The Executive Update

Ask the Coach: Don’t Get Caught Up In the Web

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from our most recent session with Christine Dennison, The Job Search Coach.

The Internet is a wondrous thing. With the birth of the World Wide Web we now can access information and resources that were previously unheard of. In the early days, the Internet was a great tool for job seekers because it was clean and efficient. But then the Web became popular and prolific. Now we have bots and filters and spam and an incredible amount of online noise because everyone has figured out how easy it is to hit the “send” button to submit a resume. That means that yours is just another voice in the crowd, and it will be impossible to make your expertise stand out unless you understand how to properly use the Web as a resource.

This week, job search coach Christine Dennison shared some tips about how to think about and use the Web as part of your job search. She noted that as the din of the Web increased, hiring companies had to implement software filters to handle the data traffic from job applicants. Now all the big firms are using software to pick their job candidates, and this is where the entire online search process has gone hopelessly haywire.

There are a growing number of career information providers and opportunists trying to make money from job seekers. If you are posting to random job locations then you become a commodity, which means you won’t stand out. Your first step needs to be to control the noise. Align yourself with a reputable career service such as LinkedIn or NETSHARE to get the online traffic under control. And use the Web to conduct your own research. It’s a great tool to help you determine where the market opportunities lie, which companies are on the move, and where to apply your efforts both online and offline.

Should you apply to online job postings? Sure, but only dedicate 5 to 10 percent of your time to online postings. Remember that resumes are usually sorted by software and many are never actually seen by a human being. Even if you cram in all the keywords, chances are it will never surface. You can throw your resume in the mix, but it’s always better to network your way in using a resource such as LinkedIn.

Should you post your resume to job boards? You can “hang” your resume on online bulletin boards, but be discriminating so you can control access. Use services like NETSHARE where you know your information is protected. Otherwise you are just opening yourself up to spam and scam artists.

The bottom line is, don’t let the Web dominate your job search. Spend no more than an hour or two online each day. The Web is a great research tool and can help you find the right connections, but you need to make time for face-to-face activities. The Web is no substitute for personal contact, especially if you are looking for a new career opportunity.

Ask the Coach: “Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Taken”

Every 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 career transition coach and career management consultant Randy Block.

One of the persistent problems in job search is prevarication. Applicants may not actually lie on their marketing documents or in an interview, but they are certainly capable of exaggeration. Of course, the problem with manufacturing credentials or overstating your qualifications is that it takes a lot of work to keep up the pretense. Usually one lie leads to another, and another, and you may be called upon to prove false claims. It becomes exhausting to keep up, trying to remember what you told each party in the hiring process. Of course, candidates do land positions for which they are not qualified, but when that happens, everyone loses.

This week, career coach Randy Block reminded those who attended the call of the words of Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”

Don’t try to change your qualifications or adjust your personal brand to fit every job application or job posting. Don’t try to second-guess what others think or what you believe they want to hear about your qualifications.

If you aren’t real, or authentic in your pitch, everyone will come to see that in time, and that could negatively affect your future. You are the only one who knows what you enjoy doing and what you are truly good at. Randy said he works with executives to help them uncover their brand and capture it in a few short sentences that make them unique and relevant to the right company. Your personal brand helps attract the right companies and promotes symbiosis, while repelling those hiring companies that aren’t a good fit.

If you can be true to your strengths then you can find work that challenges you, drives you, and engages you. Aligning your brand with the right company means the company finds the right executive to solve their problem. In exchange, they get a happy, engaged employee willing to make a real contribution to the company. It’s a win-win situation.

Your best strategy is to be true to yourself and then disseminate a consistent brand message across all your marketing documents and social media profiles. Make sure company recruiters can find you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Klout, Google Profiles and Google Plus. A good place to start is the executive bio. Randy advises all of his clients to use an executive bio rather than a resume to make introductions. The bio says “let’s talk” rather than “I need a job” and tends to be a good conversation starter.

Don't limit yourself. Make sure your tool kit has all the right tools in it, including a dynamite executive bio. If you need help NETSHARE can recommend excellent, dependable professionals who can assist you with your marketing documents.

Ask The Coach: The Resume is Misunderstood

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from a recent session with career coach Don Orlando .

