Monthly Archives: March 2010

LinkedIn Profile Is More Important Than Résumé

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Do I shock you with this declaration? Think again. Your résumé is typically being sent to individuals, to recruiters, or as a job application, which has limited exposure. Yet your LinkedIn profile is open to literally the entire world around the clock. Moreover, as I understand it, LinkedIn is now considered the choice tool by recruiters and human resources professionals because it is so user-friendly and searchable.

If you think like I do, then you may want to revisit your LinkedIn profile and make a few easy improvements. For example, upload a professionally produced photo to enhance your image. Make sure the tagline contains a good description of what you do. The Twitter feature should be used frequently and appropriately. The summary section should be your marketing piece. Your current and past positions should be clear. Don’t say too much; rather, make them intriguing. Include a few but strong accomplishments in your bulleted items. Keywords pertinent to your profession should be listed as well. Listing your specialties offers additional, specific information that enhances your chances to distinguish yourself.

LinkedIn lets you upload various applications. Take advantage of that. Recruiters like to see that you have several recommendations. After all, they have to sell you to their clients. Recommendations serve as strong support for your candidacy because they come from others. Everything else you say in your LinkedIn profile comes from you, and in this case you’re a salesperson selling a product, which is yourself. If you have a Web site or blog posts, list them. Belonging to several professional groups also enhances your image. Similarly, if you’ve received honors and awards, they should be listed. You also should include some interests because you’ll be selected not only for your qualifications but also for your fit factor.

And finally, review your personal settings. There may be great qualifications listed on your Linkedin profile, but if you limit those you allow to view the profile, who do you think is losing out?

Alex Freund is the founder of Landing Expert–Career Coaching. His Web site includes a current and comprehensive list of job search networking groups in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and the city of New York, and the site is visited by thousands of people every month. Landing Expert is a premier career-coaching service with the objective of preparing job seekers for interviews. Alex’s clients are gaining knowledge, receiving marketing material, and acquiring the know-how to beat the competition.

Alex can be reached at:

609-333-8866

alex@landingexpert.com

www.landingexpert.com

Follow me on Twitter.

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Read my blog.

What’s on your Top Shelf?

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Do you know what’s on your top shelf?  No, I am not talking about your liquor cabinet.  Are you prepared to discuss the very best that you have to offer as a candidate?  In other words, what are your top skills, abilities, results, achievements and accomplishments?  Better yet, what stories can you share with the interviewer to demonstrate what’s on your top shelf that relate directly to the questions being asked?  With that said, are you ready to discuss the best you have to offer?

I have participated in many interviews, both as a candidate and as the interviewer, and I have NEVER been asked about my top shelf in the literal sense.  Let’s change the nomenclature…have you ever been asked about what you bring to the table during an interview?  I have.  It is not a question for which you want to be unprepared.  To be clear, it is not common to be asked this question.  What’s more, I am not a strong proponent of preparing to answer specific questions simply because you have no way of knowing what questions you will be asked. 

With a few notable exceptions (e.g., What do you know about the company?), I strongly endorse that you prepare for an interview by becoming an expert on you.  Not only do you need to know exactly what’s on your top shelf, but you have to be prepared to sell it.  Remember, this should be your premium stuff; the best of what you have to offer a company as a candidate.  One of the most effective ways to articulate and share your top shelf with an interviewer is to tell anecdotal stories to answer questions.  It is one thing to spout off facts and figures, and while potentially impressive, remember that stories are what captivate and engage human beings.  This is how we engage.

Anecdotal stories that are woven around and incorporate your top shelf will supercharge your candidacy.  They help us to see the forest through the trees.  Stories allow us to relate and connect and feel.  So, which stories should you prepare in advance?  Well, they should relate back to both the position description and especially the requirements.  These stories should demonstrate the best of what you have to offer in a manner that clearly and convincingly illustrates your ability to generate positive results.  I would suggest preparing 3 – 4 solid examples in advance. For extroverted personality types, this should be an easy assignment.  For introverted personality types, this may require you to step outside of your comfort zone. 

While this may not come naturally to everyone, it is absolutely essential if you intend to advance through the hiring process and ultimately land an offer.  As I often reiterate, no one can do a better job of selling you than you.  You do not have to memorize your stories word for word, but know what the problems and challenges are,  know the facts and deliver the solutions that generated positive results.   Anecdotal stories from your top shelf that display and showcase the very best of what you have to offer—what you bring to the table—will give you the edge you need to win over the interviewer.

How to find me:

My blog: http://yourtopshelf.wordpress.com/
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltfarley
E-mail: mtfarley@msn.com

Are you getting paid as a 1099 Contractor?

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Today more and more companies are paying people as a private contractor to save on payroll taxes.  If you are being compensated this way and you are showing up on site, reporting to someone then you are an employee of that company, which means you are entitled to more than you know.   Most employees don’t realize the added expenses that a company has simply to pay an employee.  Today with everyone trying to cut cost with the exception of the Federal Government one way is by avoiding that expense by paying you on a 1099 basis.

