Effective Networking Step 3 – Stop Meeting People

So many candidates misunderstand effective networking. They really don’t even understand networking. Many think networking is all about meeting people. The more you meet, the better the network. This is one of those misguided themes that lead many people to frustration.

Effective networking isn’t about meeting people. It is about meeting the right people. I have written on this before.

One hundred of the right people in your database is worth  more than 1,200 people who can’t help you.

A common misunderstanding that I hear all of the time from candidates is, “Networking is about helping others.” I do agree with this and believe it is important. However, this isn’t the main reason for networking. The fact is, you are networking to help you. This is why most people (95%) stop networking once they land a new position.

Here are a few tips to help you effectively network with the right people:

1. Do some research on the types of people you want to meet and why you want to meet them. This could be by function, industry, service providers, or associations. This list should be comprehensive. Don’t waste time meeting people unless they meet this criteria or are no more than 1 degree removed from this list.
2. Research how to meet the people on this list. Identify who they come in contact with, ask people who they might know on the list, attend meetings consistent with these people’s background or industry. Focus like a laser beam on meeting these people.
3. Network with a purpose. You should always ask yourself, “Why do I want to spend time with this person?” What’s in it for you? If nothing, either don’t waste the time or at least do it around your schedule and location.
4. Do your research before meeting a person. Look at their contacts on LinkedIn, identify who they are connected with that are on the list from #1, bring your list of people that you want them to introduce you to, prepare what questions you have for them, be prepared to open your contacts to them and make a referral to help them, and understand why  you want to spend time with them.
5. Have a plan to keep in touch with them to develop a relationship. In the meeting, probe to identify their interests so you can engage them later around these interests.
6. Ask them to bring their contacts with them to the meeting and you should also bring yours. This way you can help each other on the spot. The effectiveness of additional referrals drops significantly after the meeting. This is why you are meeting, so take full advantage of it.
7. Stay focused on your list. Don’t stray from it. These are the people you have identified as the people that can best help you find a job. Instead of wasting time with those that can’t help you, spend the time focusing on how to connect with those that can. This is far more valuable.

The best way to effectively network is to meet the right people. This sounds so obvious, however, I have discovered like many things most candidates “know this” but don’t actually practice it. If they did, then I and many others wouldn’t be writing on it so often.

I find over and over again those candidates that stay focused on meeting the right people not only find a job faster, but also enjoy networking more than those that just meet people. I believe this is because they see results.

Expand your online network by joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group of 5,300 members and growing. There are many articles and resources in this group to help  you. CLICK HERE to join.

You can also download free cover letter and thank you letter examples. These have both been proven to be very effective. CLICK HERE and then scroll down to the What’s New Section at the bottom.

I welcome your comments and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Building An Effective Network Step 2 – Online Social Media & LinkedIn Profile

Step one of effective networking focused on the offline networking process. It discussed why so many candidates receive such little value from networking that most just give up. I understand why this happens and hopefully the 4 steps started to change how most candidates approach networking.

Online networking is becoming more and more an effective way to connect. I personally don’t believe it is even close to as effective as offline networking, but one has to make sure that this base is covered. Just like the offline networking that we described in Step 1, it too must be covered effectively. Just doing it for the sake of doing it will not be any more effective in your search than meeting a bunch of people and going to a lot of networking meetings just for the sake of doing it.

There are very few things one can do poorly and expect anything other than poor results. Yet, this is what many of the candidates I encounter expect given their networking process.

Online networking takes effort. It is much more than just filling in the blanks on your LinkedIn profile and then hoping a recruiter or hiring authority will see it and think, “WOW, what a great person, I need to contact them now.”  I recently conducted a small poll asking approximately 500 people how they would rate their LinkedIn profile. To my surprise, most were completely honest and rated it poor to below average. A few rated it good and one or two rated it excellent. Of those that rated it good and excellent, four made the mistake of asking if I agreed and wanted my opinion. Don’t ask me for my opinion if you don’t want a complete answer. When I finished writing my assessment of their profile, all agreed that their profile needed work and was incomplete and therefore ineffective.

