Career

Job Action Day: Start Up – How to Network

Wendy Terwelp 3 Comments

For this year’s Job Action Day, I’m contributing to “Start Up.” According to Quintessential Careers, “Start Up” refers to the whole mindset of being the CEO of your career; having a portfolio of portable skills, a great network, flexibility, a project-mentality; not sitting at the computer visiting job boards, but getting out there, meeting people, and knocking on doors.

Get ready to take action.

In any economy, good times and bad, it’s important to take control of your career search and not rely on the “spray and pray” method—spraying your resume all over internet job boards, and praying someone calls you. By taking an active role in your career, you land a job by choice, not by chance. Won’t it be nice to control your career destiny?

While there are many methods to search for a job, the No. 1 method is to network. You will see networking tips for “getting out there, meeting people, and knocking on doors” below.

Additionally, you can contact companies directly via their company websites or via direct mail. Send your resume and cover letter to key decision-makers for your job target. Better, of course, is to network your way into the company through your personal contacts.

And finally, job boards. Job boards are the most passive way to search for a job. Per CareerXroads Source of Hire Report, March 2011, 24.9% of candidates are sourced through job boards.

My recommendation when using a job board: Use your professional organization’s job board first, like the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD’s) Job Bank (http://jobs.astd.org/) or the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA’s) Job Center (http://www.prsa.org/jobcenter/). Oftentimes jobs posted in a professional organization’s job bank are not posted elsewhere. If you wish to use the major job boards, I recommend doing a little investigative work. Read the job posting, and then see if you have a connection at the company or a contact whom you’ve identified has a connection (two degrees away). In this way, you will learn more about the organization through your connection and be able to create a warm referral to the appropriate decision maker. Do follow the job postings’ requirements and procedures; just use your connections to take your application to the next step.

Get Personal

Networking is simply the No. 1 way people land new jobs. In fact, according to CareerXroads Source of Hire Report, March 2011, “27.5% of hires are attributed to referrals. Referrals are the No. 1 Source of External Hires.” The study also states that “50.3% of all openings are filled through internal movement.” Internal movement counts as a referral. That means 77.8% of people are hired through people they know—their network.

How to Choose a Networking Group

When deciding upon joining a networking group, ask yourself the following questions: Who needs to know about you to help you reach your goals? Does this networking organization serve your target audience for your career goal? Does it have members who are your audience? If not, it’s probably not the group for you.

What groups should you join? Join at least three types of groups:
1. Peer group for brainstorming, education, commiserating, and more importantly for creating referral or alliance partners;
2. Prospects: a group that is your ideal target market or knows your ideal target market;
3. Professional business group or leads group, including professional associations, such as ASTD, PRSA, ISM, and others. Hiring decision-makers often Google your name before meeting with you. Being associated with a professional organization can boost your online presence.

Now that you’ve chosen your top three groups for in-person networking, make a plan. Take five minutes before each networking event to:
• Rehearse your sound bite
• Identify key players whom you would like to meet
• Make a goal to meet at least three new people

What to Say at Networking Events

Have at least three open-ended questions you can ask any person at the networking event.

Here are open-ended questions that encourage conversation:
1. What brings you to today’s meeting?
2. What one or two things would you like to take away from this event?
3. What’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you all week?

Never ask: “Do you know anyone who’s hiring?”

Your goal is to create real and helpful connections, NOT close the deal on a job offer or try to collect the most business cards in the room.

Let us know how this works for you and share your story! Good luck!

Want more help taking your job search to the next level? Check out “Rock Your Job Search™.” This program includes proven strategies including: How to Network Effectively Online; How to Ace the Interview; How to Negotiate the Offer and Get the Salary You Deserve, and much, much more. Includes: workbooks, audio, and extra bonuses. Enjoy!

® 2011 | Wendy Terwelp | Opportunity Knocks™ | All rights reserved.

Resume Tip: Accomplishments Rule

Wendy Terwelp 1 Comment

What are employers and recruiters looking for on resumes?

Accomplishments. Accomplishment statements grab an employer’s attention.

