Resume Writing & Career Marketing Insider

Phishing a Threat to Job Seekers

Recently, I was flipping through the November 2005 issue of PC Magazine http://www.pcmag.com when an article of interest to my job seeker clients caught my eye.

According to the author of the article, Carol A. Mangis, phishing attacks on job hunters by indentity-theft con artists are on the rise. Job hunters who have posted a resume on a web site are at particular risk. Posing as a representative of a company, the thieves contact the job hunter by email, making a phony job offer and then asking for sensitive information such as birth date and social security number on a web page set up to look like a job application or background check authorization form.

We have all been warned not to respond to the phishing emails from phonies posing as legitimate companies such as eBay or your bank, but online job offers is a new method of attack that many may not be familiar with.

To protect yourself, the article suggests a few precautions.

1. Remember that most companies, even the very large ones, don't have online job application forms. If you receive a request to fill one out, it is very likely a phishing attempt.
2. If you are contacted with a job offer by a company you have never heard of, do your research and make sure the company is legitimate.
3. Remember that it is illegal for a company to ask for your birth date, so never give it out even if asked.
4. Once you have accepted a job offer, the company will need to know your social security number. However, if you must submit it online, be certain that the form immediately and automatically encrypts it.

To these warnings, I would add that any time you receive a job offer by email asking for additional information through email or an online form, simply take five minutes to make a phone call to the company and verify the legitimacy. Those five minutes are well worth the time spent when you consider the consequences of inadvertently providing sensitive personal information to the bad guys!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1869414,00.asp

Recruiter confidence remains strong

From a recent survey completed by ExecuNet (www.execunet.com), 62% of the 185 executive recruiters surveyed are confident that the job market will improve over the next six months. This is in spite of concerns over growing energy prices following hurricanes Rita and Katrina. In fact, 56% of those surveyed don't belive the hurricanes will have any significant impact on the job market at all, while 14% actually indicated they expect the diasters and resulting reconstruction efforts to ultimately lead to job growth.

ExecuNet conducts monthly surveys of the recruiting industry (Recruiters Confidence Index) and releases results to members and to the press. Results of September's survey are slightly lower than those of August, but remain optimistic. The industry is expecting a 12.5% increase in corporate assignments in the next six months and 49% of firms expect to hire additional staff to keep pace with anticipated growth.

Panel Interviews

I belong to several email discussion groups for resume writers, career coaches, and other employment industry professionals.

Today, the big question on one of the lists had to do with panel interviews.

When an individual has been interviewed by a panel, who do they send the thank you letter to? The primary decision maker or to every member of the panel?

The overwhelming consensus was:

The interviewee should ask for a business card from every member of the panel and then send a personalized thank you note to every person. When possible, for each, pick an item that was of particular interest to them and comment on it. Or, just thank them for their time and convey your excitement about working as a member of their team.

Researching Companies & Industries

Resources for company and industry research:

http://www.hoovers.com
Access to info on 42,000 public and non-public US and international companies. Subscribers also have access to more than 14 million small to mid-sized companies.

http://www.guidestar.com
Database of nonprofit organizations.

http://www.business.com
Business search engine and directory.

http://www.marketwatch.com
Information on global markets and companies.

http://www.corporateinformation.com
Information on world securities markets including company profiles from 58 countries.

http://www.pwcmoneytree.com
Definitive source of information on emerging companies that receive financing and the venture capital firms that provide it.

http://www.thomasnet.com
Comprehensive resource for industrial information.

http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm
Search for SEC filings.

http://www.businesswire.com
Source for news releases and regulatory filings for companies worldwide.

10 Ways Your Network Contacts Can Help With Your Job Search

Though 50% of my current sales are generated from referrals (generally, from past clients) and repeat clients, one of my primary goals for my business over the next year is to increase the percentage of new business generated through word-of-mouth sources. Over the past few weeks, I've been reading and studying a number of books on this subject and developing a referral marketing strategy.

Throughout the process, I've been trying to stretch my thinking "out of the box" to think about ways people in my personal and professional network can help to promote my business and increase my "word of mouth" sales. In doing so, it occurred to me how similar this process is to the networking that I encourage my clients to do in their job searches.

That has led me to develop this list of "10 Ways Your Network Contacts Can Help With Your Job Search"

1. Help distribute your resume and other career marketing documents to individuals in their personal and professional networks.

Provide everyone in your network with at least a few copies of your resume and any other career marketing documents they are using. Your contacts will often be more than happy to help pass along your resume to people in their own network who may be aware of opportunities or are able to help with your search in other ways.

2. Talk about you, your current career goals, and your value proposition at meetings.

Individuals in your network can help promote you as a "solution to an employer's problem" by discussing your qualifications and current job search at meetings and events they attend.

3. Invite you to attend events, such as personal or business meetings, workshops, or seminars.

Attending various events and programs are an excellent way to increase your visibility and contacts as well as knowledge and skills in areas relevant to your industry and profession. Individuals in your network can help by inviting you to the meetings, workshops, and seminars they attend.

4. Nominate you for business or community recognition and awards.

As a recipient of awards or special recognition for business achievements or for donating your time or resources to a worthy cause, you distinguish yourself as a leader. This is an excellent way to increase your visibility and contacts, and members of your network can help by nominating you or otherwise making award committees aware of your activities.

5. Pass along information and leads.

Members of your professional network can help you immensely by remembering you as they go through their day, and passing along tidbits of information that they think might help you in your search. This could be anything from news reports of trends impacting your industry, reports of companies that are growing or expanding, job announcements that they read, or simply leads on current or future job openings that they have been made aware of.

6. Provide you with referrals.

One of the top ways your network members can help you is by passing along the names and contact information for specific individuals who are either the decision-makers for jobs that match your target or are in a position to help you with your job search in other ways.

7. Make initial contact regarding current or future job opportunities.

Better even than passing along referrals, if an individual in your network becomes aware of a job opportunity, and they have a personal or professional connection with the decision-maker for that opportunity, they can make contact on your behalf. That way, when you follow up with, the decision-maker will already be expecting to hear from you.

8. Introduce you to decision-makers and leaders within your target profession and industry.

An immense help in building new relationships is to receive a personal introduction. Members of your network can help by introducing you to people they believe you should meet regarding your job search, and can even help by telling the person about you, sharing some of the things you have in common with the person, and talking a bit about your qualifications and professional background.

9. Help to arrange meetings on your behalf.

When a member of your network tells you about a person you should meet regarding your job search, he or she can help by actually arranging for a meeting between the two of you and setting up the details, such as time, date, and location.

10. Follow up on referrals they have given you.

After they have referred you, your contacts can follow up with the contact to see how things went, to answer questions, to discuss your background, and to reinforce your value proposition.