DFN: Not sure the date that this was written, but, its applicable to today’s job search.

The Ten Critical Steps
Michael F. Sherman
Executive Member Relations, Execunet
michael.sherman

You will find the position you want if you take these steps:

1. Set goals: What do you want to do? What are your salary requirements? What types of positions are you willing to accept? How far are you willing to commute? Goal-setting early in your search will help you make better decisions down the road.

2. Tap your network: Reach out to and engage your network. Organize your contacts into power brokers and peers. Your power brokers are connected to decision-makers in many companies, while your peers may only have connections within their present company, so it is important to develop unique ways of communicating with each group.

3. Develop your materials: Be sure to identify your unique benefits and features, so you can determine what to bring to the table and the benefits of your skills to a potential employer. A résumé listing your previous jobs won’t stand out from the flood of résumés employers now receive for each opening. Describing your unique skills and accomplishments and how they can benefit a potential employer will.

4. Write a positioning statement: Create your positioning statement (elevator speech), then present it to your network for feedback.

5. Manage your pipeline: Continue to contact the power brokers in your network for new opportunities.

6. Get visible online: Make sure your profile on ExecuNet and other professional networking sites consistently reflect your positioning statement, and your work history and experience support it.

7. Gather strangers: Continue to grow your network. Reach out to former clients and vendors, professional associations, community groups and lifestyle groups. Emphasize positive past encounters or shared goals and interests.

8. Continue to reach out to your power brokers: Check in with the power brokers in your network every 30 days, so you’ll be top of mind when an opportunity comes their way.

9. Measure your progress: Start measuring your success both numerically (for example, the number of contacts you are making) and qualitatively (how people are responding to you and your value statement).

10. Remember: No one gets very far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day. You may find a job in 90 days or less. Or your search may take you much longer. Keep your momentum going and never give up until you reach your destination.

Doug

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DFN: I have quite figured out how / if Tweeting fits into my job search / personal branding but this article may point to some things to do in order to be a better ‘tweeter’.

Tweeting to take that next job (http://www.boston.com/jobs/bighelp2009/september/articles/twitter_tips/)
By Julia Tanen, Boston.com Correspondent (Julia Tanen is president of TanenPR in Natick.)

While it’s still uncertain whether Twitter is effective as a marketing tool, the social networking site is a good way to communicate your own "personal brand." Why not use your Twitter account strategically to connect you to industry news, events, and people? Here are few tips and Twitter no-nos to remember.

1. Add to key discussions
Use the advanced search tool to track what people are tweeting about in your industry. Search for the companies in your field, movements, and new ideas. Search for prominent people in your field and follow them. Participate in key discussions. Set up an RSS feed for such keywords to receive automatic feeds about key topics.

2. Develop relationships
Why not talk with your peers directly using Twitter? Keep them updated about your own developments, accomplishments, and career moves.

3. Link to your LinkedIn page
Create a link in Twitter to information provided at your LinkedIn page. On LinkedIn, post links, polls and participate in discussions. Then tweet about it.
For example, "Here’s what my LinkedIn Poll says about Linux Today." Remember to provide genuinely good information, not self-serving drivel.

4. Use # to promote events
Use the hash tag for the industry events or networking opportunities you are participating in, like #event. Users can then tweet about the event using the same #event name.
Provide the #event tag on your website and ask people to follow tweets about the event. Write about the event after the fact, and provide a couple of links to keynotes, or key learnings. Search for the #event in the search tool.

5. Use Favorites
If you find someone talking about your peer group or a movement in your industry in a positive manner, favorite all of their positive tweets. Click the star symbol on the right side of the tweet. This tweet will be added as your favorite. Add all positive feedback to your favorites. Use this favorite list as testimonials when you want to tweet next time.

6. Steer clear of controversy
It’s not a good idea to get into a heated argument, nor is it helpful to discuss politics or religion, unless they are part of your brand, like the Globe’s Michael Paulson.

7. Don’t be negative
Never talk negatively about employers, colleagues, friends or competitors. Richard Berman, a longtime PR and broadcast veteran, reminds everyone online to do as your mother taught you to do – respect others…and be polite.

