Resume Writing & Career Marketing Insider

To Get Hired in 2009: Networking More Important Than Ever

Networking has always been important during a job search, and when clients ask me what I recommend, I've always suggested that networking should be the activity that they devote the most time to.

But, for months now, I've been telling my clients that networking is becoming more and more crucial, and that to get hired fast, they MUST make networking their #1 priority. Just through simple observation of what has been working for my clients and what has not been working, I've clearly identified a real shift in hiring trends. In this current job search climate, I've explained, companies are seeking to reduce costs associated with hiring through third parties, and make necessary hires through referral sources instead.

Recently Gary Crispin and Mark Mehler of  CareerXRoads published their Annual Sources of Hire Study, and their findings confirm the trends I have been observing.

Here are just a few of those relevant findings, summarized directly from their report:

-- Referrals (employee, alumni, vendor, etc.) make up 27.3% of all external hires and is
arguably the number one external source.

-- Hires attributed to Job Boards (not including the company site) represent 12.3% of
external hires. We believe this SOH has indeed peaked and predict it will diminish in
the future.

-- The most visible trend in 2008 is the pressure to reduce hires (and associated costs)
attributed to third-party recruiters, newspapers and traditional job boards. A steady
growth of sourcing tactics especially social networks and search engine marketing is
also evident.

-- Company employees remain the most likely source for filling open positions. Of the
309,600 positions that were filled and could be identified as either Internal or External
fills, nearly four out of every ten positions (38.8%) were filled as a result of internal
mobility.

There is much more detail and interesting observations in the study. It is definitely worth the read if you are looking for a job now or expect to be in the near future.

Informational Interviewing: The Best Kept Secret to Cracking the Hidden Job Market

While it is difficult to identify the original source for this statistic, it has often been said that approximately 80% of all jobs filled are done so in what is known as the "hidden" or "unpublished" job market. These are jobs typically landed through word-of-mouth and referrals as opposed to the hit-or-miss method of answering ads, posting your resume to internet databases, or other techniques meant to target the remaining 20% of all jobs in the published market.

To open the door to this hidden job market, we've also been told, networking is the most essential key.

In my work as a professional resume writer and career coach, I have found this statistic to be true and this advice to be sound. Yes, networking! Networking is a key part of most successful job searches. Unfortunately, the thought of networking leaves many people feeling nervous and unsure. For an introverted or shy person, the idea of networking can even cause serious anxiety and fear. When I mention networking to a client, the most common response is to tell me how much they hate networking, how bad they are at it, and how they would rather do anything but.

In this article, I'd like to share with you a new perspective--one that is common sense, but that you may never have thought of before and that has the potential to dramatically change your next job search for the better: At it's core, networking is research. When you start out, it will be helpful to think of networking as a research project. As such, don’t be afraid to reach out to decision-makers and people “in the know” within companies and industries of interest to you. These are quality contacts. Explain your career plans and ask them if they would spend 15 minutes talking to you and answering some questions. Most people will be flattered and say yes. When you do get in front of them, NEVER ask for a job, but DO ask for advice and referrals.

If the above sounds familiar to you, it is because these meetings at which you are gathering information and asking for advice and referrals are traditionally known as informational interviews.

That's right! Informational interviewing. This is a technique that is frequently recommended to those just starting out in a new career, but I am recommending informational interviewing as an extraordinarily effective technique for people in all phases and stages of their career, from new graduates to seasoned executives.

Here are some tips to get you started with informational interviewing:

1) Begin by making a comprehensive list of experts and decision-makers in the field or industry of interest to you. Remember that your purpose is to gather information and advice, and most people will be flattered that you included them on your list of people "in the know," so don't be afraid to reach high. Be creative in tracking these people down--you don't need to come up with the whole list on your own. Ask friends, relatives, people you went to college with, contacts you have made in your community, doctors, and the salespeople you come into contact with if they have suggestions for people you should talk to. Talk to current (if appropriate) and past co-workers, clients, and suppliers. Make it clear that you don't expect anyone to know of an open job; that you are simply looking for information and advice. At the end of the process you should have a list of professionals in your industry or profession; people who can tell you about what is going on in the field, help you better understand the competitive landscape, describe for you what it is like to work in the field, and ideally point you in the right direction for the next person you may want to speak with.

