Social Media | Career Musings

24 Career Professionals to Follow on Pinterest (at Career Coaches Corner)

August 20, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

There are currently 24 career professionals to follow on Pinterest if you are a job seeker or career changer!

Pinterest, when it blasted on the scene a couple of years ago, was considered one of the fastest growing social networks around, though not for the job search. At its heights in February 2012, I wrote a blog post asking the question What’s All the Hype About Pinterest?

Well, the dust has settled, and Pinterest still remains a very popular site. Its visually-pleasing structure allows users to create their own “virtual pinboards” or follow people with common interests. Not many people, however, thought it could be a useful job search tool, except probably for people in creative fields such as communication, marketing and advertising, where its relevance is easily seen.

Pinterest can be a useful resource for job seekers, and one little known pinboard that job seekers might be overlooking is Career Coaches Corner. Created by my colleague Maureen McCann, it now has 24 career professionals who consistently curate career, job search, recruiting and HR information for job seekers, career coaches, professional resume writers and others to use as a resource. Curated information appears mostly as “Infographics” giving a quick synopsis of a topic instead of having to read through a lot of text. Sometimes, below each pin the contributor may add his or her own personal take on the pin. It’s not all about the job search. There are motivational pins to inspire you when the going gets rough or others that show the personal side of each contributor. And the list is:

Adrienne Tom: Certified Professional Resume Writer and Employment Interview Professional driving the discovery of what sets job seekers apart. Mom, wine lover, book enthusiast.

Alison Doyle: Job search and employment expert for About.com. Twitter: @AlisonDoyle

Best Fit Forward: Curiouser and curiouser about many things. Writer. Career Coach. Storyteller. Making a job out of helping other people find work. How can I help you find your career voice and get heard?

Bridget Weide Brooks: Editor of Resume Writers Digest, a trade publication supporting professional resume writers & career industry pros. Founder of BeAResumeWriter.com. Twitter: @RWDigest

Daisy Wright (Yours truly): Certified Career Coach & Resume Strategist || Writer || Author || Connector || Sports Junkie || Cat Lover || Passionate about helping professionals and newcomers to Canada tell their stories and get hired! Twitter: @CareerTips2Go

Dawn Bugni: Master Resume Writer, Certified Professional Resume Writer; BS-Business Management, former recruiter, more than 25 years in corporate positions. Animal lover. Twitter: @Dawn Bugni

Dawn Rasmussen: As the chief resume designer at Portland, Ore.-based Pathfinder Writing and Career Services, I work with clients from across the United States and Canada and from all career levels.

Dorlee M: Social Work Career Development Blogger (MBA) (MSW) interested in a wide variety of topics including career advice, psychology, business & more. Twitter: @DorleeM

D J. Hornsby: Certified Zentangle Teacher. Social Media Disciple. Sunshine. Twitter: @djhornsby

Gayle Howard: I am a professional resume writer, author and blogger. I love words, respect their power and I’m passionate about using language that evokes an immediate and positive reaction from employers. Twitter: @GayleHoward

Hannah Morgan: Career Sherpa: Guide for lifetime career navigation. Sharing information, holding accountable, better world. Social job search | Reputation Management | Strategiest. Twitter: @HannahMorgan

Inside Jobs: Inside Jobs gives you the power to shape a confident future. Discover what you want to become and find the education path to make it happen at InsideJobs.com. Twitter: @InsideJobs

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter: As chief career writer and partner (owner) with CareerTrend.net, I write resumes that influence; compelling dossiers that are both content- and story-driven and elegantly designed. Twitter: @Valueintowords

Jan Melnik: I am among those fortunate enough to say I absolutely love my work! And as a job-search strategist and coach/resume writer for 20+ years now, I have been helping clients at all levels. Twitter: @JanMelnik

Lisa Taylor: Passionate about careers and life stories. Loves solving hard problems, learning new perspectives and starting new projects. Founder of challengefactory.ca

Mike Brown: Strategy, innovation, creativity, & social media ideas at Brainzooming.com. Twitter: @brainzooming

Miriam Salpeter: Job search and social media coach, resume writer & author of Social Networking for Career Success. Empowering successful job seekers & entrepreneurs. Twitter: @Keppie_Careers

Ms Resume Help: I’m Holly Bunn- Ms Resume Help. I look forward to providing you the best resume tips, job resources, and events to help you GET HIRED! Follow me today! Twitter: @MsResumeHelp

Paul Copcutt: Personal Brand Architect, love inspiring people to bring more of who they are to work. Have a little fun, add to knowledge base and stop once in a while. Twitter: @PaulCopcutt

