“Long live the resume!”
The traditional resume will die!”
“Video resumes rule.”
This debate will go on and on and on. You know where I stand – the traditional resume will not die, but there is room for other “things” to come in and fill some gaps.
Enter the Social Resume.
I just got an email from the Brazen Careerist network talking about their version of the social resume. It’s cool, of course, and it will be cool to see how it develops. It is not the only way to have a social resume. Here are some other ideas for a Social Resume (especially if you are not a Brazen Careerist member):
- Your LinkedIn Profile. This is the easiest, least expensive, most common, and probably highest return “social resume” you can have. I don’t think your LinkedIn Profile is a resume, and it shouldn’t look like your resume, but if you want to have a website where people can find you (social), and communicate with you (social), and learn about you (resume), this is the low hanging fruit. My LinkedIn for Job Seekers DVD has over 20 minutes of LinkedIn Profile critiques to help you know how to make yours stronger, or Career Resumes does LinkedIn Profile makeovers. It’s not that hard to get this done right.
- A one-page blog. Usually when I think “blog” I think “commitment to writing a lot.” Because that’s what bloggers do. But really, you can go to wordpress.com or typepad and set up a blog, have it be your name (like yourname.wordpress.com) and then just have ONE page… that page would be your social resume. If you want you can include links to your LinkedIn Profile, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Get creative. It’s easy to do… just don’t do any advertising or they will snatch your blog away and you will be left with nothing.
- Emurse.com. I love this site. I didn’t list it first because it’s more of a traditional resume than a social resume… however, it’s still pretty cool. Take your traditional resume and put it into emurse…. then you’ll have yourname.emurse.com as your landing page. There are lots of cool bells and whistles on emurse – and it’s free.
- VisualCV.com. This is a terrific way to showcase lots of visual stuff, like pictures, videos, etc. LinkedIn kind of allows you to do this but it isn’t elegant at all – VisualCV is elegant, and one of the best I’ve seen. Again, they are free.
- And since I mentioned it, video resumes. I think “video” and “resume” shouldn’t go together, but definitely a video portfolio or … video bio. VideoBio is a company that helps you put together a 2 – 3 minute “here’s who I am” in a very strategic, targeted and professional way. It’s not a replacement to the resume at all, but some people like the idea of the power of a video. Check out VideoBio and see some of their example videos or the enhanced videos.
I wouldn’t say that Facebook or Twitter provide you a social resume… some might argue that but I just don’t see it. What am I missing – any other ideas?
Posted by Jason Alba on March 9th, 2010 | No Comments
Thom Singer just wrote a post called Busy, but no complaints! The life of a motivational speaker. Thom has been a speaker since I knew him, and was one of two authors I spoke with before I came out with my first book. For most of the time I’ve known him he has had a JOB, but almost a year ago that came to an end as he pursued, in full force, his speaking career.
And he’s done well!
You can see in his post he shares his week of speaking, which is packed. Thom has a presentation each day this week (two on Monday). Assuming he charges for each of them he’ll do very well this week.
Last week I emailed an old MBA professor and said “how come no one in school talks about how much money speakers make?” School seemed to have a focus of going to work for a big, established company, without any exploration of alternative careers.
Speaking is a hard life – I’ve been doing it for a while. For me it is one revenue stream, but I know many professional speakers who only do speaking (and some of the stuff that comes with it, like products, books, etc. that they develop and sell).
Some speakers make very good money – over $500k/year.
Other speakers hardly squeak out an extra $20k/year.
If you are a speaker you run your own business. You are an entrepreneur. Not only do you speak, which might be the thing you love to do, but you also drum up your own business, do lots of marketing to keep your schedule full, keep track of your logistics, etc. If you make a lot of money you have a staff help you with this, but this is not always the case.
Back to money… let me assume that Thom charges low: $2k/presentation. For this week, with 6 presentations, he would make about $12k. If he were to charge $5k/presentation he would make $30k this week.
Assume he can do this once a month (6 presentations a month), Thom would make between $144,000 and $360,000/year.
That is a lot of money! Again, why don’t they teach this to us in school?!?
Any speaker who is making that kind of money is working and travelling a lot. It’s not an easy career but it can be rewarding beyond the finances. In Thom’s post he talks about speaking to more than 1,000 people this week – imagine having the opportunity to touch a thousand people each week. You can change lives. It’s amazing.
Are you thinking about a career as a speaker? I’d encourage you to check it out… read other speaker’s blogs, check out the National Speakers Association, and try and get a few free gigs to see if you have what it takes and really want to pursue it.
