Articles - Page 192 of 258 - The Voice of Job Seekers

All of the Web Is Your Resume

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have
their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts…

William Shakespeare

Adapted from, “As You Like It”

The voice for your career should be reflected on the web as much as it does on paper albeit your resume or job application. Employers want to know who are they hiring, and less is more is a broader stroke than we all think. Understanding and applying this only boosts your chances and projects your professional image positively. It may enlarge your presence in real life. Who wouldn’t want to benefit?

There are many ways to think about your web presence along with analogies to uphold the thinking that all of your profiles need cohesive:

The voice for your career should be reflected on the web as much as it does on paper albeit your resume or job application. Understanding and applying this only boosts your chances and projects your professional image positively. It may enlarge your presence in real life. Who wouldn’t want to benefit?

There are many ways to think about your web presence along with analogies to uphold the thinking that all of your profiles need cohesive:

It should be one book with several chapters

Many professionals don’t know whom they are and unsure of what they deliver. I could say a confused brand, but I want to be plain.

You know when a songwriter is in trouble is when they put a whole song together that sounds like a previous record by another artist, especially a well-known hit. George Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord,” but ultimately the court ordered Harrison to pay royalties for his plagiarized use of copying the melody to “He’s So Fine” by the Chiffons. That’s what happens to professionals who wrestle with “how” and “who” they portray in writing his or her social profile. It’s not entirely your song when half belongs to someone.

An artist considered a one-hit wonder releases follow-up songs and remixed songs of their one-hit. No one is interested anymore in the follow-up song, you know, the one that is more of the same. Don’t you do this with your web resume as it inspires disinterest?

By the way, everyone has a right to make money any way he or she can, right?

Each online profile is a chapter with different points that point to the same person.

Online profiles are one story as each has a chapter of different lengths

It shows in their branding statements, elevator pitches, and anything else that requires more than a sentence or shorter than 140 characters.

Let’s not be lazy–here some questions you should ask yourself:

1) What will you deliver day one, before orientation and training

There are many ways to ask that question, but this way puts your experience in perspective. It is a separate question than, “What will you bring after training?”

2) What should we expect from you?

Give people an opportunity to decide if they like your message. Like-minded users will follow if it’s clear what you will offer. I hope you offer value.

3) How specific is your advice?

Why not answer each person with detail? Are you hiding something? Are you selling something? No one embraces shallow, one-trick pony answers.

It’s like the bible. That’s 66 people telling about one person, but from different perspectives (we can argue later about the who and what)

If you listened to the podcast a couple of weeks ago, Hannah Morgan stated as I agreed personal and business lines merged. Your web resume should have a little personality with a lot of substance. You choose how you want to display it and layer it.

What are you like in person? Do we have to do this darkened distant dance where I keep wondering who and what you are?

All of the web is your resume, and employers are just players. At least until they are looking to fill the next position.

It should be one book with several chapters

What I see are torn professionals who don’t know who they are and unsure of what they deliver. I could say a confused brand but I want to be plain.

You know when a songwriter is in trouble is when they put together a whole song that sounds like a previous record by another artist, especially a well-known hit. George Harrison wrote a lyrically beautiful “My Sweet Lord,” but was sued and ordered to pay royalties for “He’s So Fine” by the Chiffons. That’s what happens to professionals who wrestle with “how” and “who” they portray in writing his or her social profile. It’s not entirely your song when half belongs to someone.

A small tangent, one-hit wonders release follow-up songs and remixed songs of their one-hit. No one is interested anymore in the follow-up song, you know, the one that is more of the same. Don’t you do this with your web resume as it inspires disinterest.

Each online profile is a chapter with different points that points to the same person.

Online profiles are one story as each has a chapter of different lengths

It shows in their branding statements, elevator pitches, and anything else that requires more than a sentence or shorter than 140 characters.

Let’s not be lazy–here some questions you should ask yourself, and please be as specific as possible

1) What will you deliver day one, before being orientated and trained

There are many ways to ask that question, but this way puts your experience in perspective. It is a separate question than, “What will you do once you are trained?”

2) What should we expect in following you?

Give people an opportunity to decide if they are interested in your message. Like-minded users will follow if it’s clear what you will offer. I hope you offer value.

3) How specific is your advice?

Why not answer each person with detail? Are you hiding something? Are you selling something? No one is impressed with shallow, one-trick pony answers.

It’s like the bible. That’s 66 people telling about one person but from different perspectives (we can argue later about the who and what)

If you listened to the show a couple of weeks ago, Hannah Morgan stated as I agreed that personal and business lines are blurred and have merged. Your web resume should have a little personality with a lot of substance. You choose how you want to display it and layer it. As long as you are not egregiously overwhelming the web with agenda or personal TMI (too much info).

