Career Goddess

The STAND-OUT Resume

Standing out from the crowd can be a good thing or a bad thing - it depends. Take the ongoing saga of Britney Spears; she certainly stands out in the highly populated celebrity arena, but not necessarily with positive spin. Contrast that with Oprah and her mission of giving back; her personal brand consistently conveys caring for others and integrity.

In the crowded job search and careers arena, your resume can also stand out - for better or for worse. In fact, Seth Godin's post "Why bother having a resume?" captured the potential employer's frustration with the overwhelming lack of resume quality. While I do not agree with Seth about totally eliminating resumes (HR folks do still expect to see such a document and application systems are currently set up around collecting and screening resumes), I DO agree that your most critical self-marketing piece (your resume) had better be remarkable.

To learn more about creating a STAND-OUT Resume that will create positive traction for your job search, sign up for this complimentary webinar 3 Steps to a STAND-OUT Resume that I am presenting on Thursday, May 8th at 1:00PM ET for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center for Association Leadership. You'd best hurry as I hear the 200-seat webinar is filling up fast!

The Ongoing Career Makeover

A major tenet of 21st-century careers is rapid and ongoing change, as the statistics in Recession-Proof with Adaptive Career Change point out. What this means is that without proactive career management, you may become stagnant in your career and perhaps even obsolete.

In this Cisco Career Makeover video below, pay attention to two important nuggets: you are the CEO of your own career and control your own destiny, and the three E's can pave the way for your next career change.

If indeed the product you are selling is you, then determing your personal brand and current online identity quotient is crucial.

Whether looking for an internal career change like a promotion within your present employment situation, or a move outside your organization, remember to be ever vigilant in managing the direction you want your career to take as well as acquiring the three E's to get you there.

Recession-Proof with Adaptive Career Change

Recession-proofing your career means being nimble and responsive to the world of work, emerging trends, and growing industry demands. That may mean that a career change into another industry, such as healthcare, could be a smart long-term career move.

The emphasis here is on the word "could". Be sure to do your research on changing industries: determine which industries have growth forecasted for the future and which ones are in a decline. This can easily be done by checking into resources at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as Career Voyages.

Read news articles, trade publications, and industry blogs (source blog postings on your industry of choice at Technorati). Most of all, keep track of what is happening in your own industry. If the forecasts for your industry predict shrinking growth, begin now to explore other options.

Whether voluntary or involuntary, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted 7 to 9 career changes in a working lifetime!

Build Your Business or Career AND Bank Account through Giving

Can you make more money and enjoy greater business or career success simply by giving? So says Bob Burg, the April Reach Branding Club Interview Series guest speaker and co-author of the Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller The GoGiver.

It may sound crazy, but Bob explains that many very successful people do in fact epitomize this concept and have "given" their way to success, whether in their businesses or their careers and jobs. The five laws of go-giving include:

1. The Law of Value
2. The Law of Compensation
3. The Law of Influence
4. The Law of Authenticity
5. The Law of Receptivity

To learn more about the five laws of the Go-Giver, sign up for this complimentary RBC teleseminar The Five Laws of the Go-Giver scheduled for April 10 at 12 noon ET. Whether you are an entrepreneur, job-seeker, or established career professional or business person, this interview promises to be an eye-opener on how giving can enrich your life - in many ways!

Telling the Resume Story

Controversy has been swirling recently regarding achievements on resumes. Bryan Person of the Monster Blog queried "Are Achievements All that Matter on a Resume?" in response to Penelope Trunk's blog post "How to edit your resume like a professional resume writer". Seth Godin's post "Why Bother Having a Resume?" advocated having no resume at all.

Having read all of these blog postings (and comments), I felt compelled to add my two cents in a comment to Bryan's post:

Achievements are like gold on a resume and I agree with you that they are
only part of the story. Writing about your achievements really is in how you
tell the story. For a full-bodied and clear rendition include:

1. Context - What role and level of authority? Were you part of a team? If so,
how big a team? What role did you play on the team?

