MyJobSearcher.com

Madison Bradshaw was once a literary agent, who specialized in securing publishers for the piles of children’s literature that found their way to her desk. Everything from imitations of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, to original tales of tiny squirrels making their homes in hut-sized nuts across the forests.

Madison has just finished an interview, which felt like a total flop. She starts to blame herself for not being very articulate. But when she looks back on the previous hour, she realizes that (with all due respect) her budding employer wasn’t so perfect herself. She stops chewing on her nails, and convinces herself that the meeting could have run more smoothly if the interviewer had considered a few things.

The interviewer talked too much! When the woman began to talk about the company’s history, I was genuinely interested. The organization donates their money to literacy charities and writing centers which use innovative methods to help children read and write. They also seem like a tight-knit group of people and I found the office décor, which the woman alluded to often, quirky and colorful. However, after about thirty minutes of non-stop chatter, without offering me a chance to assert my opinions, my neck tightened up. I could feel myself spoiling like day-old Chinese takeout. I lost interest in saying anything.

Had she engaged me in conversation, I would have come off as the bright, enthusiastic woman I am. Yeah…Yeah! I’m a good candidate for this position, and the recruiter is just as responsible for her interview etiquette as I am. Fantastic, this feels good. What else didn’t seem right?”

She didn’t seem acquainted with my qualifications! I’ve worked with two of the biggest educational publishing companies in the US in both sales and editorial. Based on the ad posted on the online job board, these guys were looking for a detail-oriented person, who could occasionally pry his or her nose out of the fine print and schmooze around. There is no doubt: I’m an expert on sweating the small stuff! Details are important, and if someone thinks there are four typos in their manuscript, I’ll catch five. And hell, I used to sell subscriptions to people. I know how to make friends.

These were key positions in my resume. She didn’t refer to them specifically. It was as if she had scrambled to find my documents just before I came in, scanned over them quickly, while simultaneously pressing her jacket and fixing her hair. I skipped my morning run to do additional research, be prepared, for this? Sitting with a belly full of nervous energy I would have appreciated my interviewer having some familiarity with my background. To conduct a good interview, you need to be acquainted with who you’re interviewing.

She didn’t ask the right questions! Probably because she hadn’t done her homework. She used really broad prompts to stimulate dialogue, such as “tell me a little about yourself”, and “what did you learn in the publishing industry?” I had expected her to lead the interview, so I was tongue-tied when suddenly I had to drift into a monologue. It seemed to me that she preferred the method of two people talking at each other. The result, a conversation without dynamic—I felt disconnected.

If she had asked me what my greatest challenge was transitioning from an editorial assistant to a sales representative, I would have gushed about how strange it was to be a salesperson after having grown so accustomed to silent immersion with the books and proposals. But I’d succeeded in my new profession, because ultimately, I was rallying for a cause that I cared about so much. I would have said all this, and she could have determined my strengths, weaknesses, work ethic, and personality via one good question.

Her behavior was too casual for comfort! I appreciate it when people make me feel comfortable by being casual with their body language and expectations, because I can be just a little on edge sometimes (no run equals a nervous nancy). But it seemed to me she didn’t have an established set of rules for the interview. I got the impression that she was a very flexible supervisor, but she couldn’t be firm and make her requirements known.

She often waved her hand dismissively, as if to say, “Anything goes in this office.” I think that sort of I-am so-chill attitude would ultimately make my efforts seem pointless, especially being a perfectionist. I went to this job interview hoping to be recognized for my unique abilities, but instead, I felt like I was auditioning for membership in an every-one’s-welcome club that would accept me for merely being a human being with hand-eye coordination. In general, I came out feeling muddled. It’s not that the employer had rejected me. It’s that the employer expressed no curiosity in my potential. When she compared me to other job seekers, she made no distinctions; I was as good as anyone and as unfit as anyone in her eyes. And let’s face it: I’m fantastic! That is that.

I wanted to thank Mike Babcock and the Chicago Opportnities Group for inspiring a reformatted presentation expansion piece that is provided below. If you find yourself in the Chicago land area looking for work or a great networking opportunity look no further than the Chicago Opportnities Group.

Below you will find several tools that will help you better engage social media. I have also included links to stories I mentioned with brief explanations of relevance.

Feel free to take it all in or scroll to the points of interest most pertinent to you.

