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Last week I found a post on Huffington Post titled Handy Google Search Tips: 19 Simple Tricks You Need To Know. I went through them and realized many of them would be useful for someone in a job search… here are my fav’s:
5. look up definitions. I think I know the meaning of many words but sometimes I want to BE SURE I am not saying something wrong… it’s easy to make sure I’m using the right word. I can do what this slide says, or if your browser is set to use Google as the default search engine (I think Firefox and Chrome are automatically set up to use Google), just put in “define _______” … I do this daily.
6. search a specific site. Did you know you can limit your search to just one website? For example, this search is for all jobs at the American Express website.
7. Get directions. Another favorite, I use this to find out what my trip looks like and how much time to budget. I usually get there by going to maps.google.com but this shows a different way.
8. find the time. MOST of my work (phone calls) are within the four major time zones in the United States. But every once in a while I have a call with someone in Israel, Australia, the UK, etc. This is a handy tool to help me do the math to figure out what 9am Mountain Time means for the person I’m calling.
9. search area codes. When I see a call come in I can quickly get an idea of where the caller is by looking up their area code… here’s how you do that in google (in my browser I type in “area code ###”
13. eliminate unwanted results. When you are doing research on a company or industry you might find one term or word that monopolizes the results. If you want to clean up the results and get rid of that term it’s quite easy… just do something like this (as per the slide): “oil spill -bp” — this takes out all results that have BP, who is quite, um, popular these days with the term “oil spill.”
14. check stocks. If you are looking at bigger companies this might be important for you as you prepare for interviews or look for networking discuss fodder. It’s easy to find stock info using Google.
19. search related terms. Maybe you aren’t thinking out of the box enough… if you are only using one key word for doing research you might be overlooking other, more popular words. Do this ~search to find related terms and their search results.
20. traffic forecast. Similar to #7 above but with the benefit of padding your travel plans based on traffic. If you are going to a new part of town you should seriously check this out – that harmless back road might get a lot more congested than you ever imagined, and you don’t want to be late for your interview!
There you go – there’s more you can do with Google, but I picked the ones I thought would be useful to you in a job search!
Posted by Jason Alba on August 2nd, 2010 | No Comments
My last post was about networking too much… at the end I talked about the IMPORTANT and URGENT tasks.
Recently I read an awesome idea on how to ensure you are moving forward (not just doing *stuff* but really moving forward with your goals/objectives).
The idea is the simplest I’ve heard but it makes a lot of sense. Here’s what you do:
Every day make a list of three urgent things and three important things (that should/could be done that day). Then, make sure you do all of the important things.
It’s that simple. And because you are always working on important things, you’ll always be moving forward.
I think the urgent things will have a way of getting done, don’t you think?
Brilliant. Try it… I have and it has provided a piece of mind that I didn’t have before.
(If you know where this idea comes from, leave a note in the comments… I can’t remember where I read it)
Posted by Jason Alba on July 29th, 2010 | No Comments
I read some great posts recently about networking “too much.” I thought it was a weird idea since job seekers are supposed to network a lot… that’s where the next job will likely come from, right?
The posts (I wish I could find them again) talked about two different aspects:
- Doing the easy parts of networking while avoiding the hard (and important) parts, and
- Neglecting other things that you should be doing in a job search.
As a job seeker you can spend a lot of time networking. I remember when I finally “got it” (after reading Never Eat Alone) I loved networking. I wanted to do it all day… where was the next event I could go to?
It was a bright spot in my job search. I wasn’t focused on myself or my woes or the scariness of not knowing when my income would start again. As a networker I was focused on helping people.
I was an unselfish networker. That’s how we’re supposed to be, right?
STOP. Read this post by Scott Allen: It’s Time to Practice a Little Selfish Networking. This is brilliant.
Now, what do you think? What is networking? This is a reality check of sorts… networking without a purpose is like hanging out. And the purpose should serve you well… not just serve others.
