Job Search Tips

My friend Liz described leaving a bad job for uncertainty while looking for a new position, as “Changing Deckchairs on the Titanic” – an apt analogy in these frightful economic times. Of course, there are ways to minimize the risk when working to get a job… and I will go through some of the various strategies and tactics here.

First, remember that getting a job, whether you have one already or not, is work in and of itself. Plan your time. You will want to approach this in a structured and organized manner.

Keep track of the time and materials you spend on job searching. This will allow you to make a good determination of the value of others services in this area… in other words, if it takes you three hours to review jobs against your qualifications to make a choice of which ones to send your resume to, and you can get a recruiter or sourcer to do that for you – you have economized your time.

Get some practice in talking about your qualifications - even if it is just in front of a mirror. Remember to make note of special accomplishments that you may want to mention to a recruiter or hiring manager. Make a list of the companies you are interested in working for, and a list of people you know who already work there (or know someone who does). Your most likely entrance to a company will be through networking. Practice saying to people that you meet “Hi I am (your name); I do (your profession) and I am currently looking for a job – would you happen to know of something that is opening up?”.

Don’t be afraid to call the HR department of companies you are interested in and asking if they have any openings…most likely they will direct you to their web pages, and ask you to apply online. Get the name of the person you spoke with on the phone, and send them a note of thanks for “helping” you, after you submit your resume on line.

Check the job boards on line, and the unemployment job boards and the newspaper. Remember that if a job sounds familiar, it could be the same position. Keep track of where you have submitted your resume, so that if a recruiter asks you if you have been submitted you can tell them. Many companies will not consider you if you have already been submitted by someone else, or if you applied directly. Because in those cases, the Hiring Company will not pay the recruiter, so understand that they are doing their job when asking you if you have been submitted before.

If you get an interview with a hiring manager through a recruiter – ALWAYS get the full name of the person interviewing you and if possible their email address. ALWAYS send a thank you note to the person who interviewed you, and if you want the job, say so. Send a thank you email to the recruiter who arranged it. And communicate with the recruiter… don’t just say “it went well” – give details, what kind of questions were asked, how you answered…and again if you want the job, tell the recruiter “I think they like me, and I want this job”.

Don’t just send your resume without a cover letter. Cover letters are your “special commercial” to tell them where you heard about the position and why you think you are the right person for the job. And if they are looking for specific skills, make sure that you reflect those in your resume. And yes, that means you may have to have several iterations of your resume, each one focused on specific skills you have that match a job description.

And don’t say you can do something that you can’t – with technology today, it is very simple to check on your background and to get references that are not on your resume!

Looking for work

Several friends and acquaintances are looking for work at the moment.  And because I have staffing experience and hiring manager experience, they have been asking me for advice.  There are all the standard bits of advice that everyone in the industry (and out of it) gives; but I was surprised that some folks are unaware of a few tidbits that I will share here:

1. Google your name before you send out your resume and really check out what comes up!  You may discover that there are many folks with your name out there – be aware of who they are and what they do – so you are not caught unawares if a Recruiter asks you about a subject that seems to be a non sequitor, chances are they are trying to figure out if you are that (insert your name) who skydived in a youtube video or not… You will be surprised at how much “surface” level research is done through googling, and how many folks are mistaken for someone else.  At least if you have looked already, and if the Recruiter or Hiring Manager says “tell me about your skydiving video” you can chuckle and explain that it isn’t you, but someone else with your name.  This is good, because you demonstrate you are aware of your web presence and that you are comfortable with the fact that someone tried to check on you.
2. If you have a Facebook or Myspace page, edit your comments and pictures before sending out your resume. I know, I know, that is your “personal” space, but believe me – Recruiters and Hiring Managers will go and look to see what they can find out about you (and if anyone they know, knows you).  Rather than having to explain something that is iffy or unprofessional or just embarassing – remove it.
3. Update your Linkedin page and if you don’t have one, set one up.  Many HR folks will check a resume against the Linkedin.com profile and if there are mismatches, or questionable items – use it to screen the resume out.  Likewise, some HR departments will screen a resume out that doesn’t have a Linkedin.com account – dependent upon your career area.  If you are in Technology, Sales, or Management – you should have a Linkedin.com profile.  And it should be up to date.
4. The absolutely best way to get a job is through a referral from someone you know, who knows someone in the Company you are trying to get a job in.  This requires work – and let’s face it – finding a job is a job all by itself.  The job seeker should be actively researching where they are most likely to find a job that matches their skills and/or career goals, and networking to see who they know who can get them through all the standard resume filtering that happens.