Included Below

Facebook
Twitter
Linkedin
Google (searches, and tracking your job search)
Job seeking through social media stories
Blog platforms
Personal Branding (ShareThis, StumbleUpon, your music)

Facebook

When discussing Facebook many people’s questions surrounded privacy. One of the easiest ways to both project professionalism and preserve the outgoing social atmosphere on Facebook is to create more than one profile. John Smith and John ‘THE WILDMAN’ Smith. Both can exist with different e-mail accounts.

Another avenue to explore is specifying privacy settings. Social Times published a short brief on the subject that is available here.

Twitter

Twitter seems to draw a lot of interest and confusion. The Twitter Handbook, is a quick read and straight forward guide. You should be able to download the handbook here.

If you have trouble with the previous link follow this link. “Claim your Twitter Handbook Here” at the bottom of the page will direct you to an opt in e-mail that will give you access to download the book for free.

The book is a great beginner’s guide to understanding how Twitter works. But also offer some valuable tools for specific purposes. There are many, so download the handbook or read it online. I still flip back to it as a reference.

Searching Twitter can be extremely helpful. Searching keywords “job search” can begin to help you find specific Twitter profiles that aggregate available jobs and connect with others engaging the job market. Including additional industry specific and geographical keywords can help you find specific opportunities. For example, “Web developer Chciago IL.”

Using supplementary tool such as Tweet Deck (other similar tools are offered in the handbook) allow you to keep active searches for key words.

Some specific profiles that disseminate job postings include:

http://twitter.com/hashjobs
http://twitter.com/dnzDotNet
http://twitter.com/dnzTranslation
http://twitter.com/workinsports
http://twitter.com/icn1
http://twitter.com/ZuluJobsSC

(there are literally thousands of others)

Linkedin

See what groups like minded professionals are associated with. Join them. Spark conversation. Ask questions. If it is in sync with your personal branding agenda, be sure your profile is complete and open for all to see.

Recently published, Linkedin released Advanced Techniques For Finding A Job Quickly On LinkedIn. The presentation offers great direction for using Linkedin as a job search tool, and also offers specific demographic breakdown of Linkedin users. This information is helpful in best positioning your self to be noticed by hiring professionals when looking for work.

To answer some specific questions that were asked at Wednesday’s Meetup, resumes can be uploaded to Linkedin. This can be done by navigating to your own profile. When viewing your profile, the right hand column features a place to upload resumes. Resumes can be uploaded in pdf or MS Word file formats.

Who is viewing your Linkedin profile? This seemed to spark some interest. This feature was unveiled in May. When logging into your profile page “Who’s viewed my profile” appears in the right side bar. A brief article can be found here that discusses the inception of the feature.

Google (searches, and tracking your job search) Lean on Google for service and answers. If you find yourself stuck working through any social media tool write a brief question use that question as a Google search. It is amazing how many correct answers to questions you have will be returned as the first results from your search.

Take control of your job search by tracking your efforts ensuring timely follow-ups and efficiency. Many people I have worked with mention that they have forgotten how many companies they applied to, when they submitted applications, etc. Using Google services can streamline your efforts. It is free and Google services interface with one another.

Google constantly expands functionality, offers interactivity between Google services, and is accessible from any place that you can access the internet.

My suggestions for job search purposes are Google Voice, GMail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs.

Most of the aforementioned Google service are self explanatory. Google Voice is a new product syncing multiple telephones (work, home, mobile, etc.) through one phone number you select through Google Voice. The service is completely free and includes call forwarding, voice mail transcription and audio play back, text messaging, nation wide calling and reduced international rates all from your desktop. Users can create individual voice mails for every phone number entered into their contacts.

If you already have a Gmail account with established contacts, as long as there is a phone number listed with that contact you can reach that person through Google Voice. To better understand the service check out these videos.

Google Docs is the other lesser known Google service listed above. Google Docs allows a user to upload documents for Web storage and access. Google docs accepts PDF and most MS Office programs’ documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).

The service also allows you to edit most uploaded documents. If you had an MS Word file formatted resume, that resume could be edited, saved, and attached to an e-mail rather quickly ensuring a quick response to request and no need to reach your home computer.

Google Docs also lets you share documents. When uploading documents users can choose to keep a document for personal use only, make available to the public, allow specific individuals to view the document, or allows specific users to be collaborators and edit the document.

Out of town? Didn’t happen to be carrying your resume on a thumb drive in your pocket? Well that’s one thing Google Docs can be doing for you.

Job seeking through social media success stories

These are links to two stories of individuals who were successful in using social media to find a job. I feel the stories are valuable as they may give you ideas of how to leverage social media to further your own personal brand.

