MyRetailCareer

A little LinkedIn Controversy

I like spirited debates and I’ve seen one going around on how a person should indicate their employment status on LinkedIn (this pretty much applies to the resume as well).

One camp’s thought is don’t indicate you aren’t working.  Their reasons run from the fallacy that recruiters look harder and think better of the “passive” candidate (employed and not really actively looking) to the concept that if you are unemployed there’s a reason and it’s not good.

The other camp says to shout out that you are unemployed,eager to get back to work, willing to jump through hoops and can start yesterday, in fact, you’re at the door, blackberry in hand.

Let me say up front, my opinions are my own and I base them on having been an executive recruiter placing 100’s of people into great new jobs, but they are still opinions as are others thoughts as well.

As a recruiter, if you send me a resume that says you’re still working and you’re not, we start off badly.  When you try to trick me, I don’t trust you from the start.  That’s a pretty crappy way to begin a relationship that is all about trust.

If I just get your name somehow and I go to your profile on LinkedIn to “check you out” and it says you’re still employed and I find out you’re not employed when I call you at work, I’m not going to take it personal since now it appears you’re trying to deceive everyone.  I’ll be tempted to think maybe it’s because you’re sloppy or lazy and haven’t bothered to update your profile, incompetent because you don’t know how or ashamed because you’re unemployed (or just trying to trick everyone).  None of these traits endear you to me either.

People are going to find out you’re not working.  Do you honestly think that employers won’t like you to begin with because you’re unemployed but after they meet you and realize you’re either deceptive, inept, sloppy or lazy (or all the above), they’ll like you better?  Good luck in your search.

The other extreme, desperation, is just as bad.  You shouldn’t  shout, scream, buy a billboard, perform in the street mostly naked or anything else to draw attention to yourself.  That kind of attention, although great to blog about, isn’t the best possible personal branding image unless you want to work at a theme park or sue some candy maker.

So what do you do?  Change your mental perspective.  Most people today are out of a job through no fault of their own.  Good recruiters and good companies know that.  Be honest; your resume and LinkedIn profile should show correct dates of employment. 

Keep in mind that simple is better so if you send a resume and enclose a cover letter, just say, “ABC Company restructured, reducing it’s labor force 15%” or “ZED Company exited it’s Ukrainian expansion plans.”

Then there is that little area in LinkedIn under your name where you can update your status.  It always starts with your name so write your update accordingly.  Some people ignore that area, some scream “Susie needs a job yesterday.”  I just updated mine to say, “Brad is writing the last blog of the summer.”  If I was a job seeker, I’d be honest (gasp) and write, “Brad is presently seeking a [insert something here like] creative position with a Web 2.0 company focusing on personal branding.”  Sorry it’s Friday and I’m not very creative today.

Have a safe and wonderful Labor day and see you after summer.

How a Job Board Should Work

Microsoft just launched it’s new Corporate Global Career Site which now serves 97 countries.  It’s a pretty interesting place to play around and one thing stands out more than anything. 

How well Microsoft conveys it’s employment brand.  I think even the most fervent Microsoft basher would want to work for the company after looking at a few pages.  Take some time to look it over and see a well constructed Job Board.

For more information, also read this article on ERE. 

Regards,

ripe: plum comments: I have posted my resume on all the career sites and no one is calling. What's up?

I follow what Lori Harrod has to say because she lives the life I want.

Recruiting in the sports and action world.  Actually, I’d like to merchandise and develop product for that world, no? Maybe test product?  Anyways, to the point.

Lori blogged a nice article about how to get your resume noticed and she pointed out some of the costs involved to recruiters when you only have your resume posted on “expensive” sites.  You that follow me, know that I’m all about personal branding and visibility.  I thought I would build upon Lori’s blog today.

Lori’s point about LinkedIn is dead on as is her suggestion to join the appropriate groups on LinkedIn.  Posting your resume on LI is also a good idea and I’m going to give you a couple ways to do that.

First, if you look at your LI profile on the edit tab, you might notice you can Add Applications.

 

One application is you can add is Box.Net files.

What is nice about this is it’s pretty simple.  However, it puts itself right smack dab in the middle of your LI profile and I find that distracting.  Maybe it’s the old recruiter mentality in me, but when I scan a resume or LI profile, I don’t want things breaking up the flow.

How can we fix that?  If we go to box.net and sign up for the free account we can upload 5 files.  Set up your private little folder, upload your resume and you will get this link to your resume.

If you scroll to the bottom of your LI profile you will find the following area, additional information. 