2. Challenge - What was the mess you walked into? What were the over-riding
problems you had to overcome?

3. Actions - What did you do to overcome the problems and get results? (this
is the "how" mentioned in the post)

4. Results - These are the actual end-point achievements. Quantify them for added clarity and impact.

BTW, these four steps do not necessarily have to be laid out in this sequence.
You should start with the achievement first to grab attention and then pull in
the other three points to flesh it out and add a layer of understanding and depth.

As a professional resume writer and career counselor/coach, I would estimate that 98% of the resumes I see lack all four of the above. So, make your resume really pack some punch by "telling" an impressive story. And keep it concise!

There were many comments pro and con on all the issues these bloggers cited, such as why someone should or should not have a resume at all to what exactly to include on a resume. The one comment that really struck me dealt with the concept of having a professional write your resume for you. Some people, like Penelope Trunk, felt that hiring a qualified professional was not an outrageous idea and others felt that your resume should always be written by you.

Having started out as a career counselor/coach only, I have done my share of coaching clients about writing their own resumes and certainly, in many cases, there were improvements to their documents. But for many others who lacked objectivity about themselves or the ability to create persuasive self-marketing documents, writing a resume was a daunting task. It was for those clients that I took up the profession of resume writing and became certified.

As in many other professions, there is a vast range of quality among resume writers - some who are certified, experienced, and very good to others who are uncertified, inexperienced, and just plain awful. The art of telling a story - your story - on a resume isn't easy. First, there's the super-structure of the "big picture' story, followed by the individual, supporting achievement mini-stories. Each story needs to be:

• relevant to the position and skills sought, industry, and intended reader,
• clear in context, challenge, actions, and results for each achievement "story",
• compelling in terms of value offered to prompt the reader to action, and
• consistent with your personal brand.

So, should you tell your resume story by writing your resume yourself? By all means, if you can be relevant, clear, compelling, and brand-consistent. If not, you may need some assistance so you can learn and get better at it. Remember, a resume can position you to land interviews. From that point on, the "story" has to come from your own lips!

Recession-Proof Your Career with Proactive Career Management

"Recession-proof your career" is an often-discussed topic these days with an array of experts promoting their theories and best options. In December 2007 Robert Scoble's article Surviving the 2008 Recession attracted notice as the "R" word started to be bandied about. More recently, Anne Zelenka of Web Worker Daily contributed 5 Ways to  Recession-Proof Your Career and Penelope Trunk opined with Maybe there will be a recession. Here's what to do just in case.

These articles provide useful recommendations - pay them heed. Recommendations like building and growing your online persona (personal branding) and social network have become "must-do" strategies to attract the job opportunities you want, regardless of economic downturns.

To further expand the scope of your "recession-proofing" career-management activities, consider this: certain career fields and industries are going to be easier to recession-proof than others because they are already in-demand.

For careers (occupations), the US News and World Report lists 31 best occupations in Best Careers 2008, while Career Voyages lists The Top 50 In-Demand Occupations. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) keeps track of occupations with the largest job  growth (2006-16).

Industries contain many types of occupations or career fields, and can also be explored for "best bets" to recession-proof. For example, HR World magazine online cites the Top 25 Careers to pursue in a recession (these really are industries and not careers). The BLS monitors industries with the largest wage and salary employment growth and declines (2006-16).

Keep in mind that many of these careers (occupations) and industries can be expressed in entrepreneurial endeavors, such as small businesses. At the very least, taking an entrepreneurial approach to your career development is now absolutely your number-one business if you intend to recession-proof your career.

Check out Thom Singer's article 66 Tips for Better Networking - #60: Unlock Your Inner Entrepreneur. Thom points out that the definition of an entrepreneur is "a person who organizes and manages any enterprise..." which pertains to anyone's career. In other words, you are in charge - the CEO - of You, Inc. Therefore, you must be proactive about determining your career pathway.

You may choose to start with building your skills or your network in your current job, or perhaps transition to another career field or industry. If you are considering a career / industry change, here is a 3-step plan:

1. take personal initiative to explore careers and industries of interest,
2. determine which ones may be best suited to you and your current situation (this may require the assistance of a career counselor /career coach), and
3. decide which option to pursue and then commit to act on that decision.