Angeline Vuong, City Search, formerly of crowdSPRING

Brittany Ward, Nature’s Table Café

Brittany’s story may be more valuable to you as it is better documented as a recurring blog dedicated to her job search. Suddenly finding herself laid off she did a good job of presenting professional questions that were engaging and involved a degree of interactivity—her voting polls.

Know that a blog may be a good platform to present yourself, but it will also need to be promoted else where to get people to read and find your blog. When you post to your blog let people know on Twitter, add a link to your Facebook profile. Be sure to make that message leading, more than just Checkout my blog. or Just updated my blog. Learn to excite. When informing people of new content on your blog through Twitter or Facebook think of your message as a headline that has to be effective enough to get the person to read what you have written.

Blog platforms

WordPress is the most popular blog platform. It is free and can be a great tool to market yourself. The WordPress home page features a 1,2,3 step process of launching a WordPress blog. While it is a great platform for many reasons. It is not as simple as 1,2,3 to setup or maintain. WordPress can be quickly learned, but be forewarned. If you feel like your technical proficiency is not the best be prepared to vest some time in this.

Ning is more user friendly. Aside from being a blog platform it provides simple tools that allows each user to develop their own social network: invite friends, send e-blasts to members, post images and video, each member of your Ning blog can curtail their own personalized profile.

Personal Branding

The tools in this section work to help you identify content (news, music, products, etc.) that you enjoy. I find it best to place this content on the social networks where you feel you make the most connectivity (Facebook, Myspace, etc.).

While these tools offered below are not directly correlative with active job seeking, they help you develop a sense of personality that is maintained online. By associating content (news, music, products, etc.) with profiles you have built on social networking sites you have created more things that people can connect with you about.

Essentially you are building your own online brand and meeting people—simple networking.

ShareThis is a great tool that allows you to share content from anywhere on the Web with people in your networks. Download the ShareThis button for easy use. Post content that defines your personal brand to multiple social networks with ease. Simply find the content you want to share. Click the newly installed ShareThis button on your tool bar, and select where you want to send content.

StumbleUpon helps you quickly and easily find content you are interested in. This video can quickly explain how the tool works. Complementing StumbleUpon with ShareThis can quickly help you locate content that defines your personal brand and share it with like minded people through the social networks you have established through Facebook, Linkedin, and Myspace.

Pandora can be easily understood as free online radio. Users select an artist or song and similar music will follow. Music is engaging content that you can leverage to connect and expand your social network.

Pandora’s Facebook app can connect your Facebook network with the music you listen to on Pandora. You can revisit the app to see what others are listening to, navigate to their Facebook profiles and generate conversation with music as a point of connectivity.

You will have to have friends on Facebook that have selected to use the app. Inviting friends to add the app. to their profiles ensures connectivity and offers you an opportunity to suggest a tool that may be new and exciting to them.

Shape the look of MyJobSearcher. We’ve been thinking about a new looks for sometime. So help us make the call. Out with the old and in with the new? Have some thoughts you would like to share? Leave us your ideas below. Your input means the world to us, and for sharing it we say THANK YOU!

Cross post to over 50 job boards from one online location. Of value?

I was tired of logging in and out. Tired of copy-pasting the same position again and again. Running short on time, I wasn’t able to post to all the job boards I wanted to. Maximum effort and moderate results were the case in hand.

  

Frustration fuels innovation. The idea for the newest efforts of My Job Searcher were just that. A teeth-grinding leap towards time savings and improved efficiency.

 

We developed a single online location that our staff uses to post to multiple job boards with just one click of a mouse. That’s right, log in once, copy-paste once, and post an available position on over fifty sought after job boards—time saved—efficiency proceed to 60MPH!

Connecting with popular free sites such as: Simply Hired, Indeed, Craig’s List (many cities are offered free), niche boards and employment offices around the country has improved our nation-wide reach. Linking Career Builder and Monster accounts has only further streamlined posting.

Could this be valuable to anyone else? Where should the latest innovation of My Job Searcher go next?

Knowing what is up during the holiday season is a very important part of getting through the holiday season. There is much to consider when managing your workload and arranging time off. You may need days off that others do not because of your religious belief. It is your responsibility to ensure that your work load will not be stopped or stalled and that your time off does not affect others adversely.

First there is the recognition of what is classified as the holiday season: Typically the holiday season begins with Thanksgiving and ends with the completion of the New Years Celebration. There are actually a number of different religious activities celebrated during this time.

