Self-Google! Don’t Jeopardize Your Executive Job Search is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

Do you know what the people who have a hand in hiring you are finding when they Google “your name”?

Trust me, you’re being Googled by recruiters, employers and hiring decision makers if they come upon you when they’re sourcing talent, or if they’re considering whether to interview you.

In fact, I do the same thing right before I speak with potential clients of mine for the first time.

Typically, they’ll have a minimal online footprint on the most important first few pages of results:

• Usually a LinkedIn profile, but it’s often not complete, branded or compelling.
• Little, if any, social media presence beyond LinkedIn.
• Sometimes a brief boring bio on their employer’s website.
• A mixed bag of anemic results that they haven’t posted on aggregator sites (Manta, Pipl, White Pages, etc.).

I generally only search the first page of results for my initial chat. What I’m looking for is more information about the person to assess whether they’re a good fit to work with me, to see whether they’ve done any work to build their brand online, and to see if they have any digital dirt that could cripple their search.

If they’ve done some research on the current executive job search landscape, they have an idea of how important it is for them to have a strong, branded online presence.

Given the same set of qualifications, skills and expertise, those who have a diverse and higher-volume of search results are more likely to be noticed, sought out, and hired.

According to Talent Management Magazine’s article about a recent survey from CareerBuilder, nearly 37 percent of firms use social networking sites to research job candidates. What are they looking for?

• To see if the candidate presents himself/herself professionally — 65 percent
• To see if the candidate is a good fit for the company culture — 51 percent
• To learn more about the candidate’s qualifications — 45 percent
• To see if the candidate is well-rounded — 35 percent
• To look for reasons not to hire the candidate — 12 percent

Nearly 34 percent found information that caused them NOT to hire a candidate.

That issue can pose major problems for some job seekers. In today’s highly competitive job market, hiring professional have their pick of the absolute best. If they find dirt or even a flimsy reason to rule you out, they will. There are plenty of others to slide in place.

One of the major problems I find when Googling people’s names is not within content these people posted themselves online (if they’ve even done so). It’s not inappropriate behavior that found its way online, or that they posted somewhere.

I’m finding content on the first page of results that the person DIDN’T post themselves, so they may have little control over it.

• Sometimes the person knows about it.
• Sometimes the person had an unfortunate blip in their career or personal life that made news. They’ve since made amends, but the bad news lingers forever online.
• Sometimes the content is associated with some dastardly person who has the same name.

Whatever the reason, those search results could seriously damage their job search.

My searches on two recent client prospects revealed problematic online identities:

1. A 65 year old mid-level sales and marketing executive, who was very concerned about ageism in his search.

LinkedIn was the #1 search result. About half way down the first page was a link to his high school yearbook and the year he graduated. Instantly, his age was revealed.

2. The second search result for a CMO in medical devices (let’s call him “Joe Smith”) jumped out with the hyperlink “Can anyone share their real thoughts on Joe Smith?” Who wouldn’t be drawn to that headline?

The link led to a snarky industry-related chat site where several anonymous people on his team trashed his leadership abilities . . . in detail.

In both instances above, the job seekers probably can’t get those pages taken down. Their only recourse is to work on outdistancing those bad search results with good ones, pushing the bad ones down and onto the second, or hopefully, third or fourth pages of results, where they’re less likely to be found.

Your takeaway?

Follow the steps that hiring professionals do when they’re sourcing and assessing talent by what they find online. Know what the people who have a hand in hiring you will find when they search you.

Do a quick Google search on “your name” right now, and then once a week or so, and see what’s out there.

If you find digital dirt, here are three things to do:

• Try to push it down beyond the first page or two by building up branded, relevant search results on high-ranking sites.
• See if you can get the page taken down.
• See if you can rewrite the content to position yourself in a more positive light.

Related posts:

Does Your Online Presence Scream “DON’T Hire Me”?

Executive Job Search: 6 Ways to Get Good With Google

Executive Branding Online: Write Book Reviews on Amazon

photo by SallyB2

Executive Recruiters and Your Job Search is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

If you’re a senior or c-level executive, you’ve probably worked with executive recruiters because they reached out and connected with you.

In the past, top executives could expect to be in demand, constantly pursued by numerous recruiters when they weren’t looking for a job.

Unless you’re lucky, executive job search doesn’t work quite so easily these days. You can’t count on recruiters offering you your pick of jobs and seamlessly sliding into a new position whenever you’re ready. You could suddenly find yourself out of a job, with little warning, trying to pick up speed in a job search landscape that doesn’t look or feel familiar.