I hope this was helpful to you if you are looking for work.  Let me know – leave a comment!

Word of Mouth…

We used to call ourselves “Bargain Hunters” or “Smart Shoppers” – now we are “Recessionistas”, finding the best buy and beating the economic woes of the land!  My co-worker and friend, Afsheen, coined the term… and I have been using it with relish for about a week.  My circle of friends have adopted it and so on and so on… who knows where it will end up next.  That is the joy of a “living language”.   Not that I am assuming that my adoption of this clever term will make it into the jargonaries of the world, nor that by our usage we will change the language – my point about it is that usage is viral because people tell others about what they are using.

In the decades prior to mass media (not really THAT long ago), most products were spread through word-of-mouth marketing.  One person would tell another person about how well it worked or how wonderful the product was, and it spread.  This is why so many advertising formats are “Testimonials” of one kind or another… because the majority of humans like to pass things along, share, and enjoy as a group.  The concept of viral (word of mouth)  marketing  came back into vogue when the internet became mainstreamed.  Social networking and the marketing that comes with it, is the good old fashioned word of mouth type of testimonial marketing that was prevalent a century ago.  The village is bigger now… the “mouth” is a screen. 

A person in Dallas can coin a term like “Recessionista” and in two days,  it can be heard in San Francisco and Boston in a conversation 3 times removed from the source.   Just think what you could do with a strong strategy and  purpose!

“It’s a living…language”

The language of work has its own syntax and overflows to the world in general… a couple of centuries ago, the workers who wanted to protest their working conditions, through their wooden shoes (french: “sabot”) into the machinery – which ground everything to a halt – hence the word “sabotage” came into common parlance. 

I noted that at a recent conference of vendors to a noted large company, a new “work word” has come into usage… it is a word that you have no doubt heard in civilian usage often enough, but has a slightly new meaning with the internet age:  ”socialize”.  The context was that the presenter, in acknowledging a reported problem in the process, said that she had “socialized this with her team”  i.e. discussed it.  There was a clear division in the audience, not by age but by “social network” savvy – the faces with giant question marks on them were not plugged in to the crowd-sourcing, tweet producing group who “got” the meaning of the presenters sentence immediately.

Although anecdotal, the buzz at the refreshment table during break, told me that the term used in that one sentence stymied about 30% of the room enough for them to be “socializing” it over the coffee cake.  If I had had enough time, I might have polled the 30% to see how many knew the terms “google”, “tweet”, and “crowd sourcing”… but alas, the meeting resumed.

It brought to mind that however pervasive technology seems to be… there is a section of the population who are at the fringes of it… perhaps getting some benefit, but mostly just wondering what is going on as it passes them by.  For those trying to stay employed in an age of evolving job duties and ever-pressing needs for more tech savvy even in the most traditionally non-tech areas, this means plugging in to the latest vocabulary.   And how does one find out what the newest terminlogy is? Use your connection capital and “socialize” it with your network(s)!

Always something else

Part of the challenge with being ‘technical’  (even for us Technical Generalists) is that there is always something new, or some new twist on something old, or some new possibility to consider.  I never feel as though I have mastered any “space” or “vertical” or “vector” because just as soon as I think I have something down cold, it changes.   Two months ago I could talk about Twitter and Tweeting and might have been talking like the adults in  Charlie Brown cartoon “Mwah Mwah Mwah Blah”.  Now Oprah is twittering and the technocenti are aghast that now Twitter might become the playground of ” soccer mom’s”.  Puh-lease.  For Oprah impact on Twitter go to this story on Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2009/04/21/oprah-impact-on-twitter/

For people who have been struggling out there to learn Flash Animation, there is a beta software-as-a-service (SAAS) model out, called Xtranormal.com – currently it is free to try, but will have a subscription.  Their tag is  “if you can type, you can make movies” … the interface is fairly intuitive and yes, I am addicted to making short movies with it (at least for the moment).  Do I need to know Flash? Nope.  Would I have a better movie if I did it from scratch with Flash, probably but it would take more time than I have to give it… this new generation tool allows me to get creative without having to spend the bandwidth to train first – so I sacrifice some quality in order to get instant gratification.