This week’s career coach is veteran Don Orlando, who reminded callers that the resume can be a powerful tool when it is used properly.

As Don noted, the resume is one of the most misunderstood documents used in job search. It’s important for job seekers to understand its role and how it’s used by hiring managers and recruiters.

The Folklore of the Resume:

• It is arcane and has ever-changing rules as to what it looks like, the appropriate length, and what to include.
• It is used to Sell YOU! Which seems demeaning since you are not a bar or soap or bag of dog food.
• It is not something used to try to “game” the APS (applicant tracking system) used by companies and recruiters.
• It is not something that is full of traits, generalities, etc, that don’t differentiate you. These terms show mediocrity, e.g.: Works well in teams, Good team leader, conscientious, diligent, etc. (These can describe many people, including those who are flipping burgers and selling fries.)

The Resume Reality:

· Your resume explains who and what you are. It is the document that best describes who and what you are and clearly shows decision-makers where your value lies compared to their needs.

• It showcases your brand, vividly. Your resume should contain your pledge of value in the top-most section. This is how you intend to make your prospective employer money (or save them money)! You support this brand promise with stories and examples of your successes.
• Your resume demonstrates what problems you solve. Be sure that you dig deep to distinguish the symptoms from the real problems. And explain how you solved them.
• What were the results? Quantify your successes whenever you can. Use comparisons and show context.
• Are those successes transferrable? Be sure to show your successes in context.

You want to make the story told in your resume your story, not the company’s story. Use it to market your potential, not to serve as a history of your past accomplishments.

When done right, your resume can serve as a template for an outstanding interview. It will entice the interviewer to ask the right questions; those questions where you have prepared answers that show you can shine. The resume can be leveraged to not only get you the job, but also the pay you deserve.

Ask the Coach: It’s Time to Clean Out Your Closet

Every 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 Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers based in New York City.

All of us can use a little professional help organizing our lives. If you are a fan of reality television, you may know of programs such as “What Not to Wear,” where the two show hosts help some fashion-challenged guest to improve their wardrobe. Or maybe you need a professional to help you reorganize your closet and eliminate all the stuff you haven’t worn for 10 years. The same is true of a career coach; they offer their services as experts to help job seekers organize their careers.

In this week’s coach call, career expert Barbara Safani made a compelling comparison between a career coach and a professional closet organizer.

If you are an experienced professional, you may ask yourself “Why do I need a professional resume writer or a career coach? Can’t I do this myself?” Well, at some level, you can do a lot of the work of job search without help. However, as with trying to clean out your closet, you are probably too close to the problem, which means you can’t be objective, or as effective.

Let’s consider our closets. We all have them, and like Fibber McGee’s famous hall closet, our own closets are often out of control. When we open the door we vow to clean things up, but as we go through them we become sidetracked by those items that hold fond memories. We think about that dress we haven’t worn for years, or that tennis racket that reminds you to start taking lessons again. You may have straightened up the closet, but in the end it’s still too cluttered with useless stuff. The same can be said for many resumes; they are cluttered with useless information that has relevance only for the job seeker.

This is where an impartial observer, like a career coach, can be invaluable. A career coach can provide a new perspective, since they have nothing personally invested in the process. Career experts can help us see ourselves from 40,000 feet as well as up close. They help bring into focus what will show us what facts are relevant to the search at hand (and not what was relevant two years ago, like that outdated dress). Career coaches are worth the investment. They can help shorten your job search, increase your pay, and best of all help you understand the best fit for your expertise.

So if it’s time for you to clean your career closet, consider hiring a professional to help you.

Ask the Coach: Harnessing the Power of Mentoring and Networking

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from our most recent session with Christine Dennison, The Job Search Coach.

As part of this week’s Ask the Coach discussion, our career coach, Christine Dennison, offered some pearls of wisdom about networking strategies based on her experience. She offered some insights into the do’s and don’ts of effective networking and mentoring.

To start, understand how your network of contacts can really assist you. Sometimes you need a specific contact with the right expertise to get you to the next level. Sometimes you need an objective critic or a cheerleader who can give you constructive criticism. And when networking, you want to be able to leverage your contact’s contacts. So don’t make the common mistake of asking, “know anyone who is hiring?” Instead, be specific and targeted and let your contacts help you with specific information.