For the employer, there is the recognition that each person’s religious holiday is not necessarily going to be when he is celebrating his religious holiday. The wise and respectful employer will take a moment to learn what the needs of his staff are and attempt to arrange workloads and schedules accordingly. If he does not, please remember to advise him of your holiday time needs.

It is not just about religious holidays either, there can be variations in national holidays, such as we find with Thanksgiving. That is a national holiday that many people from other countries don’t really feel a need to participate in. They may become the ideal work team for keeping the retail aspects of the company open during that time. The important thing to understand and adhere to is that there will be a national holiday they do practice, which they have brought with them from their homeland. The wise employer gets this date known and makes sure he provides the time off. The wise employee makes sure his employer knows this important date.

Also, if you are a manager with a diverse work force, make sure you provide a time for all the company to come together and enjoy the good will of each other. Some type of staff party that can be identified as a seasonal party to show respect for all people’s beliefs. Don’t try to lump it and group it. Bring them together as a group, while keeping their individual beliefs acknowledged.

If your group of workers is not diverse, then give them the celebration that is appropriate for their belief – at work. In essence, if all are Christians who work for you, put up a Christmas tree, have a Christmas party, and even play a game of Kris Kringle. There is no sense in not recognizing that which is, or attempting to rename it to something it is not.

Mostly remember to honor the holiday season, keeping its individuality intact for the group. Try to manage your workers schedules to the benefit of the group and the company. Keep in mind that various people will need various days off to address what is required of them.

The employee has an obligation to give his manager as much information about scheduling and days off as he can. He has also an obligation to do whatever he can to help keep the company going strong during a holiday time.

Ultimately the holidays are a time of joy and celebration, but the company does not close its doors and both must operate smoothly and happily.

What makes this country great? What makes it teem with life, energy, soul and beauty? The spiritual and religious beliefs that the people are able to freely experience and enjoy.

In our country, there are so many religions and spiritual beliefs that have come to become known and respected by so many. It does not matter if you are a Christian or a Jew, you have certainly heard of the Bahai, the Scientologist, the Buddhist, the Wiccan, and so on. Maybe you have even had opportunity to explore other religions than your own. Maybe you have changed your religious belief in your lifetime, or maybe you have been more able to grow in your own belief because you have found items of interest in the belief system of another that actually helped you re-align to your own faith.

Whatever the scenario is, we have one very great aspect to our country which has caused so many to experience so much more. Yet, we also still have a mostly Christian country, with the Christian holidays recognized most often and most broadly – this has caused people of other religions to sometimes feel that there is not such freedom for religions in our country, and they have begun to take steps to bring about a more equal representation of the many religions by various government officials.

As we have all seen, however, this is not always openly accepted, yet I believe it is important to understand this. The point of acceptance that gets disputed is not in fact because the person of a non-Christian belief wants recognition. It is because somehow his desire for recognition threatens the traditional Christian ritual that has been practiced for so many hundreds of years.

Our government has not quite figured out that the religions all have their traditions, their celebrations, and their traditional rituals that bring great comfort and joy to the parishioners, and that these cannot be joined together under one umbrella and renamed.

I have met many Jewish people who celebrate Hanukah and many Christians who celebrate Christmas. I have never met any person of the Jewish belief who put up a Hanukah tree, and lit 8 Christmas candles over a period of 8 days. I have yet to meet a Christian who put a holiday tree in his home or had a Winter party for the recognition of Christ’s birthday. The point is that the religions cannot be “glommed under one title”, and when our government attempts it, there is always unhappiness and unrest.

Let’s learn from them and not repeat this in our own work environment.

People are very proud and committed to their religions and their practices, teachings and traditions. They do not want Kwanzaa to be one more holiday stuck into Christmas season and Christmas renamed to Holidays. They want their practice and rituals recognized for what they are – it is a way we show respect for the religious beliefs of others.

The point of all this is that each religion has its uniqueness. Take a moment to find out from your coworker what his religious belief is and respect it. Be willing to share with him your religious belief – briefly. Take a moment to recognize and understand each person’s celebration and call it by the right name. If he is a good friend at work and a gift is appropriate, give it to him in recognition.

Don’t just expect everybody to be satisfied with a holiday season dominated by a Christmas tree that the government is calling a holiday tree. Appreciate and respect those unique things that make this country with all its religions great.

