The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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Control Your Career Narrative in a Way That Sets You Apart

Control Your Career Narrative in a Way That Sets You Apart by Mark Anthony Dyson

It was almost a year ago I was ousted by Facebook and IG. They claimed I posted “against community standards.” When I emailed them three times to contest it and asked what standards I broke, they said they would get back to me. People told me I needed to get back as soon as possible. I have an audience. A small audience. But I needed to be urgent.

They didn’t.

They disabled my account instead.

After attempting to reach Facebook for a few weeks, I decided to double down on Twitter and LinkedIn. In a way, life got more manageable.

I’m sorry, I don’t have a sexy I gained tens of thousands of followers on either platform.

I didn’t crack anybody’s algorithm.

Well, tomorrow’s here, and I’m not hooked; I didn’t spend my last dime tryin’ and don’t miss it. I’m NOT feenin’ (for Facebook or IG). I didn’t create second accounts for either.

I got a blog with hundreds of articles.
I got an email list of almost 3,000 people (more than that, but I purge regularly).
Not to mention I create tons of other content. There’s more to come.

Lesson learned: Never rely on one platform to send your message.

Any platform could take a dive at any time.

This is how job seekers can set themselves apart from their competition. Most don’t have a website. It’s the best place to control your career narrative without distractions, algorithm changes, or any attempts to thwart your goal: To be seen by employers and recruiters.

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12 Ways to Quell The Voice of Your Personal Brand and Not Get Heard or Hired

12 Ways to Quell The Voice of Your Personal Brand and Not Get Heard or Hired

12 Ways to Quell The Voice of Your Personal Brand and Not Get Heard or Hired by Mark Anthony Dyson

Never quell the voice of your brand. Never. It is the path to your future opportunities.
Everyone is an authority, at least in their household, or at the minimum, self. Right? Or maybe you are an insider and can speak authoritatively about your industry, hobby, or passion. Authority is essential in your career brand voice.

People get psyched out when they hear a loud voice that is demeaning and demanding. That’s a career brand voice most will pass on. Trust is earned and won, and that is what people will be drawn to at the end of the day.

Your actions are also vital in establishing a professional brand and voice. It would be best if you did what you said you would and people believed you. Or you don’t meet the goals that you set for yourself. It’s almost as if your words fall to the ground. Want more clients? Want more opportunities?

If your voice doesn’t have a brand, you give the control to someone else.

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I have 12 ways to identify why your voice lacks authority or credibility. This will help you connect with people much faster, with assurance, and open the doors to opportunities you didn’t think existed before.

12 Ways to Mute Your Brand and Not Get Heard or Hired!

Lack of Focus

You can have too many influences, heroes, and mentors if you lack core beliefs and values. The overflow of your heart, or lack thereof, will surface. If people don’t know where you’re going or are confused by the direction of your actions and words, no one will buy in. If your messaging is unclear and unfocused, eventually, your network and (Lord forbid) those who consider you for jobs become uninterested. It’s best to master one point and two sub-points at a time. Better yet, one issue might be best.

Trying Too Hard

Let’s say you meet someone that can put you on the right person’s hiring radar. Instead of being patient, you start calling twice a day for a week to ask how things are progressing. What are the chances your contact is so annoyed they are now ignoring you?

Listen to 5 Reasons to Unfollow Career Obstructing Social Media Contacts

Inciteful but Never Insightful

You want to be seen as original, but at the cost of someone else’s ideas or content. You instead erroneously quote or regurgitate others’ ideas as your own. When people hear you or see your work, and it becomes evident that you don’t have an original thought, they will lose respect or confront you until you give correct attribution. We have all seen people who suck up to people for reasons other than being valuable. It never ends well, and the last thing they get is respect.

Weak or Wrong Delivery Method

People think a loud delivery of their ideas is the most effective when it only compensates for weak arguments. Great ideas need the proper delivery to inspire the right action and by the right people. Sometimes, less is more, especially when we have the right solution. I have a soft voice, but I believe in the proverb, “A gentle word breaks a bone.” The secret is confidence in what I say (often preceded by much thought). You can do it too!

Listen to Second Chance for Job Seekers with GoodHire

Lack of Experience

I am turned off when people say they have a passion for a career or task but lack the work, credentials, or research to demonstrate competence. The first few hundred times may not be enough to claim yourself as an expert. If that’s the case, there are other questions and concerns you should have and put in more reps (more work).

Not Growing Professionally

To use a fitness analogy, to grow muscles, they must be worked to failure now and then. Reps are done until the power is overloaded with work, until no more reps can be performed—

You don’t grow because you haven’t been overloaded or worked to failure.

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Muscles must be challenged regularly to grow, and so do you. You want to grow, stretch, and show your usefulness. Create a blog and take people on that journey with you!