Here are some things to consider when building an online network and how to fully utilize it:

1. Limit your expectations. LinkedIn and other social media sites are not a silver bullet for finding a job. They are definitely an important component, but don’t over rely on them. Offline networking is still at the top of the list when searching for a position.
2. I cannot stress enough that you need to make sure that you not only have a complete profile on LinkedIn or Google, but also make sure it is compelling. This is your home page. Make sure it demonstrates that you are the expert in your field. Do an analysis of your competitors just like companies do. Review other profiles in your functional area. See what they have to offer. How does their profile compare to yours? If you looked at both profiles, which person would you contact first? Be objective.  CLICK HERE to get a FREE checklist to building a compelling profile.
3. A profile is meaningless if you still aren’t findable. What steps are you taking to make yourself findable? (Part 3 in this series). How sure are you that if my team of recruiters was searching for you that they would find you? This is what counts.
4. Once they do find you, how difficult is it to connect with you? This is a major issue. Most candidates don’t understand the process LinkedIn uses to connect people. If we aren’t connected at the first level and you don’t have your contact information displayed on your profile, LinkedIn makes it difficult to connect with you. In addition, the way their system works it can take days to make contact.
5. Have you Googled your name and reviewed what shows up? Most have done this. Do the results link the person Googling you back to your LinkedIn profile? This can be a problem if you have a common name. Bob Smith, Jane Jones, Mark Roberts may have hundreds of names show up. It can take a long time to find you.

Online networking is a good thing,  however, it is often over relied upon by candidates. Too many candidates believe that if they build it, people will just find them. This is just not true. I wish it were, as that would sure make my job easier. You have to work your profile. You have to get it out into the marketplace.

The good news is few candidates do this. If you do, you will be the one that gets the call.

You can get our Create a Powerful LinkedIn Profile To Find a Job webinar package. This includes all of the slides and the audio recording. The audio is an hour and a half and there are more than 30 slides that will walk you through step-by-step and show you exactly how to build a compelling profile. CLICK HERE to read more.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. 5,300 members are there for you to connect with. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Effective Networking Requires Planning – Step #1

The key word in the title is “effective.” Anyone can network ineffectively. The sad part is that most people I meet do ineffective networking. What is sadder is that they get frustrated or burned out and often give up.

The common belief  I hear from candidates about networking is generally all about meeting as many people as possible. Networking is not about meeting people. It is about meeting the right people.  Granted, most candidates are out meeting a lot of people. If meeting a lot of people is their goal, then most are achieving it. However, for most, the reason for networking is to receive job leads or referrals that will lead to job leads. Many candidates, if not most candidates, aren’t achieving this goal at the level they would like to.

I believe this is strictly a result of lack of planning. The 6 P’s are something to remember, “Prior proper planning prevents poor performance.”

Planning takes time and research which is something few are willing to do when entering the market. I’m not saying many don’t think extensively about all the options, but thinking isn’t planning.

True planning means more than thinking. It involves action. It involves writing. Research isn’t thinking, it involves work, testing, and change if the research doesn’t prove effective.

Networking planning means preparing the tools you need to effectively promote yourself. Some very basic tools you need are:

1. Networking cards, not business cards. Too many people go to Vistaprint online and get the free cards. Like most things that are free in life, you get what you pay for. These are fine when you go to an interview, but worthless for networking.
2. Develop a networking bio. Don’t use your resume.
3. Most don’t have any networking plan written out. I have tested this in the last month prior to writing this. I have asked all of the 43 people I have met over the last month to bring a copy of their networking plan to our meeting. Six had something to bring and three of those looked like they made it up for our meeting. At least that is a start.
4. Few had identified a thorough list of people, companies, organizations and trusted advisers they want to meet. You need a specific list by name.

Just doing these four things will greatly improve the effectiveness of one’s job search. I know this for a fact, because the three people I’m counseling on their job search have done these things and have seen dramatic changes in their referrals.

Try implementing these four steps for starters. Then we will move on to Step 2 – effective social media networking. By the end of this series, I hope to help you become highly effective at networking.

For more information on effective networking, check out our many free resources.  CLICK HERE to review and download the free resource that is best for you.

Join our Job Search Networking Group on LinkedIn. This is one of the best free resources for some of the best articles on the topic of job search. CLICK HERE to join.