Everyone at the MyJobSearcher.com team would like to wish our visitors, job seekers, and members a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

What is a “value proposition”?  The best description of a value proposition is the personal career branding that the person brings with him or her.  It is his or her distinctive blend of skills, qualifications, expertise and accomplishments.  In essence, it is what you bring to the table for the employer.

In marketing terms you could say that you are the “product” and the potential employer is the “target market”.  The concept of value proposition is really nothing more than your own unique sales pitch to land the deal.  This time you are what’s being sold, and the deal is your own future employment.

Your goal is to create a marketing message or a value proposition about yourself through your resume, cover letter, letters of recommendation, and references as well as your appearance, actions, voice, attitude and mannerisms that makes the potential employer want you.  Wrapped up in a neat package and it becomes your value proposition.

How do you create a strong value proposition?

You want to present your best features to the potential employer.  You want to make the best market presentation of yourself.

There are five key areas to look to in order to do this:
a) identify and arrange your transferable skills – look over what you bring to the table, and categorize it for the potential companies that you could reach out to.  This helps you “target your market”.

b) research your target companies – find the companies through networking, newspapers, online job boards etc. that appear to have the best matched or the most suitable positions being offered for your transferable skills.

c) match your skills to those companies’ requirements – review your resume and customize it specifically for those companies and the positions they have to offer

d) “showcase” your added value – highlight and speak to with the most strength those skills and qualities that you have which most suit that position. Some experts in the area of value propositions suggest that to help you showcase you can create a section at the top of your resume entitled, “Profile Summary,” “Summary of Qualifications,” or Career Summary,”.  This will help to catch the attention of the interviewer.

e) ensure your marketing message of you is consistent – whatever you say about you throughout your cover letter and your resume:  keep it to one or two key marketing messages throughout the documents.  Don’t say on one page you are reliable, then say on the next that you took a two-year sabbatical.  Keep it consistent throughout.

Underneath it all, however, is going to be your own unique ability to show the interviewer that you can bring more to the job than what the potential employer is expecting.  In essence, you want to create your documents, appearance and traits all to be a true marketing of you.

Make sure you create a value proposition that can easily show the answer that is foremost in the interviewer’s mind:  Why should he or she hire you?

If you do this, then you have clearly identified your value proposition, and more than likely “closed the deal”.

You walk in, exchange names and a hand shake and sit down to start the interview.  The HR Rep explains the position and asks you a few pertinent questions about your experience and your interest in the position.

It’s going well, your answers are top of the line and you know it.  You feel good, you look good, you are in your element.  The interviewer can see it.  The office is filled with some positive energy and some excitement and enthusiasm is building for both of you.  More and more the feeling is the company has found their new employee.

Then the interviewer gives you your turn.  “Are there any questions you have for me?”  Now is your critical moment, your time to truly shine and show them your stuff and what do you say?  What is your FIRST question:

“Nope.  I have no questions.”  Bomb!

Or “Yes, how much vacation time do I get every year?”  Bomb!

Or “Now how long before I would see my first raise?”  Bomb!

Shake hands and leave now!  You blew it big time.  The rule of thumb is to always have a question or two prepared, more if you can.  The second rule of thumb is that the first questions asked are never about salary, benefits, vacation time, etc.  (in other words, the things you get).

Your first questions should always be showing two things:  First that you’ve taken the time to do a bit of homework on the company, and second that you have a strong interest in the position itself.  Accomplish these two before you ask about anything for yourself.

A good first question may be something like:  “I was recently reading in the New York Times that your company has just gone public and will begin trading on the NYSE in the near future, which I’m sure is very exciting for everyone, I’m curious if you know how that may affect your upcoming growth projections?”

To show your interest in the position, ask questions like why the position is available, or if this is a brand new position or an existing position.  Ask who your supervisor would be and/or who you will be supervising and how many people there are to supervise or in the department you will work in.  Ask about the type of work or assignments that are typically done in the department.  Ask about the company’s philosophy if it has not already been explained.  Ask about advancement in the company and any ongoing training requirements the company may have.  After you have satisfied yourself and the interviewer that you are there for the position, then it is ok to ask about salary, benefits, and so on.

Just keep in mind that you and the interviewer are looking to see that this is the job for you, this is the company you would like to be a member of because you like the company and what it is doing and you believe that you can contribute to its growth and expansion.  The interviewer understand that you are not going to work for free and that an important part of the process is the discussion of compensation, just do not allow it to become the main topic or the primary reason for the interview, and you will walk away with a strong potential to have that new position.