Whether you are staying in your current job or want to make a transiton, the key to recession-proofing your career is wise (informed) choices combined with relevant, goal-oriented action. Putting your career on "cruise-control" by not paying attention to it or relegating it to the control of others puts you in a supremely vulnerable position. Take ownership of your own career development and forge a pathway to success, despite the ups and downs of the economy and the ever-changing world of work.

Stake Your Claim in the LinkedIn / Facebook Frontier

Whether for career management and growth, job search, or business development, the world of Web 2.0 and social media has become the hot new frontier for "in-the-know" professionals. If you are serious about achieving a memorable online presence, as well as growing crucial connections to advance your career / business future, you must stake your claim in the social-media frontier. It is no longer optional. Social networking sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook in particular, are pre-eminent communication and relationship-building vehicles that can be used to promote your personal brand and attain your career and business goals with minimum effort.

But the question arises: which one to use? Or is it best to use both? Are they really any different? While LinkedIn is recognized as the premier business networking site with 15+ million active users, Facebook (30+ million active users and 17 million visitors each month) has the fastest growing demographic in the 25+ age group (in other words, not just teen-agers). Why is that?

To help you sort out this conundrum, Jason Alba of JibberJobber fame, is presenting a teleseminar for the Reach Branding Club on Thursday, March 13, 2008 (12 noon EST) on Eight Ways to Enhance Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn and Facebook. He will cover:

• The differences between LinkedIn and Facebook
• What you can do to maximize your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts
• The common mistakes to avoid on both
• Integration of blogs and other online and social environments
  into LinkedIn and Facebook
• How to easily transfer these ideas into your workplace

As the author of I'm on LinkedIn...Now What? and co-author of I'm on Facebook...Now What?, Jason shares his insights and strategies for maximizing these two hot online tools. If you want expert tips that you can quickly implement to boost your Brand You! visibility and credibility online, be sure to register for this teleseminar NOW.

Turn Social Networking into Real Friends and Real Dollars

Social networking and social media are all the rage for connecting with others - for career development, business growth, personal branding, and just plain fun! But not everyone was born with the "Social Networking" Rosetta Stone. There are a few folks (like moi) who could use a jumpstart in networking effectively and with panache.

Voila! Plan on attending the Reach Branding Club's February teleseminar "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow, and Keep Your Business Relationships" with Thom Singer on February 21, 2008 at 12 noon EST. You will learn the answers to such burning questions as:

• What's the difference between networking and making connections?
• How can I fit developing real relationships into my already busy life?
• What are the elements of a memorable thank-you note?
• How can I keep track of everyone and what makes them so special?
• Is there any way to turn this "networking" into real dollars?

Just FYI - Thom is a business development / networking / professional speaking guru and author of two books on the power of business networking and relationships. With an active Some Assembly Required blog and BlogTalkRadio show that attracts high-caliber speakers, Thom is definitely into communicating his personal brand and value proposition with style and sincerity.

For a taste of Thom's musings, check out his recent blog posts on Manufacture Your Own Luck (Tip#56 of 66 Tips to Better Networking) and I>U...not in the on-line social media world! where he says:

The world is flat. We are all just people trying to make our own way on this big blue ball. I=U...but I+U=Infinite Possibilities!!!

Now that should be the tagline for the socially connected! Anyone for a T-shirt?

Online Identity and Personal Branding for Career Advancement

The notion of online identity management, personal branding, and social media as tools for career success is making ever-growing inroads in academia and career counseling. Note the recent Careers Conference 2008 with a theme of "Preparing for a Lifetime of Change", which was hosted by The Center for Education and Work, part of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin.

This 22nd annual 2-day conference featured Penelope Trunk, author of The Brazen Careerist:The New Rules for Success, as a keynote speaker (among others). Called "a cookbook for hacking the corporate work world" by Wired Magazine, The Brazen Careerist turned traditional ideas about career advice upside down. Her message on the new rules for career success was greeted with enthusiasm by a packed assemblage of nearly 1,000 career counselors from colleges, technical institutes, universities, high schools, workforce development, and state employment and training job centers.