Start by assessing how effective your job search is by downloading our free 8-Point Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. This will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses in your job search. CLICK HERE to assess how effective your job search is.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad

Job Seekers and Warren Buffet

I am currently reading the book, “The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder. It is an interesting biography on Warren Buffet’s life starting as a small child.  Some of the more interesting parts highlight what influenced his thought processes about everything from money to how he treats people.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but as I was reading it two sentences stood out. To me, these two sentences explained exactly why so many candidates stay in a job search so much longer than need be. I have known this for a long time. The candidates I work with one-on-one in our job search coaching programs often start out the same way.  I interview and speak with hundreds of candidates a month. It use to surprise me the number of people who acted this way. Not any more, I just accept it. I don’t understand it, but I do accept it.

When Warren was a teenager he read the book, “How to Make Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Just about everyone has heard of this book.  His biography addresses the impact this book had on him. How it “honed his natural wit, above all it enhanced his persuasiveness, his flair for salesmanship.” Obviously, this one book influenced him so much that decades later he still remembered it and gave it credit.

It was  the two sentences before this which stood out and relates to the vast majority of candidates I encounter. Alice Schroeder writes, “Unlike most people who read Carnegie’s book and thought gee, that makes sense, then set the book aside and forgot about it, Warren worked at this project with unusual concentration; he kept coming back to these ideas and using them. Even when he failed and forgot and went for long stretches without applying himself to the system, he returned and resumed practicing in the end.”

This is what grabbed my attention. As soon as I read it, I thought this is exactly what most candidates do. This is exactly why so many candidates spend so many extra months searching for a new positions. They read a book, attend a webinar,  read a blog article or listen to an audio file and think, “Gee, that makes sense, then set it aside and forget about it.”

Few, my guess less than 10% do as Warren did. Read the sentences again. Does anything stand out to you as it did me? What did Warren Buffet do different than all the others?

I see this constantly.  People will return our job search workbook with a note, “Already know all this stuff.” At first I was stunned. When we wrote the book we spent an extensive amount of time identifying the mistakes candidates continually make. We  then worked extremely hard to provide solutions  to those mistakes. So it struck me as strange, that so many people knew all these mistakes, but just kept making them. How could this be?

I’m sure the many other excellent authors of books on this subject have experienced the same thing.

So I decided to test if it was true these people really did know all this stuff. I started doing some follow-up. I would call the person and ask for feedback. As I got bolder, I became more direct. I started asking very specific questions of those that “already know all this stuff?” For example, I would ask:

• Since you already know the only three things which can be measured during a phone interview, what do you do to properly prepare?
• As you know, there are only three types of questions asked in an interview. How do you identify which type of question is being asked and how do you prepare for each type of question?
• Of the ten most important questions to ask in an interview, which ones in your opinion were most helpful and of those which ones do you use most often?
• How long have you been using the cover letter we recommend and what has been your experience with this style?
• How often have you found yourself in anyone of the 5  positions in the Circle of Transition and how do you handle it? This could be really helpful to other candidates?
• How is your networking business card different from your interviewing business card?

It didn’t take long to discover these people may have read the book, but unlike Warren Buffet, they didn’t embrace the ideas with “unusual concentration.” Instead it was, “Gee I already know this stuff.”  When in fact, from their answers, they had no idea what mistakes they were making and how the book provides solutions.

Warren Buffet read Dale Carnegie’s book over and over again. He referred back to it time and time again. He practiced regularly. When he failed it was back to the book. That is what made him unique. He didn’t just know it all, he implemented the concepts. He didn’t blame the book when things went wrong, he adjusted and tried again.

I know from the one-on-one job search coaching we do, when we get candidates to stop knowing everything and start doing things the right way, they find job leads that eventually lead to offers and employment.

Although it might appear as an attempt to sell our book it really isn’t. There are many great resources available to candidates. Many are 100% free. It is positively an attempt to get candidates to stop saying, “Gee, that makes sense, but I already know it.” It is positively an attempt to get candidates to learn from Warren Buffet. To get candidates to refer back time and time again to excellent resources. To re-read the books, re-listen to the audio recordings and to take this advice to heart with “unusual concentration” as Warren Buffet did.

I have discovered the reason there is so much written for job seekers is because job seekers need so much help. If candidates did everything so perfectly there wouldn’t be a need for all the books, blogs, articles and webinars.

