Career

Networking: What do you do? Name ONE thing.

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

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.

Create your brand online and get hired faster

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

Abridged: Kiplinger.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The last time Phylise Banner looked for a job, the job market was much different. And as someone who designs online distance-learning programs for a living, she knows the world has changed since she last pounded the pavement. “This is a different type of search,” says Banner. “I’m trying to create my own online agency to promote myself.”Banner maintains a profile on several social-networking sites, including a popular online address book that, can broadcast her job-seeking status to anyone keeping up with her comings and goings. Banner is ahead of a big curve. “Job seekers today don’t realize the extent to which social networks are a good tool to reach someone inside the corporation you’ve targeted,” says Gerry Crispin, a corporate-recruiting consultant at CareerXroads.

On her website, Banner has posted the full text of her resume, seeded with key words she’s researched for her industry. Time is still of the essence in a job search — it just moves quicker these days. Be among the first to know when a job opens up by also setting up automatic searches on job search engine sites. They’ll spider other sites, then send alerts to your e-mail address.

 

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Want more tips to crank up your brand online?

Check out: http://www.knocks.com/Social_Networking_Course.html.

Looking to Move for a Job?

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment
Here’s What You Need to Know

Kathryn Glass,FOXBusiness

Relocating for a job can certainly jumpstart your career, but it isn’t always the best way to build up your bank account. In fact, moving to another city can be more expensive than it looks, and if you’re not careful you could be forced to significantly downgrade your lifestyle.

Large cities tend to be expensive, and while salaries are generally higher in those places, the increased pay doesn’t necessarily make up for the difference when compared to the lower cost of living in a smaller city.

I tend to think that when you move to a place like New York or L.A. or San Francisco, you’re moving there to establish your career and you probably will be in almost a deficit situation to establish that career,” said Bert Sperling, head of Sperling’s Best Places, a city and demographics analysis publication. “After that, it’s either move up the food chain, or head out for some place more livable.”

But what bigger cities lack in affordability, they make up for in perks such as public transportation, cultural events and an urban lifestyle, said Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis at PayScale.com, a Seattle-based Web site that helps job searchers find salary information in cities across the country.


Top 5 Cities

Source: Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau

No. 1 Denver, Colo.
With a median annual household income of $62,500 and the median home price at $305,000, Denver tops the list as an affordable place to live and work.

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Slideshow: To help make your job search a little easier, we asked Sperling’s Best Places to identify the top five cities for living within your means while advancing your career.

Lee said that for some careers, moving to a larger city or a desirable, warm location can occasionally work out to be a better-paying scenario.

“The cost of living is considerably higher in Hawaii and most jobs there probably don’t pay enough to make it equal to your salary if you were living in, say, the Midwest or the South. But if you’re a nurse and you move to Hawaii, you can get a 20-30% increase in pay because there are a lot of retirees and there’s a real demand for health care,” Lee said. “So there’s one scenario where it might be better to move to a desirable location.”

Indeed, job sector has a lot to say about whether or not your move will be profitable. Wendy Terwelp, a career coach based in Milwaukee, Wis., suggests using the cost of living difference as a basis from which to negotiate a little more pay.

“I always encourage people to lobby for more money, even if you just talk them into a performance-based raise or an evaluation after six months,” Terwelp said. But before making the move, you should research the company, the employees and its leaders. It has to be a good fit so you won’t need to change jobs after you get there.

Andy Vogel is a client of Terwelp’s who works in advertising. He has moved from smaller communities to larger cities on several occasions and negotiating was a crucial part of every transition.

“I’ve always been really good at negotiating,” Vogel said. “I’ve always been really good at getting good packages based on how much I’m willing to accept at variable pay, so I’ve got a lot of confidence.”

But before you start bargaining with a potential employer, experts say you should find out what the salary range is for your job in the region in which you’re planning to relocate. That way you’ll have a better idea of how much you’ll be able to negotiate.

Note: Original post found here: http://tinyurl.com/3peoq8

Networking: Are you begging or building?

Wendy Terwelp 3 Comments

Meeting

Do you feel networking doesn’t work? Here’s how to change those feelings and network with confidence and ease. Networking, after all, is simply having a conversation with friends. 

Networking DOES work. Time and again, my clients land positions using their network. BUT, as others have said, it must be done right. “Hey, know anyone who’s hiring?” is NOT networking done right. And this happens to be the way many people start their search.

One of my clients, a senior programmer, was unemployed 18 months before meeting with me. (She’d been downsized after 25 years working for a company that had been acquired.) She said, “Do NOT tell me to network. It does not work.”

Really? Hmmm. How are you going about it?

She had asked people, “Hey, know anyone who’s hiring?”

She began emails this way, sending out a poorly done resume with each one. And when meeting with friends, her opening line was the “know anyone who’s hiring” line.