Rosa Vargas: Rosa Elizabeth Vargas credentialed resume writer with four of the career industry’s Top Resume Writing Certifications. Nominated for Best Executive Resume and Best Creative Resume TORI awards. Twitter: @resumeservice

Sarah Nelson: Innovative, optimistic and energetic people enthusiast; passion for creativity, lifelong learning, adventure and global thinking. Twitter: @SarahNelson71

The Strategic Recruiter: AIRS Alumni, Recruiter, Researcher committed to improving the Candidate Experience ~ Identifying top talent for Fortune 500 companies is a skill and a thrill ~ Tweets as @talentgenie [Jobs ~ Career]

Walter Akana: I am a career / life strategist, who brings a unique blend of training and experience in coaching, personal branding, and online identity to guide mid-career clients who are hungry for change. Twitter: @WalterAkana

Bookmark Career Coaches Corner on Pinterest as pins are added to the board fairly often. Or connect with any or all of the contributors. You just never know who might be able to help you move your career forward.

To your success,

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Filed Under: Job Search, Social Media Tagged With: board, career changers, career coaches, career coaches corner, Daisy Wright, infographics, Job Search, job seekers, pinboard, pins, Pinterest, professional resume writers, Social Media, social networks

7 Habits of Highly Successful Job Seekers

July 23, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

This post is in honour of the legendary management guru Stephen Covey, author of the bestselling book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, who passed away recently. Mr. Covey’s principles were not meant to be a quick-fix prescription for personal growth, but a deliberate plan of action to achieve one’s personal, professional or business goals. In the same way, the tips below are not quick-fixes nor are they all-inclusive, but they can be applied with some degree of success if one is committed to professional growth. Highly successful job seekers:

Are Proactive: They know how fickle the job market is so they adopt a proactive mentality and are always prepared for their next opportunity. As such, their career marketing documents and resources (resume, cover letter, portfolio, personal website or blog) are up-to-date.
Exude Confidence: They know their value and the contributions they have made to the company’s profitability, and are able to articulate this with confidence, but without appearing boastful.
Invest in their Careers: They assess their personal strengths, know their areas for development, and are committed to continuous learning through formal and informal means.
Have a Circle of Influence: They have built their own circle of influence because they know that they cannot accomplish much on their own and that they need the support of others to succeed. This circle is a formal or informal board of directors of 4-8 people, including some whose career trajectory they would like to emulate, and others who are ready to dispense advice when requested.
Are Active on Social Media: They know that social media is an equal opportunity platform that does not require a Ph.D. to sit at the table, but offers opportunities to have a presence, drive engagement, demonstrate their expertise and build credibility.
Demonstrate Cross-Cultural Competency: They make a deliberate effort to operate in different cultural settings because they recognize the benefits of having diverse groups of talented people working together to solve problems better and faster.
Know How to Collaborate in Virtual Teams: They know that their team members are not always in the cubicle next door, but could be miles or oceans away. In this regard, they have well-developed skills to work productively in virtual teams.

As you reflect on the life of Stephen Covey and his contributions to society, take a moment to reflect on your own career and see if you are on the right path, and even attempt to create your very own ’7 Habits’ that will help you move your career forward.

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Filed Under: Career Coaching Tagged With: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 7 Habits of Highly Successful Job Seekers, cover letter, cross-cultural competency, Job Search, job seekers, professional development, professional growth, resume, Social Media, Stephen Covey, successful job seekers

Social Media: The New Job Search Frontier

May 19, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

Recently I did some presentations and a webinar on social media for my clients and a couple of community organizations, including the Kiwanis Club of Brampton. These presentations offered simple strategies to build a LinkedIn Profile, how job seekers can use social media to market themselves to employers, and how professionals and entrepreneurs can benefit from having an online presence.

Many people are nervous at the mere mention of social media. They are afraid people might misuse their information; they want to guard their privacy, or they are just plain overwhelmed with so many of these tools from which to choose. One webinar participant wrote me to say, “I am scared of a free service that takes my data to make money and promises not to share my information.” She then asked if I thought she was paranoid. Privacy is a legitimate concern, of course, especially since we know, or have heard of many online horror stories, but one does not have to become paranoid.

At one point, I was hesitant to use Facebook, for example. Although I have had an account since 2008, I did not start actively using it until 2010, when I began to see additional benefits other than getting updates from my nieces and nephews. So, social media is scary, and it might look like a time-waster sometimes, but is that enough not to test the waters? From a job seeker’s perspective, is it worth missing out on potential job opportunities, or connecting with a couple of influential decision makers? Wouldn’t it be nice to address someone by name at one of your target companies instead of “Dear Sir/Madam”?

