2. So, here’s how you find a job:
1. WRITE A GREAT RESUME
2. TELL EVERYONE IN YOUR
NETWORK THAT YOU’RE LOOKING
3. SEND YOUR GREAT RESUME TO
EVERY JOB OPENING THAT MIGHT
BE A FIT
Simple, right?
2
3. New job-search tactics:
1. WRITE A GREAT RESUME
Then post that resume on Monster.com (and wherever),
but try to avoid using it to apply for a specific job.
2. ASK SPECIFIC PEOPLE IN YOUR
NETWORK FOR SPECIFIC HELP
Very few people in your network can say, “Come work for
me right now.” But what can they say yes to?
3. PUT YOUR REPUTATION ONLINE
Hopefully, you’ve started this already.
3
4. Rethinking your resume:
Your resume is not:
• The history of your career
• An encyclopedia entry about you
• A list of your past job descriptions
• Your resume is advertising.
• It’s a sales pitch.
• It should tell a story not about your
past, but about what you’re going to
do in the future.
4
5. What this means:
1. SUMMARIES, NOT OBJECTIVES
Employers don’t care what you want. They want to know
who you are.
Melinda Malone
2. ACHIEVEMENTS, NOT JOBManager
Professional Editor, Writer, and Content
415/555-3434 / melindamalone@example.com
DESCRIPTIONS with comprehensive project- and
expert editorial director
data-management skills
Make the hiring manager’s mouth water.
seasoned editor and copy editor fluent in Chicago and AP
Senior Editor, Yahoo! Finance 8/2009 – present
widely published and highly adaptable
3. KEYWORDS, NOT JARGON
SEO specialist and a proven builder of engaged
Managed career-advice content, developing between 20
communities
and 30 news stories a week. Wrote the highest-clicking
OK,Past titles include Senior Editor (Yahoo!), Managing
OK. They are often one and the same.
story to date in the history of Yahoo! Finance: 12 million
Editor (Macworld), and Editorial Director (Healthline.com)
clicks from the Yahoo! homepage in three hours).
Launched and spearheaded channel Twitter activation, …
5
6. Now post this resume on Monster.com,
but you should probably almost never
use it to apply directly for a job.
Always customize if
you can! It really helps.
6
7. Rethinking your networking:
Networking is not:
• Asking people to help you find a job
• Schmoozing
• Something that happens only on Twitter now
• Networking is mutually beneficial.
• It’s genuine.
• It operates fundamentally on the
same principles it always has. People
are still people.
7
8. Monster’s Guide to Online Networking
Download and
http://career-advice.monster.com/career-development/free-ebooks/professional-networking-tips/article.aspx
8
9. Networking tactics:
1. If you start “networking” when
you need something, you’re too late.
You should always be providing value to your networks.
2. Never spam,youcontentrelationship with ask
Ted, I was wondering if and try to always
had a
anyone in your company’s department….
for the possible.
Kristen, I am thinking of moving into the marketing
Think along the lines of “an informational interview” or a
and PR space, and I was wondering if I could buy you
“five-minute resume review.”
a cup of coffee and talk about. …
3. Think outside the Twitter.
Deepika, I was wondering if you could give my resume
a “two-minute scan” and let me know if any room for
Face-to-face networking still matters.
improvement is screamingly apparent. …
9
11. Building an online “brand”:
1. Develop a brand statement: Who
are you and what do you offer?
Tie that statement to relevant profiles in a consistent way.
Website: Melindabig networks. Find
2. Look past the Malone,
Website: Melinda Malone,
Professional Wordsmith involved.
industry forums and get
Professional Wordsmith
Twitter: Melinda Malone: HOCKEY
Twitter: Melinda Malone:or industry-specific
Share expertise on sites like Quora
sites. A few minutes a week are a good investment.
LOVER SAN JOSE SHARKS
Professional Wordsmith, Devoted
RULE! Hockey own (Go Sharks!)
Mom, HOCKEY LOVER
3. Create your Fan space online.
Again, that doesn’t mean you have to be all business.
11
12. Think of Facebook as a party
where everyone you know is
invited: friends, parents, and
coworkers. (And that’s about
how fun it should be.)
http://bit.ly/LQ2rLN
12
13. Using social media only
to broadcast is not social.
It’s anti-social.
Use social media tools to follow,
research, and converse with target
employers.
That’s networking and reputation-building and job-searching
all in one.
13
Charles Purdy, Monster’s Senior Editor Happy to be here to discuss job-search tactics Jennifer Ivers who organized the conference very generously titled the conference “What’s New at Monster” but I promise this won’t be a sales pitch. First, because we really have nothing to sell job seekers: All our great stuff for job seekers is free to use; our customer base is, of course, the companies who buy our products that help them source and recruit candidates. … And those excellent products make us an obvious place for job seekers to be: Worldwide reach 97% of Fortune 1000 companies are our customers Our semantic-search tools are state of the art, and a lot of our customers buy them before or instead of posting a job, so being there just makes sense. There’s no argument to be made for not using Monster: Is it definitely the place where you’ll find that job? Maybe, maybe not. Could it hurt? No. Second, because that’s not my job. My job at Monster is to help job seekers with advice and answer their questions about job search. On that note, I’ve prepared a very general presentation and really hope that we’ll have lots of questions so don’t be shy….. Also, I’ve printed my email address here – that could be the only note you need: I’m happy to share the presentation or answer follow-up questions – just shoot an emai.
In my experience, this is how most people look for a job, and a lot of effort and energy is put into these activities. Even people whose job it is to help others find a job, this is often how they go about it. But this isn’t the right way to do it.
