Career Management

Job Action Day 2012 – Nov. 5

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

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Get ready for the annual Job Action Day, hosted by Quintessential Careers happening Monday, Nov. 5. Here’s what’s planned thus far:

Job Action Day 2012, November 5th, is all about empowering job-seekers to create, build, and enhance your personal career brand to help you move your career and/or job-search forward.

Job Action Day is a day for all job-seekers and workers to take stock of their situations and make plans and/or take action steps to improve their careers.

As job-hunting and career development strategies continue to evolve, one thing is certain — the power of branding to establish, build, and enhance a job-seeker’s reputation.

A job-seeker’s career brand is the unique set of experiences, accomplishments, skills, education, attitude, passion, and the like that provide the promise of value to future employers.

Career branding strategies should be used in all aspects of career development and job-hunting, including on resumes, LinkedIn profiles, personal websites, social media activities, interviewing, and salary negotiation.

Job Action Day 2012, the fifth-annual initiative spearheaded by Quintessential Careers, includes expert and empowering articles, tips, and blog posts that give job-seekers information, ideas, and concrete steps that you can take to tackle your career brand.

Links will be released soon on the articles, bloggers, and other features that will be published on Job Action Day 2012, including these articles:

  • You are the Face of Your Brand, by Wendy Terwelp
  • The Value of Creating an Adaptive Professional Brand, by Nacie Carson
  • 10 Reasons to Love Your Personal Brand, by Meg Guiseppi
  • Branded Career Communications for Job-Seekers, by Susan Guarneri
  • Employers Don’t Give A Damn About You!, by Rick Gillis

See you there!

I look forward to seeing your comments and ideas. Do share!

Prepare to be Googled

Wendy Terwelp 2 Comments

Whether you’re in job search mode or navigating your career, you’ll be Googled. Got a sales meeting? You’ve been Googled. Speaking gig? The audience will Google you. With that in mind, it’s mission critical your online brand demonstrates how you wish to be perceived. Google yourself now (first and last name in quotes) to see what pops up.

Got dirt? Clean it up by removing it (Facebook tags and pics beware!) or burying it (blog content, LinkedIn updates, Twitter posts).

Minimal presence? Start with LinkedIn (typically found on page 1 when you’re Googled). Complete your profile, upload your headshot, and create a dynamic bio. Ambitious? Start a blog and post regularly.

Get found the right way online. Good luck!

© 2012 | Wendy Terwelp | http://knocks.com

Recruiter LinkedIn Secret: Follow Companies Where…

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

George_Blomgren_med - picGuest Expert, George Blomgren,
MRA, The Management Association

The other day, a recruiter colleague shared a tip with me. He told me that when a candidate applies for a job with his company, if that candidate otherwise looks qualified, he looks to see if the candidate is following his company on LinkedIn. If not, he won’t consider that candidate.

Rather an extreme attitude, but it illustrates a best practice. Recruiters assume that the main reason you follow a company on LinkedIn is that you want to work there. So smart recruiters use their company’s followers on LinkedIn as the “low hanging fruit” for their hiring needs. So, take a moment to follow the companies you want to work for!

Editor’s note: Great tip George! The same holds true if you want to get on a company’s radar for your business. And if you’re running a business and want to attract great employees, ensure your company has a company page on LinkedIn.

George Blomgren is the  Director of Recruiting Solutions for MRA – The Management Association. George has 20+ years of talent acquisition (aka recruiting),  and operations experience. Prior to joining MRA, George ran the advertising and marketing department for a fast-growing network of local employment websites.

Ticked off? Step away from the keyboard!

Wendy Terwelp 7 Comments

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Taylor Grey Meyer was ticked. So ticked after sending the San Diego Padres 30 resumes and getting rejected, she wrote a counter offer – via email. The email went viral.

Check out Taylor’s letter here. The letter’s a must-read prior to reading the rest of this post. Warning, strong language.

From the story, “Just looking at the forwards on the chain that eventually made it to us, Meyer’s letter has been seen by, in order: the Cavaliers, the Lake Erie Monsters, the Diamondbacks, the Yankees, the Astros, the Bobcats, the Heat, the Houston Dynamo, the Marlins, the Dolphins, the Red Sox, the Cubs, the Mets, FC Dallas, the Nationals, the Orioles, the Falcons, the Vikings, the Bengals, the Cleveland Gladiators, the Dayton Dragons, and the Chiefs.”

I’m guessing this is not the first impression she wanted to make. And it could be a career-ender.

Some ideas Taylor could have tried: Instead of sending resumes to the job board for multiple positions where she was overqualified, she could have tapped her network to see who she knows who knows someone in the Padres organization. She could have checked her LinkedIn network to see who may have a Padres connection. Revamped her resume and cover letter to better fit the career goal. Or stopped by in person, as she already relocated to the area.

So many ways Taylor could have approached her search that would have netted better results. Instead, she wrote a ticked off email that went viral and may end her career in sports all together… and after the graduate coursework too.

What are some other ways Taylor could have connected with the Padres?

Have you ever sent an email, wrote a blog post, or tweeted something you’ve regretted? What was the result? Were you able to save the situation?

Share your stories and ideas. I look forward to hearing what you’ve got to say.

© 2012 Wendy Terwelp | Opportunity Knocks™ | All rights reserved. | http://knocks.com