If you feel you haven’t started building an effective network, don’t despair. Let mentoring others be your way of building contacts and aiding your job search. Trust is the key component of any mentoring or networking relationship, and building trust takes time. LinkedIn can be a great resource here, allowing you to connect with new people whom you can mentor, and to reconnect with old contacts.

The most important thing to remember when building your network is that it’s not all about you. It’s about providing resources to others, answering questions, introducing people, and helping others in any way you can. The best approach is to apply career karma and help others without expecting help in return. Talk to strangers as well as friends. Get involved in LinkedIn forums. Find out about other professionals, their work, their problems, their plans, and how you can help them. In the process you will collect ideas and contacts that can help you with your own job search.

Make time for networking in all your day-to-day endeavors. Make connections through your kids’ school, by volunteering, through industry groups, your dentist, your butcher. And be prepared with your elevator pitch, but spend most of your time listening to other people and learning about their problems. That will leave a more lasting memory and help solidify the connection. Remember to make your conversation natural and not a sales pitch. You never know who might be in a position to help you land your next job.

Ask the Coach: Tap Your Career DNA To Make a Transition

Every 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 Nicola James, Managing Partner of Thomas Brooke International.

When it comes time to change careers, you have to think about making the transition as if you are going to clone yourself for a new role. You want to catalog all of your great traits and what makes you the perfect candidate, then clone those traits in such a way that the “new you” will fit the mold of a new career.

In the current market climate, many executives are looking for a change, either because their industry is disappearing, or because they need a new opportunity. Often this means going back to the roots of your career. No matter what your reason for making a career change, you need to come up with a very compelling argument as to why a company should take a chance in hiring you. Especially when there are so many qualified candidates out there looking. This is where you can use your DNA to help with your career transition.

Changing careers can be especially challenging. The first rule you must remember is that you can't take rejection personally!!!!!

Next, remember that some companies will not look at those candidates who do not have a straight line progression in their specific industry - period, exclamation point. Don't waste your time pursuing those opportunities, or beat yourself up over not being able to be considered. It’s the hiring company’s loss.

This is where the DNA part comes in. Nicola suggests that you first take a very serious look at exactly what you have done, which is the DNA of how you work, and what you have accomplished. You can then use this information to make a powerful and compelling business case as to why you have what it takes to work in the new industry.

To help identify your transferrable DNA, look at industries adjacent to the one you are currently working in. Alternately, look at those industries that have the same clients as the company or industry you have been with. This makes your career experience much more understandable and relevant.

Once you have determined the adjacent industry and companies that you feel you can help most with a career change, do your homework. You also can use your network to make internal connections to the company. Become known by asking questions about processes or products. Determine what employees understand the company culture and see if you really fit! Do your homework so you come across as being up to the challenge.

You also can find ways to make it easy to see the correlations. Consider talking to some of the company’s customers to better understand their working relationship; how things work. You can then go armed with insights into their customers and come forward with ideas as to how you can improve the relationship and business. That will overcome any objections of lack of industry-specific experience.

Ask the Coach: When Everything is Hurting, Offer Targeted Pain Relief

Every 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 career transition coach and career management consultant Randy Block.

This week, career coach Randy Block observed that in hard times, gift stores tend to do well, where in good times high-end stores do well. When things are going well, we tend to go to great lengths to impress others through our shopping habits, spending money at the high-end stores that have a lot of offer. However, when times are hard, we tend to gravitate to the gift stores and target our shopping to meet a specific, immediate need.

The same is true in recruiting. Companies can’t afford to shop for high-end talent that offers multiple skills. They are not looking for a jack-of-all-trades. They need a skilled expert who can stop their pain in one specific area. If you muddy the waters, and your value proposition, by bundling your specific value with other traits, it will be lost. You need to be able to address their specific point of pain without making them wade through excess information.

Be sure to present all the pertinent information right up front! Make it easy to find and easier to understand. There can be no question about the value you bring and that it’s aligned with what the target company needs now!

If you are worried about your age getting in the way, turn it to your advantage. Offer to use your expertise and wisdom to help solve their problem through a specific assignment. Contract work is less “age sensitive” and can lead to full time positions.