There are many advantages to using social media. During a LinkedIn conference in Toronto last week, the keynoter said, “If you have hired more than 10 people through LinkedIn, stand.” Over 600 HR professionals and recruiters stood up. In other sessions, presenters spoke about how companies can build their employer brands on LinkedIn by reaching out and engaging potential employees through Career Hub Pages and Groups. The overall message from my perspective as a career coach is that job seekers need a LinkedIn presence, for starters.

I also learned that Canada is the 5^th largest country on LinkedIn, and that IBM is one of the most active companies on LinkedIn, with over 280,000 employees and 650,000 followers. Want to join IBM? There are lots of people with whom you could connect!

Here’s a summary of some major social media tools:

LinkedIn – known as the number one social media tool for business, it has over 150 million members. Not only can profiles be created, but resumes can be uploaded, and by following Company Pages, one is able to keep track of new hires, promotions and the overall health of specific companies.

Twitter – a free micro-blogging platform that sends short messages using 140 characters. Recruiters, employers and HR professionals are quite active on Twitter and quite often use it to announce job vacancies.

Facebook – permits businesses to establish a presence and allows people to “Like” and follow those businesses.

Pinterest – a content sharing service that allows members to “pin” images, videos and other objects to pinboards. At first glance, one may wonder how effective this is as a job search tool, and the jury is still out on this. However, if you are the creative/artistic type, you can certainly market yourself or your business with it, so, join Pinterest and ‘get ‘Pinspired’!

Google+ – another content sharing service, with an added feature called ‘Hangouts’. It’s a new video service where one can hold meetings, arrange study sessions, family meetings, or social gatherings with up to 10 people. Some companies have already started to conduct interviews with Hangouts.

About.me – serves like a parking garage for your online presence. It is a personal page that points people to everything you do around the web. It can be useful as a link in an email instead of uploading your resume and your other documents.

I believe the new job search or business frontier is through social media, and job seekers and entrepreneurs need to leverage its use. None of us can afford to be left out, especially as online interactions are becoming as meaningful as in real life. Does this mean social media is the ‘be all’ of your job search or business? No! What it does is help you build relationships, engage in conversations, and demonstrate your expertise. This will (over time), lead to opportunities, value and profitability.

Still scared? It’s time to jump on the social media bandwagon. Experiment and see which ones resonate with you, because these tools have become major players in how we conduct a job search, how and where we do business, what we purchase, and who we connect with.

Comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Filed Under: Job Search, Social Media Tagged With: Canada, career coach, Daisy Wright, entrepreneur, expertise, Facebook, Google+, HR professionals, human resources, IBM, job opportunities, Job Search, job seekers, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Profile, marketing to employers, Pinterest, recruiters, relationship building, Social Media, Twitter. About.me, value

Modern Ways to Job Search

March 7, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

Source: coloradotech.edu via Daisy on Pinterest

Social media is enabling job seekers to market themselves creatively to employers, and the image above highlights some of the tools they are using. Of course, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook take centre stage. With so many tools, one is left to wonder if the days of the paper resume are really numbered, or as it’s often touted, if “the resume is dead!” As seen on the image, one-third of human resources managers predict that traditional resumes will be replaced with social/business networking sites.

With respect to networking, although the term generally conjures up images of forced smiles and awkward conversations, it is well-known that more than 80% of job opportunities are found in this manner. Therefore, the onus is on job seekers to learn effective networking skills to improve their chances of job search success.

“A blog is a non-intrusive way to get employers interested in your brand without even applying for a job”, says one statement in the image. This is a message I constantly sell to job seekers, including a group of communications, advertising and marketing professionals I spoke with recently. Use a bit of creativity, start your own blog or contribute to other blogs to stand out from the crowd and grab the attention of potential employers.

While job seekers should embrace these modern job search tools, they also need to be cautious. Using these tools to bash one’s boss or to post inappropriate comments or images online is a breach of social media etiquette.

Filed Under: Job Search, Social Media Tagged With: blogs, brand, employers, job, Job Search, networking, resume, resumes human resources managers, Social Media

“Read an E-Book Week” is March 4-10, 2012!

March 4, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

Don’t be surprised if from March 4-10, 2012, you see ebook authors offering their books at steep discounts, or for free. You see, March 4, is Read an E-Book Week, a practice that’s been going on for several years. The Canadian Parliament took it a step further by declaring during its 41st sitting in November 2011, that March is Read an E-Book Month. We have Canadian author, Rita Toews, to thank for that. Toews is an award-winning author and founder of E-Book Week.

