A couple of years ago I went to an industry association conference for (get this) assocation professionals.  I had no idea there were thousands and thousands of associations, and there were tons of people who have dedicated their careers to running these associations.

One session was dedicated to talking about employment and job search, presented by Peter Weddle.  Peter Weddle founded an assocation for job board owners and has been a thought-leader in the job search space for a long time.  There are two major things I took away from Peter, one of which was an ideal (or a good) job board strategy in a job search.  The other thing I learned was to really incorporate associations into a job search.

Regarding the association thing, I’ll give you the best resource you can find: Weddle’s Association Directory.  This is THE resource every job search needs to include because you can do a job search by industry.

How cool is that?

Not every association has abundant job search resources, but many associations have enough to get you started.  So hop on over to Weddle’s Association Directory and get started.  Don’t limit yourself to just one industry, either.

Bonus idea: Take some of the terminology you find in the Association Directory and apply them to LinkedIn research.  Use those terms in the Advanced LinkedIn search page and see who you find - hopefully you’ll find some new keywords that will help you expand your job search.

Good luck!

I just came across an awesome post on using Monster.com from an HR and recruiting expert.  I usually disregard Monster because (a) I hear most recruiters feel they are not getting much value from Monster, and would rather go to LinkedIn for higher level talent, (b) I have concerns about privacy issues with Monster, considering my resume had my home address, home and cell phone numbers, etc, and (c) many of the “jobs” I found there were junk.  It didn’t help that I got calls for MLM or “insurance salesman” (commission only) opportunities all the time.

But this article sheds new light, for me, on Monster as a tool in a job search, and even after your job search.  You can read the entire article here.  Some highlights:

1 ) Monster is the largest resume database in the world. Period. (read the article for more on this point)

4 ) Remember that once your resume is in an agency database you don’t need to keep applying via Monster or the website. (read the article for more on this point)

6 ) With the sheer volume of candidates on the market now, many recruiters are resorting to Monster just because it’s familiar,…  (read the article for more on this point)

7 ) Regarding your resume from 4 years ago showing up, keep in mind that a lot of agencies mine the *entire* database. A good recruiter looks at older resumes because they are considered to be “passive” candidates,… (read the article for more on this point)

8 ) In the last couple of years, the EEOC has instituted some pretty strict regulatory practices that have shifted the way many corporations recruit. Without going into a lot of compliance jargon… (read the article for more on this point)

9 ) Refreshing your resume:  if you open your profile and hit “edit” even if you don’t make any changes, it does bubble to the top of keyword searches. (read the article for more on this point)

Like I said, the article helped me understand more how to use Monster in a job search, and point #9 is awesome as far as getting higher up in search results…

I still wonder how effective it is the higher the position, but hey, maybe it should be part of a comprehensive job search strategy.

The first six weeks of my job search I hardly went out of the house. I was too busy being productive, posting my resume on job boards and applying to posted jobs online.

Finally I dragged myself out of the house and reluctantly went to a network meeting that I heard about through my church (it was on the bulletin board).  I was fearful that I’d be the only one there, or I’d be stuck in a room with a bunch of people who had not acheived enough in life to have a real job … I had quite the stereotypes!

That first meeting changed my life. I had beaten myself up for not getting a job, and self-doubt was creeping in.  But in that meeting I met very accomplished professionals and executives who were also down on their luck.  Seeing others in that meeting helped me understand transition as something that happens to us, not something that happens because we are losers.

I grew to need those meetings and the association with other professionals who were doing what I needed to do: network.  It was also cool to talk with people who were in the job search trenches about resume problems, interview questions, etc.  It was an awesome support group, and it wasn’t gloomy at all.

I was enamored with the group.  At one meeting I heard someone talk about a similar network meeting about 25 minutes up the road.  I asked about it, since I hadn’t heard anything about it, and decided to give it a shot.  I was amazed as that network meeting had about 5 times the number of attendees, and there seemed to be a different type of person there.