Combining this with my first point above, make sure that you are not just giving and introducing, but that you are following up with the contacts that you make (that’s hard) and that you are working on deeper relationships with them, not just leaving it at a superficial level (that’s hard, too!).
Do that hard part of networking or else you are just spinning your wheels.
The other point, #2, is that there are other things to do in a job search. You MUST have the right tools in place, and you MUST take care of other things (clothing, your elevator pitches, etc.). It’s not all about going out to network.
In my business there are easy things and things I enjoy, but I can’t neglect the things I don’t enjoy. Perhaps it would help you to develop a 7 Habits quadrant and list the things that are URGENT and the things that are IMPORTANT. Make sure you get to the IMPORTANT things… or else you’ll be running around putting fires out too often.
Posted by Jason Alba on July 27th, 2010 | 1 Comment
I do.
Whether you like the phrase “personal brand” or not, the concept is real. And YOU have a brand.
Check out this post from Thom Singer: Your Personal Brand is a Real Thing.
Thom says:
…you are being watched and judged by everyone. Do you care? You should. You have a personal brand and it is screaming out to others. Are you aware of what it is saying?
It is so true. You might be branded as average (what a poor brand!), obnoxious, helpful, resourceful, annoying, rude, the guy who is always by the food table, the lady who never works, the procrastinator, the player, the ______.
Why let your brand happen to you? Why not intentionally drive what it is?
Posted by Jason Alba on July 26th, 2010 | No Comments
When I was a hiring manager at my last company I had a number of times when I was looking for talent. One particular round of hiring stands out from all others. I interviewed about 20 people. This was a long time ago but I remember many of the people I interviewed. They were MEMORABLE – but not all of them were memorable for the right reasons.
Are you memorable for the right reasons, or are you memorable in a way that will (a) not get you hired but (b) be part of stories/examples (like this post)?
The people who I interviewed were memorable because they:
Wore a suit. Now, this was GOOD. But the reason he was memorable was because he was the only one who wore a suit. I was really surprised that no one else dressed in what I thought was common interview attire.
Had BIG hair, chewed gum the entire time and talked like George W. Oh yeah, and a short miniskirt… Any of these three things could have made this lady memorable but all three made her extra memorable. The gum thing was disrepectful and should be in any interview 101 book, but people don’t think they really have to even say it, right? The George W. language… it wasn’t the best English, and that was a concern. We weren’t ranching, I was looking for someone to represent the IT team to my company clients. The big hair and the short skirt weren’t a big deal (however, the skirt was not appropriate for that interview), definitely not show stoppers, but the bottom line was that I didn’t trust this person to represent my organization to my customers.
Could do EVERYTHING. One guy has a resume with over 20 programming languages in the skills section. He was a sophomore or junior in college. Maybe this guy really did have proficiency in 20+ languages, but I could barely do one or two and I really questioned his proficiency in 20 languages. My thought? Just because he read an article on a language didn’t mean he could put it on his resume. He failed to help me understand that he had proficiency in any language, much less 20.
Could do NOTHING. One foreign exchange student with very poor English skills showed up because a professor told her to get an internship, and this would be a good one. The problem was that she had ZERO experience with anything to do with computers… and this was for an IT role. To her credit, she was very candid about having NO experience, not trying to make anything up. But there was no way I could hire someone at that level. Why was she there? I really don’t know.
Looked like he fit the part “to a T.” And then there was that guy that had everything… everthing. He looked good, dressed good, sounded good, had all the right answers. I thought “this is the guy who can represent us well. This is the guy I want on my team. (I ended up hiring him, but he didn’t last. Looking good was not a key success factor… I should have dug deeper and really challenged his abilities. )
I could go on and on. Anyone who interviews people could tell you about past interviewees… because they were memorable – some for good reasons, some for bad reasons.
My statement to you is: YOU WILL LIKELY BE MEMORABLE.
My question to you is: Will it be for good reasons or bad reasons?
Posted by Jason Alba on July 21st, 2010 | No Comments
Jill Konrath has done it again… she got another great subject matter expert for her Get Back To Work Faster webinar series.
