High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Getting Where You Want to Go

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Getting Where You Want to Go: "Failure is our greatest teacher. Yet the idea of failure paralyzes many us so we fail to take the risks that might spur growth.There’s no shame in failure. When you do fail, react quickly, learn from your mistakes, and move on."


• Influencing Others When You're Not the Expert: "If you’re a thoughtful curator of the best ideas in your field, even if you’re not developing them yourself, others will start turning to you for guidance."


• 7 Lessons from Working Moms: "I've found that it's really important to take time off, and I've found that sometimes you get really important insights by taking time off, too...I want people to realize that it really is ok, that you can have a family."


• 21 Things I Wish I Knew When I was 21: "It may not always be clear to you, but the people you meet can help you. Treat everyone like you’d like to be treated and be willing to make new friends. The world is smaller than you think. You’ll be amazed at who is connected to whom."


• Improve Your Online Visibility: "One way to help people understand what you're good at and what's important to you is to write about it. You can document your own stories as case studies, expand upon or add your opinions on thought-provoking articles others have written or highlight industry news."

How to Create a Great Online Professional Profile

These days it’s important to create a great online professional profile. Wes Weiler, the Chief Marketing Officer for hiredMYway.com, uses his blog to share 6 Things Your Professional Profile Needs (Weiler, Wes. blog.hiredMYway.com. 2013. February 27, 2013). Following are some of the tips Weiler suggests for making your professional profile top-notch.

Provide Thorough Contact Information: If you’re job searching online, sometimes potential employers contact you directly through job search sites. However, many still prefer to contact candidates by phone or email, so be mindful to complete all available contact fields.

Complete a Video Profile: You may think video profiles are just for those in creative professions, but what better way to sell yourself than “in person”? A video message can convey a lot and gives the potential employer a sneak peak at the real you!

Provide Useful Profile Information: Companies don’t want to hear boring career objectives in your online profile. They’re more interested in finding out what sets you apart from others. Show them why you are the best candidate, and don’t be afraid to mention what you’re passionate about.

Be Selective about Qualifications and Expertise: If you have specific skills or certifications, mention them. Skip over basic computer literacy because it is assumed everyone possesses basic computer skills. However, if you’ve learned a specific software application, mention it.

Organize Your Professional Experience: Instead of listing your job history in chronological order, highlight jobs that show career growth. Under each job, list examples of what challenges you overcame and what problems you solved. Each job should tell a story while citing examples that make you stand out.

Recap Your Complete Education: Be thorough when presenting education and training. If you have achieved special designations within your degree or attended career workshops in addition to your degree, make sure to include these. Just like a pile of paper resumes, potential employers sift through many professional profiles online. Fine tune yours to be the one that stands out.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Relax, Showing Up, and Boosting Your Cred

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Relax! You'll Be More Productive: "[T]he energy employees bring to their jobs is far more important in terms of the value of their work than is the number of hours they work. By managing energy more skillfully, it’s possible to get more done, in less time, more sustainably."


• 10 Strategies for Boosting Your Online Cred: "[E]mployers are researching you online during their review process. What will they discover? You can play a significant role in creating the right first impression online if you take a proactive approach."


• The First Secret of Success is Showing Up: "But never forget that chance plays a role in finding opportunities ... It's important to be in the right place, preferably at the right time. And it's impossible to get started without first showing up."


• 20 Reasons Gen-Y Should Not Work Free: "Many employers don’t give internships any credence at all when reviewing your resumes. They figure, 'she worked for free; this job doesn’t tell me whether she was good enough to be hired'."


• These 5 Workplace Habits Are Making You Look Amateur: "When you exhibit a professional image, you increase your own confidence while simultaneously boosting the confidence others have in you and your capabilities. It's a win-win." 

Spend Your Online Time Wisely

You can find a limitless number of helpful online resources for job seekers; however, without a strategy for how to use your online time wisely, you may fall prey to surfing the Internet, clicking from one site to another without purpose.  If this sounds familiar, step back and create a plan for how to get the most out of Internet job searching.
 
