IMPROVE YOUR LINKEDIN FINDABILITY BY 12X
by Anne Pryor ~ February 22nd, 2012LinkedIn makes improvements to the site based on feedback from members. Two changes have been introduced to the Profile that may have an impact on your profile completeness score.
First, the Profile now puts more emphasis on Skills and Expertise. This means you can showcase your areas of expertise to easily connect with people that have similar skills, or with companies looking for subject matter experts. This can be found on the Company Profile, click on the bar chart on the right side of the profile, and you’ll see a listing of the most popular skills of employees at that company.
Secondly, LinkedIn changed how profile completeness is calculated. 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 recommendations. The score also takes profile freshness into consideration, so I recommend adding a new key word, or a new book to the Amazon reading list each week.
From LinkedIn, here are tips for completing your profile based on the new calculation.
Complete your profile: Adding a profile photo makes your profile 7x more likely to be found in searches. Also, having your two most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found. Simple updates like these make a difference.
Here are quick steps to create a complete profile and ensure you’re putting your best foot forward:
1) Add a profile photo
2) List all the jobs or positions you’ve held, along with descriptions of your roles
3) Have 5 or more skills on your profile
4) Write a summary about yourself
5) Fill out your industry and postal code
6) Add where you went to school
7) Have 50 or more connections – it’s easier than you think to get connected! (I like to see clients get to 100 connections. I opens up more possibilities for you to find that great job – remember to keep in mind: people you know, like and trust)
Interview with Patricia Berg, CEO
by Irene Rossman ~ February 16th, 2012Patricia Berg, the CEO of Career Partners International Twin Cities and Recipient of the MCDA 2011 Jules Kerlan Outstanding Achievement Award, was interviewed for the Winter Newsletter of the Minnesota Career Development Association and the complete interview follows:
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Patricia Berg was the 2011 recipient of the MCDA Jules Kerlan Award. During her impressive 25-year career, Pat has been a business owner, coach, and career counselor. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Career Partners International, a Career and Executive Coaching organization. Patricia is active in numerous professional and community endeavors and serves on the board of SHIFT as Board Chairman.
Tell us about your background and what led you into the field of career development.
For a number of years I worked in Human Resources – as an administrator, recruiter, and ultimately as a Director of HR. I found that much of the employee relations and coaching I was engaged in focused on careers – how to engage a workforce, how to provide career feedback, how to build skills, how to coach and mentor a staff, etc. While on sabbatical with young children, my former employer was acquired and a major downsizing occurred. They asked me to come in and work with the employees on developing their resumes and helping them prepare for the job search process. That ultimately led me to the field of career development and shortly after I joined Personnel Decisions International as a Career Coach.
What do you feel are your greatest accomplishments and why?
The first accomplishment is seeing clients succeed. Navigating through a career transition can be challenging for all kinds of reasons. When clients successfully land in a position that’s a good fit, it’s our reward as career coaches. I love to hear clients tell their stories and listen to what was important to them in the process. Secondly would be putting together a business model and strategy that recognizes the individuality of the process. It isn’t a one size fits all business, and our clients regularly remind us that what we do and how we do it makes a difference to them. Finally, having the pleasure to work with an outstanding team, people who are committed to helping clients, and who share my values of individualization, innovation, and relationship based delivery.
You are a business owner, career consultant/counselor, executive and entrepreneurial coach….so many roles in your career! What do you enjoy the most about your job/career?
Most of all I enjoy working with people on a 1×1 basis to help them figure out what’s next in their career and then create a strategic plan to help them reach their goal. When you work with people during a period of transition, you often establish deep and on-going relationships. These people call for years to get advice, touch base, and refer friends or colleagues. It is these relationships that mean the most to me.
What advice would you give a young person starting out in our profession?
I would advise them to really understand their underpinnings. My values have driven all of my career choices. What do they believe in, what’s most important to them, how do they want to be perceived in the marketplace, and what kind of a reputation do they want to build. Secondly, professional development is important for everyone. Joining in and participating in MCDA and other professional development groups keep you learning.
Final Comments:
I would like to extend my thanks to MCDA and the career community. It is an honor to be recognized with this award and I am deeply appreciative. When I reflect on the importance of the work we do, and how next to family, careers are a central part of people’s lives, the impact of the career profession cannot be emphasized enough.
Getting Found: Online Visibility is Crucial!
by Debra Magnuson ~ February 9th, 2012I spoke about Online Visibility the other day at the St. Catherine University (St. Paul) Leadership Challenge Conference, www.stkate.edu/leadership What a powerful day–300+ business women at all levels from a wide array of Twin Cities organizations, along with plenty of people in job transition, coming together to learn, to laugh, and to share. And, of course, to network. Business cards were flying back and forth like aces at a blackjack table.