2) Send a letter if introduction to each person on your list. If you were referred, mention the referrer by name. Otherwise, briefly introduce yourself and explain your purpose, explain that you are reaching out to them because of your interest in their field and your respect of their work (a little genuine flattery works wonders, but don't go overboard), and then ask if you could arrange a time for a 10 or 15 minute meeting at their convenience so that you can ask a few questions. Again, make it clear that you are simply seeking advice and information--not a job offer. Thank the person and let them know you will call to follow up and set an appointment in the very near future. Then do it. This technique will not work unless you take the initiative and make that follow up call.

3) Prepare, prepare, prepare. Prepare lists of questions about the profession or the industry. Do your research so that you know something about the person you are meeting with and the company they work for (you might be amazed at what a simple Google search will turn up). Make good use of your contact's time. Remember that they are busy people and they have set aside time to help you at your request. Don't waste time on too much small talk. Be ready with questions to help you gather the information you need to determine your next step. Go ahead and write these questions out and bring a notebook with you to jot notes during your conversation.

4) Don't bring your resume. This might sound like unusual advice from a professional resume writer. However, the informational interview is not the best time to bring your resume out as it changes the whole "tone" of the meeting. Your contact will likely ask for your resume, and if they do, you can mail it or email it with a thank-you letter as soon as you return home from the interview.

5) Be prepared with your 60-second "elevator pitch." You need to be ready to explain very briefly who you are, what you have to offer, and what your career goal is. The informational interview is not the time to stumble and stutter over this. You don't want to sound too rehearsed, but do anticipate the question about yourself and be ready with an answer.

6) Ask for referrals. It is essential that you do not leave this step out. Be sure to ask the contact if they know of someone else you should talk to.

7) Finally, show your appreciation and follow up on every single contact with a thank you note sent within 24 hours if possible. True networking is based on cultivating and nurturing long-term relationships. Besides being common courtesy, your efforts in writing and sending a sincere thank-you note will pay you back by further strengthening your relationships and helping to keep you visible.

Informational interviewing: it truly is this simple and if the concept of networking is uncomfortable for you, it is also the best and easiest way to expand your network faster than you ever thought possible. Of course, the ultimate benefit is that the more you network, the faster your current job search will come to a successful conclusion and the faster and more successful any future job searches will be.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. May be reprinted or used on your website or ezine as long as you include the following text:

Nationally certified resume writer, personal branding, and career marketing expert, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com  Based from her New Hampshire office, Michelle works virtually and has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of "101 Before-and-After Resume Examples" found at http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com and "Secrets of a Successful Job Search" found at http://www.job-search-secrets.com

How-to Create a Compelling, Branded Elevator Pitch for Your Job Search

The elevator pitch. You are probably familiar with the term. It is most commonly used to describe the concise 60-second speech that business owners and executives, as well as salespeople, use to describe their business, product, or service to others. More importantly, it is a speech that is delivered in a compelling way that describes what is unique about the business (or offering), describes the benefits to the target market, and excites interest in the listener.

So, why should you--the job seeker and career professional--care about the elevator pitch? If you are familiar with the concept of personal branding, and the idea of leveraging your brand to advance and promote yourself in your career, I’m sure you immediately recognized similarities between the above description of an elevator pitch and a personal brand statement.

Personal branding allows you to make a name for yourself. It differentiates you from your peers and helps to position you as a leader in your field – as a specialist and an authority who knows how to do a job and fill a particular niche in the workplace better than anyone else. A personal brand statement is a succinct statement that clarifies and communicates what makes you and your unique value proposition different and special.

Your personal brand statement will play a large role in your 60-second elevator pitch as a job seeker and career professional. Your entire elevator pitch will be a mini presentation that you are able to give on the fly in response to those all-too-common questions “what do you do?” or “tell me about yourself?”  With precision-like focus, an effective elevator pitch will immediately convey to the listener who you are as a professional, and will do it in a way that addresses not only your unique value proposition, but in a manner that addresses the concerns of your listener. Of equal importance, while your pitch is planned and rehearsed, when you actually speak it, it should sound completely natural and spontaneous, yet it should leave the listener with a lasting, positive, and memorable impression. You will use your elevator pitch frequently, in networking situations and during interviews.

