Build Your Digital Portfolio

Now you have cleaned up your digital dirt from my last post, it now time to leave your Professional footprint and build your online reputation. Not only is this important for the job seeker but also any  professional that wants to build a positive reputation in your industry along with getting indexed by Google.
FACT:   65% of employers were persuaded to hire a candidate based on good online content.

This is nothing new, it’s just that the ways in which you can do this have changed— and mostly they’ve moved online. However, you don’t need to be a tech genius to sell your skills online. There are many simple and free tools you can use to get started that are no more difficult than building an animated PowerPoint presentation. (And there are plenty of tutorials and tips online to help you if you get stuck!)

 

Build Your Digital Portfolio from The Talent Project

Build your Digital Portfolio by The Talent Project

Article created and owned by Kelly Services

http://www.kellyservices.us/US/Careers/Candidate-Resource-Center/Job-Search-Strategies/Build-your-digital-portfolio/

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10 Things to Immediately Do on LinkedIn

 

LinkedIn is the premier business networking site for job-seekers at all levels and all ages. There are some things newbies need to know about LinkedIn, though, before it will be valuable as a job search tool. In fact, whatever you’re using LinkedIn for, you should follow these 10 tips.
1. Put up a photo. What do you think on LinkedIn if you see someone without a photo? Well, I think they have something to hide, or they just aren’t a very experienced LinkedIn user. Either way, there is nothing good about not having a photo. Women often get weird about this, citing stalkers, etc. But, realistically, no one has ever been stalked through LinkedIn. My wife, in fact, has her photo, e-mail address and company phone number on her profile (all good things to have), and has never had any problems at all. And, yes, she is much, much better looking than I am.
2. Join about 45 groups. You’re allowed up to 50 groups on LinkedIn. Join almost that many. By joining 45, you still have “room” for another interesting group. Groups are how you get things done on LinkedIn. I’m always amazed when someone just has one or two groups, or, even worse, no groups. By joining groups people can get to know you and your business.
By the way, please feel free to join my groups, “Getting Employed,” for job seekers anywhere at any level, and “Spirituality in Business” for those who value a business model that incorporates spirituality. Be aware I require photos on the profiles to join my groups.
3. Post discussions on groups. What’s the use of belonging to groups if you’re not out there as an influencer? None, really. Don’t be a vapid bystander. Participate! Post discussions on your groups on a regular basis.
But be careful. Make the discussion to be something of actual interest to the group. Posting a link to your website to sell something or, even worse, a sleazy video like one person did in a discussion I following, will just make people avoid you like the plague. Post articles (that aren’t self serving), announcements, real events (not promoting or selling your product or service), requests for real advice, and discussions about a topic relevant to the group. Again, no selling!
4. Participate in threads. If you’re just a poster and not a participant, it will become clear you are just in it to promote yourself, rather than be a fully participating member of the LinkedIn community. Participate in threads with useful remarks. Again, no selling! And no “trolling,” either! If you must make political comments, be polite. Don’t attack people. I’m not saying to weasel your words. I am saying to be civil. If you participate in threads, follow the same rules as above. Be useful, not self-promoting.
5. Let it be known you are an open networker. There are two philosophies on LinkedIn. One is more effective than the other. The first, and, in my opinion, completely lame philosophy is you only connect with people you know well. That is LinkedIn’s official philosophy, although they really speak with a forked tongue on this one. This will keep your connections pretty low, and will not build your network.
The other philosophy — the one to which I subscribe — is to accept all or almost all connection requests, at least from individuals. I don’t really like connecting with companies, and I am cautious about connecting with someone without a photo (because it could be a fake profile).
The second philosophy will build your network much more rapidly. Here’s the deal. You may have no interest in networking with the individual who invites you. But you might have an interest in someone in his or her network. Connecting gives you access to that network. The more connections, the more likely it is that someone you want to meet will be “in network.” This makes your life on LinkedIn much easier.
I see LinkedIn as a very large networking party. Now, at a networking party you don’t just go up to people you know and talk to them. Or, if you do, you’re a lousy networker. So why should I only talk to people I already know. LinkedIn has helped me meet some great new friends, business associates, and networking partners. I’ve gotten clients through LinkedIn. I’ve contacted hiring authorities for my clients through LinkedIn. And I’ve gotten an opportunity to meet very interesting and dynamic people through LinkedIn. All of this is because I’ve ignored the bovine effluvium that says I should only connect with people I know well! Connect and be an open networker.
6. Get recommendations…lots of them. Recommendations are essential to you. Seek them proactively and seek them passively. Proactive recommendation seeking involves reaching out and asking someone to recommend you. Passive recommendation seeking involves recommending someone, at which point LinkedIn asks them to recommend you back. The latter is actually a bit more effective.
7. Accept everyone, but invite strategically. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to build your business in a particular city? Then invite people from that city for the most part. Are you trying to go international? Make sure you invite people who can help you internationally. Don’t just invite everyone who pops up on “people you may know.” Invite to build your network the way you want to build it.
8. Diversify your contacts. I noticed a while back my contact list was looking pretty homogeneous. Almost everyone in there was white, 50-ish, and male. So, in my inviting, I have made it a goal to invite women, people of color and younger people. Part of the problem is, of course, that LinkedIn itself is predominately middle aged, white and male. But there are plenty of others if you look. And you should look. And, of course, feel free to invite me. I accept all invitations from individuals (not companies or fake profiles).
9. Use your network. While I really don’t like my network selling their products or services to me, I am fine with announcements or questions. I make it a point to answer every question I get through LinkedIn (or from my readers of my columns). If you have a question that needs asking — ask the network. If you have something stupendous — share it with your network. You will get to be known this way and people will naturally come to you for many different needs.
10. Update regularly. If you go to your home screen, you can see a place to update your network. Use it frequently. It is like a tweet, but it goes to LinkedIn. You can also tweet your update if you wish. Also update your profile frequently. Your job and needs are changing. Don’t keep the same stuff in your profile. Update all of the time.
I hope this helps those who are new to LinkedIn, or are new to using it powerfully. As always, please feel free to comment below or to contact me directly at jheckers@heckersdev.com.
John Heckers is president of Heckers Development Group, LTD, an executive coaching and consulting firm based in Denver, Colorado.

