Career Hub

Brand Yourself (sounds painful but it isn't)

It's a bit of a paradox, but executives who are most successful in their job search are not those who try to appeal to a broad audience, but those who have narrowed their focus to the specific kinds of opportunities where they will excel. In other words, they have clearly articulated their executive brand - who they are, what they know, what industries and functions they're expert at, how they do things differently from others.

Just recently I was speaking to a prospective client who said, "But won't that eliminate me from consideration for some jobs that I could do?" Well, it might, but even more probably it will allow you to demonstrate that you are IDEALLY suited for some positions rather than GENERALLY suited for many others. With the glut of resumes on the market, recruiters and hiring executives will quickly overlook "sorta" candidates in favor of those with clear differentiators that are a tight fit for their needs.

You won't appeal to everyone... but do you really want to? Articulating your brand benefits you as much as it does those you contact during your search.

Beyond Portfolios

I'm convinced that forward-thinking executives have to brand themselves online, and I'm equally convinced that job seekers and career experts alike are woefully slow to understand how important this is. At Blue Sky Resumes, we were one of the first to offer online portfolios, and I'm also a strong advocate for blogging as a means to demonstrate expertise (In fact, I think a well-written blog is more effective than a portfolio because it allows you to show rather than tell.)

But blogs have some serious limitations. First, they only work for people who can write well and frequently. There's nothing worse for your online brand than a blog that hasn't been updated in months. Secondly, the structure of a blog means that you can't be sure what first impression you'll make. Will it be your smart and insightful post on brand marketing, or the entry you made just after your team lost the Superbowl and you'd had one too many beers?

That's why I'm really interested in two new tools that present job seekers with a different way to establish themselves as experts.

I've already been playing around with  Squidoo which was founded by Seth Godin and describes itself as:

an online platform that makes it easy for anyone to build lenses on topics they are passionate about. These lenses help you find a unique, human perspective on things that interest you... fast. Not only can Lensmasters spread their ideas, get recognized for their expertise, and send more traffic to their Web sites and blogs—they could also earn royalties.

Squidoo is amazingly easy to use. Here's an Executive Job Search Lens I created in one hour.

Hubpages sounds like a similar concept although it hasn't entered Beta testing yet, so I haven't had the chance to try it out. According to the founders:

Here at Hubpages we want everyone to share their passion to benefit others. Whether it be traveling right, tweaking your engine, or finding the ultimate deal, we let you share your genius with the world and enjoy the expert advice of others.

Just pick a topic and use our simple publishing tools to create a great looking website with rich functionality. Hubpages takes it from there. The site is designed to continually sort out the most useful pages, helping to build traffic and revenue for our highest quality authors.

Yes revenue! Although knowledge is its own reward, we thought you might also like cold hard cash. So, if your readers generate revenue by clicking on an ad, buying a product or generating a lead, you will earn a share of the profits.

Revenue is nice of course, but I think it's much less important than the opportunity to build a strong personal brand.

Is AOL a Roadblock?

We've all seen the ads for AOL's spam blocking ability. On their corporate website, they brag about the number of spam emails they've blocked each day (973,018,251 today). But is this a good thing?

Mark Haluska says no. On the Guerilla Marketing Blog, he explains how over-aggressive spam filters can negatively impact your job search efforts. I agree with Mark. I spend a lot of time each week answering irate AOL users who think I am ignoring their emails. I'm not, but AOL has deemed me a potential spammer for some reason. This despite the fact that I never send bulk email (not even an opt-in newsletter).

If AOL is your Internet provider, you should seriously consider setting up a free email account with Yahoo, Gmail, MSN or some other provider. All three seem able to block spam without filtering out important mail.

A Resume Is No Longer Enough!

According to CNN, new federal guidelines taking effect today and later this year mean that job seekers will have to be vigilant in making sure that their resumes exactly match criteria specified in employers advertised job descriptions. If not, their resumes will never see the light of day.

As Louise Fletcher mentioned in her Career Hub post “Making it More Difficult” (2/8/06), this means that savvy executives will need to be ever more creative in getting their resumes (and hence, themselves) in front of decision makers. Networking, direct contact, and other creative personal marketing methods will be more important than ever.

Within this new paradigm of executive job search, a branded personal marketing library - a comprehensive suite of critical resume and personal marketing materials - can be a “hidden weapon” that provides an executive with flexible, branded, and targeted documents designed for impact in virtually every job search situation.