At this same conference, my presentation on "Online Identity Management for Job Search and Career Success" brought rave reviews from academic and career counselors. Their interest in the new Web 2.0 concepts for career management bodes well for their students' (and their own) success.

I have been speaking about online identity management for job-search and self-marketing for several years as evidenced, for example, by my blog posting "Personal Branding on High Octane (July 2006). In this post I cited a job seeker who created a blog that used to be called "WhyProvoLabsWantstoHireCarolynnDuncann" to "WhyProvoLabsIsHiringCarolynnDuncan" for self-promotion to a targeted employer. Not only did she attain the job at her employer of choice, she also transitioned this blog to her own domain name Carolynn Duncan immediately after being hired. Smart move! Have you claimed your domain name yet?

Here's someone else who has: Kate Herrick. Cited as the January 08 You Get It Winner:Kate Herrick by Jason Alba of JibberJobber, Kate's website and online brand demonstrate the incredible effectiveness of online self-marketing for job-search purposes when done well.

For additional resources on online identity management, personal branding, and the new social media for career advancement, check out the following:

• Online ID Calculator  This online tool, created by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson, generates your online ID score or Google quotient. Can you be found online? Is the content really about you? Is it favorable? Would a potential employer or recruiter want to call you in for an interview based on what was found?

• The New Rules of Viral Marketing: A Word-of-Mouse Success Story by David Meerman Scott, an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist and the author of three books on marketing. In particular this e-book's chapter "A Resume? Or an E-book?" is intriguing for using the new rules of online identity and self-marketing to promote your credibility with potential employers.

• Effective Internet Presence, Now Required for Success in Business and Life by  Ted Demopoulos,a multi-published author on blogging and Internet visibility.

• Reach Branding Club founded by William Arruda, a pioneering leader in personal branding. Sign up for the monthly Teleseminar Series and explore the content-rich site for articles and Flash videos related to personal branding, online identity, and career and business advancement.

Social Networking Showdown

Social networking for personal, career, and business reasons became the Killer App for 2007 and keeps on growing. LinkedIn, the number-one business networking site (15+ million active users and 4 million visitors each month) is widely recognized by serious job seekers and entrepreneurs as a valuable source of network contacts, referrals, and business and job leads.

With the ability to post a resume or bio online, as well as recommendations, many job seekers have found their LinkedIn profile increases their digital presence and credibility. Even passive candidates (those employed and theoretically not looking for a new job) can be “sourced” for interviews by recruiters and potential employers.

While LinkedIn has an established “business/career” benefit, Facebook and MySpace were introduced as more “personal” social networks. And their numbers reflect that: Facebook has 30 million active users and 17 million visitors each month, while the behemoth MySpace has 110 million active users and 61 million visitors each month. Clearly, these two dwarf LinkedIn in size.

However, here’s an interesting fact: Facebook has the fastest-growing demographic in the 25+ age group. This may be due in part to the popularity of social networking for personal reasons and its transition into older groups who have seen Facebook’s widespread use among teen-agers. But there is also a trend among the 25+ age group to expand Facebook’s use for career and even business purposes.

If you are considering dabbling in LinkedIn or Facebook (or have an presence there but do not quite know what to do about it), let me recommend a couple of “how-to” manuals with high “return-on-investment” value:

• NEW! I’m on Facebook…Now What? By Jason Alba of JibberJobber and Jesse Stay

• I’m on LinkedIn…Now What? By Jason Alba

Will there be a final showdown of the top three social networking sites? Or will they happily co-exist? Certainly each site has evangelists and die-hard proponents. However, there are folks who will have profiles on more than one of these social-networking sites.

Why? Perhaps to maximize networking visibility for a job search, professional services, or business products – that comes readily to mind. But what about simply “joining in the conversation” on each distinctive community and/or creating your own “niche” communities to connect? Are you on more than one of these sites? What are your reasons?

By the way, here is my LinkedIn profile.