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 3 Questions to Ask Your Would-Be Boss at the Interview

August 09, 2010 (10:00AM) by Rick Saia, CPRW

In many ways, moving ahead in our careers depends on our bosses: the people who can motivate us, advise us, challenge us, or — on the other hand — make our lives miserable.

If you've never had a boss who made you miserable, consider yourself lucky. And if you want to wind up lucky in a new job, you need to know something about your would-be boss. That's why you should ask these three questions in your first or second interview to determine whether this is someone you’d want to work with:
What words would you use to describe the people who report to you?

• What you want to hear: A quick answer with positive-sounding words like creative, smart, friendly, or talented. The quickness of the answer indicates a good grasp of the direct reports’ individual qualities. The words, meanwhile, speak more about the boss’s attitude toward them.
• What you don't want to hear: A long pause. Or worse, phrases like diligent, serious, and hard-working. These may indicate that the boss is more interested in getting the job done than in the people who get it done.

If you had a problem with something I did, how would you tell me?

• What you want to hear: A thoughtful answer spoken in a soft tone — something like, "I'd ask you to come into my office, explain why it was a problem, and ask why and how it happened. Then, I'd ask for your ideas on how we can avoid it in the future and if there's anything I can do to help you."
• What you don't want to hear: An abrupt response such as, "I’d email you about it," or a dismissive statement about not letting it happen again (without offering solutions on how to avoid it). This may indicate an unwillingness to open up to you or help you grow on the job.

Mistakes happen, and they're often our best lessons for improving our skills. A boss who doesn't recognize that shouldn't be managing people.