The components of such a document library might include:

• A brand-driven, targeted resume (or CV) in Word, ASCII, and PDF versions.
• Additional resume variations for distinct targets.
• A one-page “career” or “executive” summary, sometimes called a networking resume, essentially a 30-second overview containing the critical highlights of your career.
• A one- to two-page resume addendum or stand-alone document showcasing top accomplishments or projects in a micro case study format.
• A suite of customizable, templated cover letters for a variety of job search and networking situations.
• A narrative-style executive biography.
• A one-page “testimonial” collection of quotes on performance and impact from associates, bosses, and business and community leaders.
• A suite of “30-second commercials” or elevator speeches showcasing your value (you need a specific “commercial” for specific targets and for networking.)
• A one-page reference list.
• A compensation history.
• A templated post-interview letter, customizable for delivery of additional value.
• A templated, customizable, employment proposal suitable for directly contacting top decision makers.
• A web portfolio showcasing visuals, graphs, in-depth full-page “success studies,” and other illustrative components that support your brand and candidacy.

You can find examples of many of these documents in the recently published Executive Job Search for $100,000 to $1 million+ Jobs by Wendy S. Enelow and Louise M. Kursmark (Impact Publications, 2006). You can find many resume and other document samples on line at Executive Power Coach. And great sources for web portfolios can be found at Blue Sky Portfolios.

Making it More Difficult

As if it wasn't challenging enough to get recruiters to read your resume when you submit online, the Federal government has stepped in with new legislation to make it that much tougher. Of course, that's not their intent, but it looks as though it will be the outcome.

According to CNN:

New federal guidelines meant to standardize how employers track data on the diversity of their job-applicant pool are taking effect starting today for jobs at federal contractors -- and similar rules will kick in later this year at U.S. companies with more than 50 employees. And resumes and search approaches that worked perfectly well before may no longer do the trick.

Why? Because federal regulators are introducing a more rigid definition of the word 'applicant.'

According to this definition, an applicant must "express interest" in the job, whether by sending in a resume, applying on the company's site, or whatever other means the company requests, says Gerry Crispin, founder and principal of CareerXRoads and a long-time Internet job hunting expert.

That "expression of interest" must show that he or she has all the qualifications for the job listed in the company's job description (not just some or most of them) -- and those qualifications must be specific and measurable.

So if employers follow the new guidelines (always a big 'if')  they will eliminate candidates who do not apply in the exact manner requested or whose resume does not exactly match the job description. You can read Gerry Crispin's take on what this means for job seekers in the full article, but my own personal take is that it will be more important than ever to find creative ways to get the attention of hiring managers and to sidestep HR and their electronic filtering systems altogether. Once you've networked your way to the hiring manager and impressed her, she will help you get your resume into the system in the right way.

That may circumvent the intent of the law, and give HR folks a headache, but they're not your concern. All that matters is finding a way to get your marketing message out despite an increasing number of technological obstacles.

Next! Making a Graceful Exit

In my way-too-early networking breakfast this morning I learned some terrific tips from the presenter. How to make a graceful exit.

How many times have we been to events where there's a "clinger?" (And I'm not talking M.A.S.H.) Or as one who loves to meet new people - and wants to know all about them, who hasn't hung on too long without knowing how to get out of the conversation gracefully?

During the presentation, our speaker told us about the Top 12 Tips for Networking - and one of the tips was "Try to spend only 3 to 5 minutes with each person." So, what's a friendly exit strategy? I had to ask.

She had quite a few ideas, including:

1. Make eye contact; ask for the person's business card; and agree to contact them to "discuss things further" or "meet for coffee next week."
2. Mention, "I'd love to hear more, but I've been dying to talk with Jane. Can I connect with you at the end of this event for a few minutes?"
3. Introduce the "clinger" to another person. No, not just so they glom onto the new person and give you breathing room, but because, sometimes a person's a clinger simply because they're nervous or don't know anyone. Get them to know more people through introductions. They'll be happy and less clingy. (And then you can move on - gracefully...)

After the presentation, I think 15 people came up to me at different times thanking me for asking the question. Then of course some said, "Oh, I suppose you're ready to move to the next one now, right?" or "Now you'll forever be known as "friendly exit strategy woman."

Hey, if that's the case, I like the new name. And I got to meet tons of new people as a result. I wonder if she has tips for phone conversations?

Challenge: Try her tips - 3 to 5 minutes per person - and the graceful exit - at your next networking event. Let us know how it works for you.

Overcoming Age Discrimination

One of the most common concerns among executive job seekers is age discrimination and, while it certainly exists, there are ways to overcome the biases of potential employers.

Career Journal points to a new AARP survey showing that hiring older workers is actually cost-effective. The survey points out that many of the objections to hiring older people are not related to actual age as much as to misconceptions of what age means:

"There's a very funny preconception in our society...that innovation is the domain of youth," says David Galenson, an economics professor at the University of Chicago and author of "Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity." But "some great innovators are young, some are old," he says.

Mr. Galenson says there are two main types of creativity, one based on breaking the rules and the other based on building on what's already been learned.

Individuals of the first type are "very iconoclastic," Mr. Galenson says. "They learn the rules of a new discipline and they say 'I don't like that rule.'" Think Picasso and James Joyce.