Recruiters say, “Past performance predicts future productivity.” Accomplishment statements also demonstrate that an employer will quickly recoup their investment in your annual salary when the company hires you.

Do not fill your resume with fluff such as weak summary paragraphs (“20 years’ experience”), unsubstantiated adjectives (“significantly increased”), or clichés (“dynamic, results-getting professional”).

Instead, use specifics. Employers want to see numbers, specifically numbers that demonstrate cost savings, revenue increases, productivity improvements, etc. Numbers that contribute to the company’s bottom line in some manner.

One staffing firm CEO said, “Put a BENEFIT STATEMENT into your resume – something that speaks of how you 1) made the company money, 2) saved the company money, or 3) streamlined procedures. Years of experience are immaterial and may indicate that you are just “old.”

Companies want to know what kind of contribution you can make to their success – not how many years you’ve been working.”

Here are some questions to ask yourself about each of your jobs, special projects, and other activity beyond standard job duties:

  1. How much additional revenue was generated?
  2. By what percentage did productivity improve?
  3. How much money was saved? (Describe the project and the savings.)
  4. By what percentage was turnaround improved?
  5. How many labor hours were saved?
  6. Onboarding improved by ________ percentage?
  7. Improved employee retention by ______, through ______________.
  8. 6. _________________ went from ___________ to _______________ after employees completed ____________________ training program.

The ability to provide “before and after” results is a strong way to demonstrate and communicate your value.

Challenge: Review your current resume. Have you provided specific information about your results? If not, get the numbers and add them to your document. Track the responses to your new, accomplishment-driven resume.

Need more help with your resume and your job search? Check out “Rock Your Job Search.”

©1998 – 2023 Wendy Terwelp | All rights reserved.

Wendy Terwelp is an award-winning career coach and personal branding strategies whose clients regularly win raises, promotions, and jobs. Want to advance your career? Let’s talk!

Your Cell Phone Can Ruin Your Interview

Wendy Terwelp 6 Comments

By Guest Blogger, Isabella York

In today’s modern world, cell phones play a very important role in communication. Everyone, including students, use cell phones to keep in touch with others, to convey an important message or to find information in an instant.

For those looking for a job, your cell phone could be your best friend when you need to call companies to inquire about job openings or to confirm an interview with a prospective employer. But, when used inappropriately, cell phones could cost you the job you want.

You can’t answer your phone every time it rings. And you shouldn’t, especially when you’re on an important job interview. Unfortunately, though, a lot of people break this rule. This definitely calls for some brushing up on cell phone etiquette.

First, here are some pet peeves headhunters have when it comes to interviewing people who can’t seem to part from their phones.

  1. Gabbing or texting nonstop on your phone while waiting for your interview. OK, so it’s not your turn yet to impress the employer with your wit and charm. But that does not give you license to chat or text ceaselessly in the waiting area. That seemingly oblivious receptionist at the front desk could be eavesdropping on you or secretly eying you from a distance. Your private conversations could turn out to be not-so-private after all when word about your chatting or texting marathons reaches the hiring manager. That just gives a bad impression, so please, take your personal business elsewhere or wait until the interview is over.
  2. Using the internet feature of your phone. Many new cellphones these days come with browsing features that help people get information on the go. Even if your data plan allows you to surf whenever you feel like it, remember that you are waiting for a job interview. You may think that this is not as severe as talking or texting on your phone, but it is. Surfing while waiting shows you’re bored and that you’re better off somewhere else than waiting for hours for your interview to happen.
  3. Using your phone to take down notes. Surprise, surprise! Some people actually DO this during job interviews. You know from the moment you accepted the interview invitation that you need to take down notes to retain information. Why would you be using your cell phone to record information, when you could’ve brought a notebook or an organizer for that purpose?
  4. Answering a call in the middle of the interview. Unless you’re expecting an emergency call from your wife who’s about to give birth or other related emergency (although, if it’s an emergency, why would you be expecting it anyway?), your phone should be turned off during the interview. Making a potential employer wait for you while you finish your phone conversation is just plain rude. The hiring manager wouldn’t think twice about kicking you out of the room, at least mentally.
  5. Talking to someone in the company’s restroom. This can be summed up in one word: gross. Whatever your business is, don’t talk about it in the restroom, especially not in the company where you’re having an interview. You don’t know who else might be in hearing range and listening to every juicy detail you dish while on the phone.

