Well, one must that many people ignore is the ‘CALL TO ACTION’. Yes, that’s right. Once a customer comes to your website, store, whatever… you need to tell them what you want them to do. Sounds pushy, maybe… but any good sales person will tell you that asking for the business is one of the most important parts of closing the sale.

Typical resumes do not include a call to action but why not? Do we make it a ‘no-brainer’ for someone to contact us, either by email or by phone? Do you put a QR code on your resume that leads to your website, blog, or a video of you describing your fabulous skills? Is your email link live? Are each of your company/organization links live?

Here’s a very cool article on 10 effective ways to build web-based  ‘calls to action’ that can really make a difference.

Remember, don’t try harder, try different. Make your resume stand out.You can do it.

photo credit: Web Design tuts+

For the rest of us, whether we are 25, 40 or 55…we are wondering what to do. This terrific article by Thomas Friedman, the well-respected economist, speaks directly to the issues . Here’s an excerpt…

  While employers “are hiring; they are increasingly picky” and are “all looking for the  same kind of people” — those “who not only have the critical thinking skills to do the value-adding  jobs that technology can’t, but also people who can invent, adapt and reinvent their jobs every day… Professionals need an entirely new mind-set and skill set to compete.”

So, exactly what skills do you need to have in order to meet this new challenge? Here’s my take:

• Change agent – not just able to cope with change but create it – constantly
• Collaborator – find the right people to do the job and then work together a way to get it done – fast, seamlessly and on a shoe string
• Teacher/Student – learn everyday, on every project from all collaborators. See what works and what doesn’t and then help guide the team – either from a leadership or participant role – to success.

These are the skills that I am building – what would you add?

Photo credit: http://www.buddiescafe.net

Mr. Salzberg asks potential employees:

- What values that are most important to you?

- How have you demonstrated your commitment to those values in the last 2 years?

- Tell me about something recently that didn’t go well and what did you do about it.

His advice:

1)  “Pay it forward and take care of people.” When was the last time you mentored someone? If the CEO asks you that question, would you have a great answer? One that would make him/her proud to know you?

2) ” Brand yourself.” Do you know what your digital footprint looks like? What does it say about you? Do you actively manage it or do you passively hope that your digital information is ‘good enough’?

3) “Get out of your comfort zone.” I consider this the most important. We get so busy with our daily lives that we forget to take calculated risks or all the risk-taking behavior has been “corporatized” out of us. “It’ s ok to be uncomfortable. Don’t resist change …or a different way of looking at things.”

I would go one step further. Look for opportunities to change and then go for it. Early in my career I heard, “the best way to cope with change is to create it.” I have worked hard to figure out how to keep reinventing myself. It’s not easy but I am happy that I kept at it. Not sure how or what to change? Ask someone you respect and then listen with an open mind. You’ll be glad you did.

Photo credit:  ilgiraresole

What do I mean by a ‘fishy’ handshake? Well, when you offer just the fingers of your hand or when you fail to grasp the other person’s hand and shake it with confidence; you run the risk of having people think you are weak. This especially goes for men shaking hands with women. It is disrespectful to barely shake hands with a woman. It makes them think that you don’t think of them as equals.

You’ve probably heard the story about why we shake hands, i.e.,  to show that we have no weapons in our hands. Aside from the way we dress and eye contact, our handshake is another very important signal of our confidence.

When you shake hands, please, oh please I’m begging you, look the person in the eye and give them a gentle but firm handshake. This isn’t a strength contest but it is a chance to make the other person sit up and take notice of your positive manner.  So ladies,  put your hand out there and shake firmly. Guys, do the same. it’s so important!

Photo Credit: Ads of the World

If they want to think it’s stupid that’s OK by me. But they ought to keep their uninformed opinions to themselves.  If you have an open mind, please read on…

Here is a link to an excellent short (3 minutes) video tutorial for finding a job on twitter.  How To Use Advanced Twitter Search To Find A Job – Video from the good folks at Mashable.com.   It goes through searching twitter for a job by industry, geography and how to keep up with information on your industry.

Even if you’re not looking for a job, the power of twitter is in real time search. You don’t need to follow anyone or have any followers in order to use it to find information that other people, smart people, value. Twitter isn’t stupid if you follow smart people. Please stop whining and start learning.

Photo credit:  Marie Claire magazine

I know keeping up our skills is hard and that trying to make sure we’re networking and connecting is a pain. But consider the alternative. “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less,” said General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army. He wasn’t referring to the job market but, it does apply.