The next time you read anything designed to help you in your job search don’t let your first thought be, “Gee, I already know that.” Rather force yourself instead to ask, “Good advice. How am I implementing that in my job search?” Attack it the same vigor and “unusual concentration” as Warren Buffet.

Try this approach first and you will find yourself gainfully employed a whole lot sooner.

OK, now this is a blatant attempt to sell you a book. You can get our job search workbook to review for free. Just pay the $5 shipping. For details on this offer CLICK HERE.

Test your job search effectiveness by downloading our free Job Search Plan Assessment Scorecard. Find the strengths and weaknesses in your job search. Then attack the weaknesses with “unusual concentration.”  CLICK HERE to download.

For a FREE example of a cover letter that recruiters, HR and hiring authorities  like and will get your resume read, CLICK HERE.

I welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Why Your Skills & Experience Don’t Matter To Recruiters

The title is true. It just isn’t true all of the time.

I can’t count the number of times I have heard from candidates, “I have done all of the things for your position.” or how many times I get a cover letter that goes into a lengthy explanation about “how perfect” they believe they are  for my search.

One question, “If you are so perfect for the position, then why didn’t you get it?”

Skills  and experience will only get you so far in the hiring process. At some point, usually much earlier than most candidates realize, these begin to diminish in importance.

What begins to increase in importance is your qualifications. This encompasses a lot more than skills and experience. Otherwise, why go through the interviewing process? If skills and experience were all that mattered, you would be hired just from your resume.

For example, let’s say that I received your resume and started reviewing it. At this point, skills and experience are 100% of my screening process.  Once, I have read your resume and like what I read,  I will then pick up the phone and conduct a phone screen. I don’t like to call it an interview, because quite frankly I’m in a screening mode more than an interviewing mode.

At this point, your skills and experience may now only be about 75% relevant. During this phone interview, it is true that I’m interviewing you on your skills and experience, but that isn’t all. There is so much more to a phone screen that it took a whole chapter in our candidate job search workbook to cover it all. This chapter is so important that we offer it for free for everyone to download. CLICK HERE if you want to download it.

If that goes well, the next step is going to be a face-to-face interview. Now your skills and experience are at best 50% relevant. Since I have read your resume and conducted a phone screen, I have a really good feel for whether you meet the minimum criteria or not. The interviewing priorities shift. There are so many issues I’m screening on to decide if I will send you out to my client that I can’t list them all.  This took too many chapters in our job search workbook to properly cover and with the depth needed, I can’t possibly go into all of them, but here are a few.  I’m interested in much more than just your skills and experience. I’m also interviewing for how professional your presentation is, how well you can communicate, whether or not you can withstand probing questions on your background, do you have the facts on your accomplishments, do you answer questions in vague generalities or can you get specific, and even how strong or weak your first impression was.  I’m paid to make value judgments regarding  how well you will fit with the company, if you are prepared for how my client will interview you (are you prepared or just winging it) and whether or not you will embarrass me once you are in front of my client. It only takes once in a recruiter’s career to have a client call back and complain that the candidate wasted their time, before the recruiter improves their screening process.  These are really the basic things I’m screening on in our in-person interview. Only about 50% pass this interview.

That means half will never meet the hiring authority. Even though they have the  experience and skills required, they may not be qualified.  Now of this 50%, some will turn out to not be a good match, and often the candidate will agree. Usually, that is less than 10% of the total people I have interviewed in-person.

I can assure you it works about the same when you are interviewing with companies. The only major difference is that as the interviewing process progresses the percentage of reliance on skills and experience decreases even more.

For some senior level positions that require more than 4 or 5 meetings, this percentage may dwindle down to as little as 10% or less.

As the interviewing process moves forward, the hiring authority has already come to the conclusion that the candidates have at least the minimum skills and experience to do the job. Otherwise, they would have been eliminated.

What I’m trying to stress in this article is that candidates rely too much on their skills and experience to the detriment of what is important at different points in time during the hiring process. It isn’t always about your experience. At some point the question is, “Are you qualified?”  It is more about your personality, behavioral issues, managerial style, communications, professionalism, professional presence, assertiveness, etc. that really matters.

These are the things most candidates take for granted during the  hiring process. I have encountered so few that grasp these at the actionable level. Many reading this article will be thinking to themselves, “I know all of this.” That is the point of the article and the frustration. You may know all of this, but what are you doing about it to ensure that you pass?

