Michele Woodward

Powerful Coaching. Powerful Results.

LinkedIn

Working? Looking? What You Need Right Now

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Last week a friend told me about a job she’s filling and asked if I had any candidates to recommend. It’s a senior job that will pay in the good six-figures, with budget and people authority. It’s with an organization with a mission, and it’s often in the news.

Immediately, I thought of a perfect candidate and told my friend that I’d send over the candidate’s LinkedIn profile so she could get a sense of the person and see if there appeared to be a match.

Now, wait a minute. I didn’t say I’d send over a resume, did I? No, I said I’d send a LinkedIn profile. Because contacting the candidate and getting her resume might take days. Maybe even a week if her resume isn’t current and updated. LinkedIn is quick, and quiet.

This is the new way of the world.

But here’s what happened when I went to LinkedIn and searched for the candidate I wanted to recommend:

  • She had two profiles listed under her name – one was clearly started and abandoned because it had zero information
  • The second profile had one job listed (the one she had the job before last) and no contact info

So, obviously, I couldn’t quietly send my friend anything that would allow her to determine whether to take my candidate to the next level.

Some of you are no doubt wondering about this.

Wondering what the big deal is with LinkedIn. Is it the same as Facebook? Or Twitter? Some of you feel overwhelmed just reading the words “Facebook” and “Twitter”, and adding “LinkedIn” to the conversation makes you a little sweaty and slightly nauseous.

OK. But here’s the deal. LinkedIn has emerged as the single most important thing you can do to support your career.

Back in 2008 more than the stock market and housing prices shifted – work also changed, dramatically. Today, anyone can be fired at any time. Organizations – businesses, non-profits, governments both state and local – cut back and shed employees. To be truly successful right now all of us need to be in permanent job search mode.

And LinkedIn gives you a place to effectively showcase your resume, skills, capabilities and network in a way that’s totally appreciated and understood by the community.

Because everyone else on LinkedIn is doing the same thing.

Now, some people tell me that they don’t want to have a LinkedIn profile because then everyone in the office will know they are “looking” and that would be … bad.

[Of course, if you work in such a punitive office then you really, really need a great LinkedIn presence. Just sayin’.]

But your boss can relax. Tons of opportunities come via LinkedIn – not just new jobs. With the specialized groups on the network, you might learn about conferences or workshops you might not otherwise have heard about. You might get asked to speak on a panel, or write an article which raises the profile of the organization. You might make alliances that generate business for your employer.

Lots of good stuff.

But none of it happens if you have an incomplete or rudimentary profile.

Here’s your task: Get on there, and paste in your bio or write one up. List your professional work history, and note any certifications you have. List your colleges. Get a few people to write recommendations for you. Write a few for other people. Have a good picture of yourself taken (remind me to tell you the story of the guy whose LinkedIn photo was of him with a bucket hat and a beer – he changed his picture to something more professional and spruced up his bio… and was hired within a week. Again, just sayin’.).

And connect with people.

Upload your contacts – LinkedIn doesn’t save the data, so it’s OK – and send requests to people you know and have worked with in the past. Accept requests from people you know and meet at professional networking events. Work toward having around 100 connections at the minimum, because when people search you they will often look to see who you know in common. It’s a good way to create rapport and connection. And to demonstrate your influence.

Someone is reading this right now and saying, “I don’t have any influence and the whole thing feels like an invasion of privacy. I don’t want anyone searching me!”

And I feel you, pal. You’re probably still mourning the loss of the buggy whip manufacturing industry, too.

Times have changed. The way of doing business has changed, too. A recruiter recently told me that if a candidate has no LinkedIn profile, then he or she simply does not exist. Because LinkedIn is a vital tool for people who are trying to fill jobs.

Tell you what – let’s make it easy for you. Just put up your profile and get those 100 connections. Then you can stop, and do nothing more.

Nothing, but watch the opportunity open up. Open up really wide.

[my LinkedIn profile: Michele Woodward]

 

Finding A Job 2.0

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You need a job. $4 Gas has come and gone in the rearview mirror. And milk is more expensive than gas! You really need a job. Like yesterday.

Helpful people are telling you that no one’s hiring, times are tough, you might as well give up, yadda yadda yadda.

Depressing. Especially if you want a job in, oh, energy, banking, the car industry…

But let me fill you in on a little secret: jobs are open in other sectors and people are getting hired.

So, how do you find those open positions and get yourself in the interview pool? Use the tools I call “Finding A Job 2.0”. Ready?

Think big. Big picture, that is. Take a really big picture look at your skills — it doesn’t matter what the industry is, if you know how to manage people, you know how to manage people. Ditto for handling budgets, problem solving, strategic planning, program management and tons of other areas. Focus on your most transferable skills, and make these the backbone of your search.

Know what you want to do. I know, you need a job. Any job. But when you succinctly define what it is you can do, it makes it so much easier for other people to understand and help you. Develop your own “elevator speech” — two to three sentences that capture the essence of what you want. For instance, “I’m looking for an executive director or VP position at a non-profit working on green issues. I’ve worked in this field for fifteen years and really know the issues, and like managing people.” I understand that completely, and can refer you to two or three people who can help you.

Network with people you know. Over 70% of jobs are filled by personal referral. That means your Christmas card list, cell phone directory, email contacts, alumni directory and community phone book are your most important tools. Go through these personal lists and identify people who are already in the field where you want to work. Contact them, give them your elevator speech and ask if they know of any openings. Even if they don’t have an immediate lightbulb moment, you’ve planted a seed in their minds — they’ll remember you the next time they hear about something that would be perfect for you.

Network with people you don’t know. If a friend says, “You should really meet my friend Tom”, then go see Tom. Worst case scenario? You’ll meet a new friend. Best case? Tom will know of a job for you. You can also use LinkedIn, Facebook, alumni discussion boards. Consider these opportunities to expand the reach of your resume and bio. Word to the wise? You can spend more time “updating” your social marketing pages than you do working on your job search. Use your time wisely.

Morph your resume. Gone are the days when you had one resume that a printer typeset for you on ivory laid paper. Many resumes are scanned into a humungous database, so make certain the words you use are keywords recruiters will use to fill a position like the one you seek. If you’re responding to a particular job opening, tailor your resume to that job. Use the same keywords they use in the job posting. Stress that you have the skills they seek. And feel free to alter your resume for the next opening you pursue.

Write thank you notes. Sure, it’s a holdover tactic from Finding A Job 1.0, but, hey, don’t fix what ain’t broke! The number of people who write thank you notes by hand is dwindling, so you will stand out when you’re one of the few who use this tactic. Plus, gratitude is a happy place to be. Expressing your gratitude will increase your overall happiness and keep you positive for your next job interview.

Searching for a job in uncertain economic times is… uncertain. But by employing 2.0 tactics, you can make your job search efficient, effective and maybe, just maybe, quick.