Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Career advice from the experts – LaunchPad, Vol. 3

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I am always happy to be invited to contribute to valuable career advice projects, and Chris Perry of Career Rocketeer has put together a terrific compilation of advice for job seekers. LaunchPad — Getting a Life and Not a Job is available for sale now. My article is about the value of telling stories for job seeking. I reference my favorite book on the subject by Katharine Hanson, Tell Me About Yourself as well as my friend Ken Revenaugh’s blog, FastTrackTools.com, which offers terrific advice about communicating to enhance your status in any organization.

This issue has great advice about how to create or find meaningful work (by Julie Jansen), describes why personal branding is good for you (by Diana Jennings) and provides interview advice for return-to workers (by Carol Fishman Cohen), just to name a few. Read on to learn more about the project and consider ordering a copy!

Career Rocketeer’s goal is to bring you short, relevant and actionable advice to save you time, energy and sanity in your pursuit of your next job opportunity. Launchpad covers topics including: resume optimization, interviewing, personal branding, career search strategy, relationship building, professional networking, the use of web 2.0 search tools and much more. Contributors to Volume 3:

James Alexander, Paula Caligiuri, Carol Fishman Cohen, John Crant, Kristi Daeda, Meg Guiseppi, Jessica Holbrook, Julie Jansen, Diana Jennings, Dan Miller, Dorothy Tannahill Moran, Ford Myers, Cheryl Palmer, Chris Perry, Brent Peterson, Todd Rhoad, Steve Rothberg, Rick Saia, Miriam Salpeter and Billie Sucher

Advertise in LaunchpadFREE GIFT: Career Rocketeer is proud to offer you a FREE, downloadable version of Launchpad: Your Career Search Strategy Guide (Volume 1). Get your free copy today!

How to win the job – interviewing with passion

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Earlier this week, I shared my tips on how to make your interviewer a fan…It’s very important to approach an interview with the right attitude. After all, it is exactly what all of your hard work has been leading up to!

An often overlooked topic in hiring is that “fit” – a nuanced, maybe even “unfair” assessment of the interviewee is most likely the most important aspect of the hiring process. This is frustrating (for job seekers who KNOW they have the skills to do the job) and for the hiring managers (who need to somehow justify hiring one person over another because of what might be ambigous or nuanced reasons).

Nevertheless, recognizing (and maybe even embracing?) the fact that hiring (and being hired) is as much an art as it is a science and that making a real, solid connection at an interview is as important as the portfolio of skills, experiences and accomplishments you bring can be empowering.

One of my favorite authors for career and relationship building advice is Keith Ferrazzi. (Read my review of his most recent, Who’s Got Your Back – I also really enjoyed Never Eat Alone. Both are great choices to help job seekers and careerists with their networking and relationship building.) So, it is no surprise that his advice about interviewing resonates!

This is Keith’s advice on interviewing:

  1. Make them like you. My number one advice: Make sure that by the time you leave the room, you’ve found a way to make the person like you. That’s it: MAKE THEM LIKE YOU. Two arms, two legs and an MBA, being all fancy and important, are not going to get you there. Make that personal connection. Build instant intimacy.
  2. Find a reason to care about the person. Do your homework in advance, understand their passions, and draw out the stories of their life that make them human. When you connect with them, and start to like them, they’ll start to like you, and care about you.
  3. Show them your passion! Specifically, your passion for the job you’re interviewing for. Passion and charisma go a long way.
  4. Tell stories. Don’t rely on stats and figures to make your case. Tell stories of how you’ve changed lives for former bosses and companies. This is what my friend Peter Guber calls “emotional transportation” and it works. Take them on your journey! (Note from Miriam: Katharine Hansen’s book Tell Me About Yourself is a great resource to help you.)

If you have prepared for your interview, the preparation was probably more focused on YOU. What YOU should say. How to emphasize YOUR skills. Your accomplishments. This is fine – I am not going to knock going in prepared to talk about yourself. But, be sure you spend some time thinking of connecting. What research can you do to really help you “hook” the interviewer’s interest? How can you connect on an emotional level?

photo by woodythrower

Ramp up your job search during the holiday season: Part 1

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pumpkin.pie.305417643_cdfa0079e2_mIf you are unemployed, are you dreading the holiday season? The inevitable question, “What do you do?” and the awkward silence while you think of a good reply? If that sounds like you – take heart!

Or, maybe you have a job, but it’s time to find a new one? You think the holidays are not a good time to get started looking? I hope this series on job hunting during the holidays can change your mind! (Stay tuned for more advice on the subject!)

Turn this holiday season around and try to think of it as an opportunity to jump start your job search if you have come to a rolling stop and to rev up your plans if you haven’t even begun, but know that the time is coming. (It’s here!)

Yes – you can conduct job search networking over turkey, stuffing and pie or champagne and cookies! Any time that you have a chance to meet new people and expand your circle, there’s a possibility that you will speak to someone who can significantly alter your job search’s course.

Do not waste this time of the year. This is actually the PERFECT time to job hunt, and there are a lot of reasons why. (Many of which I will detail in this series.)