Focus on Your Goals
If you haven’t done so already, evaluate your interests, values, qualifications, skills, and experience in order to establish your career goals.  Once defined, these goals should direct your job search efforts, both online and off.  

Popular and Niche Job Boards
Internet job boards are excellent sources for viewing and applying for open job postings across many companies. By using an Internet search engine and a search phrase like “top job boards,” you can locate popular job boards. Niche job boards, those targeted to your occupation and industry, are also great resources for narrowing your search to the most relevant job openings.   

Company Websites
Use the Internet to research companies you’d like to work for.  Then, look for job postings on those company websites that interest you.  Some of these sites enable you to set up job alerts that notify you, via email, when job openings matching your criteria become available.  

Social Media 
Be sure to create a professional online presence on social media sites, like LinkedIn, that are designed for professionals and networking.  Investigate other online communities; begin by looking at relevant industry and professional associations.

Just One More Tool
Think of the Internet as one more tool in your job-seeker toolbox. It is an excellent resource for job seekers, but it should not be your only resource.  The fact is, there is no substitute for face-to-face, professional interactions and networking.  

When Can Your Personal Life Impact Your Job Search?

In the midst of the Republican Party's race to select its presidential candidate, we have seen lots of personal "dirt" unearthed. Infidelity, corruption, and questionable financial deals are among the few issues that have been raised. It begs the question, does your personal life really impact your ability to secure a job? As the GOP canididacy - and every day life - has proven, your personal life does make a difference in your employability.

Credit Score
On the surface, one might think a low credit score would not impact your ability to land a job. However, did you know that it is very difficult obtain a government security clearance with a bankruptcy or even a low credit score? The same holds true in banking, finance, and the insurance industry. Employers often look at your credit score as an indication of your ability to make decisions and hold responsibility.

Online Presence
In an earlier blog post I discussed how to manage your online presence. If an employer is conducting a search of your name, what will they find? Pictures on facebook of you drinking heavily or participating in illegal activities are a definite red flag to employers. However, they will also look at comments you make on blogs and on social media sites such as www.twitter.com and www.facebook.com to get a sense of your values and beliefs.

Consider the types of pages, businesses, and causes that are among your "likes" on Facebook. Are any of these organizations controversial or indicative of your religious or sexual preferences? These types of personal beliefs should be kept just that - personal. Remember that when you post something online, it stays there for other people to find, so beware!

Convictions
Everyone makes mistakes in their life. However, some are more costly than others. If you have been convicted of a felony in your life, you need to be ready to counteract the negativity that will follow. Try to offer a simple straightforward explanation of the conviction followed by the changes you have made in your life since the conviction. Read this earlier blog post for more information.

Manage Your Online Presence

References are becoming a thing of the past and employers are using the internet to discover information about you. Conducting a Google search and looking at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are now common practices for pre-screening personnel. Employers are looking for your “digital dirt” or unfavorable photos, videos, or information posted on the internet.

As an employee or a job seeker, you must manage your online presence. Do you post on Facebook during work hours, are you pictured in an inebriated state, or do you post inappropriate or unprofessional statements? These are all considerations as you use these tips to take care of your digital dirt.

Actively Research Your Online Presence
Your first step is to conduct an online search by typing your name into the major search engines such as www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, and www.bing.com. Evaluate what you find about you in the first three to five pages and ask yourself what image these items represent to your current or potential employer.

Take a Proactive Approach to Cleaning up Your Online Image
Go to all your online social networking sites and critically evaluate your profile, your posts, and what your friends have posted about you. Search these sites to see where you have been tagged on your friends’ postings. Ask friends to remove unprofessional information or photos. Manage your privacy settings on your accounts, but don’t rely on them to protect your image.

Cover the Negative with Positives
You will build credibility and erase negative information by posting positive professional information. While the internet can be detrimental to your career if mismanaged, it can also be a boost if used properly. Craft a thoughtful and well-written book review of the latest book in your industry, create a blog, develop your own website, answer questions on LinkedIn, or write online articles as an expert in your industry. If you have a website, increase the number of links to your site which will increase your ranking in popular search engines.