Career Advice – Follow a follower or a thought leader?

Job search today is a new experience for many, from the twenty-something 2013 grads looking to land their first full time job, to the mid-career professional whose job was outsourced a few months ago, to the VP level professional who just got caught in a corporate downsizing and was given a severance package replete with a boilerplate résumé, generic advice on looking for a job and a desk and use of the phone for 120 days in the outplacement company’s office.

Too many job seekers are unprepared for the new landscape and nuance of a job search and much of the advice they are receiving about résumés, cover letters, social media, networking and interviewing is stereotypical and 3-6 years behind the times.

This time of year I see dozens of Class of 2013 résumés a week from all across America and believe it or not over 75% of them look like carbon copies of each other, because this is how most career placement offices have told their students a résumé should look and read. They have been offering this same advice to their students’ year after year for at least the past 10 years regardless of the student’s major and without updating the résumé template they recommend to reflect the changes in how a job search is conducted; no wonder students are taking a longer time finding a job in their chosen field.

The same stereotype résumés and job search advice seems to hold true for large outplacement companies as well, however in their case it is because its hard to pay individual attention to such a large and diverse clientele, especially since they are paid in advance and the fee is based on quantity or service rather than the quality.

Then there are the many books and blogs that offer advice. Many just write and repeat what the masses want to hear in the most general terms and some are true innovators who offer worthwhile advice based on research and experience.

The bottom line is a majority of so-called Career Service leaders are really followers leading others down a path that has been worn out over time and needs to be replaced.

So if you are looking for a job and need paid or unpaid professional advice I suggest you look for people who are the new thought leaders and innovators in résumé writing, job search consulting and career planning. Look for the people who are tomorrow’s leaders, people who have new ideas and are willing to think outside the box, and avoid the people who blindly embrace yesterday’s leaders and their thoughts because their days have come and gone, never to return.

As always I am happy to critique U.S. resumes and LinkedIn pages at no cost. Email me at perry@perrynewman.com

Networking: Xmas is not only in December it can also come in May

Every year around Thanksgiving people I know start to prepare their Xmas list of who to send a greeting card to for the holiday season and which card it will be; who to buy a gift for and how much to spend on this person; who to call on the phone and speak to personally and who to email, text or tweet a Seasons Greetings; and who to forget this year because they have fallen into disfavor.  Whether done for personal or business purposes this is called relationship management.

Why December? Because in the spirit of the holiday we tend to remember the people we have forgotten all year long, and at this time of year we are not embarrassed to reach out to them to keep the relationship alive.

Well the same holds true for networking. For many job seekers, networking is like Xmas. They contact people they know only on special occasions, like when they are out of work and need help, and some people will actually wait until Xmas – even in May – because they’re too embarrassed to reach out to a person they lost contact with to ask for help.
You and I know Xmas is a once a year occurrence, but networking is a year round endeavor, and it is not only for people who are out of work, people looking for a new job, or for people who work in sales. Networking is something that should be done by everyone 365 days a year throughout their career because networking is how you get ahead and stay ahead in business and in life.

But what is networking really. For many today it is having 100-500+ connections on LinkedIn. Well that’s delusional. LinkedIn is one way to network but people tend to forget what this social media is, why it was created and how to best use it. LinkedIn is a RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT tool literally and figuratively. It is not meant to collect connections from people you barely know, rather it is meant to stay in contact with people you know, and more so to find people you should know and develop a relationship with them.

What I am going to say next is nothing new but what I would like you to do is take it as a personal challenge and make a pledge to implement these actions over the next 30 days.

1)      Go over all your contacts on LinkedIn and see if they really belong there. If they do reach out to them today, preferably with a phone call and if that is not possible electronically and say hello, find out what they are doing, and ask if there is anything you can do for them.

2)      If you do not know who they are and/or you have no use for them sever the relationship; keep your connections meaningful and proactive.

3)      Make an A list of contacts and look over their connections to see who you should get to know and then ask them to introduce you these people.

4)      Join groups where you can learn, contribute, get known, and network.

5)      Start at least 1 discussion in each group once a week and respond to at least 3 discussions a week.

6)      Make a list of people you worked for, worked with, went to school with or know socially who you are not LinkedIn to and not spoken to for a long period of time and reach out to them.

Remember networking is establishing and maintaining relationships and being there to help others in their time of need, and knowing you can call upon them in your time of need.

As always I am happy to critique U.S. resumes and LinkedIn pages at no cost. Email me at perry@perrynewman.com

At The Movies 2013

 

When looking for a new or better job, all agree that your resume, job search strategy and attitude should not be taken lightly.  So to get your undivided attention I’m revisiting “At the Movies 2013.”  a favorite way of mine to make my points and have some fun while doing it.

The Invisible War: Understanding and winning The Invisible War is a major problem for a great many job hunters, more so at senior and executive levels. This is because many jobs you want are invisible to you and all other job seekers since they are a part of the hidden job market. This is why you need to put yourself in a position to be found by internal and 3rd party recruiters representing these positions, since it is impossible for you to find them using conventional job search methods.

So how do you win The Invisible War? My suggestion is to make yourself as visible as possible on social media sites, especially LinkedIn, and let people know that you’re available and what you have to offer. Use these sites well to establish a unique brand and show off your personality and expertise.

The Imposter: This is something I used to see a lot of as a recruiter, business owner and in HR when I had to scan and read stacks of resumes and then chose and interview the people I felt best exemplified what I was looking for. Over 50% of the people I interviewed did not live up to the expectations I had based on the resume they submitted. Most often this was due to the fact that they, or their resume writer, felt the need to oversell their candidacy on the resume and therefore they came across as imposters during the job interview.

This is why it is so important that a resume be prepared by someone who understands what the employer is looking for and the questions they will ask based on what they read.  Everything on the resume must be true, clear and on-point, and more important you need to be able to back it up during a face-to-face interview without hesitation or thinking up an answer on the spot.

The Guilt Trip: This is something job seekers use as an excuse for why they have not found a job after a long period of time.  They tell themselves it’s the economy; it’s the city I live in; it’s the ATS; it’s the interviewer’s fault; it’s some type of discrimination etc. This is not to say these are not legitimate reasons why one did not land a particular job. Still, as they say “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”  All excuses are correctable as long as you understand and accept that they are self-made impediments to your success and that corrective action is needed to overcome them.

The biggest Guilt Trip I confront is people who are not willing to invest in the tools they need to succeed and who listen to others who make them feel guilty for admitting that they need to pay for professional help.  This is akin to the stigma that people attach to going to see a shrink to overcome a personal issue.

The bottom line is you do whatever it takes, especially if you’re unemployed or under-employed and you want to be in a better situation than you are in today as soon as possible.

Forget the excuses and perceived stigma that you and others think is real. You must dismiss any guilt feelings and accept that in many cases a short term financial loss is required to obtain your long term objective of getting a job with growth potential that you will enjoy working at. Guilt is only for the guilty, if you are honest and sincere there is no shame or guilt in worthwhile thing you do to get ahead.

As always I am happy to critique U.S. resumes and LinkedIn pages at no cost. Email me at perry@perrynewman.com