Posted by Jason Alba on March 8th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Have you seen the Job Search Checklist from Career Resumes? It’s really good – just print it out and you’ll have a list of 9 things to do in your job search. Here they are, but go to the Job Search Checklist page, check out the descriptions, and print out the page:
- Sharpen your job search skills.
- Identify potential companies that interest you.
- Find out who’s hiring.
- Know what they’re looking for.
- Highlight your strengths.
- Revise your resume to match the job.
- This is your first impression so do it right.
- Step ahead of the competition.
- Follow up!
Make sure your resume is aligned with these (many points apply to your resume). And, as it says on the bottom of that page, “does your resume work for you or against you?” If you aren’t getting the results you think you should get with your resume, get a free resume critique and resume price quote.
Posted by Jason Alba on March 5th, 2010 | No Comments
Check out these two contrasting articles:
You’ve probably heard about the jobless benefits ending, and about Senator Jim Bunning, who “has been holding up jobless benefits for millions of Americans.” There are really tough decisions to be made. Do you keep giving benefits to people who aren’t (or, can’t) get employment? These benefits include unemployment insurance, which is a bit of money each week or month, as long as you show you are kind of trying to find a job, as well as medical help (COBRA).
Or do you cut the benefits and try and give the former recipients a sense of urgency to kick their job search up a few notches?
It’s very difficult because on the one hand the programs have to be funded, and no one is in favor or paying for “job seekers” who aren’t trying (in other words, those who are taking advantage of the system). On the other hand, are there really that many jobs out there to be had? What if you are working very hard on a job search, doing all the right stuff, even engaging with coaches and counselors, and there aren’t any opportunities?
I’ve heard many say “the jobs are there, you just have to find them,” and others who are days away from giving up any hope at all because they’ve turned over all the rocks and can’t find anything.
What an interesting point we are at in this “great recession,” where jobless benefits start to end while long-term joblessness is off the charts.
What is the solution!?!?
Posted by Jason Alba on March 2nd, 2010 | 2 Comments
Manny Otiko is a PR professional who wrote a great post called Tips on Surviving a Layoff. You’ll have to read his post to get the explanations of all of his points, which are:
- Be Patient. Based on today’s economy he argues that it takes considerably longer to land a job – not our fault but we have to figure out how to deal with this extra delay in moving on.
- Brush up on your job hunting skills. This idea bugged me the most – I didn’t want to read books and books and become an expert on it, I just wanted a job!
- Modify your phone plan. Specifically talking about the cost of your current cell plan, but I’d suggest you modify your phone strategy, also (which means: GET ON THE PHONE!).
- Network, network, network. Yes, absolutely. How do you manage a network? JibberJobber, of course :p
- Shake the tree. Go back to old network contacts (use LinkedIn to find them, JibberJobber to manage the relationship)
- Create your own job. Time to freelance? Or at least get ONE customer?
- Use your free time well. Great points here.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Especially referring to emotional issues you might face, such as job search depression.
I like posts like this from people who aren’t job search experts… they are simply sharing what they have come to realize during their own transition.
Posted by Jason Alba on February 25th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Are you looking for resume samples? You should be, for a number of reasons:
- Resume samples show you different formatting ideas – resume formats that are acceptable.
- Resume samples show you how to structure phrases and sentences on your resume.
- Resume samples show you what sections go where, or how long sections of a resume should be.
- Resume samples give you wording ideas – you know to start a bullet with an action verb – see the resume samples for ideas of STRONG words to use.
When I started my job search I wasted a week looking for a six year old resume that I pieced together. I really should have looked for resume samples, written by resume experts (like those at Career Resumes), and just started from scratch. Even if you decided to outsource your resume to a resume writing service, what you gain from the experience of trying to write your own resume will be invaluable.
If you wrote your own resume and want to get it critiqued, click on the Free Resume Critique link at the top left.
Posted by Jason Alba on February 22nd, 2010 | No Comments
Do you ever get the feeling that the grass is greener on the other side?
Perhaps it is.
I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of a city… why do people tend to move closer to one another? Think about NYC, or LA, or Mexico City, or any major city… what is it that makes people move to where the living spaces are much smaller and much more expensive?
There are many reasons… I personally prefer a smaller city where you can have more property and enjoy a slower pace, but each person has their preferences. I think, however, that this becomes a sort of glue that keeps us stuck somewhere.
But there are major factors that we can consider. A new type of measurement I came across is Juju’s “job search difficulty index.” The US states index shows that there is a job posting for every 1.52 unemployed people in D.C., while there is one job posting for every 17.15 people in Michigan.
In other words, if you are looking for a job, there is a lot less competition in Washington, D.C. than there is in Michigan.