But, once you recognize that crafting an elevator pitch is essential, you might feel daunted at the prospect of creating and perfecting one. Certainly, this is a task that your career coach or the professional that you hired to create your résumé can assist with. However, with some introspection and honest self-assessment, developing your elevator pitch does not have to be difficult. To get started, ask yourself these essential questions:

1. What is the focus of your search? What is your job target?
2. Who is the person/people most likely to make a hiring decision about you?
3. What are the problems faced by your target audience?
4. What is it that you are offering that would solve these problems?
5. What is it that differentiates you and makes you different from your peers?
6. What are the benefits of your work as experienced by your target audience?

To create your elevator pitch, you now must put these elements all together in a brief presentation that you can deliver quickly—in the time it would take you to get from one floor to the other in an elevator.

As an example, here is my own “branded” elevator pitch that I developed to concisely describe my work as the executive director of Distinctive Career Services.

“You know how some career professionals miss out on really great employment opportunities, or don’t advance as quickly in their careers as they would like, or don’t get paid the compensation they deserve, all because they don’t really know how to differentiate themselves in their careers or promote themselves effectively in the job market?

Well, I am a career coach, personal branding strategist, and career marketing professional—one of just a few people worldwide with this unique blend of expertise. In my business, which is internet-based and global, I provide a mix of innovative products, programs, and services delivered to six-figure+ and aspiring six-figure+ professionals, managers, and executives. All my offerings are designed specifically to empower my clients to promote and market themselves effectively, opening doors and enabling potential to achieve their highest career ambitions and goals.

The benefits are that my clients dramatically reduce the time and money they spend job searching, rapidly advance their careers, boost their incomes, enjoy greater professional recognition, and overall, establish themselves in careers that are more professionally, financially, and personally rewarding.”

Once you have the answers to the six simple questions above, you have everything you need to create a similar elevator pitch for yourself. Do you see how I have taken my own answers to the questions and interspersed them throughout my pitch? I’ve clearly communicated who my target market is, have identified the problems and challenges that they face, have conveyed how my offering is not only unique but solves those problems, and I’ve described the key benefits that my offerings produce.

You can use this same model to develop your own elevator pitch. But remember; don’t go into too much detail. Your goal is simply to pique interest and make yourself memorable. Don’t spend too much time on the details of your qualifications. Just quickly highlight them and tie them back to how they benefit your target audience (current or future employer).

Once you have your pitch perfected, practice it, practice it, and practice it some more. Your goal is to have it sound completely natural. Rehearse in front of a mirror and be aware of your body language and eye contact, as these aspects of communication often speak even louder than words. Now, try your pitch out a few times and observe the response to the listener. Be open to the prospect of adapting and modifying as necessary to elicit the response you want to generate. And, of course, be flexible. If your listener interrupts with a question, be ready to pause and answer it.

Creating your elevator pitch may take some time and thought, but it is a wise career professional who invests in it! You will hear the “what do you do?” or “tell me about yourself?” questions over and over, both during your job search and throughout your entire career. Don’t wing it! Preparation is the key to confidence and the key to making a lasting, positive, and memorable first impression. The benefits to your career will be phenomenal. It is well worth the effort!

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article in Your ezine or website? You are welcome to as long as you use the following text with it:

Nationally certified resume writer and career marketing expert, Michelle Dumas http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her $100k+ Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com  Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of the popular e-book 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples found at http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com and of Secrets of a Successful Job Search found at http://www.job-search-secrets.com

Benefits of Using LinkedIn for Your Job Search and Career Networking

If you are a business person and you are online, you have surely heard of LinkedIn. In fact, with 19 million users around the globe, the odds are good that you have already created your own LinkedIn account.

What exactly is LinkedIn? It is an online network of people all over the world. While technically, it is one of many social networking sites on the web, LinkedIn is probably the best know and most widely used business networking site. Additionally, while it has similarities to well-known social networking sites such as MySpace, there are also fundamental differences that make it much more useful for business purposes.