I quickly sought out other transition network opportunities and found 4 within a one hour drive from my house.  I went to all of them, whenever I could.  Why?  I think it’s critical to not go to just one… here are some thoughts:

1. Your networking needs to be diverse. One network group I met with was located in the heart of entrepreneurial area, and many of the people at those meetings knew about all of the funded startups.  This group was very different from another one, about an hour away, which was right by an Air Force base.  Many who went to those meetings had worked for defense contractors or companies who provided services to the contractors - the difference was amazing.
2. Getting out is healthy. It forced me to dress nicely, put on a smile, and do all the other things you have to do when you meet with people.  I had the opportunity to USE my elevator pitch, evaluate other peoples pitches, and learn from them about what they were doing in their job search.  Staying inside for your entire job search can’t be good for you, physically or emotionally.
3. People need to know who you are. The only way for people to know me, and recommend me to their contacts, is if they know who I am.  Showing up is a significant part of your job search, as you’ll be able to put your name and your brand in front of people on a regular basis.
4. You will have opportunities to help others. Even if your job search isn’t going great (read: you didn’t land your job yet!), you still know more about a job search than some of the new people who walk in the door for the first time.  As you share what you’ve learned, about things that do and don’t work, and serve them as they get started, you should feel better about yourself.  Doesn’t serving others always make you feel better?  And a little dose of “feeling better” is a good thing during a job search!
5. You never know what opportunities might come from the meetings. You might meet someone who just left your target company (and still has great contacts there). You might meet a recruiter who has some positions to fill that you would be perfect for.  Aside from learning about strategies and tactics from others, there’s a bunch of job search intelligence shared at these meetings.
6. You can find people to invite to your Job Search S.W.O.T. team. I love the idea of meeting with a smaller group, perhaps five people, who can help one another on a more intimate level.  This S.W.O.T. team will be an extension of your networking efforts, and can be a great support for you.

It’s great to be a regular at networking meetings, but make sure you are going to as many as you can.  All of the opportunities listed above should be available in as many meetings as you can find.

In my blog post today on JibberJobber I talk about LinkedIn not being optional.  If you are (or want to be) a professional, you need to be on LinkedIn.  Period.

Facebook is optional.  It’s not a requirement in job search or career management… but it’s definitely something you should look at.  Not for necessarily social reasons, but definitely for relationship reasons.

“They” say it’s likely we’ll network into our next job.  There are plenty of networking tools out there, from JibberJobber (to manage your job search and relationships) to LinkedIn (to find and be found), and of course off-line, face-to-face networking.  Here are some reasons to seriously consider a Facebook strategy:

• Many Facebook users are professionals. Let’s assume many Facebook users started a few years ago when they were in college.  Now, some of them have graduated and are in management, decision-maker or influencing decisions.  I recently reconnected with a long-lost friend on Facebook who, to my surprise, is a VP of a major technology company.
• Facebook is a great place to find new network contacts. There is crossover between LinkedIn and Facebook, but in Facebook you’ll be able to meet contacts in a different setting.  Think formal meeting vs. the social gathering after the meeting… you get to see the same person in two different lights, right?  Facebook has a number of social places, like Groups, Pages, etc. where you can learn more about potential professional contacts and perhaps relate to them on a different (more personal) level.
• Facebook helps you reconnect with long-lost friends.  No kidding. A year ago I felt very disconnected from my old high school buddies… I thought we’d never reconnect.  And then one of them Friended me on Facebook.  And some of their Facebook Friends were our mutual high school buddies and now I’m connected to about a dozen of my old buddies.  I’m absolutely amazed at where people ended up and what they are doing for a living.  These are people I have relationships with, and they are in decision-making positions… at the very least, they have professional networks I might want to tap into.

Again, LinkedIn isn’t optional… if you need help with your LinkedIn Profile check out Career Resumes LinkedIn Makeover page, or the announcements I made on JibberJobber blog today.  If you want to get started on Facebook check out my blog (and book) at Facebook Advice dot com.

I didn’t think I had money for a job search coach.  I didn’t think I had money to have my resume done professionally, and that I could create a resume just as good as a professional resume writer.  We all know where that got me :)  Anyway…

In a two day job search seminar I went to I learned about job search coaches, and the importance of having one.  This is not a mentor, or a friend, or an adviser who you could lean on every once in a while.  A job search coach is someone who you have a formal arrangement with, and serves a critical role in your job search.

