Crank Up Your Career

Summer Job Hunting: Is anyone there?

Wendy Terwelp 3 Comments

My pal Kim Issacs at Monster.com & ResumePower.com asked me a great question this week for an article she’s writing – What shoud job seekers do in the summer months when key contacts may be on vacation? (And of course people’s minds are not all business in states like mine – Wisconsin – during the summer. Can you say festivals? Yep, already planning my attendance and checking out the bands coming to Summerfest.)

Well, it was a terrific question and really got me thinking. Here are some quick tips for summer job hunting – no they do not include laying out – but some tips may surprise you:

  1. Summer is an awesome time to network – in person and online. Yes, I have actually landed new business at Summerfest. Really. Carry your cards with you at all times (job seekers, create networking cards) – and be on good behavior. Online – social networking is huge. LinkedIn is one of the top sites for professional networking – check out your profile. Is it the “you” you want to convey to employers? If not, update it.
  2. Pump up your personal brand! Yes, everyone has a brand whether they know it or not. How do people perceive you on the job — and off? Are you known for your sense of humor or savvy networking? How can you incorporate that into your next gig (or your current one)? Check out where your brand stands right here.
  3. Update your resume. How long has it been? Do you still have your age, “good health,” and marital status listed on your resume? If so, get over it and update it! Add new work history, including promotions, new achievements, continuing education or more. Or hire a professional resume writer to do it for you.

  4. Brush up on your skills. For example, if you’re a bit behind the times in computer skills, take a class or two. Not only would you improve your skills, but you’d have something new to add to your resumes, AND more importantly, have the opportunity to network and connect with others in the class.

  5. Giver’s gain. Help out someone with their job search. The more you help others get what they want, the more you’ll get what you want.

Enjoy the summer!

Note: As soon as Kim’s in-depth article comes out, you’ll see a link here. Be on the lookout!

Your Resume: To Video or Not to Video

Wendy Terwelp 1 Comment

To video or not to video – that is the question. Check out Gerry Crispin, SPHR and Mark Mehler’s post in CareerXroads (June 2007):

Video Resumes versus Video Screening

Video resumes have been a flash in the pan for 30 years and never gotten much traction (possibly because the notion of plodding through candidate videos – digital or otherwise – is about the most unappealing thing a recruiter can do). Now however, the video horizon has tilted with all the attention on v- blogs, YouTube and the like. Two efforts we’ve been reviewing, Hirevue and InterviewStudio , are interesting and potentially efficient alternative solutions for phone screens once the initial sourcing and database searches sort out the most likely applicants.Someday (but not today) we’ll also be able to search the actual video of applicants answers to questions posed in a job descriptions and tee up a paired comparison of the best responses to select the finalists. Interviews, whether live and in-person or, remotely and digitally taped, have much in common. In either case you would be hard pressed to prove that one is significantly more likely to lead to better selection decisions than another.

We’re seeking data from corporations that have adopted video screening processes and consistently employ them for a specific job or job family.

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To that end, check out the following student’s video that has Wall Street howling. Yes, Yale senior Aleksey Vayner, goes far beyond the usual in his resume video. How much is too much information? See for yourself.

Down But Not Out – forays in networking

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

In Forbes May 2007 issue, author Barbara Ehrenreich writes about networking:

Why do people resist the idea of networking?

Most people encounter the notion of networking through the crisis of unemployment. Suddenly a layoff, downsizing or re-org leaves you without income, health insurance or a postbreakfast destination. What to do? “There are four ways to find a job,” an ExecuNet functionary told a group of white-collar job seekers I had joined in 2004 as an undercover journalist–“networking, networking, networking and networking.” My own career coach, whom I was paying $200 an hour to propel me into employment, advised networking with every single human I could buttonhole, even for a second: the person seated next to me on a plane, my doctor, my doctor’s receptionist.

It should be fun, right?  Read on!

While I enjoyed her excellent and well-researched article, I have to disagree that networking always stinks and is never fun. I do agree, however, her committment to “networking from the heart.” YES. Givers gain. Check out how marketing coach Ronnie Noize and I turn things around and keep ’em positive in our teleclass, Seven Secrets of Networking, Thursday, May 31.

And for more fun, yes I said fun, about networking, check out the MP3 of Rock Your Network (R).

How to Get a Recruiter’s Attention

Wendy Terwelp Leave a comment

“So I look in your direction, and you pay me no attention do you? I know you don’t listen to me, ‘cause you say you see straight through me, don’t you?” – Coldplay 

While Coldplay wasn’t talking about recruiters in these lyrics, the feelings of candidates are much the same. They’ve posted on job boards, they’ve blasted recruiters’ email boxes, and no-one pays attention. No one calls. 

According to a recent Korn Ferry survey, the top five ways to get an executive recruiter’s attention are: 

  1. Work for a highly-regarded company (36%)
  2. Proactively develop relationships with recruiters
    in your region/industry (29%)
  3. Be the highest performer in your department/function (20%)
  4. Personal branding (11%)
  5. Take on high-profile, risky assignments (2%)