If you are in HR or looking for work; you need to read this article. Here are just few of the highlights:

- On Twitter alone “more than a million tweets about job openings go out every month from 6,000+ employers and 7,700+ job channels via TweetMyJOBS.com

- The traditional job board is disappearing and being replaced by ‘direct sourcing’ which is when hiring decision-makers “identify, reach out to, engage, and convert” only the highly desirable candidates. Passive candidates become the new gold. The better your digital footprint, the easier you’ll be to find.

- Job sites are adding “Who do I know”? buttons to their sites so you can see who you know at a company without going to Linked In.

And one of my favorites… Paid Interviews.com. It actually pays candidates when they successfully interview (read: get hired) and has a virtual water cooler feature which is “a place for candidates to talk about their past employment experiences, it’s like Amazon product ratings, but for companies. It’s a place where you can get unbiased answers about employers around the world.”

If you’re a company with a lousy culture… the good old days might be evaporating before your very eyes. Between sites like paidinterviews.com and glassdoor.com and social networking; hiding is going to get tougher. Ahhh, transparency. Welcome.

Photo credit: http://itaysworld.com/blog/2009/03/03/funny-money-but-of-the-real-kind/

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

- 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!)

-  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!

As I go through my talk, inevitably the most vocal opponent (the one who kept telling me how insightful they are and how stupid I am) sees the light and suddenly  wants my help. Hmmm…

Why are there so many jobs posted on Twitter?

– It’s free, fast, easy, has an incredibly broad reach AND all those people who think social media  is stupid won’t be looking there!

Back to the job hunt. Of those 500 job posts per minute, there are, of course, redundant jobs BUT… the question is… how can you use what’s there to help you?

Using Hashtags to Boost Your Job Search is a terrific article on how to use Twitter effectively (Hashtag =# = keywords).  Hashtags such as #jobs, #jobadvice, #jobhunt and #jobsearch offer both job openings and general job search advice.  If you’re looking for high-level information to help your job search,  start here.

Put the hashtag in the twitter search bar and up will pop articles (links) that may help you.  Geographic hashtag can narrow your search, #roc = Rochester, NY.  Also, there are hundreds of recruiters on twitter, Check out this resource. Follow the smart people on Twitter and you might be surprised how much you’ll learn. Got  Twitter job search tips? Please share.

Don’t try harder, try different.

So how do I figure out what different is or looks like?  TAKE ONE STEP.

People – Look objectively at the people you spend time with. Are they positive, energetic people? Are they interested in living? Do you feel energized after being with them or drained.? Be with people who are upbeat and honest. It’s a choice to surround ourselves with people who are engaged.

Actions – Review how you spent your time in the past week. How much of what you did fell into these 3 categories:

1. You were learning something
2. You were having fun
3. You felt appreciated (or loved if it’s your family)

If you’re not getting two out three of these then ask yourself…What am I going to do? What’s stopping you?  Also, on the flip side of this,  do you consciously teach, make things fun and show appreciation everyday?

Just for today, if you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired- take care of those needs first. Then take a few minutes to think about either the people in your life or the actions that you are taking.  If you’re not sure what to do, talk it over with someone you trust who understands. You deserve it.

This post was inspired by Julien Smith’s post, Your Happiness is Not Your Own, “Perdre sa vie à la gagner.” Je veux dire, jamais!

As a SCORE volunteer (part of the Small Business Administration), I meet  a lot of wonderful people who have great ideas. Each of them is taking a step towards starting their own business. They are asking for help (by the way it’s free and available to everyone) and researching their idea. I tell them that even if this particular business doesn’t get off the ground, another one just might so keep learning, growing and exploring.

When people find out that I have started businesses or volunteer at SCORE, they inevitably talk about how much fun it must be. They don’t really think about how hard it is to start the business, find the customers, run the business and do the work. While it may sound a bit overwhelming, 20,000 new businesses start every year. I believe that if the United States is going to remain economically strong, we need more and more entrepreneurs to step up.

When I was looking for an image to include with this post, I realized that no photograph of a person or people would work. Entrepreneurs come in every size, shape, age, race, gender, religion and nationality.  This is an important challenge and even if you are not inclined to start a business, I ask that you to visit, support, encourage and cheer lead for local entrepreneurs. When picking a restaurant, pick a local restaurant instead of a chain. Eat local food, buy local goods and we’ll all reap the benefits. I’d love to hear from other entrepreneurs. We need to stick together!

How often do those career days include someone from sales? I’d venture to say almost never. But truthfully, most of us spend a lot of our time selling, regardless of our title. Even in today’s tight job market; there are always open positions for sales people. Sales is an honorable profession and one where people with integrity and intelligence are truly needed.

Whether we’re looking for a job, trying to convince someone of our point of view or persuading a family member to do what we want; it’s all about sales. Sales is “the art of persuading.” I’m not talking about the sales ambush; where we are being forced to think about buying something we don’t want and getting pressured.

The most effective sales people understand their customer and match their product or service with the needs of that customer. In addition, they are often the best listeners, make an excellent living and have a lot of autonomy over their work day.

I mentor and coach small businesses as part of my volunteer commitment to SCORE ( an entity of the Federal government’s Small Business Administration). When I talk to entrepreneurs, I ask them if they think they are sales people. Inevitably they say no, but the  truth is that every entrepreneur needs to be a great sales person. They need to sell customers, investors, business partners and on and on.

Here are some sales tips that are also terrific ideas for everyday living. Here are my personal favorites:

• Want to improve the quality of your communication? Ask a better question!
• Guess what, it NOT about you.  It’s about them!
• Stephen Covey once said “Most people do not listen with the ‘intent’ to understand. Most people listen with an intent to reply.”

What are your favorite sales tips? I need all the help I can get.

In case you don’t have a chance to watch it, the person tells the story of a pink pantsuited, bracelet-jangling big haired blond who comes into a networking room where the marketing executive looks down on her… only to find out that she is personal friends with the one contact he cares about. Hmmm…

In some measure though, we’re all guilty of judging others. Some of that is human nature and we need to fight that every day of our lives. In our career, we need to make sure we have an open mind about how we can help others and how others can help us.

I have heard it over and over again from unemployed people when I suggest they talk to their neighbors. I hear, “they don’t know anyone” or “I’m embarrassed for them to know I’m still out of work” and other lame excuses. Get over it.

Maybe you can help your neighbor. Did you ever consider that? If you tackle networking like it’s a job, where the best scenario is a win/win and the worst scenario is that VERY LITTLE effort is put forth AND the results are lousy. No one said finding a new job is easy whether you currently have a job or not.

If you’re a bit stuck in your search;  find someone else to help. If you’re currently employed; find someone else to help. Choose wisely but help them; with a contact, a few hours of volunteer time, an idea or the best gift ever, listening.