Your job search coach doesn’t have to be a professional job search coach, although many coaches would caution you away from using someone who is just a friend.  I’ll comment on that in a bit.  Let me share three things that I think a job search coach must have.

1. Proper understanding of current job search principles. Let me illustrate this with an example.  If you asked me to be your job search coach 3 years ago, I would have had you spending a ton of time on job boards.  I had assumptions about how to conduct a successful job search, and they were all wrong.  I’m guessing that over 90% of professional job search coaches have current, proper job search principles (which help you create your strategy and tactics), and less than 20% of non-professionals will have the proper principles.
2. The ability to hold you accountable. Being accountable in your job search is critical.  I found, as a job seeker, people treated me with kid gloves, and pretty much leave me alone.  I don’t remember anyone asking me “how’s it going” and really wanting to hear more than “good.”  A job search coach stops that, and makes sure you are doing the right things, doing what you said you would do, and getting results or changing strategies or tactics.  Your job search coach MUST dig down to find out what’s working, what’s not, and keep your performance on track.
3. Tools. A professional job search coach will have tools.  They’ll know where to do company research, and have a bunch of resources to help you as you figure out this job search process (it’s more complex than I thought it was).  Any job search coach can find about 90% of the tools you’ll need in JibberJobber.com (which is my site).

Can you get this from a non-professional?  Many professional job search coaches I talk with don’t advocate this, but I think it’s an option… as long as you understand what the coach needs to have (the three points above).  I think the two hardest things to establish are the first points.

With regard to the principles, if you find someone who has been in a job search, and studied it out, and is using proper job search principles in their own job search, and has helped other new job seekers, I think they’d be just fine.  The fact that they are currently in the ditches with you is good, as they are super-current on techniques and tactics.  I would not look for a non-professional coach unless I know they have had recent/current experience in the job search.  Also, realize that the strategies for a guy making $50,000/year should be different than the strategies for a guy making $120,000/year.  There are many other factors that influence the strategies… so it’s not a one-size-fits-all thing.

With regard to accountability, you must establish this upfront.  Don’t assume a non-professional is going to jump right in and hold you accountable like she should.  Have a discussion about when you will meet, what you will discuss, what you will do and how they need to talk about follow-up action items with you.  Empower them to ask you hard questions.  Make sure they know they are not there to babysit you, that you are an adult, but you need to be held accountable.  And then, when you have sessions, be honest with your coach and with yourself.

Career Resumes does not provide job search coaching (they provide professional resume writing services as well as LinkedIn Profile makeover services).  I’ll blog about where to find job search coaches next week.

photo from howsed.com

We’ve had problems with our bathroom sink for almost five years, since we moved into this house.  It always drained slow.  We tried liquid plumber, liquid plumber gel, some plumber powder stuff, and my infamous homemade tool to fish stuff out of the drain.

Any solution worked for a day or so, but the problem never went away.  I guess now’s the time to admit I have like no man-skills as far as DIY goes, and spend more time frustrated than fixing the actual problem.

Enter Bob.  Bob came over to measure for a project and on his way past the sink we asked him what we could do to get to the root of the problem.  “Oh,” he says, “just unscrew the pee trap and I bet your problem is there. If not, work your way up to the drain in the sink.”  I asked “I don’t have to have that plumber putty stuff?” “No.” he says.  “I unscrew it by hand?”  “Yes.” he says.

I just fixed it.  4.5 years of problems with our sink are now washed away (pun intended ;)).  It took… oh, 30 minutes to get it fixed and cleaned up.

30 minutes, guided by an expert, and my slow-drain sink problems go away.

If I would have gone to a resume expert, like Peter at Career Resumes, I would have avoided a long, dreary, depressing, job search.  I try to DIY (do it yourself) all the time, because I’m cheap.  But in my cheapness I lost tens of thousands of dollars in salary that I would have captured if I only had a job.

And I didn’t get my job because I didn’t get interviews.

And I didn’t get interviews because I my resume wasn’t right.  It was shiny, and looked good, but it kept me out of interviews.

A professionally could have looked at that and said “hm, why isn’t this shiny resume getting you interviews?”  And after some discovery, they would have helped me get into interviews, and then into a job.