So, the next question, of course, might reasonably be, "What exactly is a business networking site?" And more precisely, "Why should I even care and how can it benefit me?" If you are asking these questions, you are definitely not alone! While there are huge numbers of people creating LinkedIn accounts and building their networks, there are relatively few who are getting the optimal benefit out of their effort.

According to LinkedIn's own explanation, the mission of LinkedIn is "to help you be more effective in your daily work and open doors to opportunities using the professional relationships you already have."

Even if you are not conducting a current job search, for ongoing career management and personal branding efforts, any tool that can help you network more effectively and efficiently should be of great interest.  Again, in LinkedIn's own words:

"When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.

Your network consists of your connections, your connections' connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals."

Through LinkedIn, then, you can search for jobs, you can easily make personal "inside" connections in relation to job opportunities, you can promote your personal brand and qualifications and be found and pursued for job opportunities, and you can form relationships that are critical to your career success and progression.

But remember, effective networking requires reciprocity through developing and nurturing win-win relationships. Through LinkedIn, you will also have the opportunity to help out those in your own network, answering questions, providing relevant leads, and helping them make connections to further whatever their goals are.

In the definitive guide to using LinkedIn for business and career management purposes, "I'm On LinkedIn: Now What?" Jason Alba explains that there are six major benefits to using LinkedIn:

1) The ability to be known and enhance your personal brand
2) The ability to be found by recruiters or other hiring authorities
3) The ability to find others and make important connections
4) The opportunity to learn and share
5) The ability to connect with group members
6) The opportunity to show you are plugged in to current technology

If you already have a LinkedIn account and have an established network in place. Let me urge you to take a closer look at how you are using it. Have you fully explored the features and benefits? Have you enhanced your profile? Have you joined any Groups? Participated by answering the questions of those in your network? LinkedIn is an excellent and very effective networking tool, but only if you use it!

If you have an established a LinkedIn account, but have just let it sit, unused, now is the time to log on and learn how to get the maximum benefit from it. Now-before you are actively job searching-is the best time to work on building up and cultivating your network. And, if you are new to LinkedIn and haven't yet created an account, there is no better time than the present! The more professionals that use LinkedIn, the more effective it will be.

Happy networking! My own LinkedIn profile can be viewed at http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledumas and I would love an invitation to connect to you.

For more information, I wholeheartedly recommend Jason Alba's book on LinkedIn and his most recent book on Facebook:

       

                                 

Networking Made Easy: Tips for a Fast, Successful Job Search

You’ve heard it before: at least 80% of all the jobs are found through the “hidden” job market, also known as the “unpublished” job market. These are jobs typically landed through word of mouth and referrals as opposed to the hit-or-miss method of answering ads, posting your resume to internet databases, or other techniques meant to target the remaining 20% of all jobs in the published market.

It stands to reason that if the vast majority of the jobs are to be found in this hidden market, that you should spend the majority of your job search time working to crack it. But, as you may have reasoned already, accessing the hidden job market requires that you take charge of your search, reaching out and building strategic relationships, taking proactive initiative, and making yourself visible in the right circles.

That’s right. It requires that you use networking strategies. And, the thought of networking leaves many people feeling nervous and unsure. For an introverted or shy person, the idea of networking can even cause serious anxiety and fear.

What is networking exactly? If you believe, like many people, that networking is simply approaching everyone you know to ask for a job, it is no wonder you feel uncomfortable! That isn’t what networking is. True networking is about building strategic relationships that involve a win-win, reciprocal exchange of information, support, and/or referrals.

When defined in this way, networking ceases to be so scary. But, it also requires that you expand your view of networking. No longer is networking just something you do every now and then when you are conducting a job search; building and strengthening your network  is something that you should be working at all the time. But, if you find yourself facing an immediate job search, and your networking skills are rusty, don’t fret. Here are some tips to get you moving.