How are you preparing?

How are you improving your ability to succinctly communicate your accomplishments?

What tangible things have you done to become a salesperson? After all, in a job search you are in sales.

Have you ever video recorded yourself in a mock interview?

What unique and probing questions do you ask in an interview that demonstrate that you are an insightful person?

How do your questions differentiate you from all of the others that ask the same questions?

How do you use your voice to communicate effectively?

I could go on and on. I’m not implying that every person needs all of these. I am implying that every person needs some of these.  The question is, what do you need in your search so that as the percentage shifts from skills and experience to your personal qualifications that you continue to excel?

Test your job search effectiveness by downloading our free Job Search Plan Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE to download.

For a FREE example of a cover letter CLICK HERE.

For a FREE example of a Thank You letter CLICK HERE.

For many more FREE resources and articles, join our Job Search Networking Group on LinkedIn. 4,300 people have done this. CLICK HERE to join.

How Recruiters Search Using LinkedIn & What We Look For

So much has been written on the importance of a complete and compelling LinkedIn profile.  I am currently working on two searches for which I am extensively using LinkedIn to source candidates. From what I have seen, one would think that LinkedIn is either a new or non-essential tool. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the last two weeks, I have looked at well over three hundred profiles on LinkedIn. Only one thought comes to mind and I hope I speak for most recruiters (internal and external) when I say, “What a major disappointment!” or “Now I understand exactly why so many candidates are in transition so much longer than necessary.”

I firmly believe that most profiles are viewed, and then passed over time and time again. Most  LinkedIn members who are looking for a position don’t even know how many times someone has reviewed their profile and never contacted them simply because their profile completely, “SUCKS.”

Profile after profile indicated “open to being contacted for career opportunities,” but the profile wouldn’t even include the person’s name!

If that isn’t  ridiculous enough,  my favorite examples are the ones that state in the headline, “Unemployed or Actively Seeking a New Position.”  One would think that since this person took the time to announce to the world that they are in transition, that they would at least upload their resume. But “NO.”   OK,  surely they will at least complete their profile so people reviewing it will know what they do?  Nope, why let recruiters and others searching for candidates have this information?

Give me a break,  do they expect me to engage them based on their picture? Are recruiters supposed to just know this information via osmosis?

Here is how I search for candidates on LinkedIn. I hope this will help you as well as help recruiters help you.

1. I start out using the advanced search feature for people.
2. I want to throw a wide net.  My goal is to be inclusive at this point, rather than to exclude someone.
3. I usually start with just a few criteria. Generally, title, location (I use zip code and 50 mile radius), industry and function. That is it.
4. There are exceptions to this but this is the starting point.
5. I leave all other fields set to the  “All . . ” category in the drop down boxes. Meaning search all my groups, search in and out of my network, etc. I want a wide net.

Generally, hundreds of profiles appear. Now the search really begins, as does the frustration.

I begin scanning through the summaries of the profiles that appear. There is not a lot of information in the summary but enough to give the reader a good idea of whether it’s worth it to view the person’s full profile.

So often there is no need to even review a person’s profile. I can tell just from the summary that the information on the profile is either missing or completely worthless. For example, no picture, no name, no companies listed, vague titles, no contacts, background missing, no work history, etc. Yet, they want to be contacted for career opportunities.

Once I start looking at the profile, I usually decide in about 10-20 seconds if I should click out or read on.  So many profiles are so incomplete that I wonder why this person even took the time to post a profile. What exactly were they expecting when they posted this worthless profile?

I also look at the picture to see if it is professional or one that will embarrass me for referring the person if my client views it. That’s assuming there is a picture at all.

I then begin looking for the box checking stuff my client is requiring such as education, experience, current or past titles, years of experience, level, etc. You can read more about this in an article I wrote, “How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less.” Click here if you are interested.

I also look for recommendations and may read some. What are others saying about you? If nobody is willing to say anything good about you, it certainly isn’t a knock out, but I am curious about that.

I will also scroll down the profile summary and work history, and if a resume is uploaded I will review it. Rarely is a resume uploaded. Most of the time this is where it ends. The profile is so incomplete, the work history so brief, the description of work so worthless, that I can’t figure out what they were responsible for.  The profile has little or no company information, so I have no idea if their past companies were even in the right industry. Finally, the summary at the top is meaningless. Most don’t even include specialties.

