Woman Around Town’s Editor Charlene Giannetti and writers for the website talk with the women and men making news in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the world. Thanks to Ian Herman for his wonderful piano introduction.
At this point we hopefully have a bird’s eye view of the current hiring landscape (see our previous story on job boards) where we see companies at every level utilizing the Internet to find many of their new hires. Understand that this means employers have more control over who sees these job postings simply by where they choose to post them.
Like true love, a great job can and usually does emerge instead of being discovered. Great jobs are not always so great until someone gets into the position and steers it to its potential. So keep this openness of mind when you hit the job boards online but to be safe, and this means minimizing spam to avoiding common scams, let’s touch on a few thoughts:
Take your mailing address off of your resume, save for the city and state. There is no need for the masses to have access to the address where you live, if someone is a serious employer they can call or ask and you can provide proof of residency but in general, why have it floating around unnecessarily? All that an employer needs is your name, phone number, email address, city and state. Do not forget these.
Always send a PDF or JPG never a WORD document to an employer, unless specified to do so. This won’t stop anyone from using your information but it is harder to copy and paste something from your resume or to change a PDF document at all, so they might be likely to move on to the next one. It’s kind of like having a loud barking dog in your house that does next to nothing – but it might send the bad guys elsewhere.
Never, ever give your social security number out to anyone you do not know and this would include all of your potential employers in an online application. If it asks, then leave it blank. If you’re applying for that dream job at the most prestigious firm ever then I would simply pick up the phone and verify that the site you are about to send your social security number to is actually their site. Point being – they shouldn’t even be asking until you meet face to face.
Here we go. Turn off the news reports and think positive. Here is a list of job boards to start. This list is a resource that you can return to every day you search. Some of these are major job boards that show as many jobs as possible, some are more targeted towards a niche and some are simply support systems for people looking. Next week we will discuss the lost practice of writing a good cover letter.
The Ultimate WAT Job Board Resource List
These are many of the top sites in order in terms of monthly traffic in 2012. Click on the name to go to the site:
Monster Very large, a good site to look at but many higher level position-seekers feel its time has passed.
Careerbuilder Similar to Monster – both are good places to set up and gather alerts on for those positions that match your skill set.
Indeed A good place to start. It’s easy and pulls from many sites on this list so it might be one of the best here.
SimplyHired This site is very similar to Indeed, but with half the monthly traffic.
AOL Believe it or not AOL is seen as something from “the olden days” to anyone 40 and under.
SnagAJob Primarily a niche site used by employers of hourly workforces.
USAJobs This site created by the Federal government is great for Veteran’s and boasts a nice resource center.
Job.com A site for general job seekers though I think it owes much of its success to owning a great domain name.
TheLadders When it launched it only listed jobs paying $100K or more but since 2011 has lowered that bar. Still it attracts higer level positions – and is one of the few that asks for payment from both employers and job seekers.
Dice This is a great site for technology professionals, but if you are one, you probably already knew this.
FindtheRightJob I’ve never been crazy about a site that makes you sign in just to see job postings.
JobBank USA Not a well made site but it does have lots of listings if you click “Muilti Database Listings”.
Jobster An up-and-comer with nice features, definitely worth a look.
Other great resources to start your journey. Click on the name to go to the site:
LinkUp Great site because it also crawls corporate sites for jobs.
LinkedIn As we know from a past column this site is helpful in many ways. Check out their job listings a well.
Vault Also from a past column this site is useful as a resource for all things work-related.
Riley Guide A lesser-known resource this is a site that divides job boards according to industry.
Mashable For tech and media-related jobs this is also it.
Craigslist Obviously not always a trusted source it can be incredibly helpful for people seeking entry-level positions.
NYTimes Worth a look though it’s probably redundant.
Idealist For those socially conscious job seekers try this site.
NY JobSource Here’s a local site that might have a tighter search result for some.
TweetMyJobs A new player on the scene this site and others like it will become more prominent as job seeking takes a social twist.
SmartBrief Industry-specific and highly informative resource.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
Linking to others on LinkedIn is really easy. If you look for and link to people you know you will quickly see other possible people to link with, automatically generated by the software much like it does on other social networks. As I said in the past, there are two philosophies about making “friends” online and only you know what’s best for you. Make connections with anyone you want; there are no rules other than those driven by your own personal tastes.