My point is, that if you focus your attention too long in one area, the rest of the picture will change dramatically.  The successful people I observe around me… they are masters (or mistresses) of being able to zoom in, sample, extrapolate, digest the concept, and zoom out again.  Speed readers with comprehension for technology or really for any growth area.  There will always be the need for total saturation experts in an area… but the need will be shorter in duration, because the “something else” occurs faster and faster as technology is evolving faster. 

Ready, set… Go!

The Age of Hybrids

I like the concept of hybrids:  “Something of mixed origin or composition” enabling a transition – the last part is my overlay of the dictionary definition.  The hybrids I am most excited by are the technological ones… the devices or services that are enabling us to transition easily to even newer and more exciting technologies.  Hybrid cars come to mind…enabling us to move from Gas dependent to a more efficient use of energy.  This concept of hybrids needs to be applied to the tools of our socializing and networking, as well… this is not as much a generational issue as it is a Tech/Non-Tech issue.  To move effectively and communicate efficiently in this age of hybrids, means to be able to use the tools wisely – to use Linkedin.com and Facebook.com in concert, to understand the values of texting, email, twittering and establish a strategy for it all.  It means exploring the other networking applications like Naymz and Brijj and eCademy and Xing and BrightFuse and the list goes on… It means making time to review and digest the fire hose flow of information and learning how to slice and dice it so that it means something to you. And most of all – it means finding a hybrid balance between using the technology well and maintaining your humanity. 

And for those of you checking out new fun things I share this tech-tool: http://phonetag.com/

Also, if you are still nervous about playing in Facebook – read this series of articles: http://mashable.com/2009/04/05/facebook-week-resources/

Knowledge is Power… use it wisely.

Tech Toys for Grrls & eBoys

First, let me say this about Google – great toys!

This nifty gadget   http://translate.google.com/translate_tools?hl=en   allows anyone to translate the page they are viewing to the language of their choice. Very cool and of course you’ll need to embed it in your website appropriately, and for some reason I can’t get the gadget to work in my blog…

Second, let me remind all the new Twitterers out there, that anyone can read your twitter if you don’t actively change your settings to private.  Case in point – read about the unhappy results on the BrandBuilder Blog http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/how-to-lose-your-job-in-140-characters-or-less/.

That’s longer than a tweet and shorter than my normal blogs, but I have vowed to blog more often, so shorter is what you get.

The elegance of social synchronicity

Yesterday, while reviewing the various and sundry news of my friends and acquaintances on Facebook, one of those friends (not an early adopter of technological toys) had posted a video of her front garden. It was very nicely done, and I loved seeing the progress of her garden. I was also impressed with the video quality and smoothness of the motion as she moved around the various plants using the zoom and moving around for different angles. I asked if she had bought a videocam, and her response was that it was a Flip Video. Of course I went out to the net to check on what exactly a Flip Video is…it is a small cell phone sized video camera with a usb plug and you can buy one that has 30 minutes of memory or 60 minutes of memory. The little blurb says you can upload to Youtube.com or any of a variety of social networking sites, such as Facebook, very easily…

In true synchronistic style, I then told some folks at the office about it. It is an impressive toy for less than $150 and of course, I want one. This afternoon, I get a tweet from Techcrunch about [insert drumroll] Flip Video…Cisco apparently has bought the small company that makes Flip Video – PureDigital Technologies for a cool $590M.

This is what I really love about the information age… once you have focused your attention on a particular item or subject matter – suddenly it is all around you. Very much like the act of observing the behavior of particles influences the behavior of particles… the act of observing phenomenon on the web creates phenomenon on the web.

And in this case, inspired me to comment about it on my blog. And BTW, the best price I have found for the FlipVideo 60 minute is on Amazon. Check it out.

“Career Portfolio-ing”

Yes, you read that correctly… The title is “Career Portfolio-ing“. I confess to being amused. Where did this term come from?

First, what it means: (this according to my “informant”, a friend who was recently laid-off and making use of the “outplacement” services being provided by his company): Career Portfolio-ing is the act of establishing multiple streams of income with multiple jobs that may, or may not, overlap the crossover skills you have in your resume; usually done to prevent burn-out or test the waters for a new vocation, or simply to avert the risk of potential lay-offs in large corporations where Last In First Out is the policy in tight times.

Why am I amused? Growing up in a poor financially struggling family, I don’t recall a time when my Dad did not have a FT job and several PT jobs (using his crossover skills, of course LOL) after he got out of the Navy. Mom, too. And as soon as I came of age, I worked too.