I scroll to the very bottom and sure enough they want to be contacted regarding career opportunities. Some are even helpful at this point and will say, “Prefer to be contacted on my cell phone.” or  “Please use my personal email address.” Neither of which are included in the profile. Hey, I can’t make this stuff up.

GOODBYE. I have better things to do and a lot more people to consider.

This person probably just lost a great opportunity, or at the very least an opportunity to discuss a position. Even if they aren’t interested,  just knowing what is going on in their market is helpful. Just getting a feel for comparable compensation is a good data point for anyone to know.

The lunacy doesn’t end here. At least 50% of  these people are not working. Their work history will be 2007-2009.  What planet are they on? I’m sure they are frustrated, and complaining about how long they have been out of work and how bad the market is. This may be completely true, but they aren’t helping themselves with their profile.

If this search fails to produce viable candidates, I will go back and change the title or industry and try again. Not necessarily change the search, just some of the criteria. I’ll try to throw a wider net in a different part of LinkedIn’s membership.

Finally, I may eventually search by company name. If I know of a specific company that is right, I will search using the company name. That brings up all of the people that are currently working for this company or have in the past.

This is why your complete and compelling profile is so important on LinkedIn.  In today’s world, the search for candidates so often starts on LinkedIn. The sad part is, it also often ends there too.

Take away nothing else from this article but this one thing: In today’s market, companies (right or wrong) are looking for the kings and queens in their field, not the jack of all trades. If your profile doesn’t shout out loud and clear, “I’m an EXPERT,” you may be missing opportunities. Sadly, this happens and it is so easy to fix.

On March 26th we are having a webinar on how you can leverage LinkedIn to find your next job. We believe this is the most comprehensive webinar we have seen on this topic. We’ll have over 35 slides (we’ll give you all the slides) on how you can build a compelling and complete profile. We will show you step-by-step where the tools are and how you can use them to be the “EXPERT.” These slides and the audio recording of the webinar are included. If you want a profile that puts you in the top 10%, then you should CLICK HERE to learn more.

At a minimum you should download our 8-Level LinkedIn Self Assessment Profile. This tool is a great start towards building a great profile. CLICK HERE to get yours. It is 100% free.

Finally, if you are on LinkedIn, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,800 members in the group. It is one of the fastest growing groups on LinkedIn that focuses on job search issues. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Hurting Your Job Search?

At a recent Vistage meeting of about 20 CEOs we were discussing using social media as a way to find people.  One of the CEOs indicated it is also a great way to eliminate people.

I wasn’t overly surprised to learn that many hadn’t thought about social media for hiring, but I was surprised to learn that many don’t use it as a screening tool. Obviously, after hearing the story from the one CEO, most will reconsider.

The CEO stated that they had been in the process of interviewing a candidate for a sales position, and like most hiring processes, it takes a couple of weeks to get through all of the interviews. Over this couple of weeks the company started tracking this person’s tweets on Twitter and looked up the candidate’s profile picture.

OOPS a major faux pas.

Apparently as it was relayed in the meeting, this person’s picture was – let’s just say not professional, and the tweets were completely inappropriate as viewed by the company. The language was foul, the topics discussed rather vulgar, and for a professional sales person raised a lot of red flags.

The company was afraid of a sexual harassment lawsuit and how this candidate would communicate with employees and customers. Not to mention what customers would think if they saw this person’s profile picture and followed them on Twitter.

Social media is a double-edged sword. I follow Twitter on a regular basis, and I am surprised at how many people looking for a job use inappropriate language, brag about being lazy, tweet about how glad they are about not working, or demonstrate a lack of willingness to be employed. They come across as wanting a job but not willing to work. This is not what a future employer is seeking.

Take care to ensure that you manage your LinkedIn profile properly and professionally during your job search. Others are watching and listening to you.

If this was helpful to you, it will probably be helpful to others. Please consider passing it on so they too can benefit. You might add it to your Facebook page, update it on your LinkedIn status, or email it to friends or to your network. We all need to help out. One tip can make a huge difference to someone.

