Most Effective Networking for Your Job Search

Most Effective Networking for Your Job Search Most Effective Networking for Your Job Search First, weekly, scour your local Business Journal and go to the “events” tab at the top of the digital version or the events section in the print edition. Second, go to local industry associations’ websites to find their events as well. Another great website for general networking opportunities is Eventbrite.com. Now, the real key is what you DO at the events so here are a few recommendations: Be the first to arrive. Arrive at the beginning so you can meet as many people as possible, including people who work for the event since they are often well connected. Have a single goal statement that you repeat throughout the night. “Nice to meet you. I’m here because I am looking confidentially for an outside sales position in the packaged goods industry. Do you happen to know of someone I should meet with?” Have business cards. Because you don’t want your current company to know you are looking, don’t use your company card. Use personal cards with your contact information name, phone (not your company number), address, e-mail, and LinkedIn URL. Feel free to add a picture so any one you meet will be able to remember you. Take notes of everyone you meet and what was said. Do not try to commit this to memory! To do this, you need your hands free. So, ladies, just a small purse, a pen, and small pad. Men, a pen and small pad, check your coat and briefcase at the door. Be ready to shake hands, exchange business cards, and take notes. Be bold. Walk up to groups of people who are already talking, smile and listen. They will bring you in or jump in when the opportunity arises. No excuse for you introverts out there; you are great networkers. Talk less, listen more. You will be following up with them, so don’t try to jam in a lengthy conversation, don’t dominate, and stop the “I, I, I, me, me, me.” After the event, follow up with an e-mail within 24 hours. Add each name to your contacts and save the notes you made in the “notes” section of the contact form. Be sure to capture the date and name of event where you met; it will come in handy later. Now, stay in touch, ask for follow up meetings, and build long term, 2-way relationships. Anything short of that is “using” them for your job search purposes. Bad form. For confidential job seekers, be sure you learn about the security settings in LinkedIn so all of your “connections” and updates are not broadcast out to your peers. Most importantly, be sure to communicate to your new contacts that you are on a confidential career change journey. They will respect that. Remember, whether you are searching for a job or not, keep your LinkedIn profile current and up to date and continue to add new connections!

Writing a Good Objective on Resume

Writing a Good Objective on ResumeYou might be wondering why writing a good objective on resume is so important to employers. They have many criteria to look for when making a decision as to who to hire and they want to make sure that their best hire has the potential to do great things for the company.One thing you can do to help convey to a hiring manager that you understand what he or she is looking for is to write the objective with the hiring manager in mind. The objective should first and foremost describe you and your skills and achievements. The point of a good objective is to describe what you can do for the company in a way that would motivate the hiring manager to hire you for the position. This means you should be very clear about the level of responsibilities that you will be able to handle in the job.In addition, your objective should also have a list of some of the skills that you possess. Make sure you list each of them, and list them in the order in which you are goi ng to apply them. It may also be a good idea to mention whether you have those skills already in the present or that you are developing them. When it comes to the description of your abilities, be as specific as possible. You can explain how you are going to use those skills to solve a problem or achieve a goal, but make sure you do not oversell yourself.As far as your job skills are concerned, you need to mention exactly what you will be doing and what the roles will be in which you will be performing. For example, if you are applying for an accounting job, you may need to mention that you know how to run a spreadsheet. There are more complicated skills that you will need to discuss in the objective portion of your resume.The key to being hired for these types of positions is to exhibit some degree of enthusiasm and attention to detail, even though they will be slightly more complex than a typical job. So as long as you are able to demonstrate these skills in a concise manner, your employer will be happy to hear that you have a background in information technology and are ready to take on a more complex role.Some of the skills that you will need to showcase include your ability to work well with others. This means that you need to highlight your willingness to discuss problems and come up with solutions. It also means that you need to be able to communicate effectively and will need to demonstrate that you have been formally trained in technical areas. This includes your understanding of how to troubleshoot and fix systems and software.Your objective is going to be used by your employer to decide if you are worth the time and effort to interview. He or she will be looking for an excellent communicator, someone who is willing to sit down and talk about your ideas and problems. Being excited and enthusiastic is important, because otherwise, your interviewer will not feel comfortable talking to you. He or she may decide to write down your resume when all you hav e to offer is a long list of skills and no special skills or accomplishments.In conclusion, your objective is probably the most important component of your resume. Therefore, you need to spend some time carefully selecting the objective that you use, and then you need to use it to sell yourself. Employers are looking for people who will really enjoy the role they are asked to fill and will put in the effort to demonstrate that they will be committed to the company.