For starters, it is unlikely that you will be very successful with your job hunt unless you network well. Networking is a huge topic, and I have tons to say on the subject, but let’s start here:

If you’re going to a party or holiday get-together, you will probably have an opportunity to meet some new people.

How can you introduce yourself with an eye toward seeing if there is a potential career link with your new acquaintance?  Ask someone if they have special plans for the holidays…Strike up some conversations that have NOTHING to do with your job search.

You never know where you’ll meet the professional connection that will link you to a new opportunity.

Bring your A-game to the party. First up – decide what to say when asked what you do. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: If you sound like Debbie Downer or Tired Tom, it’s unlikely anyone will want to spend much time chatting, let alone become a possible resource for you.

You need to bring your pitch – call it your elevator pitch, your escalator pitch – your “twit pitch” – whatever you call it, you need to have it. Follow THIS LINK for tips on how to create a proactive introduction that helps people recognize who you are and what you offer.

I highly recommend that job seekers take a look at Katharine Hansen’s book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career. Read my review HERE. I don’t know of another resource that outlines the importance of being able to tell your story as it relates to your job hunt. Because, let’s face it – you need to know (and be able to share) your own story.

I wrote an ebook on the subject of how to optimize your networking for holidays (or anytime, really). Subscribe to receive my blog via email and receive a copy for free! Click here to subscribe and receive a free ebook.

Stay tuned for more information and resources. Please share your stories and ideas about job search during the holidays in the comments.

I can help with every part of your job hunt! Need a great resume? Tips to use social networking? Interview coaching? If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans, learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, don’t forget those social networks! Be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community! Since we’re on the subject of doing something new…Are you on Twitter? Jump on and touch base with me @keppie_careers.

photo by jamesyu

Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to get jobs and propel your career

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tellmecovercorrect“So, tell me about yourself?”

Is that not the most obvious interview question? The one that every job seeker should anticipate and prepare to answer? Unfortunately, it may seem so obvious, many don’t spend the time they should focusing on how to answer it.

In fact, most aspects of the job search rely on being able to tell your own story.

  • Networking (the all important elevator pitch)
  • Your resume – connecting your accomplishments with the employer’s needs
  • Cover letter – another opportunity to sell your skills to a targeted employer
  • Portfolios – online opportunities to connect with people
  • Interviews – sealing the deal
  • On the job – to connect and advance

I highly recommend that job seekers take a look at Katharine Hansen’s new book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career.

Her book is organized into several sections:

  • Part I – Career propelling story basics
  • Part II – Using storytelling in your job search
  • Part III – Continuous storytelling

Katharine explains how stories can help you get a job by demonstrating your personality, helping to make you memorable and establishing trust. People who know how to tell good stories can communicate their value proposition, which is key for job seekers and careerists.

This book helps you with every aspect of telling your story – from figuring out what the story should be through tips for how to recall stories stored in your brain! (For example, give your stories names.) It is full of samples of stories and many, many ideas that are critically useful for job seekers and all professionals.

If you’re engaged in a job search – or maybe you should be – don’t miss this great resource!

UPDATED ON 6/21/11:

Could you use some help to come up with your story AND to learn how to tell it well in networking, interview and social networking situations? What about your resume? Does it tell your story and tell it well? I can help. If you’re ready to hire a pro to help you move ahead with your plans, contact me to find out how you can boost your job search – both online and off line. Check out my new book, Social Networking for Career Success, to learn how to tell your story in a way that can get you noticed.

The Most Important Interview Questions

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Photo by Alexander Drachman

What’s the question that every interview includes? It may be phrased in a number of ways, but it is the underlying question in every single interview query:

“Why should we hire you?”

After all, interviewers want you to sell yourself. It’s not up to them to figure out if you are a good match; it is up to you to draw the lines, connect the dots between your skills and their needs. If you don’t know why they should hire you, you certainly won’t be able to convince anyone else!

What’s the other most important interview question?

“Tell me about yourself.”

Even if you are an “experienced” or “seasoned” professional – do NOT consider this question an opportunity to launch into your life story. If you can’t zero in on a few brief autobiographical details and connect them to the position, you will be wasting your time and the interviewer’s patience.

So, how should you prepare
to address these questions?

Refer to your elevator pitch. Your pitch, which should contain information about you and your skills (customizible to individual targets) will focus on what problem you can help solve, include specifics about your abilities and accomplishments and demonstrate your expertise, interest and enthusiasm for their organization. Of course, all of these will be focused on the organization’s needs.

Your answers should NOT focus on what they can do for you – make sure you demonstrate how you can impact them in a positive way.

I invite you to refer to some of my earlier blogs for more advice about how to respond to interview questions to GET the job:

5 Tips to Turn Your Interviewer Into A Fan
Behavioral Interview: Have STAR Stories to Share

Keppie Careers will help you figure out why the interviewer should hire you – and give you the tools and information to make sure that you can do it! Do you need a resume? A mock interview? Keppie Careers can help: www.keppiecareers.com.