GET A FREE LINKEDIN PROFILE ASSESSMENT. On March 26th we are offering a webinar on, “How To Find Your Next Job Using LinkedIn.” We will tell you the number one reason  so many recruiters view your profile and never call you. THIS IS NOT A JOKE OR HYPE. It is a fact that most candidates never think of. CLICK HERE to learn more about how to get your FREE profile assessment and the webinar.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group and stay connected with the other 4600+ members. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

How Would You Rate Your LinkedIn Profile?

I recently asked this question on LinkedIn, “How would you rate your LinkedIn profile?” The choices were, poor, fair, good or very good. I wasn’t referring to completeness based on the LinkedIn scale. I wanted to know how you would rate your profile based on how good or compelling it is.

Would a recruiter, HR professional, or hiring authority be so impressed that they can’t wait to contact you? That is the goal of a LinkedIn profile. Why else would you have one if you are in a job search?

So that is my question to you, “How do you rate your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like to know.

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Now the really important question, “How would you rate your resume?” Let us know that too. Just simply send us a comment. You can do that at the bottom of this article.

Did you rate them both the same? Most rate their resume good to very good and their LinkedIn profile poor to fair. WHY?

Both of these are marketing documents. That is all a resume is. It is put together to market you. In our best selling job search workbook,“This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” we don’t like to use the word “resume.”  Rather, we prefer to call it your Personal Compelling Marketing Brochure.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online marketing brochure. It must sell you. Your profile can be even more compelling than a resume because of all of the added features LinkedIn allows you to add to your profile. Most are not possible on a resume.

So here is the next set of questions, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your resume?” My experience is that most candidates spend hours not only developing their resume, but revamping it, changing it, redoing it, updating it, and so on. For many, this is a never ending process.

OK, so then, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like you to be completely honest and answer these questions. Just add your responses to them in the comment box at the bottom.

Still  not convinced about why you need a great and compelling profile on LinkedIn?  Here are some additional reasons that might convince you.

• For my last three placements, all of the candidates came directly from LinkedIn.

• Two clients recently told me they hired mid-level sales people directly from LinkedIn.

• Before posting an open position on a job board, most recruiters go to LinkedIn first.

• I’m currently working on two searches and I found all of the candidates using LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn now has over 45 million users.

• More and more internal recruiters and HR professionals start their searches on LinkedIn.

• Companies can save thousands of dollars searching LinkedIn versus searching resumes on a job board.

Given all of this, would you reply to a job posting with a fair resume? Would you expect a call back from a hiring authority or recruiter if your resume was “fair?”

If your LinkedIn profile isn’t better than your resume, you are leaving a very valuable tool in your tool box. When I’m coaching job seekers, one of the first items we work on is their LinkedIn profile. It is not uncommon that within two weeks of completing the profile makeover for these candidates, that they start receiving inquiries.

So let us hear from you regarding how you responded to these questions. We are really interested.

Don’t know how to build a great profile?

Get a FREE LinkedIn Profile Assessment. To help you build a great LinkedIn job search strategy, we are having a webinar on March 26. This webinar will ensure you not only have a great profile, but in addition, teach  you how to find contacts, how recruiters use LinkedIn, and how to ensure that if someone comes to your profile that you are positioned as the expert.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

Also, Barry and I have had extensive discussions regarding LinkedIn on our weekly radio show that airs every Monday at 11 AM PST at www.latalkradio.com on channel 2. We add all of these recordings to our audio library. These recordings are free for you to listen to or download. CLICK HERE to review our audio library.

Finally, consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,4oo members, and a wealth of articles and discussions to help you in your job search. CLICK HERE to join.

Brad Remillard

Don’t Be Like Groucho Marx – Job Search Tactic #2

Groucho Marx once said “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.”

Groucho must not have been conducting a job search when he made that comment.

Joining Groups (like clubs) on LinkedIn is an excellent way to engage with people who hold a similar interest, make new contacts, network, and discover hidden job opportunities.

Your groups display on your LinkedIn Profile. When I click your profile, I can see which groups we have in common. As a recruiter, I usually focus on searches within groups first due to the ease of contacting other group members.

Here are some of the parameters on joining groups on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn allows you to join 50 groups

You can post roughly 7500 news feed items per 24 hour period. These can be multiple feeds within the same 24 hour period into the same group. I have not yet done a test to ascertain the precise number.

You can post unlimited discussions (I have not come across a limit yet within a 24 hours period. Again, I’ve not tried to test the system by posting more than 50 in a 24 hour period.