You should also get a recommendation or two, especially if you see and link up with past employers on the site. Requesting a recommendation on LinkedIn is easy; just go to “Settings” and then “Manage Recommendations.” The technology makes asking for a recommendation online easier these days, but in general this is not something you should take lightly. We could dedicate an entire piece to the subject of business recommendations and it might not be enough to emphasize its relative importance.
Whether you’re a job seeker or a business owner, there is no single more powerful tool for furthering your ambitions than a well-timed, glowing and sincere recommendation. And if it should come from someone considered to be a trusted source then your chances of success will go through the roof.
How do you ask for one? Start here: impress people. It’s good practice and you will be surprised at how it reverberates throughout your career. And it’s never too late to start.
For a business recommendation for LinkedIn you can also follow these basic rules to be more successful in getting good recommendations:
Contact people you know. Although you may “friend” anyone, you should only ask for recommendations from people you know.
Make it easy for them! Offer to write a sample that they can customize, include specifics you may want mentioned and remind them of something you did and its outstanding result. Don’t expect others to remember everything about you.
Email or call the person along with sending the LinkedIn request. Tell them that you sent the request and that you really appreciate their consideration.
Tell the person why you are asking. It gives you a chance to let this person know how much you respect him or her.
Offer to return the favor.
Try and get three recommendations. The truth is without any you might be fine and with seven or eight you might do really well. Don’t fret over it. Three is a fair amount. Those that have thirty or more recommendations on LinkedIn, I tend to think of as people who overcompensate, but maybe that’s just me.
If you can, get a list of people you want recommendations from and go about it right, contacting them beforehand and making it easy for them. Ask them if you can use this recommendation in any form and let them know they might have to answer an email for such things like LinkedIn. This way you can also have quotes available from them when people ask in an interview what your past employer might say about you and it will sound authoritative. Plus you will know exactly what people will say about you if called upon as a referral later.
Everyone loves a good recommendation. It reminds us of how much we are appreciated and how we actually do touch others lives. Give it that kind of thought when you ask for one and give others recommendations that are fair and helpful if so deserving. I highly recommend it.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
Staying with our LinkedIn leg of our journey (read our previous story) let’s get to uploading a photo of yourself. As much as we don’t like it this photo is a key piece to your profile. If a picture is worth a thousand words than a really good picture of you may be worth a thousand bucks or more. OK maybe that is an oversimplification, but we all know that today’s world is visually driven and that the Internet has only raised the stakes, so let’s take a moment to look closer at choosing a photo.
When looking to make your way in the business world you can help yourself by finding an image of you that shows everyone looking at it that you are professional, presentable and most of all, that you understand how to choose a professional photo. Once the photo has met those criteria and only after that should you get “creative” with your online photo.
What I mean by this is that your best bet is to simply take a great color photo of your face, looking happy, and just start there. Smiling is always a plus. This photo can be, or might be, one that you see next to your bio on a company website. These types of photos almost always work best for a LinkedIn profile unless your last job was at Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Of course there are exceptions. If you’re in a creative position such as Graphic Designer, you might do something tasteful but keep it simple. Sometimes simply going all B&W on us is enough to stand out in a distinct and interesting way. But if you’re searching for a position on Wall Street or looking for a business partner for your bakery, my advice is to first keep it simple and think about some things to avoid:
Shots of you sitting on a park bench eating lunch. Seriously keep it to your face, no body shots and no funky backdrops.
Looking hysterical, it’s better to just smile or appear neutral.
Shots of your pets, a sock puppet or an avatar. (You’d be surprised.)
Changing it every month. This shows indecision and insecurity. Keep a photo up for long periods of time so people can learn who you are.
Special effects. Save the sepia tones for your Facebook page.
Now please hear me: You do not have to hire a professional to get this photo done! If you have a professional photograph that you like that’s great but this is not necessary.Have a friend do it. If you hate it, you can change it just don’t keep changing it. Most photos taken by a friend should be easily uploaded to LinkedIn but there are technological specifications.
Your LinkedIn picture can be as large as 4MB in size and can be in the following file formats: GIF, JPG, and PNG. It must also be within the maximum limit of 4000 x 4000 pixels. To upload a photo to LinkedIn simply go to your profile page and click on the space where your photo would be that says “Edit Photo”.
If you’ve been reading along and perhaps have your own business and want to start to see how LinkedIn can better help you then click on the solutions page and see ways in which LinkedIn is working directly with small businesses.