8. Be careful in public
Remember that Twitter is a tool for public conversations. So don’t put anything up there that you’ll regret later, such as, "I’m hung over." Or, "I’m in a corporate board meeting and I’m really bored."
Do not tweet something confidential or that you don’t want a future boss – or HR person – to see.

Doug

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DFN: I’m freshly reminded of the ‘art’ of interview after my wife’s interview recently, at the end of the day, you get the interview because on paper, you look like you have the qualifications to do the job. You get the job, because you look like you’ll fit into the organization, and at some level, the hiring manager ‘likes’ you, and is willing to give you a shot.

When Saying Too Much in the Job Interview Works Against You

Written by Karen Jenkin, posted on October 7, 2009 at 12:12 am, (copy & paste this url into your browser to go to the original article http://tinyurl.com/ye3q4yv)

In job interviews:

• Do you talk too much, too little or say just the right amount to land you the job?
  
• Do you say the right things to the most appropriate people or shoot yourself in the foot?

What you say and who you share it with during the job interview process can work for or against you. There is no magic formula to follow to get the right balance, but rather an ability to read the interviewer and be discerning about who you share what information with about your abilities.

When most of us leave the interview we play back in our minds the interview questions asked and how we responded. Did we give the right answers? Were we too brief in our responses or did we prattle on too much? Did we come across as too shy or to confident? and so on. Ultimately, we wonder if we came across as the right person for the job. Rarely do we question if we shared the appropriate information with the appropriate person. We simply automatically assume we are doing the right thing by selling ourselves and our abilities to all that we interview with. Remember, not every interviewer is created equal!

Read the Interviewer’s Body Language

During the interview it is advisable to read the body language and listen to the language used by the interviewer and respond accordingly. Mirroring how they engage with you is more likely to respond in a favorable outcome. This includes the language and tone that they adopt. If they are fairly reserved and softly spoken they may not respond as well to someone who is overly gregarious as to someone who has a similar mild-mannered approach. Remember that people tend to like and ultimately hire those like themselves, so temper your personal style to the interviewer where possible. For example, while you may be a confident person in the interview, which one would assume is a good thing, it can work against you if the interviewer is not a self-confident and well adjusted person themselves. If you come across too confident and experienced they may see you as a threat to them and their job – hence you don’t get hired. Being likeable and in some instances non-threatening to the status quo can land you the job, which will guide how you behave and respond in the interview. As covered in a previous blog post “Why we need to like the ones we work with and how this impacts hiring decisions” most of us hire those we like, that we can see making agreeable colleagues.

Assess the Interviewer’s Own Position and Motivations

One other area that is not often considered in job interviews is to assess the interviewer’s own point of view and their position related to the one you are being interviewed for. Knowing who to display your expertise and knowledge to is crucial. It is more likely that those more senior to you are going to be more receptive to a confident and go-getter than perhaps someone who is your peer or at a similar level that you may eventually be competing with for promotions etc. So consider adapting your interviews responses to the decision-making level or seniority of the interviewer.

The Interview is an Intense Judging Process

While there is no doubt that you need to be yourself during the interview, it is important to remember that interviews themselves are highly unnatural situations. The interviewer is making rapid judgments about you and may have preconceived opinions of you before you have even met. Hence, everything you can do to mitigate negative judgments being formed is advisable. Throughout the interview decisions are being formed based on your appearance, language, body language, question responses and your overall manner throughout the meeting. No wonder very few people enjoy being interviewed; even the most seasoned interviewer generally dislikes being on the other side.

Coming Across with the Right Balance of Confidence and Expertise

Getting the right balance in how you come across, particularly through how you answer the interview questions, is a tough balancing act. It is unlikely that they will hire you if you are too shy and reserved and correspondingly if you are so full of energy and confidence that you are completely over the top. Either extreme is not desirable during the interview process. However, I will qualify this by saying it has very little impact once you are in the job; these extremes of personalities can certainly work well in the workplace but they tend to not work well in the interview process. Generally, round one (and sometimes round two) interviews are conducted by those at a more junior or peer level; it’s only at the end that you meet with the real decision-makers higher up in the organization. It is at this level you can unleash your expertise and really sell yourself without hesitation. Only the most evolved of us are happy to hire someone who has the potential to outshine us.

What has been your experience? Have you not been hired because you came across too competent?

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