Recruiters are certainly out there, looking for superior candidates like you, but with so much competition in this job market, you may not stand out as readily. You may not be in demand like you were a few years ago. You’ll need to reach out to them.

How much do you know about the different kinds of recruiters and what they can do for you? Did you know that internal recruiters and external recruiters — either retained or on contingency — help you in different ways?

For help in sorting out all the pros and cons and how-to’s, go to the Work Coach Cafe and 2 posts written by Susan P. Joyce, online job search guru — one on Internal Recruiters, the other on External Recruiters.

Some of Susan’s tidbits on Internal Recruiters:

→  They have an insider’s perspective. They see how the organization works and typically know many of the people inside the organization, particularly the hiring managers.

→  They may be your advocate, if they believe you are the best person for the job.

But . . .

→  Their loyalty is to the organization. No matter how tempting, don’t tell them anything that you don’t want the rest of the organization to know.

→  They can “bar the door,” keeping you from being interviewed or considered, even if (sometimes, especially if) you try to go “around” them directly to the hiring manager.

And a few of her points on working with External Recruiters:

→  Contingency recruiters may be strong advocates of your candidacy – because they, or their employer, will earn a commission if you are hired.

→  They have an outsider’s perspective, so they are not caught up in the politics inside the organization, although – if they have worked with an employer before – they may understand quite a bit about how the organization and the people inside it operate.

But . . .

→  External recruiters are outsiders. They don’t know everything going on inside the organization. They may or may not know the people involved in every hire, so they may not be able to provide you with any meaningful coaching.

→  Your “cost of hire” (what it costs the employer to hire you) is higher than an internal referral or someone who walks in off the street because of the commission paid them if you are hired based on their referral. It can be as much as 20% to 25% of the annual salary.

Each kind of recruiter works differently. Understanding what motivates them can help you avoid making damaging assumptions that can derail your job search. Knowing how they work with candidates can help you to build positive, mutually rewarding relationships with them.

Related posts:

Build Winning Relationships with Executive Recruiters

Executive Job Search: How Recruiters Find You

Working with Recruiters For Senior Executives Over 50

photo by Rosmary

10 Pivotal Personal Branding Principles is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

You read a lot about personal branding these days.

If you’re facing a job search and doing some research on how to find a job in this market, you’re hard pressed to click anywhere without being inundated by content covering all the ins and outs of branding.

So you probably think you know what it’s all about. You “get” what branding is.

Or do you?

After all, the concept is pretty straightforward:

Define, differentiate and communicate the unique ROI (return on investment) value you offer your target audience over your competitors.

The target audience varies from person to person. Step one in defining your own brand is identifying and knowing who they are.

In job search and career management, your target audience is your future or current employer.

In business, if you’re an entrepreneur, your target audience is your customer or client base.

Either way, your brand messaging needs to resonate with that target audience. Your brand helps people decide whether to hire you, keep you as an employee, or do business with you.

Even though the concept of personal branding is simple, the elements that converge to exact a memorable brand and express it powerfully are complex.

Things like targeting, differentiating your unique value proposition and chemistry factor in. Jump over to Executive Career Brand for a breakdown of the 10 Keys To a Memorable Personal Brand.

Related posts:

10 Steps to an Authentic, Magnetic Personal Brand

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

10 Things to Love About Your Executive Brand

Job Search Misfiring? Revisit Your Executive Resume is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

See this nice looking fellow?

A buddy of his has been pecking at my office window for the past month.

Every morning, he sits on a branch of a shrub next to the window, picks up steam and smashes into the glass.

He plays this game for hours at a time.

Does he see his reflection and think another bird is coming at him, or does he see an open space to fly into?

Either way, he’s getting nowhere. But he keeps banging against that window, day after day.

I’m sure you’ve heard Einstein’s definition of insanity:

“Doing the same thing over and over again,
and expecting different results.”

You may be among the many executive job seekers guilty of making this mistake . . . locking yourself into a repetitive process even though it’s not working.

If you have a branded, targeted LinkedIn profile (so you’ll be found in online searches) and resume you’ve been using diligently, and you’ve  been in a proactive job search (I mean, you’re actively and purposefully networking for a new job) for more than let’s say a month, and you’re getting nowhere . . . no interviews . . .

It’s time to revisit your resume because it’s not positioning you as the good-fit candidate you know you are.

Maybe it doesn’t clearly align your expertise and value proposition with the needs and challenges your target companies are facing right now. If so, go back and stress these attributes and qualifications using the relevant keywords and phrases recruiters and hiring professionals will be looking for.

