The Executive Update

Ask the Coach: How To Hang Out the Right Shingle on LinkedIn

Each week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from this week’s session with our newest expert to join Ask the Coach, Christine Dennison, The Job Search Coach.

LinkedIn continues to be a powerful job search tool for those who know how to make the most of it. In this week’s Ask the Coach call, job search expert Christine Dennison shared her insights into how to use LinkedIn to maximum advantage.

Think of your LinkedIn headline as your web “shingle” inviting visitors to come in to your shop. Remember that when a recruiter is looking for candidates by plugging in search terms, all they will see is a list of names with headline associated with them. Your headline should be enticing and point to what they can expect to find when they check out your profile.

Avoid clichés and meaningless phrases or claims. Terms like “experienced, dynamic, accomplished” are hackneyed and while they may describe your accomplishments, you should avoid them. Let the reader come to their own conclusions about what they want to think about you.

Be careful in how you use exact titles in your profile descriptors. You want to indicate that you have experience and are a professional who may be open to more than just C-level positions. The term “executive” can go a long way to describing your experience without eliminating you from the running for specific jobs. Also focus on categories and job functions. If you say “20 years of experience as…” you have them thinking about your age and not your expertise.

Also be careful of how you use words like “seeking” that could box you into a corner. For example, if you say something like "Supply Chain Executive seeking opportunity in Detroit, Michigan area" you have narrowed your field of opportunity substantially, but that may be exactly what you need to do.

What works best are LinkedIn headlines that are simple and straightforward, such as “Marketing Executive, known for ability to create business-building, multi-channel B2C campaigns,” or “Manufacturing Operations and Finance Executive," or "Sales Executive with deep network relationships in the Midwest Region." Each of these headlines offers an invitation to learn more, with enough key words to help recruiters find you in the right context.

Ask the Coach: Overcoming Ageism with the Right Connections

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from the most recent session with Nicola James, Managing Partner of Thomas Brooke International.

We all know that building your professional network is the foundation of successful career advancement. However, you also need to understand how to communicate with your network, not only in terms of the multiple points of communication to consider, but the level of the relationship, especially if you need to overcome ageism.

As Nicola pointed out in this week’s Ask the Coach call, the level of the relationship determines the correct course of action. For example, when dealing with someone at an associate level, they may not recognize your age and depth of experience as an asset, which could create a problem if they count age against you in the job application process. They also may not have all the details about the position you are applying for. It’s acceptable to contact people higher in the organization. If you have solid contacts, just drop them a note to inform them you are being considered; make it a personal note to be sure they understand you are not doing an end run. If you can connect with someone more senior connected with the search in order to make your case, so much the better.

You also should be prepared if the company itself is ageist. If there is a pervasive attitude about not hiring older workers, there’s little you can do about it, so don’t waste valuable time. If you can see that ageism isn’t really an issue and you really want to work there, go for it!

Nicola notes that ageism is real. We don’t like to think that age barriers exist, but even though they are out there, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a company that truly appreciates your talents and skills. Make sure you are not selling yourself to the wrong company.

Correctly articulating your value will attract the right companies and repel the wrong ones. Be very specific in your approach. Determine if there is a certain age where age becomes an issue. That, of course, will depend on the position, the company, and the industry. Nicola finds, for example, that many Fortune 500 companies don’t tend to hire people beyond their mid-40s, because it disrupts their controlled and regulated succession planning. In fact, Fortune 500 companies often have trouble trying to determine what to do with older workers. At the same time, Nicola has a number of clients who are only interested in candidates in their late 50s and older. These are mostly smaller companies that prefer to hire self-managing, self-motivated executives; professionals whom you can point in the right direction and let them do what they were hired to do.

Cultural fit is the key, and you need to identify companies that value you for what you offer. If you constantly have to overcome cultural problems, then the effort isn’t worth it.

Using the Web to Get the Job You Want – 17 Lessons from the Tech Industry, Part 2

Here is a continuation of our last post, with a list of steps to consider using to build your online presence and attract the attention of prospective hiring managers. As the Channel Insider article explains, there are many SEO and online strategies you can adopt to land your next job:

9. Get listed in important web sites – If recruiters and headhunters are scouring the web for experts, you need to be found where they are looking. According to Talbot’s sources, you should target a blend of networking and career sites, but good sites to start include LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, TechDirect, DICE, and, of course, NETSHARE. You might also look to resources like SmartSource for short-term contracts.

