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+

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/

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?

But the truth is that if you’ve ever been responsible for the livelihoods of other people, you know that it’s not easy. If you are a thinking, caring individual; carrying the fate of a family’s paycheck in your hands is daunting.

In the world of  CEO’s, certain people immediately come to mind: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett.  Do you think they are good or bad CEOs? Well, it’s hard to argue with success but I wonder what really does make a good chief.

So I turn to a man whose opinion I admire, Peter Drucker. Here’s an article he wrote for Harvard Business Review in 2004 titled, “What Makes an Effective Executive.” In it he says that effective leaders follow 8 simple rules; the last of which is “think and say we, not I.”

Here’s another perspective from the researcher Jim Collins, (Good to Great).  “The best CEOs in our research display tremendous ambition for their company combined with the stoic will to do whatever it takes, no matter how brutal (within the bounds of the company’s core values), to make the company great. Yet at the same time they display a remarkable humility about themselves, ascribing much of their own success to luck, discipline and preparation rather than personal genius.”

We get to act as CEO’s of our lives, our families, our careers and perhaps a few other opportunities. Are you confident in your abilities and contribution but humble about how outcomes are achieved? If you are, then maybe the ‘you’ company is on its way to being successful.

In 25 Oddball Interview Questions, the author lists interesting interview questions from companies like Google, Goldman Sachs, AT&T, Facebook and Amazon.  These interviewers learned a lot from the responses to these off the wall queries.

You might think, no one is ever going to ask me, “How many traffic lights are in Manhattan?”, but if you get asked an oddball question; will you be prepared with a creative answer? More than ever, organizations need people who can be flexible and think differently about problems.

If you’re hiring manager and had, say,  3 candidates all of whom were equally qualified – how would you figure out which one to hire? You might try asking one of these questions to see how creative and spontaneous the interviewee can be.

So, how would you answer: “How many basketballs can you fit in this room?” Here are a few answers:

• Probably the same number of soccer balls
• One. You didn’t ask what is the maximum number of basketballs you can fit in the room
• Measure the room in basketballs. The room is 16 basketballs (length) by 12 basketballs (width) by 9 basketballs (height). Then it’s just a simple volume multiplication.

My answer would have been, “Why do we want to bring basketballs into this room? Hmmm, what does that tell you about me?

Photo credit S-Fun.com (Solid Fun)

Nielsen Research indicates that nearly half of American adults will have ‘smart phones” by the end of 2011. Mobile payment structures, comparison shopping, geolocation, interest driven profiles, group buying and so much more are evidence that this (r)evolution is coming on strong.

Are you prepared? Do you understand what mobile is going to do to your business? Let me know what you think about mobile.

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.

Our discussions at the conference went beyond Facebook and Twitter and included a broader set of tools like  Yammer, Glassdoor.com, Wikis, video and so much more. Beyond the toolkit, there is the ever important compliance piece of this equation and we covered that as well. You can find the presentation here.

Wherever you work and in almost whatever department, you need to understand the fundamental shift that is occurring and why it is changing the way we work, collaborate, think, relate and engage with stakeholders. Before I went to the conference, I read a post by the former PunkrockHR blogger.  She now blogs under the title of http://cynicalgirl.com. I loved this post about kicking HR to the curb. It’s all pretty much common sense but whether you are an HR professional, an employee or a job seeker, I hope you will take a minute to check out the funny way this information is pulled together. We love it, we hate it but we can’t ignore it.

To that I reply, “You don’t have to.” If you can grow your company, find a job, network effectively or accomplish your other goals without it, then good. If however, you’re looking to inexpensively reach new contacts; you may want to have an open mind. I encourage people to learn what twitter is and how it might help them. I agree Twitter isn’t for everyone but only make that decision after its capabilities are understood.

If you are unfamiliar with Twitter you may think that you have to follow people and have followers and that is what it’s all about. The power of twitter is in REAL TIME SEARCH. All the information that is attached to a ‘tweet’ is there because a person thinks it’s worthwhile.

Here are just a few facts about twitter for job seekers. Did you know that:

• There are a minimum of 180 recruiters on twitter?
• There are over 50 companies who regularly post jobs on twitter?
• You can find jobs by searching on a profession e.g. @engineering
• You can find an internship by searching @findinternerships
• You can research jobs by geography
• Check out 50 Terrific Twitter Tips for Job Seekers

Companies post jobs to twitter because:

• It’s free
• It can easily reach passive and active candidates
• People who find jobs there already ‘get’ the power of social media and don’t need to be trained

I regularly teach social media for job hunters, my next session is on October 29 at the Pittsford Library, Rochester, NY. Let me know if you’d like to join us. The sessions are free, fun and you can network at the same time as you learn. I am looking forward to meeting you.

If you have an outmoded email address, I suggest you go to Google and sign up for a Gmail account. Here’s why:
• It’s good to have 2 email addresses, including at least one that you can always access from wherever you are (not just from your home computer).
• Gmail doesn’t identify your geography. My road runner account does. Big deal? Maybe not, but do you want to be eliminated at the email address from a hiring manager looking at your credentials?
• It’s the email address that many professionals have.
There are other services beside Gmail, pick one and go for it. I have a twitter, Linked In and regular email account. What do you think this says about me?

Next I looked at her Linked In profile. No photo. Hmmm. Her profile did not look as professional as those with photos. If I’m the hiring manager I’m wondering, “Is she hiding something?” Is she older? Post your photo or not, it’s up to you. But realize the ramifications if you don’t post a picture may be negative. I hear excellent Linked In advice to fill out your profile completely. I haven’t done that yet. I’m at 80+% I need to finish it by getting recommendations. Making sure it’s complete will help you get ‘found’ when companies are looking to hire.

The link below is written by an HR person took a pile of 850 resumes and whittled it down to 15. Here are some of the criteria that she used.
• Any resume (about 20%) that had misspellings was tossed out.
• Any unprofessional Linked In or Facebook entry was tossed out.
Take a minute and read her informative story.

I just read a story about a woman who reported to her first day of work to her new supervisor’s office and on his desk was the thank you note she had written to him. He told her that she was the only person who had hand written a note and it really impressed him. A handwritten thank you note may not get you the job, but it may be one of the differentiators between you and your competition.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/time-money/career/sfl-marcia-workplace-resume-0325,0,5975459.column