Or maybe you’ve made the biggest resume writing mistake . . . you haven’t done the personal branding and company/industry targeting work you MUST do first, before even attempting to write your resume.

Either way, take another look at your resume. If it’s broke, fix it!

Put yourself in the place of the people who will be assessing you through it (and your LinkedIn profile). Make sure your promise of value hits home with them.

Related posts:

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

Executive Brand Resume: Differentiate Your ROI Value Above the Fold

The Lazy C-level Executive Job Search

photo by hart_curt

Executive Job Search Stress – Distract and Refocus is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

If you’re knee-deep in job search, you’ve probably found that stress comes with the territory.

Disappointments, delays, frustrations and fear are unfortunate parts of the process.

Accept it. Stress will hover about you . . . receding when things are going well and accelerating when they’re not. It creeps up in little ways, at first. Then the anxiety can become so overwhelming, it immobilizes you. That’s not good when you need to focus on getting a job.

A high stress level can keep you from performing well in interviews, making good decisions, and potentially landing the best job.

I don’t know any way to avoid stress entirely. But if you can be aware of the symptoms that typically manifest in you when you’re stressed, maybe you can stay on top of it and alleviate it.

For me, the first challenge is accepting that I’m dealing with a stressful situation and may not always handle it well.

When I am dealing with it well, I’m successful at finding ways to distract myself so I can regroup and refocus. This (usually) allows me to go back into the situation somewhat renewed and better able to manage things.

Turn to the simple things that bring you pleasure — listening to music, cooking, reading, etc.

See my Executive Career Brand post for some specific tips on dealing with job search stress by distracting yourself.

Related posts:

16 Ways to Stay Motivated in Executive Job Search

Say NO to Social Media . . . Sometimes

7 Ways To Stay Sane in Your Executive Job Search

photo by karindalziel

Ace Those Phone Interviews! is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

Most executive job seekers can expect to do some job interviews via phone. Video conferencing or Skype video calls may also be in the picture.

According to Susan Adams in her Forbes article on phone interviews, more than half of executive recruiters and hiring managers do initial interviews on the phone.

She also notes that, despite the anxiety that may go with this type of interview, there are benefits. The candidate can easily refer to their prepared notes and materials, and they can take notes to reference when they follow up. Having that edge can make these interviews even more successful than in-person meetings.

Susan offered 10 tips to ace that phone interview:

1. Prepare as though it’s an in-person interview.

2. If the call comes out of the blue, say you’re in the middle of something and set a time to talk.

3. Make sure you’re in a quiet place with a good connection where you won’t be interrupted.

4. Ask how much time the interviewer has to talk.

5. Stand up and smile.

6. Early in the conversation, ask the interviewer what she’s looking for.

7. Don’t over-talk.

8. Listen closely.

9. Ask about the next step in the process.

10. Follow up.

Related posts:

Prepare to Ace & Brand Your C-level Executive Job Interview

Executive Interview: What Questions Do YOU Ask?

Interviews: The Power of Thank You Notes

photo by tjscenes

LinkedIn’s New Criteria For a Complete Profile is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

If you’ve spent some time on LinkedIn building your branded profile, you know that LinkedIn measures your profile for completeness, based on various criteria.

What does “100% complete” mean and why is it so important to get there?

Your profile is more likely to land higher in search results. Your visibility as a good-fit candidate increases dramatically.

Executive recruiters and hiring decision makers at your target companies are more likely to land on your profile when they’re sourcing and assessing good-fit candidates.

In mid-February, LinkedIn changed the completeness criteria and the way they calculate profile completeness:

“The new calculation gives you more control of your score by emphasizing things you have direct control over, like Skills, and putting less weight on areas you may have less control over, like Recommendations. The score also takes profile freshness into consideration, so frequent profile updates can now help with profile completeness.”

Here’s what you now need for a complete profile:

• Your industry and location
• An up-to-date current position (with a description)
• Two past positions
• Your education
• Your skills (minimum of 3)
• A profile photo
• At least 50 connections

LinkedIn says that adding a profile photo makes your profile 7x more likely to be found in searches. Having your 2 most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found.

Looks like it’s time for you and all of us who rely on LinkedIn to attract business and job opportunities, to spend a little time working on our profiles.

Related posts:

My free ebook, Executive Branding and Your LinkedIn Profile: How to Transform Your Executive Brand, Resume, and Career Biography Into a Winning LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn Guide for Executive Branding and Job Search

Does My LinkedIn Profile Really Need a Photo?