Each of us needs to be thinking about being a proactive career manager. Are you diligently building your network? Are you getting training? Are you actively discussing key aspects of change in your field?  Do you read blogs that are relevant to your industry? Are you out of your comfort zone?

I want to be one of those people that companies are willing to fight to recruit. How about you?

- You never know when you might need a job OR help someone else find a job.

- You can learn a lot about a company from what they are posting and how they describe open positions.

- You might learn the name of a hiring manager or HR person who could help you with that company.

- If you see the same skills required for job postings; it could tell you that you need to update your skills.

So if you don’t have one, start an automated job search. I like Indeed.com as it aggregates jobs from other job boards.  By the way, if you post your resume on job boards you open yourself up to all kinds of spammers. They troll job boards looking for contacts to sell ‘stuff’ to. Just be careful out there.

For more tips on job hunting, check out “10 Smart Things Job Seekers Do.”

Photo credit: The Santa Clara City Library Blog  May 27, 2010 (thank you!)

I really like glassdoor because you can get the inside scoop on a company. The site consists of reviews by employees who rate their job, the organization, their salary and the CEO. Of course you need to take each review with a grain of salt. I scanned through the company reviews of those listed in Rochester and I have to say that I agree with the overall ratings of the CEO’s where some are as low as 17% and others as high as 86%.

But the one that made me write this post is Branchout.com. Here’ s how the article describes it,  “BranchOut is a new career networking site that integrates with Facebook, so it’s very easy to set up. You can also import your LinkedIn profile, which eliminates the need to double-enter information….it’s an option for people trying to utilize Facebook in both a personal as well as professional way — just make sure your Facebook profile is well-maintained.”

Here’s my concern. First of all, I can’t look at the site unless I give them access to my Facebook information. Remember, every time you give another site permission to access your Facebook data; the site gains access to all your information and cam potentially expose things that are posted to your wall. The next issue I have is;  make sure your ‘”Facebook profile is well-maintained.”  The article then links to an article from summer 2010. This is very outdated information for keeping your Facebook information private.  If they really cared, they’d at least make sure to give us up to date information on such an important issue.  I can only say, beware. A little research reveals a problematic situation.  Do what you think is best, but please be careful.

Photo credit: deevista.com

-  The Tasmanian Devil (The Stalker): over zealous applier to jobs and obsessive ‘check on the position that I applied for’ person

-  The Lion (The Ego): thinks that the level of their previous position means that the rules don’t apply to them and yes, they think they’re  better than everyone else

- The “Poor Me” Possum (The Victim): blames everyone and everything else

Each of these types are carrying forward thoughts and ideas about themselves that are not helping them adjust to the reality of the new job market.

Finding a job is not easy, but sometimes we add to the problem by acting in ways that do not help others see the best in us.  Note these additional types:

- The Ostrich: often due to poor choices or avoidance behaviors; this person keeps doing the same things they’ve always done but does not understand why they’re not making more progress

- The Hog: talks endlessly about themselves and what they’ve done. If people are telling you to listen; you’re a hog

- The Cat: spends lots of time chatting, resting and thinking but doesn’t really want to work and acts really busy but never accomplishes anything of value (except what gratifies them). They borrow money and make excuses for not being able to ‘close’ the deal.

If you’re a person who’s been out of work for while,  try talking to a mentor.  Ask someone you trust to level with you, try to accept what they are telling you with grace.  Or maybe you need to just listen to what the people currently in your life are telling you. Do you know some other types? Please share. Remember don’t try harder, try different!

– A tool for improving dental hygiene?

– A movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor in WWII?

– An element of new math?

– A supplement guaranteed to help you lose 50 pounds in 3 weeks?

Give up? If I told you it was another social media tool and that it’s pretty cool, you  would never have started reading. But I tricked you… (are you still reading?)

Quora is a “continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” Hmmm, sounds like Wikipedia. Here are some ‘questions” that I’ve opted to follow:

• Why is Barnes and Noble doing well while Borders is near bankruptcy?
• What should the Winkelvoss twins have done to protect their idea?
• Why do start ups fail?
• What are some really good April Fools Day jokes to play on your friends?
• What life experiences help children develop concern for others?

If you have a curious mind, you may enjoy Quora. Oh by the way, here’s advice on using Quora for your job search. Now go start laughing, learning and collaborating!

Photo credit: http://www.nataliedee.com/053107/