10. Use job search aggregators – Rather than looking for jobs on the Web, job search aggregators like SimplyHired, Indeed, and NatsJobs can deliver them to your e-mail inbox. Of course, if you want exclusive job listings that aren’t scraped from other job sites, you also should subscribe to NETSHARE and have our exclusive positions sent to your e-mail box as well.

11. Manage your online identity – If you haven’t already done so, set up a Google alert for yourself to keep track of your online identity. Make sure that what others are uncovering about you online reflects your best professional persona. You should be managing your online identity like you manage your credit statement; protect your good name. You might also consider a Google search to be your first interview in the hiring process, so do yourself a favor and do some online digging to make sure you make a good first impression.

12. off your digital dirt – As part of online identity management, be sure to clean up your digital dirt make sure there aren’t any rogue comments, posts, or photos that might come back to bite you. Remember that the Web has a long memory, and search engines can find almost anything.

13. Consider a micro-targeted online ad campaign – Facebook lets you run ad campaigns for a very small fee. You can target companies in specific verticals or particular geographic regions. Case studies are proven marketing tools, and you can use case studies to drive traffic to your online profile(s). Use you use the case study as a response tool for your micro-ad campaign, or to drive interested prospects to your blog site or LinkedIn profile.

14. Make a promise in your profile – If you think of your online identity as your first interview, then it makes sense that you should be prepared to make a promise to prospective employers. Consider using a promise in your headline or profile lead, such as, “I Save Money for High Tech Companies,” or “I Can Increase Your Sales 33%.” Think of it as being similar to a brand promise in an advertisement.

15. Understand how search works – Remember that the best jobs are not being posted, but are being filled by recruiters using online search to identify candidates qualified for the job. Reverse engineer this process and make sure you have the right search terms in your profile information. Use Boolean search on Google and other search engines to find candidates with similar credentials and use the same keywords that a hiring managers will use.

16. Understand what keywords to use – One of the best ways to identify the right keywords is to make a list of keywords you would use, and then run them through the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. This will give you an indication of how strong your keywords are. Note that differences in spelling can make a big difference, such as video conferences versus videoconference.

17. Stay focused – If you are using a blog for job hunting, then make sure that the majority of the content is relevant to the job. Don’t stray into irrelevant discussions or other areas of interest. Remember, it’s all about building your online brand. Focus on content that demonstrates your insight, expertise, and how you would deliver superior performance in a professional setting.

Remember that in today’s job market, the trick is to stand out from the competition. If you can master some of the search engine strategies to drive the right attention to your online brand, you won’t have to keep scouring the web looking for the right opportunity. Instead, hiring managers will find you themselves and bring those opportunities to your doorstep.

Using the Web to Get the Job You Want – 17 Lessons from the Tech Industry, Part 1

Everyone needs a job, which in some ways makes everyone a career expert. I tend to spend a lot of time talking to career coaches, recruiters, and those in the career management industry, but there are career experts in all fields. I recently ran across this interesting article from Channel Insider, one of the Ziff Davis online media channels serving high-tech resellers, on how to use SEO and social media to find the job you want. These 17 points are based on the same premise I hear from career coaches every day – it’s better to be found by recruiters and hiring managers rather than looking for opportunities. Or as the article’s author, Chris Talbot, expresses it, “Why look for a new IT job when you can bring recruiters, human resource representatives and hiring managers to your doorstep?”