So, for 18 months, her network did not work.

What we did: First, revamped all communication pieces – resume, cover letter, email format, etc. Next, identified all of her contacts. (Think BIG people.) Then, we created a sound bite that could be quickly revamped for emails, in-person meetings, and even her bowling league. (To create your own sound bite, check out Chapter 5 in my book, Rock Your Network®.) My client took action.

Guess what? Within three weeks she had a new job at a higher level, project management, despite it being summer and one of the weeks was the Fourth of July, when many people are on vacation.

How did this happen? One of the people on her bowling league said, “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to work at X company? My son works there!” So, my client gave her friend the new resume, her friend passed it on, and my client landed her dream gig.

This person had been in her network the whole time!

Steve, a six-figure commercial lender (and one of my clients), has landed his last four positions using his network – maintaining it throughout his career. Each position was at a higher level – in title, compensation, perks, etc.

George created his last two positions where no position had been before one of them was as a marketing director. He made the connection at one of my live Rock Your Network® events. Set up a meeting. Shared his ideas and voila! A new gig was created especially for him. His landed other roles by remaining connected with those he met.

Lisa, a human resources manager who had recently relocated, also landed her most recent position through networking – despite having no local network (or so she thought). She too attended one of my Rock Your Network® events and made several connections. Yes, she followed up. She was most amazed by how warm people were and by how much they wanted to help.

Can social media be used for networking? Heck yes! Again, it must be done right. Asking for favors with zero connection is not networking. It’s begging. Networking is about relationships – building them and maintaining them.

Margaret, working in DC politics, wanted a major career change. She jumped on Facebook and reconnected with some friends from high school. One of them had her exact dream job with her dream company. She learned more about the position and her friend got her an interview.

Networking DOES work – offline or on. The important thing to remember is that it is a two-way street. Build and maintain the relationship.

Can they be revived after being dormant for years? Yes! I got a call from a former coworker. It had been years since I had heard from her. She called with an opportunity, not begging for a job. She called to reconnect. She called to ask for help with her husband’s company who is experiencing a downsizing – and she wants to put me in touch with their HR team. Now that is the right way to go about reconnecting.

A wrong way? Got a call from another former coworker. He wanted to change careers. What names could I give him? Who do I know in the X field? Hmmm. I had not talked this person in several years and the first thing he wants are my connections.

See the diff?

Challenge: Take a look at how you’ve been networking. Really look. And be honest with yourself. Have you been begging or building?

Want help? Check out Rock Your Network for Job Seekers.

Copyright 2008 – 2016 Wendy Terwelp | All rights reserved.

Interviewing: What’s your ROI?

Wendy Terwelp 2 Comments

Are you a Matt Damon or a Russell Crowe?

Here’s an exerpt from today’s ERE.net ezine:

“Let’s look at an example to illustrate the ROI of top actors. If you were going to hire a well-known actor for an upcoming action movie you could pick from many obvious choices like Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Angelina Jolie, or you could hire “Joe Nobody.”

Each of the well-known actors will cost you significantly more than hiring an unknown newcomer, but each also has a demonstrated ability to attract a greater return. Forbes.com recently completed a calculation of the ROI of top actors and what it found was:

  • Matt Damon returned $29 in gross movie revenue for every dollar that he was paid (29X or 29 times his salary).
  • Brad Pitt returned $24 for every dollar that he was paid.
  • Tom Cruise returned only $12 for every dollar in pay.
  • Russell Crowe returned only $5 for every dollar in pay (five times his salary).

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do these calculations. The results, even to an untrained eye, are startling. If you hire Matt Damon, he will return nearly six times more per dollar invested than Russell Crowe. That’s not a 6% difference; it’s a 600% difference! If the comparison was made broader to include the comparison of hiring “Joe Nobody” as a lead actor (instead of a noted star), the difference in the ROI would simply be mind-blowing.

The lesson to be learned here is that the “on-the-job performance” of the hire (often called quality of hire) can be quantified and converted into dollars in the sports and the entertainment industry and that the same calculation needs to be done by the recruiting function in the corporate world.” (Author: Dr. John Sullivan)

So, you’re not an actor, why is this important? It is essential to know how employers look at you when hiring. Next time you are on an interview, think about what you bring to the table that no one else does.

Calculate your ROI – on a per project basis. Take a look at your performance over the past few years. Is there a project you worked on where the resulting savings was more than your salary? If so, how much more? Or if you add up all the projects, ideas, suggestions, enhancements, improvements you made to the organization over the term you were employed, how much money did you save the company? How much – in terms of revenue – did you bring in through yours (or your team’s) sales efforts? By what percentage did you improve the company’s bottom line?

When you calculate these numbers against your salary, are you a Matt Damon or a Russell Crowe? Be sure to convey your star ROI in terms of results on your next interview.

Rock on.