Ask the Coach: Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in career coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from this week’s session with Kristin Speer of Accelerated Search Consulting.

So what do you do when the competition flat out lies about their achievements?

That was one of the questions posed during this week’s Ask the Coach call. One of the callers said he had noticed that many executives he knows are embellishing their LinkedIn profiles. By playing loose with the facts about their experience and credentials, they look like terrific candidates that would garner the attention of a recruiter or a hiring manager in an online search. So how can he compete with these liars in a way that gets the same kind of attention without distorting the facts?

This particular job seeker says his specialty is closing big deals in tough markets, but he’s afraid if he posts his accomplishments it will look like “padding” and no one will believe him. Kristin Speer’s advice – you should never apologize for your experience.

You should post your achievements and find ways to back up your value. Provide news links or article clips about big deals that were part of your accomplishments. Or get others to validate your accomplishments with recommendations. If you have something to shout about, let others know.

Many times as a career coach, Kris said she has to work with clients to identify what metrics they had to prove their accomplishments. All too often those accomplishments are under-reported or not reported at all.

If you can validate your accomplishments then you will be ahead of the competition. When a recruiter or hiring manage challenges them about their achievements, they won’t be able to back up their claims, but you can. That’ll make the difference.

Ask the Coach: Create Your Brand (So Others Don’t Do It For You)

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from a recent session with career coach Don Orlando .

This week, career coach Don Orlando reminded attendees to our weekly Ask the Coach call that they need to take charge of their personal brand. After all, if you don’t tell people who you are and what you have to offer, others will define your brand for you.

Don reminded attendees that everyone has a brand, like it or not. And that your brand should be consistent across all the media you use to promote yourself – printed materials, online, marketing documents, etc. The objective of creating a solid personal brand is to provide a personal value proposition that helps you stand out from the crowd. You want your brand to match your excellence to the needs of the organization. And you want your brand to differentiate you so you are not seen as a commodity available at the right price.

Your personal brand is the excellence you have accumulated and integrated over time. Branding is the thing that has guided and will continue to guide your personal life.

Your personal brand is:

• Your demonstrable promise of value
• Proof of your integrity and character
• The best guide for your career
• Consistent and part of every aspect of your career campaign
• The way you demonstrate your worth to the marketplace.

Your personal brand must never be:

• A slogan
• Your obituary (past accomplishments without a value message)
• Ignored in favor of short-term objectives or advantages, such as pay or location.
• Shape-shifting to meet the needs of what you think the hiring manger wants

When you do it right, proper branding makes it easy for companies to see how your value fits their needs and will help them compete more effectively, either by reducing costs or increasing revenue.

Ask the Coach: Summertime is Time to Relax and Keep Networking

Every 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 Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers based in New York City.

The topic of this week’s Ask the Coach call was summer vacation and how to stay engaged with your job search while you also take some down time. Remember that your family is an important component of your job search; they are the core of your support network, so you need to treat them well and spending time with your family during the summer is one way to do it. But that doesn’t mean you have to squander your free time. Multitask!

Vacations are a great time to expand your network through conversations with others in a relaxing atmosphere. The pressure is off, which makes it easier to find things you have in common with others that could lead to career opportunities. Even if you are taking a “staycation,” keep networking. Once the ice is broken and a relationship has been started, it’s much easier to explain what you do and what you love to do; where your passions lie. Be sure to let the other party talk and learn as well. Remember that they are being complimented when you indicate that they are worth listening to as well.

You can build on these conversations so you are not only better known, but have a larger network to build on. Enlist more recruits to your fan club. When these new summer contacts go back to their routine, they will remember you and pass your name along. Also be sure to reach out to them when the summer is over and find out how life is going for them, and what future plans they may have that match your interests. Ask about mutual contacts and see if you can set up a time to talk. Remember you want to talk; you don’t want to ask for a job.

Be sure you plan how to stay on their radar when vacations are over and decisions are ready to be made. That’s when you want to have your name to be remembered.

You might consider partnering with someone who is in a similar situation, and who understands your problems and stresses. Consider them your accountability partner who can help you stay on track. And be sure you partner with someone who will be honest and supportive.