New Resume Polishes a Diamond in the Rough

New Resume Polishes a 'Gem waiting to be discovered' New Resume Polishes a 'Gem waiting to be discovered' Programming Project Manager Afzal Baradi's resume was confined by long portrayals that said nothing regarding his achievements. A resume revamp slice to the chase.After re-perusing Afzal Baradi's unique resume multiple times, I had some obscure thought that he created programming applications for money related frameworks â€" however I didn't perceive any profession movement or achievements. On paper, he was by all accounts stuck doing likewise, generally low-level programming coding work for around 12 years. His resume had no profile section â€" only a two-line synopsis of his 18 years in programming development.But a substantially more noteworthy story rose after we chatted on the telephone for 60 minutes. Over about two decades, Afzal's activity title had not changed without question â€" however his extent of obligations had developed drastically. Notwithstanding programming improvement, he had planned whole money related applications and gained skill in complex venture and-exchang ing strategies.So we began his new resume with a profile segment that portrays his profession curve and three zones of uncommon ability. Notwithstanding programming improvement, he's very knowledgeable about item the board, QA, overseeing seaward groups, promoting and contributing techniques. Who knew?

Survival tips for your companys workforce reduction

Survival tips for your companys workforce reduction One of my hi-tech clients wanted to share his story of surviving both sides of a corporate reorganization. -Coach Wolfgang Youre hearing rumors the big layoff is coming. Will you be impacted? Will you stay or will you go? Whats the severance package? You have so many questions but they are just details. I think the real questions are: How will I survive? How will I thrive? Surviving a re-org When I say surviving I dont mean figuring out a way to remain at your company. What I mean is maintaining peace of mind throughout the process, viewing all the possible outcomes with confidence and preparing yourself for any scenario. Why am I writing about this? Ive been impacted by a reduction in force (RIF) twice in my career and staring at a potential third time. In case you guessed yes, Im in hi-tech. Lets first deal with this fact: by the time there are rumors of a re-org, the remaining org has already been decided. If you arent one of the ones deciding who stays then someone else is doing it and you arent going to know until the day arrives. Rumor stage Therefore surviving isnt about trying to cram, like you did for final exams. The decision has been made. Your compensation, manager reviews, skill set and 6-month track record are the main factors in choosing if you stay or go. My advice for the rumor stage is to maintain your job but prepare for being let go. START YOUR JOB SEARCH as soon as you are reasonably sure there is more than a 20% chance of being let go. Dont make the mistake of thinking you wont be let go because you probably 1) have no idea what their criteria is and 2) you dont understand their vision for the future structure of the org. So take time each day to build your network, check job postings, polish your resume and LinkedIn and practice interviewing. You also need to set your expectations with your job search: you are not going to land a new job in a few short weeks. Personally, I would spend very little time imaging the financial windfall from getting a new job before your severance pay runs out! As soon as these rumors start, you will see a lot more distraction and a lot less work. Limit your time on the distractions and the gossiping. Instead, use that new found extra time to prepare for either being impacted or keeping your job. During the rumor stage is when you put yourself in a position to thrive no matter what the outcome. You are impacted I remember standing up from my cube on Monday morning, looking across my area and waiting to see if managers came out and went over to cubes, pulling people into conference rooms and then shutting the door. As I stood there, eating my yogurt, I didnt even notice MY MANAGER coming up next to me. Can we see you in the conference room?, he asked. At that moment I knew I was being let go. It stung! My ego was deflated in an instant. I was embarrassed and felt terrible because I was no longer needed for the company to continue. The night before I convinced myself that I was too valuable to leave and that my projects were far more important than the projects of my co-workers. I was wrong. Unfortunately, I wasnt prepared. I remember standing in my apartment later that morning, staring outside, and holding my savings account statement showing that I earned $2.36 that month in interest. Not quite enough to pay my rent! So there I was, in shock and paralyzed by that shock. But if you follow my advice in the rumor stage then you have some irons in the fire, so to speak. Treat