If you are working for a placement company like mine the people that I have working at clients sites are employees of mine and I cover those expenses.  The company or client pays me more to cover those expense but what they are no longer responsible for is when the project ends you don’t effect their unemployment rate.  Not only are these companies not paying for your payroll taxes they also are trying to avoid paying for your unemployment when you go to collect.  What then happens is a field agent will be called to investigate the claim and that’s when these companies get hit up with the violation.  And of course the ignorance runs a muck!

If I heard it once I have heard it a thousand times from employers telling me that in their line of work it is all good.  What a joke!  Here are some links that will help you.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

http://www.payroll-taxes.com/articles/employee-contractor.html

http://www.legalzoom.com/everyday-law/workplace/employee-vs-independent-contractor-differences

While in Transition, Are You Keeping Pace with Technology?

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I know that the title I selected for this blog represents a near impossibility. Technology in the past decade has been developing at a furious pace, and from what I read it is expected to speed up even more. And that makes it even more difficult to stay abreast with. In this blog I want to limit my intent to two areas when I talk about technology. The first area is the technology in your particular profession. And regardless of what that profession is, new and technological advancements are parts of every profession. Companies are very interested in reducing costs, and they therefore embrace technology to keep up their levels of competitiveness with others in the same industry. The second area is the technology that evolved in the past decade in the area of social media.

It is highly advisable that while in transition you stay on top of technological developments in your particular profession. Hiring managers are more interested in hiring someone who’s up-to-date as opposed to someone who’s been out for a while and who lacks the latest technology skills and therefore whose learning curve will be steep and possibly prolonged.

Equally important, I see the need for people in transition to show potential employers their proficiency in using social media. At the very least, one should use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook but also potentially some others. The aforementioned social media could give a job seeker a huge advantage by acquiring a personal brand and then promulgating it to would-be employers or other networking folks. As a career coach, I strongly recommend to my clients that they spend no less than one hour a day—and possibly longer—in learning the functionalities of these new and developing and ever-changing tools. Many recruiters and hiring managers take advantage of them, and so should you.

Alex Freund is the founder of Landing Expert–Career Coaching. His Web site includes a current and comprehensive list of job search networking groups in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and the city of New York, and the site is visited by thousands of people every month. Landing Expert is a premier career-coaching service with the objective of preparing job seekers for interviews. Alex’s clients are gaining knowledge, receiving marketing material, and acquiring the know-how to beat the competition.

Alex can be reached at:

609-333-8866

alex@landingexpert.com

www.landingexpert.com

Follow me on Twitter.

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Read my blog.

By using professionals when in job search can speed up your process

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A recent visit to a public restroom made me smile. I was hoping nobody saw me smiling, but it was quite humorous. In this recently remodeled restroom, everything was automated. To wash my hands, I placed one hand under a U-shaped pipe, which squirted soap. I then moved my hand under the faucet, and water flowed out. When I then needed towels, I waved a hand in front of a paper towel dispenser, and a towel rolled out. Yes, I could have placed my hands under an automatic dryer too. Such advanced automation made me smile and started me thinking, Why can’t the job search be so simple? And indeed, when searching for a job, we find that almost everything is still done manually.

Yes, you need to create a résumé. Yes, most people ask their friends to just “look at it” and suggest improvements. No, your friends are not professionals, but they can still offer you advice. My suggestion is that you get a professional resume writer to assist you. It will cost you some money, but would you have your car repaired by your friend who’s an amateur? And when you get really sick, would you consult your friend who typically gives you health-related advice? If you post your résumé and nobody calls, that means your résumé is lacking. A well-written résumé that highlights years of significant accomplishments will get reaction. If your résumé is written in an intriguing way that arouses curiosity about how you achieved your results and how you could do the same for others, then your phone will ring. When passing billboards on the highway, do you notice them? Some of them you may still remember.

And then comes interview preparation. So you think that since you’ve gotten jobs in past, you can be good at it again? Really? Today’s extraordinarily competitive job market rewards only the very best. There’s no gold, silver, and bronze here. Gold or nothing! So think again about your need of a professional for preparing for that interview. As a career coach, I help job seekers every single day. In the past I used to think that the more senior an executive is, the less preparation the person needs. Not so, I found out. At times even though executives might be more articulate than average, many of them—just like nonexecutives—still neither understand nor know how to apply the strategy of convincing an interviewer that they represent the ideal candidate.

The only automation within a job search consists of the various alerts one can set up so that when certain keywords appear in a job posting, the job seeker gets alerted. Try setting up an e-mail alert via indeed.com.  You can also use Google Alert for specific keywords etc.  I’m hopeful that technology will evolve to make the job search easier and more automated. Until then, job seekers have to do things manually, and my advice is to get professional help.  Those of you associated with the real estate industry know the expression FISBO.  This is the pronunciation for the acronym FSBO which means for sale by owner.  These are the do it yourselfers.  People not using real estate agents do save on commission.  But how long is their house on the market?  Do you know the tactics how to negotiate for a better price?  Be smart in whatever you decide doing.