Jack Chapman wrote Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1,000 a Minute. He’s be sharing ideas with Jill and up to 1,000 people (it will fill up) … AT NO COST. You want to get on this webinar. Here’s the email I got from Jill:
LAST CHANCE to SIGN UP / F-R-E-E Webinar
Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute
When: Thursday, July 22, 1pm EDT, 12pm CDT, 11am MDT, 10am PDT
Presenter: Jack Chapman, author of Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute
Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/804691051
In 20 minutes my client, Pat, made an extra $20,000. His [new] employer told him, “If I had any doubts about you to begin with, they’re all gone now.
Pat used Jack’s “No Dollar Left Behind” compensation method. It begins weeks before you actually get an offer when you are asked, “What range salary were you thinking of?” Or, “What are you earning now?” A single misstep at this juncture can cost thousands a few days later.
One of the most lucrative negotiations you’ll ever do is for a created job that has no salary attached. Jill Konrath says she has… “created opportunities in big companies and small ones. In most cases these organizations didn’t have a penny in their budget for my services.” You can help a company see your value, create a project or job for you. And you will be in the strongest negotiating position possible: They know your value, and you’ve got no competition.
You’ll learn:
- when to discuss salary at all and how to hold off until then,
- who goes first and why,
- what the unfailingly single best reply to an offer is,
- how to evaluate your worth in the market place on the one hand,
- and on the other hand, how to get the top of that range.
…And we’ll include special advice related to Jill’s Job Creation Scenarios.
You KNOW you’ll be in negotiations one of these days. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Come and learn the art and science of salary negotiation. “Dig your well before you’re thirsty,” as Harvey Mackay would say.
REGISTER NOW for Thursday’s webinar on Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/804691051
Even if your busy, sign up. You can always listen in at a later time. We’ll send you the link as soon as it’s ready for prime time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 Jack Chapman is the author of Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minut e, known as the bible of salary negotiations. Now in its 6th edition it covers the broad principles and the nitty gritty details of getting the salary, raise, options, benefits, commissions, sign-on, bonus, residual, etc., income for yourself. With 30 years in career and salary coaching, Jack has a wealth (literally) of information to help you negotiate.
Jack Chapman is the author of several job search books, and best in class webinars and workshops. Some examples include: Job Search 2.0, SpeedSearch, and Revolutionary Resume Replacements.
Register today!
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/804691051
Go check it out!!!
Posted by Jason Alba on July 19th, 2010 | No Comments
Much has been written about the resume dying. I’ve responded to some of the thoughts on this blog.
This week I had the honor of presenting a keynote at a conference of career services professionals. After the event I got into a conversation with some of the career professionals and we got on this subject. One of the coaches made her position clear (I can’t, for the life of me, remember her name (sorry!)).
She said she has heard from others that JOB SEEKERS are changing the role of the resume. And this is what will cause the death of the resume.
Her position is that it is NOT job seekers who will change the role… it is employers. If employers demand that you “apply online,” what do you do? YOU FOLLOW THEIR SYSTEM, or you are not considered.
As long as employers ask for a resume, they will still be valid, important, critical.
When employers start to say “don’t send me a resume, just send me your LinkedIn Profile (or anything else),” THEN we can start to seriously talk about the death of a resume.
I 100% agree with this coach… and think the argument about the death of the resume just doesn’t hold any water. As long as there is HR, and as long as HR likes to use resumes as a tool/criteria, we’ll always have a need to have a resume.
(Maybe the conversation should be more about “the changing ROLE of a resume,” right?)
Posted by Jason Alba on July 16th, 2010 | No Comments
I am at conferences a lot. I speak on networking (amongst other things).
But when I am at the conference I am not particularly inclined to… network. Sound weird?
Maybe its because I’m more of an online networker…. ? Maybe I’m an introvert? Who knows why… but networking doesn’t necessarily come easy to me.
It doesn’t come easy to most people… that’s why there are some pretty popular books on the subject.