1. When you first start out to build your network, it will be helpful for you to think of networking as a research project. Networking isn’t just about the quantity of contacts; it is about the quality. Don’t be afraid to reach out to decision-makers and people “in the know” within companies and industries of interest to you. These are quality contacts. Explain your career plans and ask them if they would spend 15 minutes talking to you and answering some questions. Most people will be flattered and say yes. When you do get in front of them, NEVER ask for a job, but DO ask for advice and referrals. These meetings are traditionally known as informational interviews.
2. As mentioned above, your networking efforts should emphasize building quality relationships. But, don’t discount the importance of quantity. As much as possible, you should also expand your network. Friends, relatives, people you went to college with, contacts you have made in your community, doctors, the salespeople you come into contact with…they are all part of your network. You won’t want to spend a large amount of time on this, but at least make a comprehensive list and call or send a letter reestablishing a connection, informing people of your search, and asking for advice or referrals. Again, notice that it isn’t about asking for a job. Just ask for advice and referrals.
3. Prepare, prepare, prepare for your networking meetings—especially those that take the format of an informational interview. Prepare lists of questions about the company or the industry. Do your research so that you know something about the person you are meeting with and the company they work for (you might be amazed at what a simple Google search will turn up). For some people, role playing is helpful. If you are working with a career coach, this is something they may be able to help with. But a friend or close family member could also help you. There is no better antidote for nervousness than being prepared.
4. Getting out from behind your desk and making yourself visible is crucial. Join and then take part in events held by professional associations and other groups. Attend workshops and trainings in your field or industry. Attend job fairs to meet directly with hiring decision-makers. Volunteer your career-related skills in your community. If you are an expert at something, offer to speak on the topic to various groups. Job searching can be a time of anxiety and diminished self-confidence for many people, but don’t hide at home behind your computer. Get out and meet people.
   
5. Yes, I just told you not to hide behind your computer, but the internet will play a role in any comprehensive networking campaign. Creating and maintaining a blog on your area of career expertise is an extraordinary way to build your credibility and visibility. Social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, and FaceBook are increasingly popular ways to expand your network. Consider writing articles on industry and profession-related topics and then offering them as free content to webmasters (make sure the article is credited to you and includes a way to contact you). You can also participate in online discussions on topics related to your career focus. Just remember that you shouldn’t “hide” behind a fake name like many people do. Your purpose is to expand your visibility and credibility, so you must use your real name.
6. Finally, show your appreciation and follow up on every single contact with a thank you note. True networking is based on cultivating and nurturing long-term relationships, so you should always be thinking of nice things you can do to show your appreciation, or ways that you could return a favor. Besides being common courtesy, your efforts in this regard will pay you back by further strengthening your relationships and helping to keep you visible.

Happy networking! Even if it feels a little uncomfortable at first, just get out there and do it. Make networking a part of your daily routine and plan to spend the majority of your job search time on networking activities (approximately three-fourths of your time is a good estimate). The more you network, the faster your current job search will come to a successful conclusion and the faster and more successful any future job searches will be.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. If you wish to reprint this article on the web, in your e-zine, or in print, you may do so as long as it includes the following text.

Nationally certified resume writer and career marketing expert, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com  Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of the popular e-book 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples found at http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com and of Secrets of a Successful Job Search found at http://www.job-search-secrets.com

Job Searching During the Holidays

Q. I've heard that the holidays are a terrible time to look for a job. Should I just place my search on hold and wait until the holidays are over?

A. While hiring may slow at the end of the year, particularly during the holidays, it absolutely does not stop. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by continuing your job search momentum and staying focused on your job search goals throughout the holiday season. In fact, more than any other time of the year, this is an extraordinary time to ramp up your networking activities. Make sure to send a holiday card and with a short, personal handwritten note to each person in your network. Attend holiday [arties and get reacquainted with friends, colleagues, and family members. Also, remember that while hiring may have slowed, this may be the time of the year when the hiring authorities you most want reach are accessible. The bottom line: Keep on track and maintain your momentum. In spite of commonly held beliefs, the holidays are actually an excellent time to job search using one of the most effectove methods available to you--networking.

Top Tips for Handling References Professionally During Your Job Search

1. Never submit your references with the resume. You want to have a face-to-face meeting with the employer, or at the very least, a telephone interview, before providing references. The purpose of the resume, at least at this stage of the job search process, is to generate enough interest to get you called in for an interview. By listing references on your resume, you just give the recipient of your resume another opportunity to screen you out before you have a chance to sell yourself in person. Also, avoid the old and overused phrase "references provided on request." It is taken for granted that you will provide references on request. There is no need to state on your resume that you will do so. Listing this on your resume just takes up valuable space that could be used for more important data.

