I reflected on each question, one word kept revolving in my mind and it was COURAGE! I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be in any of those decisions, but each time I felt this burning feeling in my stomach to do something, I took a leap of faith.

How about you? What giant (or small) leap have you taken after just seeing the first step? Or, are you someone who has to see all the steps before making a move?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a small or giant step, if you are to move from where you are to where you want to be, it will take courage. You have to be prepared to:

It is as easy as that. Everything begins with a first step. That first step is commitment. It might take you some time to get there, just don’t ever dare to give up. As you do some reflections of your own, let me leave you with these words from Dale Carnegie & Ralph Marston:

“Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.” ~ Dale Carnegie

“Your biggest limitation is your reluctance to move forward. Get over that, and you can get over anything .Time, money, knowledge, and resources are minor considerations when compared to one vital factor. That factor is your willingness to get it done.” ~ Ralph Marston

I hope you will take your leap of faith, and Just Do It!

Feel free to share your comments below about COURAGE.

In a survey conducted by The Wright Career Solution in 2010, 65.6 percent of hiring managers and recruiters use social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) to look for candidates, yet in another survey by the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC), almost half (46%), of Canadians report that they do not use, nor are they interested in using social media to advance their career goals. What a disconnect!

Get a copy of The Wright Career Solution’s report here: Survey Results of Canadian Hiring Managers and CERIC’s at  Public Perception of Career Development and the Workplace.

Feel free to add your thoughts here

Whether you are a job seeker, you are in a career transition or you are an entrepreneur, it’s impossible to ignore social media these days. Career and business opportunities are aplenty via Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, but are you taking advantage of them? If you are not already convinced, read the following stats taken from an email from John Assaraf, of OneCoach:

Did you know that…

• If Facebook were a country, it would be third-largest in the world, and growing faster than #1 and #2 combined?
• YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world. Every minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded to it.
• LinkedIn is the largest network of business professionals in the world, with over 70 million users in 200 countries. 12 million of them visit daily, and a new one joins every second.
• Millennials now outnumber Baby Boomers. 96% of them have joined a social network.
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations about products. Only 14% trust ads.
• 93% of all business buyers believe all companies should be on social media platforms.

Although these questions were geared to business owners, it applies equally to job seekers and those in a career transition.  Arm yourself with the tools of the social media revolution. Test the waters and swim in the one that appeals to you. Do something, will you?

“Think of LinkedIn or Twitter as online versions of a Rotary Club or Golf Club”. So says a member of Toastmasters, and I agree!

According to the latest issue of Toastmaster, “Web 2.0 isn’t just for teenagers using Facebook or MySpace anymore….a growing number of businesspeople, including many Toastmasters, are using these new applications to run their small businesses more efficiently, network with peers, tack customer perception of their products or services online and promote their organization.”

Tomorrow am deliver a “Coaching-the-Coach” presentation to employment counsellors at a conference. Using Social Media (or Web 2.0 technology) as a job search tool will definitely be a big part of my delivery.

The caption of a recent article written by Janis Foord Kirk, career columnist for the Toronto Star said, “Entrepreneurs need coaching”! As I read the article I couldn’t help but see the commonalities between an entrepreneur and a jobseeker. Both have attributes and competencies that their ‘clients’ need, both are facing challenges in these turbulent economic times, and both need strategies on how to brand themselves, stand out and stay competitive.

As a departure from the norm when I would focus on jobseekers, I am dedicating this article to CEO’s (Chief Entrepreneurial Officers), otherwise known as small business owners. Some of these people are also feeling the residual effects of downsizing and layoffs just like GM, Chrysler and Ford. I will discuss three simple strategies that small business owners can implement to increase their visibility and ultimately their profits.

One of the first strategies a CEO could implement is the tried and trusted act of networking. Networking – whether it’s face-to-face or online – is a crucial skill for entrepreneurs, and should be practised regularly. This is a good time to get out of your comfort zone and connect with people you hardly know, including your competitors. Many business relationships and alliances have been forged between people who once considered themselves competitors.

The second strategy is to become familiar with social media or Web 2.0 technology such as LinkedIn, Twitter, VisualCV and MuchMor, among a long list of others. A former spokesperson for Facebook said, “People are going beyond their face-to-face network and reaching toward that next layer of people that could play a role their success…but these people may be hard to reach through traditional media”. The rise in the use of social media is not limited by geography and has allowed people to connect with each other wherever and whenever they wish. These forums do not replace face-to-face communication, but add another dimension to networking and increased visibility. Below are several popular social media resources you may find beneficial to you and your business:

LinkedIn. This is “an online network with more than 30 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries”, according to its website. Its main aim is to help professionals forge and maintain business connections, but more and more business owners are making valuable connections through LinkedIn.

Twitter. The new kid-on-the-block, when compared to LinkedIn, but it is growing at an alarming pace. What started out as a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing, has blossomed into one of the most popular online communities. Not only are business relationships being developed through this forum, but it provides fertile soil for learning and keeping up with industry trends. One of the great things about Twitter is that one has only 140 characters to get one’s point across.

VisualCV. You may not have a website and probably you don’t need one, but you do need an online presence. If you want to put together an online bio or portfolio, then you will want to take at a look at VisualCV. It combines elements of a traditional resume with additional features like videos, photos, and a portfolio with samples of one’s work. Because it’s web-based, it is very easy to be incorporated into an email and send to prospects.

Blog Talk Radio. Are you aware you can host your own radio show to keep in touch with your clients or reach a wider audience? There are numerous online radio stations available, but you can check mine out at www.blogtalkradio.com/CareerCoach.

Maestro Conference. The third strategy is specifically for business owners who conduct teleconferences on a regular basis. Do you host teleconferences or teleseminars? How would you like to be able to have breakout sessions during one of your teleconferences? Literally having several discussion groups going on simultaneously and you, as host, having the capability to monitor and moderate these groups. Think Maestro Conference. Maestro Conference allows you to create a dynamic environment combining the convenience of traditional conference calls, with the interactivity of a live workshop. Check them out at http://www.thewrightcareer.com/links.htm.

MuchMor Business Network. Muchmor is a dynamic social media organization that powerfully combines online business & social networking with real life events & workshops. The vision of Muchmor Media is to provide our clients with a quality & knowledgeable service that enables their businesses to grow & prosper.

“Small is the new big. Sustainable is the new growth. Trust is the new competitive advantage”, states one company’s tagline. What about you? As Chief Entrepreneurial Officer of your business, are you ready to explore the benefits of social media? If you would like additional information or need help in creating your profiles for any of the above media, call us at (905) 840-7039 or send an email to daisy@thewrightcareer.com.

Links as referenced in the article:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/careercoach4u

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daisywright

VisualCV: http://www.visualcv.com/daisywright

Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CareerCoach

______________