You can send messages to other group members without using your valuable inmails nor do you have to know the email address. I’m not sure if there is a limit on the number of messages you can send directly to group members. I have yet to hit it if there is a limit.

What groups should I join you might ask?

• Your alumni group
• Geographically based network groups for individuals in your city
• Association or trade groups that focus on your industry, such as Construction or Telecommunications
• Functional specialty groups, such as those for VPs of Marketing or CFOs
• Charitable groups that focus on causes you support
• Job Search Groups, such as the IMPACT Hiring Job Search Discussion Group

Now that I’ve joined a few groups, what should I do next?

Even though in a previous post I suggested you not be a lurker, I give you permission to do short-term lurking. Gain a sense of the culture of the group. Review the other messages in the group first.

• Are group members discussing job search related issues?
• Are group members supportive of each other?
• What type of news feeds are being posted into the group?
• Are there job leads being posted by group members under the jobs tab?
• How passionate are group members in responding to questions or discussion points?

You’ve lurked long enough – it’s time to jump in and become a valuable and active member of the group.

What kind of benefits might I expect from the time investment of doing all these activities within all my groups:

• You’ll be enhancing your PERSONAL BRAND by establishing your involvement, focus, and expertise in the various groups.
• Others will be attracted to you and want to connect with you on LinkedIn directly
• As Hiring Managers and Executives frequent these groups, you’ll become noticed by the individuals who may someday hire you
• You’ll be starting to dramatically expand your connections and the massive net it takes to capture hidden job market leads and referrals.

Barry Deutsch

P.S. Don’t forget about the Webinar my partner, Brad Remillard is teaching on March 26th, titled “How to Find Your Next Job on LinkedIn”. See the promotion for the Webinar in our right-hand sidebar.

Stop Being a LinkedIn Lurker: Job Search Tactic #3

Sounds like something you could be arrested for – maybe even a felony conviction.

Seriously, if you want to take your job search to another level, you’ve got to engage in communicating and interacting on the primary social media forum for professionals, managers, and executives.

Studies show that 90% or more of all users of social media (including LinkedIn) are lurkers.

What the heck is a LinkedIn Lurker?

A lurker is someone who reads the news feeds in groups, reads the questions in groups, reads the questions and answers in the Q&A section, and observes the status updates of those to whom they share a 1st degree connection.

Are you a LinkedIn Lurker?

YOU CANNOT CONDUCT AN EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH BY LURKING?

Lurking is like hiding behind your mother’s skirt when you were 3 years old. Why do we do this as intelligent, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, confident adults? I wrote another article a few months ago on this same subject titled “STOP Being A Job Search Voyeur – Let Your Voice Be Heard“

I don’t get it.

I don’t even buy the introversion excuse since you’re not having to meet these people on-line or build a deep relationship. There is no rejection phobia here either.

Engaging in the conversation on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter is just about the most friendly, safest environment to give your job search a little booster shot in the arm.

Here’s a few simple things you could start doing right now:

• How many of you are posting questions in our LinkedIn Discussion Forum and how many of you are helping others in the Group by answering/commenting on the discussions they started?
• Are you looking at the wealth of news feeds in our LinkedIn Discussion Group and commenting on those valuable links?
• When was the last time you commented on a connection’s status update?

We’ll tackle further engagement on LinkedIn in future tactics.

By the way, My Partner, Brad Remillard, will be leading a webinar on March 26th on how to leverage ALL the different elements of LinkedIn to conduct an effective job search.

Click on the link in our sidebar to learn about this very popular webinar.

If there was one place you could invest your time and get the biggest bang for the buck, it would on LinkedIn. Sadly, most job seekers are not leveraging even 10% of the tools, personal branding, engagement opportunities, and other inexpensive techniques to help themselves be found.

Brad and I did a couple of Programs on LinkedIn in our Weekly Radio Show. You can download these from our FREE Job Search Audio Library.

You know it’s much easier to be found than to find the right job.

What’s holding you back right now from signing up for a one-hour webinar (from one of the top experts in this country on using LinkedIn) in which you’ll learn at least a dozen core tactics that you’ll use every day in your job search?

Barry Deutsch

If you’re NOT a member of our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group, JOIN US NOW to start your engagement process and move beyond lurking.