It was what we needed to do, to survive. Our big fantasy? For me to grow up and have a good job that had great benefits and that I could retire from. I find it ironic, that the model that I grew up with and hoped to escape – is now a new paradigm. Please note, I do understand that it is what we need to do in this economy, and in this time of constantly shifting career paths.

I do want to point out though, that when you see or hear this term, remember that Mom’s, the poor, and entrepreneurs have been “career portfolio-ing” since the beginning of time. Multiple streams of income helps to diversify the risk… it makes sense. Don’t mistake my observations for derision… I whole-heartedly agree that this is the way to go. I have done it for years… old habits are not necessarily bad habits. Like saying “please” and “thank you”, having a couple of gigs going helps keep you and your family with a roof over your heads, and food on the table.

To those of you  new to the concept, I say Welcome, and those returning to it, Welcome Back.  Good Luck.

The old dog that teaches itself new tricks

Being at the tail-end of the Boomer generation, I become ever more surprised at the number of my peers (the technical as well as ”non-technical” ones) who are quickly becoming, well, downright stodgy. These are the people who have computers but do not have a Facebook or Myspace page…answer their emails about once a week or less, and complain that their kids and grandkids know more about the computer than they do. They also complain that they are no longer getting promoted, or able to figure out what their younger co-workers are talking about.

These are not unintelligent folks… they are in professions that are not dynamically involved in networking, or at least in positions that they perceive to be “not networking oriented”…and when they lose their job, through attrition or economics or because they don’t “fit” anymore…they are at a loss.   Why is this happening?

Aside from the social divisions, there are self-imposed divisions within any culture.  The self-imposed divisions are the hardest to overcome.  People who make an effort to stay on top of what is going on in the world at large, not just the news, but what people are doing, how they are doing it, how new jobs are coming into being – those are the people who are teaching themselves “new tricks” and are able to be adaptive and “embrace changes”. 

Learning doesn’t stop when you leave school.  Technology, whether you like it or not, is continuing to evolve and if you can’t keep up you will not stay marketable.  If you aren’t sure where to begin, start with Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies ; then go open your Facebook or Myspace account and findout who you know that is there… you’ll be surprised.   I stay in touch with many of my Godkids more frequently through my Myspace and Facebook pages than I do on the phone, email, or snailmail.  Although I was surpised to have to explain just what “snailmail”* was to my 16 year old godson – *snailmail is paper mail sent by regular post.

If you work for a living and you don’t have a Linkedin.com account – why not.  It is the main US career-oriented site out there.  The one place where your “resume” being out there doesn’t instigate retaliation by a boss who thinks you are actively looking… this “open networking” is important for you should you ever need to find a job.  Remember the old adage “It isn’t what you know, it is who you know“. It isn’t strictly correct, of course, you do have to have skills and experience, but you also need an introduction to the people you want to work with.

Recently a friend of mine was interviewing for a position she really was excited about…she was represented through a recruiter who went AWOL for a few days. During that few days, the company was trying to reach the recruiter to set up the second/decision making interview.  She lost out on the job, and she was very understanding of the recruiter that had a family emergency and was AWOL.  She is still on unemployment and hoping that she can find a job before she winds up having to move in with friends.  She still doesn’t have a Linkedin profile.  She does have Myspace and Facebook, but doesn’t ever use them to network.

My unspoken thoughts (she is my friend and I was comiserating with her) were:

• Why didn’t the company have your direct contact info and why didn’t you have theirs? 
• Didn’t you send a thank-you for the first interview, another opportunity to get your contact info to them?
• Why didn’t anyone else in the Recruiter’s office handle this for him?

When I asked her, gently, why she didn’t follow-up directly with the company, she was horrified at me… in her mind, the recruiter was representing her, and she would have been rude and inapproprate to contact the employer directly. 

In my mind, once the introduction is made, it is as much my responsibility (since I am the one who wants the job) to communicate as it is the recruiter’s.  The recruiter works for the employer, not for me.  And I know that the recruiter will be compensated based on my placement – and has “skin in the game”, but I would not let that prevent me from trying to get the job if I really wanted it.  And unless the recruiter specifically asks me not to contact the person I interviewed with at the company, then I see nothing wrong with it.

This is an example of “old dog” behaviors that have not evolved with the technology.  In the coming year, and in the current economy, unless you are able to teach yourself new ways of doing even the most basic things, like saying “thank you” after an interview, you will be behind the curve. 

I am going to go check my email now…and tweet some folks.  And after I make another pot of coffee, I may clip and share some news on Social Median.  Check it all out…