  Here you can add your company website, your blog and your resume.  However, you are limited to only 3 links so make them count.  Plus most people leave them saying “My website” not realizing that you can change the names.  When you add your additional information choose “Other” and you can then add the name of the link.

If you’re sharp, you might notice that my resume is kept at Emurse.com.  I started using it a long time ago.  Back then you could just upload your resume and it would convert to 5 or 6 formats for downloading.  I noticed recently Emurse had switched over to a build-your-resume model.  Check out both and quite honestly, I don’t think it hurts to have your resume on both.

If you do design, you can upload and link to a PDF portfolio the same way.

My thanks to Lori for bringing this up and giving me a topic for the day!

I have another great idea with this link. 

Get yourself a little Word Icon.  Here’s one;

Throw a text box  under it that says “Brad Attig Resume” (use your name though), hyperlink to it and add it to a separate signature in your email program. Use that signature when appropriate and get a job!

ripe: plum comments: I have posted my resume on "all the career sites" and no one is calling. What's up?

Luck: Amybeth Hale - Research Goddess

I’ve followed Amybeth’s career for a long time.  I was the Director of Business Development with with what was then MRI Sparta, later to become Retail Placement Solutions and Amybeth had started with MRI-SC Warren County as an “Internet Researcher.”  Back in those days, that was a new position that most people didn’t know what to do with it.

By the way, if you have ever looked for a job, you might know that MRI stands for Management Recruiters International and you most likely have interacted with MRI recruiters and not even known it.

Anyways, back to Amybeth.  From the beginning, she was instrumental in bringing respect to the IR position within the MRI network, no easy task.  Amybeth and I both have moved on but those were the early days of research, Boolean searches, the emergence of Shally and the evolution of research practices that now are commonplace.  I inherited a Internet Researcher and had to learn along with him.

Why am I telling you this when all you want is a new job?  How do you think a recruiter finds you out of the blue?  Do you think that is by accident?  Wouldn’t your job search be more productive if while you were looking for that great position, someone was looking for you as well (and actually finding you)?

I’m also telling you this because I blog until my fingers hurt about preparation and yet the emails and calls I get are always the last minute, “I just got laid off!” desperation calls and emails.  Amybeth wrote a nice article about luck today and she say’s exactly what I’ve always been trying to get all of you to understand.

“Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness.”  So if you don’t listen to me, maybe you will listen to Amybeth?  

Luck « Amybeth Hale - Research Goddess

Have a nice “what’s left of the weekend” and get prepared, please.

Do This, no Wait, Don't do That?

I read a lot of career related blogs and what strikes me most is the absolute chaos of advice on how to put together a resume.  Just this week, on one blog/newsletter, two conflicting articles were posted about resumes.

• One said, make sure you have an objective, the other of course, don’t bother with an objective.
• One said, use lots of bullets, the other, don’t use too many.
• Load up on key words, don’t.

Get the picture.  No wonder a job search is such a depressing task with this kind of nonsense going on.  Who do you listen too?

First, recognize that you get what you pay for.  Free advice falls into that category.  Second, each individual is well, unique and there is no “one size fits all” in the resume world. Third, and I love this statement, “All advice is good advice if you know what to do with it and sometimes that means ignoring it.”

Here is my advice, do with it what you will:

• A resume is one arrow in a quiver of tools, only one.
• A great resume is specific to the position you are applying to.
• You are better off, sending 10 targeted resumes than emailing 1000 to black holes in job board cyberspace.
• Getting an OK resume in the correct person’s hands is better than a great resume in the wrong person's hands.
• There are times and places for objectives, bullets and key words (and there are not).
• If you are relying on a company finding your resume (from all those great key words you shoved in), calling you up, bringing you in to interview and offering you the job of a lifetime, start hoping the government extends unemployment.

Here at MyRetailCareer.net, I offer a free resume review.  I give it a quick glance, just like I did when I was recruiting and then I’ll give you my thoughts.  I do offer more in-depth services also. 

One last thing, my business focuses on the retail and wholesale industry because it’s my background and I am most familiar with it.  But, within that industry, I have helped with CxO’s, merchants, real estate and facilities, finance, HR, planning, marketing, visual display, store management, sales (both inside and outside), hospitality, and restaurant.  The fundamentals of a resume and job search are all the same.  I’m not comfortable with IT and technical areas where key words and certifications come significantly into play.

For Friday, more things you should or shouldn’t do.

Either Or and Happy 4th of July

I took a month off from writing here and I must say, it's good to be back.  What prompted me to pick up the mighty keyboard was a recent question on LinkedIn Answers.

Is it really who know verses what you know?