Having said those things, there are good practices to observe so you don’t jeopardize the job of your dreams. Some tips:

  1. Instead of burying your face on the phone while waiting for your interview, consider mentally rehearsing your answers to possible questions that may pop up during the interview.
  2. Before entering the interviewer’s room, turn your cell phone OFF. Yes, you read that right: Off. Even if you have your phone on vibrate mode, your interviewer would still hear its buzzing sound and that could interrupt the flow of conversation.
  3. If you are expecting an important phone call, inform your caller not to contact you during specific hours.
  4. Ask someone else to take the call for you or run your errands BEFORE you head out to your interview.
  5. Turn on your voice mail so you can listen to your messages after the interview.

It is important to make a good impression on your job interview. Even if you have a list of great accomplishments, those things won’t matter much if you don’t show respect to your future employer. Nonverbal communication matters greatly especially when meeting someone for the first time. Use your cell phone sparingly when waiting for an interview or preferably not at all.

Isabella York’s background includes serving in Human Resources with Balsam Hill,  a provider of fine pre-lit Christmas Trees. She’s also a busy mother with a son to raise, who enjoys being outside in her backyard garden. 

Graphic by SnapHappy Creative LLC.

Want more help with interviews? Check out Invincible InterviewsSM

Five Quick Tips to Rock Your Network® Online

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

1. Pick Three: There are MANY social networks online to choose from, I recommend picking three so you can manage them effectively. For job seekers, I recommend: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Yes, I said Facebook.

Facebook’s fastest growing population is adults age 35 and older. They have 600 million users, 200 million members use Facebook primarily on their smart phones. With LinkedIn, there are more than 300,000 recruiters as members and 100 million members.

2. Create a branded bio: Tell a story in your profile (bio). Don’t just regurgitate your resume information. Know that chemistry helps you land and KEEP a job. Likability counts, so be interesting.

3. Know what you want: When you start networking online, it’s important to know what you want from the activity. If you want a job, be sure your profile is on brand and professional. Have a professional headshot as well.

4. Join a group: Know that in order to make the most of an online group, you’ve got to take an active role. You can take a leadership role in online groups. You can answer members’ questions and provide your expertise.

5. Be relevant and add value: Social networking gives you a chance to demonstrate your thought leadership and set yourself apart from your competition. As an executive and leader, it is even more critical to demonstrate your expertise online.

For example, these experts say…

Every executive should be on LinkedIn. We look at LinkedIn before ever looking at a resume. — Wayne Mitchell, executive recruiter, Career Thought Leaders Conference & Symposium, March 2011

The Facts: 83% of employers now use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to find new hires, according to a survey by recruiting platform Jobvite. Of those, by far the largest number, 89%, rely mainly on LinkedIn, followed by Facebook at 28% and Twitter at 14%.

In a survey of more than 500 human resources managers, Office Team found that 36% of respondents believe it’s at least somewhat likely that resumes will eventually be replaced by profiles on social and business networking websites. —Wired Workplace, 2011

Take Action: Review your current social media and identify at least three action items from the above list you can implement immediately. Make an action plan to effectively manage your online network. If you’d like more tips, join my upcoming class, Rock Your Network Online, starting next week Tuesday, June 7.

© 2010 – 2011 | Wendy J. Terwelp | All rights reserved.

Wendy Terwelp has helped thousands of clients get hired faster and be rock stars at work since 1989. A recognized expert on networking, both online and off, Wendy was dubbed LinkedIn Guru by The Washington Post and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fast Company, The Business Journal, Careerbuilder.com, Monster.com, NBC, ABC, and more as well as numerous radio and television shows. She has published hundreds of articles on the web and in print and wrote the ultimate networking book, Rock Your Network®. Rock your career and buy the book at http://knocks.com.

