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How to Make a Personal Business Card for Networking Today (at no cost)

You need a personal business card today! If you don’t do anything for your job search today, make it easier for any job fair vendor, new contact you meet in person or online, or anyone you are exchanging value. A personal business card shows your serious about opportunities and ready to move forward. Even if you’re not looking right now, why not be ready for any opportunity in front you. Remember if you don’t stand out, you minimize your job opportunities!

Most of you may have written off having a personal business card because of the cost and the lack of creativity. Well, I can help you with both. All you have to do is the following:

All you have to do is the following to create a no cost but original electronic personal business card:

If you have a LinkedIn profile photo, snap a picture on your mobile phone of the picture part and headline
Download Canva app, create an account (you can use Facebook to build profile)
Upload your LinkedIn profile picture to Canva
Top of Canva interface you can choose the type of image you’d like to produce, select “card.”
Pick a picture to complement your photo, crop, adjust to fit card
You may need to go to your laptop to write in your LinkedIn customized address, email address, phone number, and maybe a website address.
Once you’ve created an aesthetically pleasing card, save it and download to your phone
Viola, you have an electronic business card to send Bluetooth, email, or post on social media

I think any mobile image will do, but LinkedIn has a nice template for a business card image. Will the ease of producing contact images make a real business card obsolete? Who knows. Whoever you meet, you want to make yourself memorable and make contacting you easy as possible. An electronic personal business card in any image in your phone (since you have it with always, right?) maintains your readiness for any opportunity.

Remember it’s just another tool of many you should be ready to employ for a recruiter, hiring manager, or an employee who can refer you.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Is it Realistic to Leverage a College Degree to Obtain a Job?

Congratulations to all of you who obtained their college degree this season! Is your degree leverage for employment? Since it is graduation season, and many college graduates are moving forward with life, how many are actually employed with a job in their major? Too early to tell of course, but those of us in the career space watch these stats as an indicator of the condition of the job market.

The Data on the College Degree

One Forbes article says that unemployment and underemployment for college graduates is a myth. In 2016, some studies showed some law schools with up to 31% of their graduates were unemployed. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics latest report doesn’t feature any of the college graduate employment numbers yet.

Regardless of the number, it is still a wait and see. Nor can anyone use it as an excuse to successfully find a job without doing everything possible.

The Return on the College Degree

My oldest son graduated in December, and in January he was off to the Air Force. That was his plan for the last two years. But he also had two internships before graduating. His plan is to attend graduate school in the next year or two, but in the meantime his job will take him on quite a few travels. Like many graduates, the first plan is to experience, and then explore. And there is nothing wrong with that.

I reflect on this because three years ago, my friend Keith Townsend and I talked about the Return-on-Investment of a college degree. Every few years, I think this is a discussion worth revisiting for any year. At that time we created a video to coincide with the podcast–I think it’s worth watching.

Getting a college degree is a personal thing for some, and for others it’s family expectation. It is worth the discussion to evaluate your career trajectory if it is worth the investment of time and money. But those of us who advise clients if a college is a must have, we will likely answer, “it depends…”

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How to Breathe Life into Your Job Search

Every day can’t be the same whether you have a job during your job search or not. It’s dead. It’s an exercise in utility. What’s worse, you are explaining to your family why you are not getting results. If your job search lacks life, you must diversify your efforts until you yield results. You need others to help, but you must have resolve.

If you’re stuck, I have some suggestions you should try. Maybe a few of them are appealing, but none of them are easy. Perhaps picking two or three could help you and then inspire other ways to get results and an

1. Create a blog

It’s important to control the narrative of your career, and a blog is the best way. Sure there is LinkedIn and other platforms, but any of them could disappear for one reason or another. Mostly, it should be the best place to find and connect with you. At least, you can take people on your journey sharing your lessons learned, opportunities found and mapping out what works and what doesn’t. Season your blog with your competencies but also with personality.

Employers and recruiters see many lifeless profiles and blog, let yours be the one that resonates with them.

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Read It’s all about your personal brand and what you deliver to employers

2. Lead local workshops/lunch learnings or training

There are all types of opportunities to hone your craft or share your expertise. If you are working, you can see how to lead a lunch and learn workshop for your coworkers. There are some cities with eateries with rooms for a luncheon, and you could be the guest speaker. Then again, there are Toastmasters everywhere with lunch meetings. If you’re not shy and join a small Toastmasters group, it’s likely you can get many opportunities to present.

3. Incessant online/offline conversations

Networking is continuous even with little time. To me, networking is about awareness and opportunity. There is not a place where someone somewhere didn’t make a significant contact where it leads directly or indirectly to a job. You will create both awareness and opportunity as you grow intentional and understand your job search will yield results.

Read Job Search in 2017 is Marketing, PR, and Schmoozing

4. Using creativity, audacity, and disruption to reach hiring managers

Unfortunately, many people who guarantee one document or technique will get you an interview. For most people, creating opportunities whether it’s through an intro using LinkedIn to sending a cold email, it’s reliant on your ability to think out-of-the-box.

Stop saying you’ve tried everything! It’s likely you’ve only attempted a few methods.

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5.Reach out to startups

Start-up companies are more likely to skip the formality of large corporations. There are pros and cons to working with smaller companies, but the opportunity to stand out once hiring is tremendous in many cases. They are harder to find but if you’re targeting companies and not spray and pray resumes all over job boards with no luck, this gives you a better chance. It’s easier to talk to people than engage the large company machine.