You’ve been to many conferences and business gatherings like it—great people and great opportunities to network. But then what? What will these great people discover if they go online to find you? What’s your “Online ID”? This is especially crucial for job seekers. As author Dave Perry www.gm4jh.com/ says in his book Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters, “I think what people haven’t yet recognized is that nowadays they are the product and they have to manage their own brand and manage their own PR.”
To get you started in strengthening your Online ID, here are Top 10 Best Practices for sending the powerful online message you want:
- Assess current online presence—start by Googling your name
- Clarify your brand—determine keywords
- Get a good picture taken
- Strengthen LinkedIn profile—link it to Twitter, Facebook and other sites
- Secure domain names
- Start commenting on blogs
- Make a video and put it on YouTube
- Create a branded bio
- Create a blog page that becomes your website
- Optimize opportunities—get found!
This list is adapted from the terrific work of William Arruda, the personal branding guru whom you can find at www.reachpersonalbranding.com or www.williamarruda.com.
Stay tuned—we’ll dig into the specifics of Online ID best practices in blogs to come! For now, Google your name and see what turns up!
Job Search Tip: Resumes and Keywords
by Kari Berg ~ January 17th, 2012We have heard over and over that keywords are an important part of resumes. At first glance, a hiring manager may only spend 30 seconds looking at your resume. If your resume contains keywords that match the job you are applying for, the hiring manager may take a closer look.
If you are writing your resume from scratch, go find postings for jobs that you are interested in. What are the keywords in those postings? Make a list of keywords that are specific to your target industry. Keywords include things like job titles, skills and requirements, education and certifications, and acronyms and industry terminology. Don’t forget to customize your resume for each job you are applying for. Look at the keywords in the job posting, and include those in your resume.
An interesting tool that will highlight what your resume communicates is a word cloud. Making a word cloud of your resume, using websites such as Wordle or Tagxedo, will show you what words are emphasized in your resume. As an example, I am including a Tagxedo word cloud of CPI Twin Cities’ home page. As you can see, our emphasis is on CAREER, COACHING, DEVELOPMENT, and TRANSITION.
What words are emphasized in your resume?
Job Search Tip: Do Your Research
by Judy Galt ~ January 10th, 2012“CHANCE FAVORS THE PREPARED MIND,” LOUIS PASTEUR
We’ve all heard the above quote from Louis Pasteur. And we all know about the “chance” element of every job search. You need to be in the right place at the right time with the right skills and the right personality match. How can you maximize your chances of being prepared when the right opportunity comes along? Research.
Studies have shown that the efficacy of the job search is directly proportional to the self confidence the job seeker has in his/her ability to conduct the search. Research can play a key role in helping build that confidence.
There are many aspects to research during a job transition. You may research just how the process works these days if you haven’t been in a search for awhile. Or you may need to research which companies in a given geographic region meet your criteria for inclusion on your target list. Perhaps you’ll need to evaluate a job offer to see if it is, in fact, a good fit for you or to verify that the compensation package offered meets your needs. Your research may result in your staying on top of the goings-on in the local business community.
But one of the key aspects of research during a job search is to prepare yourself for the job interview. Understanding the company, the role the position you are interviewing for has within the firm, how your skill set matches with the company’s needs, etc. can help you stand out from the crowd during an interview. You will also need to know about the firm’s industry and who the major competitors are. Your research will help you prepare some questions to ask at the end of the interview when you are asked if there is anything the interviewer can answer for you.
We are fortunate at CPI to have access to several tools that can help make this interview prep process a little easier. The first is the powerful company/industry database OneSource, accessible through the CPI portal at www.CPITwinCities.com. This database can help you create target lists, provide you with a profile of your target firm including corporate family tree and financials, access reports on the firm from other analysts, locate SEC filings and annual reports if the firm is public, and find up-to-the-minute news items. Many of our outplacement program packages include being able to access the second research tool, the resident research librarian (ME!) for help. You can ask me to help you learn how to do your own research or just ask me to do it for you. Check with your consultant to see if you have a program that allows you to tap into my research services. The third tool to consider is the workshop on research skills for job seekers offered every other Tuesday morning. It’s a long session, but jam-packed with good ideas for using the tools available to you to help navigate the uncertain waters of the job transition. It’s constantly being updated, so if you haven’t been for awhile, please consider this an invitation to join me for a refresher. And, of course, if you are new to the job search, it’s a must.
We hope you’ll take advantage of the tools we provide to help you take some of the uncertainty out of the job search process and get your mind prepared so that chance will favor you when the time is right.
