6 Tips for Successful Networking

Spruce up your networking and land a job

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Today's column comes from David Bell, a successful job seeker who used networking to help land a new job in the current economy. I asked him to explain the secret to his success, and he distilled his experience into six key points that can help you build a better network:

1. Always remember that you're asking people for information, not a job.

Networking often goes bad because job seekers try to ask friends and strangers about specific job openings. This puts people in an awkward position – after all, if they don't know you, they'll naturally hesitate to recommend you for a job. When you make people uncomfortable by being too pushy online, you destroy any opportunity you might get to meet face-to-face, or find out about new jobs openings in the future.

2. Start with people you know, then expand to their acquaintances and finally strangers after the process becomes second nature.

It's important to practice on your friend before moving on to people they suggest. Using a referral's name when you contact someone you don't know can be very helpful in breaking the ice.

But you shouldn't avoid networking with strangers just because you have no automatic "in" with them. As David Bell points out, "Contact to everyone you can, whether it's by email, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, or even over the phone. You never know who'll have the most useful information or take an interest in you. Aside from helping you find a job, it's a wonderful way to make new friends, especially if you've recently moved to a new city."

3. When you reach out to a contact, have in mind what you want to say, but don't obsess about it.

While the delay built in to most social network communication makes it easier to "think before you speak," some contacts you meet will prefer the immediacy of phone calls or instant messaging. In these cases, be prepared to give the name of your referral (if you have one), state why you're contact them (for information not a job) and ask a short list of questions about your contact's area of expertise. Putting these thoughts together ahead of time can save you the embarrassment of now knowing what to say.

However, be careful not to over-prepare, since this can easily turn into an excuse for putting off your first contact. Or worse, you can get so married to a specific script that you blank when a conversation strays to another subject. It's the same as reciting a memorized poem back in English class – if you're too rigid, any distraction will cause you to lose your place and screw up.

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Is Your Resume Missing These 5 “Must Haves”?

Your resume could be missing out big time

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Making sure your resume is a powerful marketing document is a wise investment in your career. It can set you apart from your competition, maximize the amount of interviews you land and ultimately play into how much a company offers you.

After all, you are negotiating with potential employers from the moment you connect with them to the time the offer is made. So everything that happens in that window of time plays into your offer…including how well targeted, well designed and compelling your resume is.

Here are five elements you will want to make sure your resume has:

Number one: Targeted Format
Your resume must be compelling for the type of position you are focusing on. If you are a sales executive of course you are going to want to quantify your sales skills in terms of territory development, revenue generation, and types of skills associated with sales and secondary support skills such as client management customer service, public relations and marketing.

Number two: Value Proposition Statement
Under the heading of your resume you should have a value proposition statement. An example of a value proposition statement is a 3 to 4 sentence overview of your focus and your strengths. Here’s an example of a VP Statement for a technology executive's resume:

Innovative and highly competent business and technology leader with 15+ years experience developing creative technology solutions that enhance performance, effect change, drive profits and growth. Proven reputation to:

Note: A value proposition statement is different from a personal objective statement. A personal objective statement is not the best to start out with on a resume simply because it’s a statement about what YOU want. Rather, share with your potential employer what skills and strengths you have to offer THEM.

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10 Ways to Screw Up an Interview

Job interview mistakes; learn them, avoid them

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Many books have been written on the interview process and the things that you need to do to in order to succeed in interviewing. When you have read one of these books, your head may be swimming with numerous hints and tips that you will try to execute in your next interview.

All that advice is well and good, but the thing all job seekers should strive for is simply not to screw up their job interview. If you manage to come through a job interview without messing up and damaging your chances you are going to be ahead of most of your competition. This article was originally written for private sector job seekers, so some of the ten items may not apply to federal interviews. Here are ten sure-fire ways to mess up in an interview.

1. Arrive late for the interview. The last thing you want to do is to show up late. An employer expects you to arrive timely for work; so showing up late for an interview really gets you off on the wrong foot. Some ways to avoid tardiness are:

• Getting complete instructions from the interviewer or the HR department. If possible ask them approximately how long it will take to drive (or take public transportation) to the interview site from where you will be coming. If it is a large company or plant, ask which building the interview is in and ask where you should park.
• If possible do a dry run, go to the interview site at the approximate time of day for which your interview is scheduled. This will give you a good idea of how long it will take.
• Give yourself at least a 15-minute cushion. It is far better to arrive early, than to arrive after your scheduled time.
• If all else fails (traffic jam, Presidential motorcade, act of God) call the interviewer to inform him or her that you will be late and the reasons for your lateness. Ask if they can still fit you in, or if you should reschedule.

2. Forget to perform a "Jam Check." If you have arrived with time to spare, you can use that time to double check your grooming. Head for the rest room and check yourself out in the mirror. Make sure your clothes are as they should be and check your hair and your teeth. Very few things will turn off an interviewer like spinach caught between your teeth.

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7 Ways to Get a Job Using LinkedIn

A more comprehensive job search strategy for LinkedIn

Reprinted with permission from seo-mind.com

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Most of the recruiters and employers have quit traditional methods of searching for a perfect candidate. No longer do they spend all their time going through job portals but they also search for interesting candidates on social media sites, blogs, forums and professional networking sites.