This is a long but very helpful list, so I am going to post it in two parts:

1. Be an expert – Use blogs to demonstrate your domain expertise and what makes you a knowledgeable professional. And be sure to use the right keywords that are specific to the job you want, including location, areas of expertise, and even names of companies you admire and might like to work for.
2. Complete your social media profiles – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and blog profiles are all searchable so your profiles should be complete and loaded with searchable terms relevant to your profession. You don’t have to go overboard, of course. There has been a growing concern about social media sites like Facebook being ripe targets for identify thieves, so consider leaving out less important information that could be used against you, like your birth date or where you attended high school. The objective is to attract recruiters, not high school pals or identity thieves.
3. Show your face – Posting your picture adds a level of familiarity to your profile, and people tend to hire people they like.
4. Become a LinkedIn expert – If you don’t have time to blog, post your insights on the LinkedIn Forums in the form of questions or responses to others posts. This will boost your visibility so be sure to post under your real name with link backs to your phone and e-mail address. Also pick forums and threads where you know recruiters will most likely be lurking.
5. Link externally to boost your Google rankings – This is a great way to improve SEO, but only if the links are relevant and legitimate.
6. Join social networking groups – Identify networking groups that are relevant to your professional interests and become active. That’s where hiring managers will look for experts. Also look for corporate profiles in Facebook and MySpace. Or you can create your own group. LinkedIn and Facebook let you create your own groups and invite your own friends and associates to join. We have a NETSHARE forum on LinkedIn, for example. You might try forming your own forum.
7. Keep it professional – This may seem obvious, but with social networking people forget that their bosses and coworkers often can see their family photos and weekend posts as well. Don’t forget that everything you post online is discoverable, so don’t post something that would reflect badly on your professional brand. Make sure that you list your certifications and credentials in your bios so they are searchable. If a recruiter is looking for a specific certification or an MBA, make it easy to find them.
8. Target potential employers – Keywords are a great way to attract attention from the right people. All companies monitor their own brand, and they are looking at competitive products, so mention a targeted employer or competitive products in a relevant blog post of comment to boost your chances of turning up a hiring contact.

I’ll expand on this list in my next blog post.

"Never Hire Anyone Over 40"

For a few decades now, NETSHARE has been supporting senior executives, helping them work through career challenges and open new opportunities for professional and personal advancement. Of course, when you are talking about senior executives, by definition you are talking about older workers, typically those over 40, and today’s corporate climate continues to overlook older workers for any number of reasons. I recently ran across an interesting academic discussion on the New York Times opinion blog, Room for Debate, where various professionals chime in on why American companies have so much trouble embracing an aging work force.

According to Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School, older workers bring a lot more to the workplace than younger workers. They perform better across a wide range of areas, bringing more mature skills and better interpersonal skills, they are usually more conscientious, they have better attendance, and so on. As Cappelli says, “While one might assume that older workers cost more, in truth any premiums that older workers receive are related to experience — which affects performance.”

Some of the other blog contributors note that performance does change after a certain age. Laurence Kotlikoff, professor of economics at Boston University, notes that productivity peaks in the mid-40s and gradually declines with age. However, the real issue for most employers, or more specifically, most managers, is that they don’t know how to manage older subordinates. This is a problem that Randy Block and other career coaches cite regularly; no one is going to hire their mother or their father, or as Cappelli explains it:

“The real reason employers seem to prefer younger candidates has to do with perceptions of supervisors who often worry about how manage older subordinates: How can I supervise someone who has more experience than I have, how do I motivate them when they are less concerned about the carrot of promotions or the stick of being fired? Managing older workers in fact doesn’t require rocket science, but it does require a more collaborative approach that respects their expertise and engages their interests.”

Jean Twenge, associate professor of psychology at San Diego State University, notes that there are some real challenges with the younger work force as well. She notes that, as a generation, younger workers tend to be more self-assured, higher in self-esteem, assertiveness, and narcissism, which are characteristics that tend to serve you well in a job interview but can create additional problems on the job, like promoting a feeling of self-entitlement and overconfidence; “Narcissistic people tend to take too many risks, leading to failure, and they react with anger and aggression when criticized.”

So what’s the solution for older workers looking for a new opportunity? Sell your strengths. Promote your experience, reliability, steadfast work ethic, and interpersonal skills. Also demonstrate your flexibility; show them that you can adapt like your younger counterparts. And consider offering your expertise for rent rather than for hire. If you can offer your skills on a consulting basis, then your prospective employer can take advantage of your experience without having to worry about concerns like, “How do I manage my dad?” Don’t try to compete on their terms, but inventory your value to the organization and make your case on your own terms.