Within my first three months on the job, what are some of the things you'll be expecting to see from me?

• What you want to hear: Reasonable expectations for a new hire, such as that you're mastering the role, you work well with your teammates, you show interest in learning new things even beyond your role, and that you can be trusted to get the job done.
• What you don't want to hear: A curt statement such as "I just need someone to fill the job," or expectations that go beyond what anyone could accomplish during the first few months after starting a new job.

As we struggle to recover from a hard-hitting recession, more people who’ve been stuck in jobs with bad bosses will be looking for something (and someone) better. Savvy employers are aware of that, and recognize that retaining key workers will be increasingly important for their future success. One of the most important ways of doing that is to grow and develop good managers who will help others grow in their work and chosen career paths.

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CrossRoads - How Social Media Is Muddying the Waters for Jobseekers

CrossRoads - How Social Media Is Muddying the Waters for Jobseekers

How Social Media Is Muddying the Waters for Jobseekers

Caution People! How Social Media Is Muddying the Waters for Perfectly Good Jobseekers … and How Companies are Letting it Happen

Invited to an interview, you step into the room and unload that heavy photo album you’ve been clinging to onto the conference table. In addition to a resume and brag book, you have pictures on your iPhone of your dogs and the neighbor’s cat stalking the birds enjoying your new bird feeder. The interview progresses by you opening and flipping through the pages of your album, pointing to your family and friends. You gladly draw the interviewer’s attention to those older pictures taken during your college days … and to the many of your drunk, sleeping positions your friends encapsulated forever through one click of a camera.
Eeerrrk!!!
What? Personal items presented during an interview?
Why not? Isn’t that basically what hiring companies are doing rummaging through your public social media accounts, learning more about you and your online activities?
The next few years are certainly gray, unchartered waters for jobseekers. The issue of whether a person’s personal life and involvement online should have any place in the hiring realm is definitely a topic that will be battled over for years — maybe even decades. Some might unexpectedly find themselves entangled in lawsuits, as privacy experts grow increasingly concerned that disqualifying a candidate based on information gained online can introduce certain forms of discrimination into the hiring process.
Jobseekers have every right to be concerned about protecting their online identities from prying eyes, but where should the line be drawn? Employers shouldn’t be given uninhibited access to a jobseeker’s private life, should they?
Interestingly, a recent study released at Microsoft’s 4th Annual Data Privacy Day identified that 70% of those surveyed in the US indicated they had disqualified a candidate based on online information. What was the incriminating online information that caused the disqualification? Of course this was not made public … and behind the curtain of hiring, only HR managers and recruiters seem privy to such information.
The deeper issue is whether employers should be allowed to open that flood gate by bringing social media activities into the hiring world in the first place. I’m reminded of a line from the movie Jurassic Park. When referring to scientists, Jeff Goldblum’s character says, "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." Maybe employers poking through a jobseeker’s online activities are so preoccupied with the fact that they could that they never stopped to think whether they should.
Ahh, but hiring companies won’t find my online activities. Think again. Technology giants have only just begun leveraging the social media phenomena; and not surprisingly, for financial gain.
Microsoft announced the integration of Social Connector software, which will be released mid-2010. The add-on software is designed to let someone like me readily see the online communications from those who send me email. Microsoft’s Group Product Manager, Dev Balasubramanian, was quoted as saying: “As you communicate you can see their social activities; you can see all the folks in your social network and it updates as you are reading your e-mail.” Certainly it appears to offer great benefits to the masses, but for jobseekers, it just might leave an unpleasant sour aftertaste.
No doubt, employers will soon be given a larger spy glass — and unfortunate for jobseekers, Microsoft isn’t the only company abuzz with developing new applications that will take public social media data and translate it into something that can be researched and used, for good and evil.
Regardless, employers need to take a long look at their current hiring practices to determine whether a drunken party photo showing Joe Jobseeker has anything to do with the value Joe brings to the table professionally, and how well he performs while on the job.
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