Is it worth paying the money?  If I could do it all over again, I definitely would have paid the money.  If you aren’t getting interviews, there’s likely something wrong with your resume.  Contact Career Resumes to see what they can do for you.  It may be a simple, easy, quick, painless fix, but you might need a professional resume writer to help you get there… just like I needed a professional builder/handyman to help me fix my simple drain problem.

A couple of months ago Peter asked a question to his LinkedIn contacts: What is the worst career advice you’ve ever heard? Here are most of the awesome replies (there were 42 responses - see them all here):

• You’re set for life! (… when someone has just taken a job in the public service. Set - yeah, like a jelly is set!)
• get a degree in accounting
• “So, you want to be a lawyer?!! Get a real job first! Work in a factory for some years, to see the real life!” I didn’t follow the advice…
• “You have a good job at a utility: stay there.”  Safety equals dullness. (there’s more)
• The worst career advice is not to have any when you are first starting out, especially with the graduation door slamming shut on your rear -end on the way out!
• 1976, upper midwest, town of 7,000, 10th grade - you guys don’t need to learn to type…typing is for girls.  How’s that worked out for you guys?
• “Listen, I know you have a staff job but I think you should take that really great, totally secure freelance position!”
• “Seek advice from random strangers on the Internet.”  (lol - thanks Alex)
• In a counselling setting: Don’t worry if people don’t come back, they just didn’t like what you said to them. (of course I worried about why they didn’t come back.)
• In a government job: Don’t leave, there’s a lot of job security. (I left)
• In private practice: You don’t have enough experience to do that. (I have it now!)
• You have to not work so many hours. (But I love my job and am enjoying myself so much)
• “Your neurosis problems are making you fail in your job…”
• 26 years later, I still try to find out if I have neurosis problems and I have found nothing…
• “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Yes, it is a question, but it implies that you should have a 5-year plan, Total BS this day and age.
• Always say you have extensive experience doing X when someone asks you if you’ve done X before.
• “You’re a Rhodes Scholar! You’re all set! What could go wrong?”
• You deserve better, they are just exploiting you. If you resign, we will immediately take you… Needless to say that words vanish like smoke….
• ” When you are a “fresher,” better stick to your company atleast for one year”
• To volunteer for low level tasks as an intership or job starter.
• “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Management will notice.” I was thinking ‘yeah I want to be known for my clothing and not my experience or education.’
• “Plastics.” (Anyone remember THE GRADUATE with Dustin Hoffman?)
• [my current job is] a total wrong fit and whenever I talk to people and ask for some advice the line I get is “at least you have a paycheck.” And I think to myself, great, what do I do with this?
• don’t push to have a managerial post, just settle to become a secretary a top noch one, though…..
• I approached [a speaker] and asked how I could move into that career (I was already a trainer for a company). his response…”Just do it guy.”
• “don’t take risks by thinking outside of the box so much”
• “In order to become a Genetic Engineer, you have to study Civil Engineering!”
• “You’ll be limited if you don’t have a degree”
• “You have to wait for your turn and grow your wings before you can be considered for leadership positions. It’s the same with other companies.”
• “Closing three small deals is better than going for that big ambitious project.”
• You have so much potential - hold out for 2 more years and you will go places!
• “around here, you are nothing more than a strong back; get about a good 8 years of experience in the lab, and then you can break into the 60k salary tier!”
• Stay at a job your unhappy with - you have too much tribal knowledge.
• I arrived for what a thought was a job interview and turned out to be a head hunting firm. Looked at my resume calculated I had been in the work force over 25 years and said you have one good job left in you.
• “Hey go check out Enron, they’re looking for talented auditors”
• “You are too smart to be a business major! You should do engineering.”
• “You have a special calling to do this.” I gave working in the church a try before becoming a recruiter.
• My Father: “No Daughter of mine is going into this business!!”
• “The IT job market is HOT!”… Uh… no… IT workers have about a 13% unemployment rate, and over the next few years I expect 1/3 to 1/2 more Americans in IT to permanently lose their jobs. Every day I ask myself… Why, oh why, did I not become a Dentist? Now there is a stable career.
• “Do ANYTHING you can to get into __________ firm.”
• “Girls can’t be engineers - only teachers or nurses.” - Midwest, late 1960s. HA!
• “A Bachelors is all you need”

What’s the worst career advice YOU’VE ever heard?