Not Asking Questions, Lacking Depth

Great questions come from excellent listening skills. Not asking an interview question is lazy, but lacking depth in asking a question says so much more negatively. People who successfully obtain the job they want repeatedly ask simple but profound questions.

Lacking Initiative

Successful career management is partly intuitive. There are hints as we go along that point us in the right direction. Sometimes, it’s weird, but that voice inside should be heard often, and to quell it requires initiation and action. Perhaps you’re afraid to fail or to make a mistake. People will likely forget the missed shot if you make the next shot.

Read Do you impress potential employers?

Temperament

People will find it easy to say no to you if you are easily frustrated. Apply temperance to any area in life, but specifically to your career management or job search efforts.

Your Life

All unclear goals, objectives, and targets lacking in purpose will come into play in everything you do in your career. The pattern in your life shows that you’re a shooting star: vibrant at first, then dissipates like mist. That’s rarely a good thing.

No Follow-Up

This is a must-have skill. Without it, you will never thrive. Want to work from home? Want to freelance? The follow-up is the money maker probably missing from your arsenal. To emphasize an earlier point, no one takes you seriously when you say you’ll do it and you don’t.

Don’t Promote, Market, or Advertise Yourself

I am not a big fan of wearing a banner or showing my face on a billboard, but I have a website. It’s probably the difference between someone finding you and your uniqueness or wondering why you’re unique.

This can be challenging if you are used to not being in control of your career. Job seekers have much more confidence and faith when he or they have a pliable attitude and are willing to pivot, turn, or turnaround even. Wherever your opportunities come from, it will depend on how you develop a career voice recognized by the right employer, business partner, or client.

 

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Is Impressing Employers a Priority in Your Job Search?

Is Impressing Employers a Priority in Your Job Search?

Is Impressing Employers a Priority in Your Job Search? by Mark Anthony Dyson

You want career fulfillment, but with minimum effort. That’s the message I get when there’s nothing in your resume, social profiles, or interview answers that clearly demonstrates your value to employers.

Where there’s no differentiation between you and the competition, someone else who does stand out will get the job.

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A young client once told me a story about his first job at Walmart. He was fired after three months. As parting words, his manager said to him, “You do nice work — when you come on time. You’re constantly late.”

Reflecting on the situation, my client said to me, “I refused at that time to understand what they valued. It wasn’t too much to ask: Be on time and do good work. Instead, I didn’t value their time.”

Listen to How Job Seekers Can Get Noticed by Employers Online

To quote from an article on America’s Job Exchange, “A good employee gets the job done. A great employee gets the job done in spite of everything.” When you’re trying to land a job, you need to show employers you are one of those great employees, not merely a good one.

This is the essence of impressing an employer: It means showing how you embody the difference between good and great. Here are a few concrete ways to do that:

1. Use Your Social Profiles to Intrigue Employers

Most job seekers undervalue their social media profiles. We can argue about whether or not to have a presence on certain sites, but you must use the profiles you do have to show off your value. Your social profiles should answer the question of how, specifically, you will contribute to employers that hire you. This bit of information will intrigue hiring managers, encouraging them to learn more about you.

2. Prepare a Perfect Combo of Personality and Portfolio

In order to demonstrate your value, you must show proof of that value. Interviewers ask questions because they want evidence that you can deliver results. Potential referrers are Googling you to find proof of what you claim to have done.

While a winning personality can go a long way, you need to back it up with a portfolio of proof.

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For example, you can record presentations you’ve given and upload them to YouTube. You can share your PowerPoint decks on Slideshare. There are many options out there for building a shareable portfolio of your prior work.

Read Do you impress potential employers?

3. Share Your Career Story

How did you arrive where you are now in your career? Employers want to know — and they want you to deliver a compelling story about it.

Provide context for the depth and breadth of your career. Let employers see how you persevered and persisted when challenges threatened your goals. Don’t undervalue the significance of your experience, learning, and breakthroughs, even when they come from tribulations.

4. Share the Numbers

Quantifiable proof of your previous results is the clearest gauge employers can use to evaluate you. It takes much of the guesswork out of the equation, giving a more concrete value to your skill set. If you’ve saved previous employers money, increased ad traffic, or can put a number to any of your other work, highlight that number.

Read Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Listen to the Employer and Learn What They Value!

5. Share Your Plans to Develop

We all are impressed by athletes who are at the peak of their performance, but we’re even more impressed when those high achievers find ways to further refine their seemingly perfect skills. Similarly, employers are impressed when you share not only your previous results but also your efforts to further increase your value.

Take it a step further by showcasing how your personal plans for professional development align with the company’s own goals. If you understand the employer’s needs and merge their desires with your own experience, you can present yourself as the ideal candidate. Remember, you want to prove you would be a great employee, not just a good one.