Use Black Friday to Network to Your Next Big Gig

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Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving – when U.S. retailers open at 4 a.m. to capture loads of sales and get into the black.

Have you been there? Waiting in line until doors open for that special something someone wants? I have – and it’s a great time to network. Yes really. Here are some tips to get the most from networking – while grabbing the last do-dad for your holiday gift-giving.

1. Look good. I know, who wants to get up earlier just to put on makeup? But, it pays off. You know darn well you’ll see someone you know – and haven’t seen in years – if you look like you rolled out of bed and are wearing pajamas and a coat.

2. Get a quick sound bite ready to roll off your tongue. Keep it at 60 to 90 seconds TOPS. How do you create this sound bite? Go here: Use Personal Branding to Network Without Begging.

3. Be friendly. ‘Tis the season you know. Lines are a great time to start up a conversation. You’re stuck there ready to ring out, so why not talk to the others waiting as well? Makes the wait time more fun – and then it seems a bit shorter.

Ready to shop? Grab the caffeine and go!

Geeks Rule: Highest Paying IT Gigs

Wendy Terwelp 1 Comment

The 30 Top Paying Jobs in IT
By Eric Chabrow, CIO INSIGHT

Everyone knows the top paying IT job is the CIO. But, a new survey reveals that 29 other IT positions will have six-figure salaries in 2008.

No one is surprised that CIOs are the highest paid IT professionals, with a projected average annual salary of between $126,750 and $210,000 in 2008. But, 30 other IT titles also are projected to have average annual salaries that will top $100,000 next year, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology 2008 Salary Guide.Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing firm, projects that nine new occupations will for the first time have starting salaries averaging, on the high end of the range, in six figures:

  • Business Continuity Analyst, $100,250;
  • IT Auditor, $102,750;
  • Data Modeler, $103,000;
  • Network Security Administrator, $103,000;
  • Systems Security Administrator, $103,500;
  • Data Security Analyst, $104,000;
  • Data Warehouse Analysts, $104,250;
  • Software Engineer, $104,500.

Next page: 10 Top Paying IT Jobs for 2008

Meet me at the Brand You World event!

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Check it out, I am in great company. Speakers at this event include Guy Kawasaki (Co-founder – Truemors; Managing Director – Garage Technologies), Dick Bolles (Author – What Color is Your Parachute), Martin Yate (Author – Knock ’em Dead career series), Andy Sernovitz (Word of Mouth Marketing Guru), Tim DeMello (ZIGGS founder) AND MORE! Here’s a link to the ENTIRE daylong schedule.

I get to host an interview with Jason Alba where we’ll talk about How to Use Personal Branding to Take Your Career from Zero to 60 – Jason did it and so can you! In this session, slated for 5 p.m. Eastern, you learn from Jason Alba’s personal job seeker experience as he immersed himself in online branding and created his own online networking tool. In fact, Jason started a business during his job search! From press releases to articles to authoring a book and a blog, this session will help you understand what you can and should do right now, no matter your employment status, to get your brand out there.

Please join us! And the rest of the gang at the Brand You World global event celebrating 10 years of personal branding.