LinkedIn is one great way of letting recruiters know about your talents, testimonials, profession, friends, business networks and much more. LinkedIn has over 35 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world. A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about half of LinkedIn members are outside the U.S. Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members and have listed their entire profile including roles, responsibilities, previous experiences, education and their business network details.

1. Edit Opportunity Preferences: Edit your profile and change your contact settings > Opportunity Preferences. Select Job Inquiries and any other opportunities you prefer.

2. Get Recommendations: More recommendations in your profile means that your profile gets a higher the trust and reliability. Send a request for recommendation to your co-workers, clients or immediate managers. If you are in a management position, it is great to get a feedback on your leadership qualities. Make a practice also to recommend others whom you think deserve. This is another way to get a feedback from them.

3. Find where the Opportunity Is: Search for people in similar job profiles and find out where they work. Search on Google about those companies and find out if there are openings.

4. Find out the skill sets required: After you find out the companies where similar profession people work, it’s good to find out the skill sets they posses.

5. Find out how your colleague got that nice offer: Not many colleagues share all that they know or all that they do to get a job. Search with their names on LinkedIn and find out their background. Where they are employed now, what are their roles and responsibilities and more importantly what are their skill sets.

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How to Get Hired If You're Underqualified

Entry level skills, Mid-career requirements

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I'm continually surprised by how many people don't realize that the "required qualifications" in job ads are like wish lists, not inflexible lists of requirements. Those qualifications are a composite of someone's idea of the ideal candidate. Believe me; they will look at people who don't perfectly match it. So when a job posting requires four years of experience and you only have two, you're not automatically disqualified. If you think you could do the job, apply anyway.

That said, if you're a bit under-qualified, you need to work for it more. Here's how:

1. For starters, you must write a fantastic cover letter. If you don't do this and you're under-qualified, you have no shot. (See tips on writing a great cover letter here.)

2. Learn a ton about the company you're applying to, and let it show in your cover letter. I'm impressed when people know more than the basics about my organization and tie it into why they want to work for us. It's like the way it's far more enticing when a guy I'm dating talks specifics about why he's interested -- as opposed to seeming like he's looking for someone to fill the "girlfriend" slot he has open.

3. In your cover letter, acknowledge that you don't have every qualification they're looking for, and explain how you'll make up for it. (Be realistic here -- if they're hiring a graphic designer and you have no design experience, this won't work.) Acknowledging it is good because (a) it shows you paid attention to the ad -- something most people don't do -- and indicates an attention to detail that hiring managers love to see and (b) it shows that you're not one of those insanely overconfident candidates with no humility or sense of your own weaknesses.

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8 Mistakes that Can Hurt Your Job Search

Big job hunt blunders that can cost your job search - big time

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Been searching for a job but aren't getting the results you want?

Take a look at the following top job search blunders to make sure you aren't undermining your own job search success!

Mistake # 1: Acting as if the Job Search Is about You

From your perspective, of course you want a job. Therefore, it's only natural to assume that the process of searching for a job is all about you. But when it comes to hiring, it's all about the company.

Organizations don't hire people because they want to give people jobs. They hire people because they have a specific need that must be met.

Unless you can demonstrate how your skills and strengths can help meet a specific need of an organization, you simply aren't relevant to that company; even if you're the most highly skilled person in the world. Discover the needs of the target company first, then position yourself as the best solution to those needs.

Mistake # 2: Not Knowing Yourself and Your Value

Starting a job search without first understanding your career interests, skills, values, and personality is like starting a road trip without a map. You can drive forward, but you probably won't end up where you want to be.

What gets you excited in life? What are you most proud of? What do you think you're best at?

Don't cut corners here. If you don't know the answers, talk to family and friends. If you're serious about your future, go a step further and get personal guidance from a career consultant who is trained to help people like you connect their unique gifts with a life direction.

Self-knowledge is the foundation for your entire job search campaign:

1. It will help you determine how to aim your job search at the right job targets.
2. It will help you communicate what value you can bring to a company.
3. It will enable you to give others the information they need to help you.

Mistake # 3: Not Being Able to Clearly Communicate How You Fit What the Company Needs

Refer to Mistake #1. Unless you can demonstrate how your skills and strengths can help meet a specific need of an organization, you simply aren't relevant to that company. This requires that you do your homework to discover what the company's needs are.

Learn as much as you can about the company's focus areas and needs, and then use the company's own language to describe what you can do for them.

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Top 5 Resume Sins

Huge resume writing blunders that can cost you

Reprinted with permission from careerealism.com.

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Your resume is a company’s first look at what skills and accomplishments you might bring to the job. Don’t make it their last look! Be sure to avoid these major resume mistakes:

1. You failed to tailor your resume to the specific job you want.

So even though you have the skills that the company asked for in their advertisement or posting, you left the details out of your resume. Those specific skills must be in your resume and should be prominent, preferably at the top of your resume.

2. Your contact information is incomplete and does not include a professional e-mail address.

A professional e-mail address consists of your first and last name. Cute e-mail addresses are not professional. If you have a common name, try putting your last name first or adding numbers after your name. Avoid the numbers 1 and 0. In some fonts, they look like letters and can confuse people reading your resume. Does your johndoe1 address refer to John Doe One or John Doel?

3. You lied about or apologized for or over-explained your qualifications.

If you lack confidence in your abilities, how can an employer have confidence that you are the right person to hire? A resume should describe you honestly but also show you at your best.

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