Following up from Monday’s post on resume writers, career coaches, career counselors and job search coaches, I want to share what I’ve learned about a thing called outplacement services.  I did not receive outplacement, which I think is usually offered to terminated employees from larger companies.  I was the general manager of a small software firm, and my terminate package, if you can call it that, included a few weeks of severence.

If your employer offers outplacement, they will pay (usually) a few thousand dollars per person to help you get back on your feet.  There are a few major outplacement providers, including Lee Hecht Harrison, Drake Beam Morris and Right Management and the Impact Group.  These outplacement service providers usually service large contracts, and help professionals from many states or many countries.

There are smaller firms, which I call boutique outplacement firms, which normally specialize in a local area (multi-city, or sometimes, a few states).  Some boutique firms partner with other boutique firms, so they can bid on larger contracts.  For example, if I mostly work in California, and a client needs services in California and Washington, I’d look for a boutique firm in Washington who could partner with me to bid on the contract.

Typically, outplacement contracts vary based on your level.  If you are a lower-level employee you’ll get different services than if you were one of the directors or VPs who was terminated.  You might get less time (three months of outplacement as opposed to twelve months of outplacement) and different services.

I know a number of outplacement professionals who help job seekers get back on their feet.  This is a very active, interesting industry, which sometimes gets a bad rap.  Why?  Usually when an employee gets terminated (RIF’d, laid-off, etc.) they are not happy.  The help an outplacement firm offers is useful and important, but sometimes the candidate (that’s what you are called, as in “candidate for a job”) goes into the outplacement situation with a less-than-positive attitude.

There are some firms who specialize in retail outplacement, which means they offer outplacement services to individuals who come in and pay for the services on their own.

Do outplacement services, or service providers, do all the stuff I talked about on Monday?  Do they offer resume support?  Job search coaching?  Career counseling?  Not necessarily.  They will guide you on creating your resume, but they aren’t necessarily going to write your resume for you.  It depends, of course, on the overall package purchased.

So that wraps it up… are there any other service provider types I neglected to mention?

Monday we talked about International Update Your Resume Month and listed a bunch of great articles from Career Directors International (CDI).  Here are six resume articles from Peter Newfield, president of Career Resumes:

Avoid the Top Ten Resume Mistakes

Resume Tips for Special Situations

Components of a Winning Resume

How to Address Gaps in Employment History

Resumes and C.V.s - What’s the Difference?

Resumes and How They Came To Be

There are more on the articles page, but if you are resume-writing mode I figured these would be interesting to you!

Did you know September is International Update Your Resume Month?  Update Your Resume month is brought to you by Career Directors International (CDI), encouraging you to keep this very important job search tool updated at least annually.

When I lost my job I had to search high and low through hard drives and email accounts to find my old resume… one that was at least six years old.  I spent hours looking for that old thing, and finally just went and got a template online to start over.  Oh how I wished I had a current resume - there’s enough stress when you are laid off without having to figure out dates, titles and all the other stuff that goes on your resume.

On the Career Directors International site, where they talk about the Update Your Resume Month, you can find the following articles:

Resume Update Worksheet

Ten Tips for a Better Resume - Sharon Cox, Career Direction / Resume Writing

Ten Job Search Truths - Freddie Cheek, Cheek and Christantello Career Connections

Atta Boy - Susan Geary, 1st Rate Resumes

Become a Professional Resume Writer - Susan Geary, 1st Rate Resumes

Cookie Cutter Resumes - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Getting the Most Out of a Career Fair - Patricia Duckers, The Resume Writer

How to Build a Marketable Background - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Honesty in Your Resume - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Polish Your Professional Image - Patricia Duckers, The Resume Writer

Why You Need a Resume - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Resume Pitfalls & Tips - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Appropriate Length of a Well Written Resume - Patricia Duckers, The Resume Writer

Basic Types of Resumes - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Getting Past the 15 Second Scan - Susan Geary, 1st Rate Resumes

Using a Professional Resume Writing Service - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

What is a Curriculum Vita? - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

Gaps in Your Job History - Grant Cooper, CareerPro of New Orleans

You’ll recognize some of those writers from our resume writer’s staff page!  

If you want help with your resume, check out our free resume critique page.