What are you like in person? Do we have to do this darkened distant dance where I keep wondering who and what you are?

All of the web is your resume, and employers are just players.

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Make Good Hires for Employers

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Sandra Tedford (@wetalktoday) and I talk about why large companies should use entrepreneurs in their hiring. Many large companies shun entrepreneurs for many reasons but in cases where a small business provides opportunities to use a range of skills sets, it would be practical to hire he or she to work with the larger company.

In this conversation, Sandra and I discuss how she has been used to help companies set up their digital marketing plans and more. Her clients have used her in other ways such as, to consult in hiring personnel, pitching ideas and landing contracts with Fortune 500 companies, and roles directly affecting the direction of her client’s companies. Sandra offered five reasons that entrepreneurs are good hires:

1) Understand the big picture. Entrepreneurs on a smaller scale developed vision for their companies and understand how difficult it is to reach a goal. We talk about how the entrepreneur will need to earn trust and concentrate on delivering value.

2) Victories are short lived. You are as good as your last success and that you can never become comfortable. Learning and mentoring should be a large part of the experience, and his or her career planning be more strategic.

3) Passionate about the business. Although passion is essential, nor the only attribute, but it does attract the employer. Employers can sense if the entrepreneur is excited about sustaining an interest for the duration of the job.

4) Understand the Value of Relationships. This is a very useful and valued asset especially if that is not the strength of the employer or manager.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

LinkedIn Won’t Run Your Career For You

Recently, someone in my network of friends posted the following message:

“Many of you congratulated me on my “new” job. Thanks, but the company in which I‘ am presently employed, is neither new nor full time. I’am seeking full time employement. Please review my employement background. If you know of a company in my skills and knowledge may “fit” that company, please refer me. Much oblige!”

A cryptic message is misinterpreted as desperate. If public and desperate people will read into it something unintended. Therefore, the messages sent to further employment efforts need to be intentional and strategic, not accidental. If you are putting your best foot forward on LinkedIn, every message you leave for scrutiny counts, and everything is examined when it comes to employment opportunities.

Like many job seekers, this person arrived at the point in her job search she is expecting someone to go the extra yard to help her job search efforts. Yes, all of us need help in our job search, and there is nothing wrong with asking. The cry for help is essential, but there are other issues with the above statement that makes me want to tear up from laughter:

The person who authored this statement misspelled “I am” twice. A closer at the statement, several grammar errors stand out. If you are like me, you are distracted by the lack of perceived professionalism than the “please help me” request.
Most people will not see her message because it is unlikely people will go look at her profile and see where he or she “fits!” She has a current job that does not fit her current profile but even worse, the “unfitted” job is a part of her LinkedIn profile!
She did not invite a conversation, nor desired to screen the potential referral. She was going in for the score (the referral). No invitation to talk, or extended gratitude for taking the time for consideration
She wanted her network to scour her profile for her network to see if she was a fit! Yes, that’s the way to do it. Let someone else do all the hard work for you!
Her laziness that I read into her status update will scream, “RUN!” to everyone else. Any recruiter or God forbid potential employer, will bypass her profile like scruffy hitchhiker.

If you’re like me, you’re trying to avoid your name from appearing on the “Who’s looking at your profile” section, to avoid the desperate inbox message from the same individual.

The point that needs emphasis is in this story by Elie Wiesel in a speech given at the White House in 1999:

“The story is that once upon a time there was an emperor, and the emperor heard that in his empire there was a man, a wise man with occult powers. He had all the powers in the world. He knew when the wind was blowing what messages it would carry from one country to another. He read the clouds and he realized that the clouds had a design. He knew the meaning of that design.

He heard the birds. He understood the language of the birds, the chirping of the birds carried messages. And then he heard there was a man who also knew how to read another person’s mind. I want to see him, said the emperor. They found him. They brought him to the emperor. Is it true that you know how to read the clouds? Yes, Majesty. Is it true you know the language of the birds? Yes, Majesty. What about the wind? Yes, I know. Okay, says the emperor. I have in my hands behind my back a bird. Tell me, is it alive or not?

And the wise man was so afraid that whatever he would say would be a tragedy, that if he were to say that the bird is alive, the emperor, in spite, would kill it. So he looked at the emperor for a long time, smiled, and said, Majesty, the answer is in your hands. (Laughter.)”

Now for my response to this person’s outcry:

“Look through your network and engage people who are in industries and companies you’re interested in. Look at your 1st level and 2nd level contacts equally as either may know someone who knows someone. It takes time to do this but it is well worth the investment of time.”

I received a half-hearted and obligatory, “thanks!”

Although general in nature, my advice is the moral of Wiesel’s story. The answer is in your hands.