But for many of us there’s a one more important leg on our LinkedIn journey that needs discussing next week, that of actually “linking” up with others and getting recommendations. We’re getting there.
So for now just smile and say cheese.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
I know what you’re thinking, you searched high and low and you found next to nothing about yourself online and you’re afraid that this is all too much to overcome. You couldn’t be more wrong.
Here’s what we need to do: paint a picture of yourself that you would want people to see. Never picked up a brush before? Don’t own an easel? Follow me to get a hold of your inner Rembrandt.
Please go to linkedin.com so we can begin. Now there are various philosophies on creating an online presentation for yourself and many ways to do it, we are just going to go ahead with linkedin as one of the ways I think people should strongly consider. Up to now linkedin has touted itself a social network for business professionals, and for some employers it has begun to be used in various other ways including as an important part of the hiring process.
Remember that third email address you set up just for a place to receive various email offers and complete necessary sign-ins in our story about setting up your emails? Well now is the time to pull that one out and sign up for linkedin just to look around. Search for positions you might want some day and see how people present themselves. Once you think you’re ready, you can delete the account by going to LinkedIn’s close your account section and join with your primary email address.
Before you get too excited with your new profile remind yourself that creating a good profile as opposed to creating ‘just a profile’, takes a few days in some cases. In fact next week we will deal with the choosing of your photo and other items. For now let’s stick to the nuts and bolts of it.
A) First, get your name up there and capitalize the first letter in each part of your name, not all caps and not all lower case. Next – and this is tres importante, is that it asks for you to enter your “professional headline” which will be positioned directly under your name and be a huge part of who people see you as, and how you come up in searches. Think about it from all angles. Use it to communicate value – as an example, an executive hiring manager might be better explained here as a ‘Human Resources Manager’, or something that translates across industries.
B) Lists of past employment can actually be a little longer in scope than on your one or two page resume. What I suggest is copying the information directly from your resume onto the site and then if you think it shows more of you to list experiences further back then do so but do not feel the need to elaborate on anything over 12-15 years in the past. A simple job title and years worked are fine. When you finish it should look like your resume with those few extra jobs listed from way back when.
C) Fill in the specialties section but be cautious. Don’t list ‘juggling knives’ unless you want that to be part of an interview – because it will be if you list it. DO list languages, software knowledge and certifications.
Now before you make a friend or go linking up there’s something to consider: are you joining this site to connect with people you already know and strengthen those relationships are you trying to do that and meet new people? The battle lines have been drawn for these two camps and people choose whole social networks based on these two philosophies, which some of us (who, me?) find fairly entertaining. As you see some have even chosen to become “LIONS” (LinkedIn Open Networker) while others vehemently oppose but have yet to come up with a clever acronym for “TIGERS.” I will direct you best I can next week with some advice but in the end you should come up with your own reasons for joining, and also know that you can always change your mind.
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
When the Mega Million Jackpot hit more than $500 million recently, job-holders and job-seekers alike dared to dream. What would it be like to become a multi-multi-millionaire overnight, never having to worry about climbing that corporate ladder or looking for that next job?
Except for three lucky winners, all of us came crashing to earth the following morning. We could still chase our dreams, yet those dreams needed to be based in reality.
That’s what this column is all about, helping you, the New American Dreamer, reach your goals. If you are lucky enough to be working today (no small feat with so much of the population out of work), you may feel stalled. How do you rev up your career again? Your strategy may be simple, finding a new mentor, for example, or more complicated, actually switching careers.
If you are between jobs, then what do you need to do to stand out from the crowd? You may feel you have done everything possible, but there may be things you have overlooked. Together we will find out what those additional tactics might be and how you can employ them to your advantage.
Should you become an entrepreneur and start your own business? That depends on many factors and we will cover the topic in many different ways. Be warned: most new businesses fail in their first year. I’ll tell you why and come up with some ways you might avoid that fate.
Technology plays a huge roll in the workplace today, whether you want to work for an internet company or use the internet to advance your career and business. Everyone—let me repeat that, everyone—needs a presence on the web. You want to manage that image, not your employer, a friend, or someone who happens to snap your photo at a party. New instruments are now available to help you, but learning how to use sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and others takes some time and effort. Don’t worry. You don’t have to be 13. We will show you how.
Spring is here. What better time to get started on your new life, one that doesn’t depend on winning the lottery but in working hard to reach your goals. And isn’t that strategy really at the heart of reaching the American Dream?
Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.