So what’s the right way? OK, well writing a great resume is part of it, and we’ll discuss what that means in a bit in more detail. Why should we never send that great resume to a specific job? 2. We recently did a Monster poll on the subject of networking, and 70% said that “networking” – or “who they know” was a contributing factor in their getting a job. But most people work their networks in the wrong way – and in a similar poll, more than 60% said they felt that they were bad at networking. So there’s a disconnect there. 3. Hiring managers and recruiters have always hired on the basis of reputation: Which is what they can easily find out about you and what other people have to say about you. What’s great is now modern tools as opposed to 30 years ago…. SO THESE ARE THE THREE AREAS WE ARE GOING TO COVER TODAY, starting with resumes
The Resume is important. Someone is always going to want to see it, no matter crazy job search tactics. You read about video resumes and infographic resumes, and they can be great “extras,” but we’re not ready to totally replace traditional resumes yet. Why? Most if not all HR departments aren’t set to process them (and manager at a desk can’t deal with them). And as mentioned your first step is writing a great “generic” version of your resume. One fundamental idea: The idea here is a future focus. Employers don’t hire you because of what you did. Employers hire you because of what you’re going to do – what you did is merely your proof that you can do it.
In fact, it helps if you see your resume as not about you at all. I’m not going to get into a resume-writing workshop – I will direct you to Monster.com’s vast library of resume advice for detailed guidance and templates and advice articles and so on. But I’ll share some general ideas – NOT RIGHT FOR EVERYBODY BUT SOMETHING TO CONSIDER Don’t waste space on your resume – you’ve maybe got a few seconds of the person’s attention. If you’re using that time to say “I’m seeking a challenging position bla bla bla.” Well, who isn’t. You don’t need to say that, because your resume says that. Instead, tell them who you are with a title and a summary list. Mostly that means, as with your summary/objective: Don’t tell me things I already know. For example, if your last job title was “Senior Marketing Copywriter” for Nike.com, don’t say that “job duties included writing marketing copy for large online shoe retailer.” Yes! We got it. [[[ In fact, never say “job duties included.” Can’t you just picture the uninspired slouch, forced to carry out job duties.]] *****Notice the strong action verbs. We all know about the power of language. Note the numbers. Quantifying experience is powerful. If not, again, see Monster.com Keywords are important. How can you find keywords? Search job posts. Look at target companies or dream companies.
We already learned why: Customization is important, and keywords. Really, really, really. Before you send your resume to a specific person at a specific company, or in response to a specific job post, make sure that you have maximized for keywords. Be smart: Research the ad, research the company, see what you know about where the company is going. That’ll help you update and craft your resume so that it speaks directly to the employer and gets past its resume filters.
I promised no sales pitch – but honestly, this ebook is awesome and free, so what’s the harm? I put it together from some of the best advice available career-networking advice out there.
These are not new – because as I said, people are still people, no matter what platform they are on. What that means – providing value – will vary. But it takes some concentrated effort: Like, reviewing your contact list and asking yourself, “How Can I Help These People”? Maybe it’s by … sharing an ebook on networking tips. Or when you read something useful, sharing it selectively. I hear “I’ve reached out to my whole network, I sent an email blast that I needed work.” No. That is spam. The thing about spam is no one feels obligated to respond. But asking specific questions gets results and puts you more firmly and clearly in people’s minds. A winning combination with providing value. Volunteering and taking adult education are some of the best ways to network, in my opinion.
Fairly frequently, I hear people who balk at the notion that they have to have a “digital persona” in order to get recruiters interested in them these days. Want to encourage them to think differently> Hiring has always been done on the basis of reputation -- that's nothing new. What's new now is that anyone can use the Internet and networking tools to create that reputation. It's up to use to do so in a smart way. So it’s actually very empowering. Where before a hiring manager or recruiter might get your resume and then call a friend for a (perhaps biased) view, now she is going to put your name into a search engine or onto a professional networking platform And so complaining about it isn’t going to make the matter go away. You can accede to the times
You’ll hear people talk about “personal brands” and you may, like me, have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. But all people mean by “brand” is “reputation” – and as we said, your reputation is nothing new. It’s about reinforcing your message. Example: If you are Melinda Malone This might send a confusing message. That’s not to say you have to be all business all the time, but try to reinforce your brand message. …. And being consistent can be about simple things like using the same professional headshot across all your digital media – on that note, I’ll advise against using cute kittens or cartoons in most cases. So we’re familiar with Facebook and LinkedIn and so forth, but also find out where industry insiders are congregating online in your industries. The best thing for a job seeker is if I do a web search and your blog – on Wordpress or Blogger – is the first thing that comes up. Again, it doesn’t have to be all business to reinforce your brand message. For instance, this is mine: I like ot take pictures of murals and signs and stuff, and I blog about them … but I make it easy to get to my professional stuff too.
So, again, that doesn’t mean you have to be all business …. Blah bla bla. But seriously, Facebook is not a place to party hardy, any more than a … but every one is different. BeKnown vs. LinkedIn / BranchOut Speaking for Monster, we are very committed to social networking as a space and as a job-search tool: BeKnown Integration Key Messages Monster brings the power of Facebook to your job search networking, and it's from Monster --that's the world's most popular networking platform combined with unique access to Monster's million-plus job listings and global reach. BeKnown l ets you separate their private / professional lives on Facebook while using the platform as a tool in their job search. “ BeKnown isn't just a professional networking tool -- it's a professional networking tool that connects users to Monster.com, the world’s leading job search database. Competing tools may offer networking capabilities, but they not have access to a comparable job database and Monster's customers.”