If you are an author of an ebook, or you have converted your Pbook (printed version) to an ebook, you might want to participate in Read an E-book Week. Additional information can be found on E-Book Week and Smashwords. As a participating author, I am pleased to announce that No Canadian Experience, Eh? is being offered for $10.97 from March 4-10, 2012. That’s almost a 50% savings!

No Canadian Experience, Eh?, was a ‘first-of-its-kind’ career guide (when the first edition was published in 2007), that addressed the challenges that new Canadians face during their job search. It covers not only job search basics such as resume and cover letter development; preparing for and mastering the interview; building professional networks, and accessing the hidden job market, but includes advice and strategies from top career experts on social media, personal branding, onboarding, green careers, leadership, stress management, career assessments, self-employment, consulting and time management. It also contains advice and tips from recruiters and human resources professionals who understand what employers look for in potential employees.

Make sure to click on the image below to grab your copy, at almost 50% off, before midnight on March 10, 2012.

If you would like to have access to these proven job search and career strategies contributed by 16 career experts, and condensed into this guide, then don’t miss this opportunity! Grab your copy here: Read an eBook Week!

Happy reading, and spread the word about Read an E-Book Week. Hundreds of authors are participating in a variety of ways. See Smashwords

*This offer will not be combined with any other offers.

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Filed Under: Book - No Canadian Experience Tagged With: Canadian Parliament, career experts, career guide, cover letter, green careers, hidden job market, HR, human resources, interview, job search basics, no canadian experience, onboarding, personal branding, recruiters, resume, Social Media

What’s all the Hype about Pinterest?

February 22, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

Last year, it was Google+, now it’s Pinterest! Social media is exploding at an alarming pace that it’s becoming quite difficult to keep up. At the same time, as a career coach, I have to know what tools are available so I can guide my job-seeking/career transition clients accordingly.

With that, and as an early adapter, I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and requested an invitation. A couple days later my request was granted and I created an account, curated my websites, then decided to explore the tool in more depth. It has visual appeal, for sure, is great for graphic content and creative job seekers could find ways to build their resumes. As a matter of fact, I found one resume I thought was unique and pinned it to my board. So, since my foray into the tool two weeks ago, here’s what I found:

It is a virtual Pinboard that “lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes”, and may I dare say, create somewhat of a resume.

It drives more referral traffic than Google Plus, LinkedIn and YouTube combined. Shareaolic Report. If it drives more traffic than LinkedIn, should job seekers be playing in that space?

Techcrunch reported that it had 11.7 million unique visitors, faster than any other standalone in history. It was also named by Techcrunch as the fastest startup in 2011. How many of those visitors were recruiters and hiring managers?

Their goal is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” A bold goal!

Toronto’s Globe and Mail says “Pinterest leads content curation boom”.

In a couple of days I will be speaking to a group of communications, advertising and marketing professionals, and with such a creative bunch, you bet Pinterest will be a part of the discussion!

Can job seekers use this tool to maximize their job search? What are your thoughts?

By the way, if you wish to come along for the ride, you can click here to follow me on Pinterest.

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Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: G+, Google+, Job Search, job seeker, LinkedIn, Pinterest, resume, Social Media, Youtube

10 Reasons CareerTips2Go Café is better than Starbucks!

January 16, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

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:

A Coach-on-Call to assist you with your resume, interview, and other job search questions.
Step-by-step instructions on how to how to create your own story-telling resume.
Opportunities to learn how to leverage social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+) to build your professional network.
Tactics on researching companies, bypassing the gatekeepers and getting to the decision-maker
Strategies to increase your confidence and boost your self-esteem.
Access to up-to-date interview trends and case studies.
Coaching on how to articulate your accomplishments, strengths and potential to your next employer.
Up-to-date career resources and techniques at your fingertips.
On-demand coaching customized for you.
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!

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Filed Under: Career Coaching Tagged With: Career Coach on Call, careertips2go, careertips2go cafe, Facebook, Google+, interview, Job Search, LinkedIn, McDonalds, resume, self-esteem, Social Media, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, twitter

Own Your Name. Build Your Personal Brand. Up Your Job Search Game

January 12, 2012 by daisy Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Job Search Tagged With: brand, ceo, entrepreneur, Facebook, Fast Company, Google+, HR managers, Job Search, job seeker, LinkedIn, personal branding, recruiters, resume, Resumes, Social Media, stories, twitter, Youtube

10 Résumé Buzzwords to Avoid in 2012

December 14, 2011 by daisy Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Resumes, Social Media Tagged With: buzzwords, decision-maker, hiring manager, Hot off the Press, Job Search, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Profile, professional profile, profiles, recruiter, resume, Social Media

Client Lands Job Posted on Twitter

October 13, 2011 by daisy Leave a Comment

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!