Here’s a post that Thom Singer wrote about networking. His 10 points on networking at a multi-day conference, with my thoughts, are:
Have a plan. Yes, totally agree. Going into a networking event without a plan will leave you with warm fuzzies, perhaps, but not much achieved.
Bring plenty of business cards. Kind of… I bring them but I rarely hand out more than 4 or 5. The only exception is that when people see my card they want it (it is quite creative)… so they get it for the novelty… but in reality most people don’t need it – they can google me or go to my main sites to find my contact info.
Do not focus on meeting celebrity speakers. Absolutely, totally agree. Celebrity speakers usually don’t have the mental bandwidth to do their presentation and then do any more than shake your hand and smile. They aren’t necessarily going to follow-up with you because they are “on their game,” and their brain is winding down. Don’t worry about them at the event… try and engage with others. (luckily I’m not a celebrity speaker and I LOVE when people talk to me after the presentation  ).
Talk to people sitting next to you. Yes, definitely. It can be awkward, but it can be more awkward to not do this.
Ask questions of people you meet. This is networking 101 – ask them questions to help create conversation. Perhaps a better way of saying this is BE GENUINELY INTERESTED IN PEOPLE YOU ARE TALKING TO.
Put your technology away. I have a hard time doing this but recently have tried it… I leave my laptop at home, or in the bag…. this has made a 1,000% difference. Not distracted by email (outside conversations) and not having the appearance of HIDING behind my screen has allowed me to be more approachable, as well as be more intent on talking to others.
Read their stuff. He’s talking about their blog, etc. I don’t necessarily agree only because I’m too busy to read most blogs (even mine). And, we’re all “too busy,” right?
Introduce others. This is a terrific tactic. Try it the next time you are somewhere… as you do this more and more you’ll become a “power connector” (Keith Ferrazzi term)… it puts you in a position of power of authority because you get to the point where you seemingly know everyone.
Follow up. Ferrazzi wrote a post that said if you want to be better than 95% of your “competition,” simply follow up. That means for every 20 people I meet I should expect ONE thank you note, or email? YOU should be that one! Here’s my post on that: Keith Ferrazzi: How to be better than 95% of your competition
Do more than others expect from you. This is his 11th point in the list of 10 (clever, eh?). This is more outside of the event than while you are at the event, but the point is, get beyond superficial. Be thoughtful, kind, giving, etc. Take that relationship somewhere.
(original post here) We all have to work at networking, even the “networking gurus,” but just because it is hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.
Posted by Jason Alba on July 14th, 2010 | No Comments
Keith Ferrazzi (Never Eat Alone) wrote a post a while back telling us how to be better than 95% of our competition. He simply said we just need to follow-up.
Today, Friday, figure out what leads you have out there, who you have contacted in the last 6 months, who who you should send a quick, simple email to, just to follow-up.
It’s easy to do, and it’s easy to skip, but I challenge you to carve out the time to do it. It can help you know if the relationship is going to go forward, or if it is stalled. It will put you on their mind again (people get busy).
That’s it – quit reading blogs for the day and FOLLOW-UP with your network!
Posted by Jason Alba on July 9th, 2010 | No Comments
Check out Dan Schawbel’s short article titled Avoid networking with these bad business contacts. Dan lists the following (read the article for his descriptions):
- The user.
- The pessimist.
- The big talker.
- The self-promoter.
- The social climber.
I’m sure you can come up with your own list of types of people you can’t stand to network with. If you hate “networking,” perhaps it is because you are networking with the wrong people.
Can I share a secret I learned in my job search?
Network is (can be) FUN!
Once I figured out what networking was, how to do it and why to do it, I started to become genuinely interested in helping others. And that was fun. It was fulfilling. And my job search changed.
When my job search changed, my attitude changed. When my attitude changed, I saw more good stuff (people would introduce me to their network contacts…. no one wants to make an introduction to someone who is too down).
How is networking for you? Have you figured out how to have fun while networking?
Posted by Jason Alba on July 8th, 2010 | No Comments
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