Having an effective contact management system can save you a lot of time and missed opportunities, whether you are in business for yourself, in a job search, or on the job. It’s just too easy to let your inbox grow to unmanageable proportions, miss an important follow-up, waste time with things like “filing” or looking for that one email, or lose touch with potential clients. The key to solving all these problems and more, for me and for my clients, is to have a desktop-based or cloud-based system where all communication elements for a contact are associated with the contact, together in one place. These elements include Read more…
Categories: Building a Business, Career Centers, Job-Search Strategy, On-the-job Success, Org. Effectiveness | No Comments »
I’ve been sharing LinkedIn’s new Skills section with clients; they’ve found it very helpful for a range of activities including composing a resume or LinkedIn profile, evaluating a career change, deciding on companies to target, identifying contacts for meetings, and staying current in their present job. Once you input a skill you possess or want to learn more about, you get a “skills analysis” that shows you: Read more …
Categories: Career Change, Getting Interviews, Job-Search Strategy, On-the-job Success, Resume, self-promo, Social Media | No Comments »
Some clients who first come to me for help after a long and frustrating search attribute their difficulties to something they can’t control, such as age, experience (i.e. over- or under-qualified), weight, ethnic background, gender or, less often, some other physical feature. Yes, these biases do surface at times in the job search. But, once these clients start describing their search in more detail, nine times out of ten, I see that the problem is actually in their job-search strategy or execution!
So, if you have that “out of control” feeling, here’s a checklist of 10 things to make sure you are doing, to help you get back into the driver’s seat and on the road to the job you want. (read more)
Categories: Career Centers, Career Change, Getting Interviews, Interviewing, Job-Search Strategy, Resume, self-promo | No Comments »
The latest BLS report showed the unemployment rate stuck at a dismal 9.1%. BUT, more positive news for many jobseekers can be found within the data. In particular, the unemployment rate for those with a bachelors degree or higher remained much lower than the overall rate, at 4.3%, Read more …
Categories: Career Change, Job-Search Strategy | No Comments »
Performance reviews are widely used in organizations, yet are implemented inconsistently and are often controversial: Do they work? What’s the best way to implement them? Don’t unfair grudges or favoritism, or other forms of bias, fatally compromise them? I’ll begin to share with you a few thoughts on each of these questions Read more …
Categories: On-the-job Success, Org. Effectiveness | No Comments »
I’ve created a podcast from the 12 minute talk I gave on this subject in my June 18 Wednesday weekly seminar series, “Ask A Career Coach.” You can access the podcast HERE (on a PC, right-click “save link as” or “save target as” to save the mp3 file to your computer). The podcast covers the importance of knowing your audience and how to develop compelling content, for presentations on the job or in the job search.
Categories: Interviewing, On-the-job Success, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Job-search clients often ask me whether they should mail or email their cover or followup letter. I tell them to default to email unless there is a compelling special case for sending a traditional letter. The reasons I recommend email: Read more …
Categories: Getting Interviews, Interviewing | No Comments »
Post originally appeared in the blog for the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG)
Most of my job-search clients are getting interviews these days by tapping into the hidden job market; they are both reaching out to their network and contacting people directly who they don’t know. You, too, want to prioritize efforts that will allow you to bypass the glut of applicants going through ads or recruiting firms. Spend only 20% of your valuable job search time on ads and recruiting firms, and the remainder on the hidden job market. Here are four ideas to get you started. Read more …
Categories: Getting Interviews, Job-Search Strategy, Social Media | No Comments »
LinkedIn, accessed for free at www.linkedin.com, enables users to keep in touch with and expand their professional network, get introductions to others outside their network, and join groups of professionals organized around industries, professions, and associations. Recruiters routinely use LinkedIn to scan profiles for viable candidates.
LinkedIn has become essential to conducting an effective, productive job search! I hear from clients almost every day about how they got an interview or informational meeting via LinkedIn. Below I’ve included a few success stories culled from my clients’ experiences, to help generate ideas on how you can use LinkedIn. Read More
Categories: Getting Interviews, Job-Search Strategy, Resume, self-promo, Social Media | No Comments »
I’ve created a podcast from the mini-talk that I gave on January 17th as part of my weekly Monday seminar series, “Ask A Career Coach“. You can access the podcast HERE. FYI, the Six Keys are: 1) The New Goal is Marketability, 2) Manage Up, Down and Across, 3) Develop a vision for your Career, then a Plan, 4) Build and Maintain a Network, 5) Know when it’s Time to Move-on, and 6) Demonstrate Leadership.
Categories: On-the-job Success | No Comments »
