please add me as your… Continue

Branchout, a new application that helps job seekers makes Facebook work like Linkedin opened in beta this week. Branchout helps Facebook users leverage their network for job search in a similar way that’s common to Linkedin users.



Why is this important? There are a number of reasons - for starters, Facebook just passed 500 million users making it more than 7 times larger than Linkedin.



Besides the obvious advantage of size, Branchout can bring some additional… Continue

PayPal has received more than 20 awards for excellence from the Internet industry and the business community at large; for Scott Thompson, who started out as PayPal's SVP and CTO, overseeing information technology, product development and architecture for the company, the reason is simple: technology is key.



In this program, you will find out:



* The role technology plays in leadership

*… Continue

Linkedin considers itself a job search site as much as a social network.



While Linkedin heavily promotes its ability to connect you to friends of friends of friends, it also features some tremendously powerful job search tools. I’ll discuss some of the best today.



Linkedin has a number of tools that are less than apparent to users who aren’t yet power users. Since many Linkedin users don’t devote much time to the site until they start searching for a job, there… Continue

Aflac has been on Fortune's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For

for 12 consecutive years and has seen sales increase by $250 million to

$1.5 billion. But how do you go about managing such a dramatic change?

How do you continue to grow, while continuing to create innovative

products and meet the needs of your consumer?



In this program you will find out:



* How growth impacts corporate culture

* How to manage the impact a growth has… Continue

One of the more common tactical mistakes I see on resume is over-bolding - using too much bold.



Over-bolding creates many problems for your reader and even more problems for a candidate trying to get their point across to their 4 audiences (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/05/your-resumes-4-audiences-best-of.html).



Last week, this was a topic with one of my clients. His… Continue

Do you have an egocentric resume? What’s an egocentric resume, you ask?



Based on Wikipedia’s definition, an egocentric resume is a resume you’ve written for yourself as the audience. It makes you feel good. It should – you’ve written an autobiography, talking about things… Continue

I had the opportunity to speak with T.A. McCann, CEO of Gist.com, to discuss how Gist’s free service can help job seekers.



Gist.com is a plug-in for major email applications and web based email, that mashes-up your contact list with information from Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Google to give job seekers better information about the people they communicate with.



I started experimenting with Gist before I spoke with T.A., discovering that Gist can deliver tons… Continue

“You Never Get a Third Chance to Make a Second Impression.” I love this quote from Seth Godin (from Free Prize Inside, pg. 217), about how important first impressions are for job seekers.



First impressions are especially critical in an interview. Why do so few people do anything to manage the first impression they give, when research shows that most hiring decisions are made based on first impressions in the first 2-30 seconds (see Interview In A Snap… Continue

This was a question posed by my running coach, and it’s so applicable to job search as well.



There are so many parallels between job search and marathons ...



My readers who know me know that I train for marathons and triathlons and run to raise money for the American Cancer Society. My running coaches are the great Jenny Hadfield and Mike Norman, co-founders of Chicago Endurance Sports. Coach Jenny often talks and writes about eating elephants.



Why Is… Continue

Would you make a good employee for a start-up? Is a start-up a good fit for you?



In today’s tougher job market, more candidates consider start-ups than ever before. However, not all candidates are a good matches for start-ups. Here’s 6 ways to tell if a start-up company would be a good fit for you.



It’s tempting to consider working for a start-up. While finding these opportunities may be tougher, there is typically less competition for positions, quicker decision… Continue

You just got the call (or email) - the company chose another candidate. Why didn’t you get the job? Here’s 10 reasons ...



Before we get to the list, let’s discuss a few things. The obvious reason you didn’t get the job is because the company’s first choice (or second, or third) accepted. So the real question is ... why weren’t you ranked first?



Also, you’ll notice that ageism isn’t on the list. When a candidate over 40 doesn’t get the job, the first thing they… Continue

At the end of June 2010, the major job sites released hiring data and analysis for the month, indicating mixed results. Today's article summarizes job reports from Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com and CareerBuilder.com.



Not only is this data valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies experiencing growth.



The drop in June’s… Continue

In Interview in a Snap (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2008/04/interview-in-snap.html ), I discussed research that found hiring decisions are made within the first 30 seconds of an interview … perhaps as short as just 2 seconds. The rest of the interview just served to justify the hiring manager’s initial impression.



Is that shocking to you?



It’s shocking to me - So shocking, that it led… Continue

I see many candidates who send a link to their Linkedin profile, instead of their resume. Do you realize each one has a different and separate purpose?



A profile and resume are not equal. There are times when sending a link to your profile is more effective, and others when sending your resume will work better.



Often candidates send a Linkedin profile, when a resume would be more effective to meet their goals - or send a resume, when their Linkedin profile would… Continue

Job seekers - Would you like to see how you stack up against the competition? While there is much information about employers, there was little information available to candidates about their competitors ... until last week.



Last week, CareerBuilder released its hireINSIDER tool, to help candidates see how they compare to others applying for the same job.



This article describes how this tool can help you find a job, what you can learn from it, and how you can use… Continue

You've finished your resume, had friends and even recruiters look it over and hear a resounding "Good Resume". How can you tell if your resume still sucks?



Since your friends and even recruiters probably aren't hiring you, their opinion won't matter much - it's the hiring manager's opinion that matters most (and the other 3 audiences for your resume).



There's a world of difference between a "good resume" and an effective resume. Beyond the basics of typos,… Continue

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”… attributed to Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and others.



Is this a description of your job search?



I speak to frustrated job seekers every day, people who have been looking for a career change for a while. Sometimes they've been looking for just a month…sometimes over a year. In particular, older workers blame a broken system and age bias. I agree…the hiring… Continue

Salary expectations present a difficult question for job seekers. Gone are the days that you could expect a 10%-20% increase just for changing jobs.



In today's job market that features an over supply of labor, job seekers (especially unemployed candidates) may have to face accepting a lower salary. Other job seekers who want to change careers may find that their current experience & skill level is discounted to lower salary expectations within a new industry or job… Continue

There are a number of potential opportunity channels that job seekers can use to find more interviews, but most candidates only use just two or three.



How many of these channels do you use in your job search campaign?



What worked before in a good job market with plenty of low hanging fruit, just isn't good enough today. When the job market is at it's most competitive ever in our lifetimes, successful candidates have to do more work to find the right… Continue