The other type will "get better as they get older...They're collecting information. They're learning more about the world and getting better about using that information," he says.

Some companies may be "looking for these young conceptual guys to make these big leaps forward," Mr. Galenson says. But if they need a business plan, they might need people "who've been around the block. Companies, by and large, need both kinds of people."

This highlights the need for older workers to understand the views and prejudices that cause age discrimination, so that they can take active steps to overcome objections. Strategies might include emphasizing innovation in resumes and cover letters, including physical activities as hobbies on your resume, and developing an interview strategy that ensures you get a chance to talk about your marathon running/windsurfing/skiing/daily workouts.

The old maxim is true - knowledge IS power. If age is a concern for you, read this article to understand the causes of age-related discrimination, then develop an action plan to overcome them.

Turn Your Network into Gold

Rumplestiltskin could turn straw into gold. A pretty amazing trick.

It's no fairy tale that 61% to 85% of people land new jobs through networking, but what if your network is just plain straw? Not one person in your network knows a thing about your targeted career or who might be hiring. What then? Where's Rumplestiltskin for your network?

Right in front of you. Your network is already gold - you just need to uncover it. How? Ask them.

Gold: One of my clients, an elementary school teacher, wanted a position in a different school district closer to her home. I encourage my clients to  in talk to everyone in their networks using my 3-step Rock Your Network system. She did so. She struck up a conversation with the professional laying carpeting in her home about her career goal of changing school districts. He was interested and asked some terrific questions. Next thing my client knew, the carpet layer had run to his truck and returned with his cell phone, "Here. Take the phone. My daughter is the human resources director of the school district you told me about. She wants to talk to you." My client had an interview the following week.

Challenge: What's one step you can take this week to turn your network into gold?

What Would Bill Do?

Recently I spent an hour on the phone with a resume client, a senior executive with lots of work experience and a ton of accomplishments. Everything this guy touched had turned to gold ... and yet he was stymied. He had created many different versions of his resume, all attempting to play down what he considered to be weaknesses.

What were the weaknesses? No MBA, lots of varied positions (CFO, COO, CEO) and experience across many industries (no consistency). This guy had tied himself in knots trying to overcome what he saw as these weaknesses.

When he engaged me to write his resume, he sent me three different versions - all completely different, and none of them worthy of his amazing background.

In every position he held, my client had quickly zeroed in on the company's core problem. It didn't matter what position he held.  It didn't matter what industry he was working in - he consistently proved himself capable of finding the solution.... no matter what the problem. And the results spoke for themselves - dramatic turnarounds - Multi-million sales increases - companies saved from bankruptcy ..... the results were consistent and impressive.

Which made me think ... how many of us are too harsh on ourselves? And how many more are too harsh when in the middle of a job search?  We look at our backgrounds and we see all the negatives and none of the positives. If you're in the middle of a job search and feeling that way - consider this:

Which brings me to Bill Gates. If he had to write his resume, would he worry that he doesn't have a degree? And that he's only ever run his own company - never worked for anyone else? And that his whole experience has been in software development?

We ALL have weaknesses. We all have things that don't fit into the perfect, orderly plan we had for our lives. None of us are perfect (even me and I try really, really hard ...)

When you embark on a job search, DO NOT worry about what you don't have, didn't do, haven't experienced .. eliminate negative thoughts and focus on the positive aspects of the same information. Never worked for anyone else? Then you've never had to be told what to do. Held positions in many different industries? That means you're capable of success in any field. Don't have an MBA? Well - look what you've accomplished without one!

I don't mean to sound like  a Pollyanna - but the more I work with clients on their job search, the more I realize that it success really is all about attitude. Stop beating yourself up about what's wrong and start acknowledging what's right! Companies want to hire winners and they're just waiting for you to show them why you are the winner they've been looking for.

What's luck got to do with it?

Nothing, and everything!

We all know people who have just “lucked into” great jobs. And we’ve all wondered how that happens.

The reality is that most executives attract luck by working very hard on their personal brands and on exuding their brands through the 3Vs—they prioritize activities that will make them Visible, Viable, and Valuable in the marketplace.

They work hard to be visible performers—top talent—A-players who are seriously networked through personal and professional activities.

They work hard to be viable hires—top talent—A-players who are known and respected throughout their industry.

They work hard to be valuable leaders—top talent—A-players who show, through proof of performance, that they continuously impact the top-line, bottom-line, and shareholder/stakeholder value.

Top executives know that they cannot ignore their careers while building their companies. They don’t put their brands and their 3Vs on the back burner. Opportunities come to them, because they consistently focus on the hard work of being lucky.

For action steps to build branded career visibility, viability, and value, check out my article: Executive Branding: Once a Novelty; Now a Necessity.