How to Get a Raise in Today’s Economy: Start with a “Me File”

Wendy Terwelp 9 Comments

In my coaching practice, I recommend my clients start a “me file” when they land a new gig.

Part of this recommendation stems from the fact that when we work together on the “get a new gig” process, they’re struggling to come up with quantifiable achievements that we can use in their career documents, such as resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and during job interviews.

A Me File is something you can use throughout your career, not just when looking for a job, but to maintain the one you have and move up the career ladder.

First, decide how you want to track your information (creating the Me File). I recommend storing the data in a format that you can take home with you nightly. This is your personal information. Should you want to discuss a raise or explore a new career, you’ll want to have all of your information in one place, so you can take it with you and not have to rush around at the last minute and try to find it. Or worse yet, be escorted out the door, with no documentation at all.

My clients have used the following methods to store their Me Files: a notebook to document projects as they progress; an iPhone, using an app or notes to record items as they arise; a folder or large envelope to store print versions, like kudos from clients; a spreadsheet; and a Word or Google Docs file. 

I recommend printing hard copies of kudos from clients and your management team. This ensures you have a copy and can locate it, should you need to leave. It’s also nice to have hard copies for your next performance review. 

Use a tracking method that works for you. Again, this is your personal info, hence my recommendation to take it home with you nightly.

What to track for your Me File

This will vary, depending upon the level and type of position you hold. A good rule of thumb is to follow one staffing CEO’s recommendation to job seekers (and this holds true for career maintenance, lobbying for a raise, etc.):

“Put a BENEFIT STATEMENT into your resume – something that speaks of how you 1) made the company money, 2) saved the company money, or 3) streamlined procedures. Years of experience are immaterial and may indicate that you are just ‘old.’ Companies want to know what kind of contribution you can make to their success, not how many years you’ve been working.”

While the statement is a bit harsh, it is true. Your Me File will help you communicate your value to your colleagues, coworkers, and managers as well as future employers, networking connections, etc. Learning to communicate your value also helps you realize your value and increase your confidence. Suze Orman, financial guru, said, “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” Strong words.

Let your Me File help you realize all that you bring to the table.

Here’s what to track (again, this varies based on your title, level, etc.):

1. New clients you’ve brought in – how many? Name names AND how much money they’ve brought to the firm (including how much they are projected to bring in).

2. Sales growth over time. Example: Grew sales from zero to $500,000 in the first year.

3. Marketing ideas, those implemented, and the RESULTS quantified

Example: Led the firm’s website redesign and upgrade, yielding 88 new clients and $1.8 million in revenue within 2 years.

4. Recognition from your boss

5. Kudos from your clients

6. Productivity enhancements (saving your company money by streamlining procedures)

7. Cost cuts such as negotiated discounts with key vendors, etc.

8. PR you landed for the company, and name it. Example: Won Milwaukee Business Journal’s Woman of Influence Award or Quoted in The Wall Street Journal on (your area of expertise). If you can, the sales or leads resulting from it. Provide the numbers.

9. Ideas you have, which are implemented. Document how they either bring in money, save money, or increase productivity in some way. You can estimate projected results if your idea has not yet been implemented.

11. Honors, awards, recognition from the company, as well as relevant professional associations.

Use the Challenge, Action, Result formula to document your projects for the Me File. Here’s a sample:

Challenge: The Company needs new business
Action you took: Created a social media action plan, and set up 20 networking meetings per week
RESULT (always the MOST IMPORTANT): Generated 20 new clients in the first three months, totaling X in annual revenue.

This is a start. As one client told me, he wants to start his new gig off right. Begin tracking your awesomeness now! Even if you’re in mid-career or a long-term employment situation, start now! This can help you snag your next raise.

Check out my client Linda’s success story to see results in action.

And please, do share your results! Wishing you HUGE SUCCESS.

PS: Want more tips to get paid what you’re worth? Check out my newsroom. Enjoy!

© 2011 – 2025| Wendy Terwelp | All rights reserved.