The 5 best states to look for a job, according to this index, are:
- Washington, D.C. (I know, not a state
)
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
The 5 worst states to look for a job, according to this index, are:
- Michigan
- Idaho
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- Kentucky
You can also see the best and worst cities…
Again, not saying you should move, but perhaps it’s easier to find your dream job somewhere else.
Posted by Jason Alba on February 18th, 2010 | 1 Comment
Read this post from The Daily Machete: Networking: Ask for Specific Help
As a job seeker, how do you ask for help?
I know that depends on who you are talking to. If you are interviewing with someone you don’t ask them the same help questions as you would as a fellow job seeker. And hopefully you don’t ask the same questions of family and close friends.
And then there are the many opportunities where people ask you how they can help you (they might ask “how’s the job search going?” or even something as specific as “what can I do to help you?”).
Too many times we either don’t know what to ask, don’t know how to ask for it, or just miss the golden opportunity completely.
Let me suggest that in a job search one of the most important things you need to figure out is how to ask for help, as well as when to ask for help. Be ready.
One of my most favorite, generally applicable ask-for-help questions is this:
“Do you know anyone who works in xyz [company/industry/profession/role]?”
This is a YES or NO question, they can easily think of it, and if they do, then perhaps they can introduce you to that person.
To many times we miss the opportunity – instead, ask the question I posed above and if you understand it well I think you’ll see your networking, and your job search, CHANGE for the better!
Posted by Jason Alba on February 15th, 2010 | No Comments
I was talking to someone a few days ago and he was telling me about going to network meetings with people who really had nothing to say.
Do you ever feel, as a job seeker, that you don’t know what you could say when you network with people? Here’s what the guy I was talking to suggested you have a business card… something to help you and the people you are communicating with.
“A business card,” I asked?
I thoguht about it more, though… If you think about it, perhaps we aren’t using business cards well. It’s not just a paper to pass and tuck away… it’s something that can spark conversation, draw questions, clarify messages.
And then I thought about what other “networking vehicles” could be…
- Your elevator pitch. Does it spark conversation, draw questions, or clarify your messaging?
- Your clothes.
- Your mannerisms and/or attitude.
- Your “pre-resume.” Rick Gillis talks about a pre-resume and how to use it.
Do you have something physical that you bring to network events… like a book you wrote, or something like that?
I’m not saying that you need to have a “networking vehicle,” but the more I’ve thought about it the more I’ve realized how powerful “it” could be in your networking.
Posted by Jason Alba on February 11th, 2010 | No Comments
I work with a lot of job seekers and every once in a while get a message that is amazingly rude. It isn’t common, and it’s not a significant portion of my overall feedback, but every once in a while I have someone vent. It is usually way off-base, but I do hate being the cause of any negative feelings, so it usually bothers me the rest of the day.
To keep my sanity I usually assume the person who is venting has other major issues (being unemployed and the stress that brings is a factor, I’m sure). I once had a very nice person blow up at me without any reason, and I somehow concluded that he had a mental condition and missed his medication (not an uncommon thing).
These experiences completely burn me, and I want NOTHING to do with those people.
I wonder if you, as a job seeker, have done anything that burns people you are around, or want to be around, to the point where they want nothing to do with you?
Here are five questions I have for you to consider – think about them honestly and perhaps you’ll find some behaviors that need to be adjusted.
- Do you feel you need to vent and “tell it like it is” to anyone in your network? I don’t expect you to be fake, chipper and Polyanna all the time, but you also don’t need to bring everyone down with “reality” you are living.
- Do you ever give anything to your network? Gracing them with your presence doesn’t count – I’m talking about giving them leads, network contacts, advice, help, or just a listening ear.
- When you meet with potential decision-makers (recruiters, HR, hiring managers, influencers, gatekeepers, etc.), are you kind and respectful? Or are you much better than they are and you need to go a few levels up to talk to someone who is the real decision-maker (and make it very clear to them that you are just trying to get around them)?
- Do you go out of your way to help others, even when you don’t really know them? I am always looking for team players, and people I’d like to work with – I want to see that you are contributing to move some work forward… even if that means you help people that you don’t really know. Think about the last network meeting you went to – did you offer to help someone who you haven’t gotten to know yet?
- Are you rude to restaurant servers? When I’m at a lunch with job seekers (or anyone, for that matter) and the person I’m eating with is rude or sarcastic to the server, that is a huge red flag. Better than them because of what they are doing for a first or second job? I won’t trust you with an introduction to anyone in my network… I don’t want you to treat my contacts they way you treated the server!
Just because you are in a job search, and it sucks, doesn’t mean you have a free ticket to make others feel bad. In the end it will not benefit you at all.
What are other signs of a rude job seekers?
Posted by Jason Alba on February 8th, 2010 | No Comments