your job search like it was your job put your attention and effort into it. Youll feel a rush from getting started. Ride that rush to become prepared for a long job search. Get opinions on your resume, book some networking meetings and get a feel for what jobs are out there. That last step is important. Its important to look at a lot of companies and job descriptions and have conversations/interviews whenever possible so you can find out first-hand what types of opportunities are out there and what candidates companies want. Youll get a feel for the relevance of your skills and the way youll need to position yourself as a candidate. There is a silver lining to being laid off. You have the rest of your life to work. Thats what my dad said to me after my first lay off. He worked at one building for the bulk of his 42 year career. He always wanted a break. Recharging your batteries is a good thing. I wouldnt advise you leave your job to do so, but take advantage of your downtime. Yes, income is important but, theres more to life than just work. Everyones life situation is unique but review your financial obligations and, if possible, take some time off to re-charge. All those pesky projects and all of those tasks that you didnt like well they are instantly gone! It feels good to get that monkey off your back. So de-stress yourself and enjoy the burden that has been lifted. This is also a good way to write down what tasks you didnt like and assess what you want (and dont want) in your next job. You may be relieved to get away from your job. Hopefully, you got a severance package and you can collect unemployment when that runs out. In other words, you have some pay coming in which can cover you while you explore. Grabbing the first job that presents itself is fine but it, potentially, takes away from experimenting and trying different things. Try not to worry or panic when you lose your job; instead feel confident that youll find a job that fits your personality, values and interests better! You can thrive during this time by realizing that its an opportunity to focus on you clear you mind, find out what you want, prepare to get it and approach each day with confidence. Dont just go through the motions and dont let fear, uncertainty and doubt take away from thinking deeply about your career and life. You keep your job Keeping your job should make you feel some relief and even feel good. A lot of other people werent considered necessary but YOU WERE. It boosts your ego, a bit, and keeps your income consistent which tends to keep your anxiety low. You have the challenging task of helping a new team get organized while maintaining the current expectations while adjusting to the shifting that will take place over the next few weeks. This is your chance to dive in and help. Show your team or new boss that you are proactive, flexible and able to help in ways that he or she wasnt aware of. Its also important not to take your eye off the task that is still in front of you. Keep doing meaningful work. If you arent sure what that new work should be, then keep doing your current work until it is figured out. Let me repeat that: DO NOT STOP WORKING while your executive team is trying to figure everything out. Yes, you may get a new role and, yes, you may be put on all new strategic directives but you havent been yet! You can thrive by taking this transition time to solidify your value to the organization and continue your job search. Yes continue your job search! Remaining in your organization after a massive layoff, I feel, is the hardest scenario to deal with. The change and disorder you now face can be daunting. You also need to watch out for changes to your role that affect your marketability to other employers. My heart goes out to people who put in one or two decades at a single company and, one day, are let go. Oftentimes, those people were put in very focused roles and werent required to keep their skills up-to-date. They are smart and talented people but now have outdated skills and have to explain how 10+ years at a single company is desirable experience. Watch out for this happening to you. A re-org is the perfect time for you to become distracted by everything going on and neglecting to realize the affect on your career path. Thus, keep your job search going. Its a good time to inventory your skills and see how you need to adjust to be more marketable. Beware of the next round and the revolving door Unfortunately, a re-org is a move to help companies survive or correct mistakes. Your organization is not out of the woods yet. The three times Ive been affected by a mass layoff, the companies were: Losing ground to a dominant competitor and having to resort to low-profit product sales. They couldnt compete at the higher-end of the technology race and couldnt reap those high profits. The recession in 2008 hit and the services work at my consulting company dried up. It was happening all over the place and people were impacted in every industry just about. The