Best LinkedIn Tips: Find LinkedIn Groups to Join

photo by nan palmero

The 3 Make or Break Executive Job Interview Questions is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

You’re probably thinking the dreaded “Tell me about yourself” poser is in the list of three.

But it turns out your answer to that question may not be the deciding factor in landing a job.

According to George Bradt, in his Forbes article, Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions, your answers to these three questions are the only true indicators of strengths, motivation and fit:

1.  Can you do the job? (strengths)
2.  Will you love the job? (motivation)
3.  Can we tolerate working with you? (fit)

Regarding fit, Kevin Kelly, Heidrick & Struggles CEO, made the point:

“40 percent of senior executives leave organizations or are fired or pushed out within 18 months. It’s not because they’re dumb; it’s because a lot of times culturally they may not fit in with the organization or it’s not clearly articulated to them as they joined.”

Bradt suggests that, in preparing for interviews, job seekers should be ready to provide examples illustrating their strengths, what motivates them about the company and the position, and what makes them a good fit in terms of their own preferences and the company’s needs.

To pinpoint those examples and develop value proposition stories around them, read my post, Storytelling Propels Executive Branding and Job Search.

Related posts:

Prepare to Ace & Brand Your C-level Executive Job Interview

How Good Is Your Executive Brand Elevator Pitch?

Executive Interview: What Questions Do YOU Ask?

photo by tj scenes

Trust Your Executive Resume To a Certified Master Resume Writer is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

The digital age has significantly impacted executive job search, yet many of the “old” strategies are still tried and true.

Along with purposeful networking, most career professionals will tell you that a targeted, value proposition-driven resume is still one of the most important items in anyone’s job search toolkit.

That’s right. The resume is NOT dead. Without a hard-hitting resume designed to resonate with your target employers, you may never land.

But the Internet, social media and the new world of work have had a major impact on how resumes look and read. No longer a somewhat generic career history outlining jobs, responsibilities and achievements, these days a resume is a career marketing document that brands and positions you as a good-fit candidate for specific target employers.

A branded resume that differentiates your unique value prop is also the foundation for an interview-generating LinkedIn profile, and other online profiles and personal marketing materials.

If you’re like most executives who have suddenly been thrown into job search or are contemplating a career move, you probably don’t know how to pull all the pieces together to create powerful personal marketing documents.

Resume strategy has evolved over the years, in response to the digital age and the needs of those who make hiring decisions. Unless you follow emerging resume and job search trends, you may be at a loss as to how to best position yourself “on paper” to land.

I can help. And here’s where I tell you that I recently earned the CMRW credential, and little about what it means, while I blatantly promote my business.

Awarded by Career Directors International (CDI), the Certified Master Resume Writer is the careers industry’s oldest master-level resume credential and the only one endorsed by a professional association.

Only the 17th person worldwide to have earned this distinguished credential, I join a select group of elite resume writers who have proven themselves by submitting a portfolio of work that has been judged by a panel of CMRW peers. Professionals who themselves are Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) Award Winners and worldwide leaders of the industry.

The portfolio submitted must stand out for its innovation, for advanced formatting that grasps the attention of the reader, and for superior command of the language that makes every bullet point an unfolding story.

Are you thinking you may need help with your executive resume? Review my contact page  and get in touch with me to discuss whether we may be a good fit to work together.

Related posts:

4 Reasons You Can’t Write Your Own Executive Resume

The Biggest Executive Resume Writing Mistake

What’s Wrong with Copying an Executive Resume Sample?

Twitter Newbies’ Biggest Mistake is a post from: Executive Resume Branding

You’ve been swept up in the Twitter frenzy. You heard that it can help you in executive job search, so you jumped in and set up an account.

Beyond that, you don’t really know what to do with Twitter.

Oh sure, you didn’t have too much trouble providing the information they required. Selecting your Twitter name was easy. You chose @yourname, or a variation. You used the same photo you put in your LinkedIn profile and used your LinkedIn profile URL for the “Web” prompt. And you inserted your location. All easy, right?

Then you got to the “Bio” and you were stumped, so you skipped over it. You figured that, once you got a feel for Twitter, you’d come back and fill that in.

That’s it. That’s the biggest mistake you can make as a newbie . . . neglecting the bio or having an anemic bio.

Read more about that biggest newbie Twitter mistake at my Executive Career Brand blog.

Related posts:

Twitter Turbocharges Executive Job Search and Personal Brand Visibility

How Twitter Helped Me Build My Personal Brand

Twitter Executive Branding Strategy: The Beauty of a Retweet

55 Top Job Search Experts To Follow On Twitter

photo by josh semans