If recruiters are looking for passive candidates, then is it a waste of time to post resumes on web sites. Is it really who you know verses what you know?

I gave a short answer on LinkedIn but I think the question begs some deeper consideration. 

1. Recruiters are looking for the right candidate not a passive or active candidate.  They want to do a good job and that means making the candidate and the client happy which requires doing the right thing for both. 
2. Recruiters find candidates in a number of ways.  Yes there are passive candidates and active candidates but posting a resume on a job board does not make a candidate either.
3. Yes a lot of jobs are found through networking and so people assume you get a job because of who you know and not what you know.  That is simply not true.
4. You might get an interview because of who you know but you will get the job because of who you are.
5. The best way to find a new position is to "get to know more people" and "get more people to want to know you."

I'll elaborate on these points over the next week or so but go out, have some chicken BBQ or whatever you have on the 4th, enjoy some fireworks and spend time with family and friends.

Finding the recruiter of your dreams

Your own situation plays in finding a recruiter that is best for you If you are gainfully employed but open to hearing about new opportunities your situation is different than if you are gainfully employed and desperate to move. Unemployed speaks for itself.

Regardless, you should be finding and networking with recruiters long before you need one. The best way to find a great recruiter is to have them find you. Top recruiters go to where the talent is, they have a sixth sense and can sniff out talent miles away. But, you have to make yourself visible. Jason Alba over at JibberJobber says become virtually visible and I talk about improving your binary footprint. You want to improve the likelihood that a great recruiter will find you.

Winners work with winners. If you're not doing anything to build your personal brand statement and communicate your individual marketing message, how can you expect the great recruiter to find you? Some ideas.

• Join associations, get certifications in your field
• Write articles, give interviews, have a blog, get published.
• Network, network, network (for the right reasons).
• Define your personal brand.
• Google yourself, do you exist?
• Return recruiters calls.
• Give of yourself, donate time to charitable events (more on this on my blog).

Do you have any idea how hard it is for a recruiter to cold call into a company today and find the VP of XYZ? Given most companies no longer have anyone to talk to except the automated attendant, it is increasingly difficult. Do you want to be noticed? Make yourself visible.

Let's backtrack for a moment and assume you haven't done the above and need a recruiter now. Then ask around, get referrals. HR departments usually have a list (you might want to only do this if you have left the company). Goggle the word recruiter and your industry, i.e. retail recruiter. Also look at who is posting on job boards. Do some research and then reach out to them.

Tomorrow, A Recruiter takes notice…or you find one.

Stupid Pet Tricks & A Great Posting

I don't know how Stupid Pet Tricks ended up here but I was reading a few job postings today and thought, Stupid Job Postings and somehow Stupid Pet Tricks jumped into my mind. So I googled it and here is a link to Amyl the beer can disposing dog on Letterman. Enough fun for the day, lets get serious.

Stupid Job Postings. Have you ever really read most of the postings that companies pay good money to place on Monster or CareerBuilder? I do when I can't sleep, seems to solve that problem quickly. Most postings are boring and error ridden. They are usually nothing but short job descriptions and they are the most unimaginative, least inspirational wording next to the writing on the back of a paint can. No wonder most recruiters I talk to complain about the quality of the responses they get to postings.

In today's candidate driven employment marketplace, how does anyone expect to compete and attract top talent with this?

Posted by a $500 million wholesale and luxury retail company… This was listed as "Company Confidential" and the location was X. Yet the first line of the job description tells you where the job is located and who it is with (I changed the name to protect the stupid).

Job Description

RETAIL OPPORTUNITIES IN COSTA MESA, CA (Company name was here) boutiques NEW STORE OPENING • SOUTH COAST PLAZA PUT YOURSELF IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Then another "Company Confidential". This is the entire posting, from a division of a $45 billion communications giant. I guess Milg is Mileage Reimbursement?

Job Description

RETAIL District Mgrs for retailer (Company name was here) Wireless Products/ Services. Highly motivated, organized, leadership and sales. Salary/Bonus/Benefits/ Milg. Fax resume and salary hist (866)346-0450. 

I didn't look too hard to find these; I went to Monster and in Job Search typed in retail. These were the #1 and #3 postings on page 1. After these two, I couldn't continue.

Do you want to see a fantastic posting, for a newspaper editor no less? An industry that people have compared to dinosaurs? Then read Elaine Rigoli, Inside Recruiting's business editor. Her article today, Knock, Knock: Innovative Online Recruitment Ad Personifies Branding shows you something really creative from The Roanoke Times/Roanoke.com and check this ad out.