2. Former or current direct supervisors make excellent references, but clients, your former employees, co-workers, and vendors you have interfaced with often make great references also. If you have people willing to endorse you whose names are recognizable in your industry or profession and who will add credibility to your job search, by all means include them--and do so prominently. But, don't neglect to include references from people at all levels, particularly those in positions that represent the people you would have to interact with on a real-world, day-to-day basis in your next job.

3. As much as possible, you will want to maintain connections with "old" colleagues and other people that you worked with or associated with in past jobs. While the most current references will often hold the most weight, having no references from past employers can look suspect. Recruiters may wonder, for example, if you left your past employer on bad terms or if you had or have trouble establishing strong professional relationships.  If you have lost touch with old colleagues, you might try looking for them on LinkedIn or other professional networking sites. 

4. Contact each person that you intend to list as a reference and ask for their permission. Never provide someone as a reference unless you have discussed it with them first and briefed them on your current job search. Verify the contact information for each reference and ask for permission to list a telephone number and email address. When relevant, you will want to list the name of your reference, along with their current job title and the company at which they work. While mailing addresses are rarely necessary, you should include at least the city and state (or country, if the reference is an international one). You should also include the preferred telephone number and email address for the reference.

5. Bring a professionally typed and formatted list of references with you to the interview, preferably with a font and formatting style that is consistent with your resume. To really stand out from the competition, you can make your references list a powerful part of your overall marketing presentation by including a brief background of how the person knows you and for how many years, along with a summary of the qualifications and achievements that your reference can speak to. If you worked together on a key project, for example, this would be the place to mention it. Formatting your references in this way transforms a simple listing of references into a references dossier, and will give you true competitive advantage once the selection process begins, as very few (if any) of your competitors will provide references in this memorable and highly professional way.  Examples of how this can be done can be viewed at www.distinctiveweb.com/samples.

Do you want to use this article in Your ezine or website? You are welcome to as long as you use the following text with it:

Nationally certified resume writer, career marketing expert, and personal branding strategist, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com  Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide with all the tools and resources necessary to conduct a fast, effective job search. Michelle is also the author of the popular e-book 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples found at http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com and of Secrets of a Successful Job Search: 7 Simple Steps to Land the Job You Want in Half the Time found at http://www.distinctiveweb.com/jobsearchsecrets.html To learn more about her job search products, resume writing services, and career marketing programs, and to sign up for many other free resources, visit her websites

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

More LinkedIn Tips

If you hadn't already guessed, I am exploring the possibility of writing LinkedIn profiles to the list of deliverables that I produce in my Executive VIP program. As such, I am eagerly reading everything I can about LinkedIn and how it might be helpful in the job search, for expressing and promoting your personal brand, and for ongoing career management and development activities.

This morning, I found this article about Expanding Your LinkedIn Network. If you are interested in building your LinkedIn network, it is a must read.

20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively

I just happened on a fantastic article on ways to use LinkedIn for job searching, reference checking, research, and more.  The entire article can be read at http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/06/15/20-ways-to-use-linkedin-productively/

Some ideas relevant to job searchers include using LinkedIn to help prep yourself for an interview, to get to know a particular company, to express and promote your personal brand, and to help improve your Google results.

While you are reading, you may also want to read about using the LinkedIn profile as a resume http://www.linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin-1-linkedin-as-resume-20/ .  While I certainly would not recommend this as an actual replacement for your resume, it has excellent value as a supplement.

Finally, here is an interesting article on enhancing your LinkedIn profile http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/linkedin_profil.html . This is definitely something that you will want to do if you are considering using LinkedIn in a serious way during your job search.

In fact, I certainly need to kick it up a notch with my own LinkedIn profile http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/1b/881

So, you may wonder why I have been researching all of this. The reason is simple: I am considering adding the development of a LinkedIn profile to the list of deliverables that I produce for clients through my Executive VIP Program. I'm still a few months from rolling the service out, but it is something you will almost certainly see me offering by the end of the summer.

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.