technology landscape began changing by leaps and bounds. My large organization with multiple, disjointed lines of business was inefficient and too unfocused to be competitive and maintain high profit margins. Therefore, they were spinning off non-core products and business lines, completing a number of spin-merges. These three situations were my particular journey. Staying at your company means you have made it past this round. What are the rounds you ask? During my first layoff, here are the waves/rounds of layoffs I saw: The first round was to let all of the contractors and vendors go. Major projects got scrapped in an instant. People who you thought were employees were suddenly no longer there. Many of the people who helped with your job were no longer available. Only full-time employees (FTEs) were left. The second round came 2-4 months later and impacted FTEs who worked on non-core products and nice-to-have internal services. In many cases, departments were told to cut a certain percentage off their headcount. Managers literally had to choose a specific number of people to let go, regardless of their importance or the impact losing them would have. The third round finally got me. This is when the real re-org happens. Groups are merged, teams are dismantled, people are re-purposed or moved into an entirely new line of business. Additional tweaking will be done but this is usually the biggest round of FTE layoffs. Subsequent rounds are small and involve specific groups tweaking their teams. In most cases, teams look at what they have, figure out what they need to do and see if theres any fat to trim. These rounds may be planned or not. Were also in a time of an unprecedented mergers, spin-offs and even spin-mergers in the technology world. The biggest of them all is the Dell and EMC merger. In the end, there will be a 60 billion dollar organization. As is the case for any merger, redundant positions will inevitably be rectified. Who will keep their job: mid-level manager at company A or the mid-level manager at company B? Even if you are confident that you will keep your position and the other guy wont, dont forget about the possibilities that neither of you are needed or neither of your departments are needed. If your company who goes through a re-org or a merger, be aware of the risks that your company has which now become your risks. Relying on one employer for the bulk of your income is inherently risky. Look how quickly CEOs come and go these days. It is a sign of the risk that the entire corporate structure is exposed to. Companies make headlines when they announce they are laying off a large percentage of their workforce. They dont make headlines when they let a small percentage go a few months later. In large companies, that small percentage can still be a few thousand people. So be ready and dont assume you are safer after a massive layoff. You can thrive in these later rounds by adding value in new ways, raising your hand for new opportunities or trying to develop your own role based on a need you see. Despite all the shuffling, pockets of opportunities are opening quite a bit. Land of opportunity Personally, Im not convinced that organizations value their contractors, agencies and employers like they should. In 1981, Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers and that changed the way employers viewed their employees. There are certainly executives that treat their workers like family, however, it seems that share holder value is the ultimate concern of executive teams and their boards. When I graduated college in the mid-1990s and took my first job, my dads advice was to let your company take care of you. He said they would look out for me and I didnt have to play those games of negotiating my salary and jumping around from company to company. Before the end of the decade, he changed his tune completely. He said that, apparently, the way to advance in the corporate world is to move from company to company working your way up the ladder with each step. Whether that is true or not, the lesson is that you cant assume that someone else is watching out for you. Im saddened to put things this way. At the very least, many industries are fast-moving and ultra-competitive. Changes are needed across the board and oftentimes those changes are sweeping. I wish corporate leaders would bring humanity back to the workplace. Its a shift that is starting to happen but in pockets. I often said, I bleed green and black. They were the main colors of my companys brand. I was a big fan and wanted to see them succeed. Unfortunately, the feeling wasnt reciprocal and I learned that I needed to be prepared to accept their will at a moments notice. Thus, my advice is not just to survive but thrive by preparing for change, moving on quickly when change comes and maintaining a state of readiness. The United States IS the land of opportunity but it is up to each of us to understand the ups and downs of these opportunities and be prepared for them.