Networking: What do you do? Name ONE thing.

Today I read a terrific article by Liz Ryan – “Personal Branding in Slashtown” about people who want to be all they can be – and tell the world. I’m a blogger/career coach/personal brand strategist/rock star, and… Yeah. Hard for one person to take all that in, right?

Her point, which is right on the money, is that you’ve got to decide who you are and communicate that – not everything all at once. It’s confusing to the listener.

I worked with a client making a career transition, and we worked hard on creating a dynamic brand-driven sound bite that gets attention, without overwhelming the listener.

Picking one thing can be tough, but it’s important. As my client first said, working through the exercise, “It’s like my whole career – skills, experience, knowledge is summed up in this one project. It just doesn’t feel right.”

That may be true, however, in networking, and asking your friends, etc. “who do they know,” it is important to be clear and focused. Sharing ONE story helps people get an idea of what you can do for someone. It also helps them easily share your story with their connections. They become your personal sales force.

Aha! Yep, she networked like a rock star after that and made several connections, which led to interviews.

Challenge: Create your sound bite. Be focused. Here’s a link to a step-by-step strategy: Personal Branding Sound Bite.

Back up your LinkedIn now – or else

Well, Jason Alba sure is on a roll. One of his readers’ LinkedIn account got deleted – and she could not recover it! I don’t know about you, but if you’ve got great connections and awesome recommendations like mine: www.linkedin.com/in/wendyterwelp take action on Jason’s tips now!

Here they are:

Here are two absolute must-do’s, right now, on LinkedIn – and they will take less time than it takes to read this blog post (so do it now!):

  1. Export your contacts. Simply click on Contacts, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on Export Connections, and follow that process. Just leave everything at default and you’ll end up with your connections in a .csv file, which opens in Excel.
  2. Export your profile. You’ve probably put a fair amount of thought into creating your profile, right? What about any references you have gotten? Simply click on Profile, then find the grayed-out icons above your name, and click on the adobe pdf icon. This exports your profile, including recommendations, into a very nice, presentable document (kudos to whoever at LinkedIn did that formatting, it is very well-done!). Here’s an image of where the icon is:

These are the two most important things for me to grab, if I knew my LinkedIn account might go away. (1) Who I connected with, which includes e-mail addresses very every single contact, (2) my recommendations (I can always rethink and recreate a profile, but those recommendations are priceless!).

You can follow the rest of Jason’s story about this here.

How to make long distance networking work

Jason Alba of Jibberjobber.com had a great post today about long distance networking. One of his readers, Barry Groh, asked: “… how to (network) when you are not looking in the community where you live for any jobs? I have not searched for any groups here locally where I live because I am not planning on staying here, but I’m also too far away to be able to connect with other groups there, although I know a number of them that I would meet with if I was there.”

Jason provided five terrific tips – read them here: Jibberjobber.com.

And here are my own top five (Note: Barry’s relocating to Denver):

1. Make a list of everyone you know right now – THINK BIG. This means, third cousin twice removed counts as part of your network. Find out who knows someone in CO.

2. I agree with the earlier post – The Business Journal’s book of lists is terrific for identifying target companies. Take it a step further, check out the movers and shakers section. If someone’s been hired in a key role – that means there may be an opp. for you. (Here’s Denver’s direct link: http://tinyurl.com/5puk3v.)

3. Get the local paper for the area where you plan to move. Again, review movers and shakers. Also read the business section for names. Papers list the big cheese’s names – so you now have an actual name of a person where you can send your resume. And you can also ask who in your network knows someone who may know someone who knows this Big Cheese.

4. Chamber of Commerce – check out their website for the area where you plan to move. Not only do you get lists of local companies, you get contact names as well. If you move before you get a job (not something I recommend) – volunteer for the local chamber and press the flesh.

5. Your industry’s professional organizations. For example, PRSA is a national organization for public relations professionals. They have local chapters – you can connect from the website. And they also have job postings for members only. What’s your industry’s professional organization? Join and connect!

And here’s a direct link to my article on how to relocate and get hired faster:

http://www.knocks.com/Relocation_job_search_tips.html

And here’s a link to tons more articles and networking tips:

http://www.knocks.com/news.asp

Demand for Executive Talent Expected to Increase

Compliments of www.execunet.com

While data on the declining value of homes and soaring energy and food prices continues to fuel speculation that the US economy is on the brink of recession, executive search firms believe job growth at the top of the
employment market will remain resilient, according to ExecuNet’s Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI). The RCI, which increased steadily during the past four consecutive months, remained just off its highest levels in nearly a year in June.

(Blogger’s Note: In talking with recruiters and trendwatchers, many feel with boomers retiring from high-level roles – an anticipated couple million – it leaves room for exec placement growth…)

According to June’s survey of 138 executive recruiters, 64 percent are confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve during the next six months — down slightly from 66 percent in May, which arked a 10-month high for the Index. Nearly four-in-five recruiters (78 percent) are expecting at least a 10-percent increase in executive search assignment growth during the second half of 2008.

“After hitting a bottom in January, the outlook for the executive employment market has rebounded, as companies continue to actively recruit seasoned business leaders,” says Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet. “If the pace of job growth at the top of the market maintains its current trajectory, C-suite executives with strong networks should see an increase in interview opportunities during the second half of this year.”

Introduced in May 2003, the Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive recruiters conducted by ExecuNet. Independent analysis of the RCI has confirmed it is a leading indicator of projected executive recruitment activity.

Facebook: Should you add your boss as a friend?

Two pals of mine are quoted in this excellent article on how to use Facebook the RIGHT way. See great tips from Paul Copcutt, Square Peg Solution, and Jason Alba, Jibberjobber. Way to go!

Now on to the story’s topic: to share or not to share your personal life with your boss….

Allison Dunfield, Special to The Globe and Mail

When his boss found him on Facebook, a 26-year old worker with a Toronto theatre company thought nothing of accepting her request to make him her “friend.”

Now, he deeply regrets it.

“I ‘friended’ her, not really thinking anything of it, but she went through and looked at all my stuff,” he says.

That stuff included several photographs of him dancing in his living room, others of him “just standing around, looking forlorn off into the distance.”

His boss freely commented on them. About his dancing, she wrote: “Nice moves. I didn’t know you had it in you.” About looking forlorn: “You have that far-off look in your eyes.”

It all made him very uncomfortable, he says, as though she were invading a part of his life where she just did not belong.

 

Read on!