I think this is a fabulous idea – as long as the card isn’t snarky or sent with a mean spirit.  I’ve also seen “Happy Lay Off” cards that can be very funny, if you’re in the mood.

But, I also wouldn’t stop with only a card, even if the card is wonderful. There are so many more things you can do for someone who has just lost their job.

When you’ve been laid off, you can feel like an escapee (if you’re lucky) or like a failure or a victim, and sometimes you feel awkward about reaching back to people you saw every day but who are now employed where you were once employed.

You also feel cut off from your colleagues – from your (former) support network at work.  With luck, and a little effort, colleagues can transform into a network outside of work, too.

So that card is a great start.  And then:

1.  Stay in touch!  Don’t abandon the person.

Particularly if you were a co-worker of the person who got laid off, stay in touch.  It’s too easy to lose track of people when they leave the work environment.  Remember, they haven’t disappeared.  They’ve just moved on.

2.  Don’t feel guilty if you still have a job.

Feel very lucky and know that a layoff could happen to you, too.  Don’t “drop” the person because you feel uncomfortable with their employment status.  Reach out to them, because they may feel too unsure of their welcome to reach out to you.

3.  Share positive feedback.

If you have ideas on what you think they do really well, share that information.  Remind them of their accomplishments, obstacles they overcame, achievements, and successes.

4.  Help with networking.

Put yourself in your laid off friend’s shoes, and do what you would hope someone would do for you – help them with their networking.

Off-line help:

• Call them just to stay in touch.
• Ask what they want to do next.
• Ask who they might want to work for next.
• Figure out if you have any connections that could help them find that next job.  Share those connections.
• Make phone calls on the person’s behalf to potential networking or job sources.
• Arrange “coffee” meetings to connect the person with good networking connections, and be there to make the introductions in person, if possible.

Online help:

• Send email “introductions” connecting them with new people.
• Write a nice recommendation on LinkedIn.
• Share the person’s resume with anyone you know who might be able to help with a job lead or more networking connections.
• Help them find good websites (like Job-Hunt.org) where they can get excellent advice and links to useful job search resources.

5.  Don’t send this card as a joke or a warning.

Right now, job loss is no joking matter.  So, let the greeting card lighten the blow for someone who really has been laid off.  Be nice, and don’t scare someone with one of these.

Bottom Line

A job search today is tough, but it’s much easier if you have a good network helping you connect with that next job.  So, if you know someone who was just laid off, send them the card, if you think they’ll enjoy it.  Then, more importantly, offer to help them connect with that next job.  Because you could be unemployed soon, and won’t it be nice to have employed friends who appreciate your support of their job search!

© Copyright, 2011, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

Think about it: would you buy something from someone who didn’t care what you wanted or needed?

“Buy this computer.  I need to make a sale today.”

You’d be a lot more interested in buying if the salesperson said this:

“This computer does exactly what you need.  It runs the most popular and reliable operating system, the one you know how to use.  All the software you use every day is already installed, and ready to go.  It has plenty of memory, a super fast processor, and the largest and fastest hard drive on the market.  It has built-in WIFI and 5G network connections, plus the latest anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-malware, anti-spyware software to protect you and your computer from the Internet bad guys.

If you’re like me, you’d be so thrilled by that offer, it would take you a while to remember to ask the price.  That’s why really good sales people are so successful – they look at things from the customer’s perspective.

In your job search, view potential employers as your customers.

Buying Mode – W I I F M

When I worked in corporate America, in every deal, we looked for the -

W I I F M
(meaning What’s In It For “Me”)
“Me” = the company)

As a job seeker talking to a potential employer, WIIFM is the wrong place for you to start (great for finishing, though).

WIIFM is the buyer’s perspective, and, at least at the beginning of your discussions with a potential employer, you are the seller, not the buyer. 

So WIIFM is the wrong approach to take, unless you and the employer know - as an absolute fact – that you are the only person who can do the job.

Sales Mode – W I I F T

Most of us do have quite a bit of competition in the job market, unfortunately, so we are normally in sales mode (or as Job-Hunt Expert Tim Tyrell-Smith would say, “Personal Marketing” mode).  Consequently, job seekers are typically much more successful when they approach potential employers from this perspective -

W I I F T
(meaning What’s In It For “Them“)
“Them” = the employer)

Think about it – why should this employer hire you?  The fact that you have bills to pay and need a job to pay them doesn’t really matter to the employer.

Bottom Line

Remember that employers want to know what’s in it for them if they hire you.  What will you do that they need?  How will you help them to succeed?  Focus on W I I F T for employers you really want, and you will have a successful job search.

For more information:

• Read Tim’s posts in the Personal Marketing section.
• Read Parmelee Eastman and Debra Wheatman’s posts in the Company Research section.
• Read Laura DeCarlo’s posts in the Job Interviews section.

© Copyright, 2011, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

 The world’s # 1 online job search destination just became even more important!

On Sept. 14, in response to requests from job seekers (and probably employers), Indeed.com announced the launch of Indeed Resume, a new function that will help both job seekers and employers, and could be the next must-do for job seekers.

As of September 14, Indeed now provides:

• Resume posting for job seekers (free, of course) with many different resume formats accepted, including PDF.
• And, free resume searching for employers, although a cost to employers will probably be coming. 
• A personal URL for the job seeker (customizable by the job seeker) to use for their Indeed Resume.

I’m happy to say that Indeed is a Job-Hunt Sponsor, but I see this as an important new development benefiting both job seekers and employers regardless of that relationship.

How Indeed Resume Works

1.  You, the job seeker, post your resume (one version, for now at least) on Indeed Resume.

2.  You choose the level of privacy you want.  So, if you are employed, you can (should!) keep your resume Private!

3.  If you make your resume searchable, employers can search for your resume for free (vs. the hundreds or thousands of dollars job boards typically charge).

4.  When an employer finds your resume and wants to contact you, the contact goes through Indeed.  So, your contact information will be supressed in the resume search, which means you shouldn’t get any bogus offers or sales pitches as a result of posting your resume.

5.  If you are interested in the job and the employer, you can respond.

Benefits for Job Seekers and Employers

This is good for everyone for several reasons.

If you are a job seeker -

• You now have a snazzy place to post your resume, complete with your personal resume URL which you can use many ways: “networking” (business) card, email signature, Google Profile, LinkedIn Profile, and QR code.
•  If you are a job seeker, your resume is searchable by MANY more employers than usual because employers don’t need to pay a fee to search through Indeed Resume.
•  Employers seeking to search through Indeed Resume are carefully screened to ensure that they really are employers.
• Employers can’t see your personal contact information, until you approve, so your privacy is protected.

If you are an employer -

• You don’t pay for access to resumes that may not contain the job candidates you need.  And Indeed Resume, which started “beta” in March, 2011, already has over 1,000,000 resumes and is growing at more than 10,000 resumes a day!
• The search function is very, very nice – lots of Indeed filters and advanced search options.
• You won’t be competing with non-employers who muddy the communications between job board, employer, and job seeker.
• At least for now, reaching out to a job candidate who you’ve found will be at no cost.  That will probably change in the future. 

Most of the time, when I see “Free resume posting” and/or “Free resume searching” – I look for the “gotcha” that causes either job seekers or employers pain.  I don’t know any legitimate site, except maybe a private association, that charges job seekers to post their resumes. And, I usually see “free resume searching for employers” as a threat to job seeker privacy.  But, this one is different!

Click on that “Post Your Resume” button, and upload your resume (even a PDF!).  Then, IF you are currently employed, be sure to make your resume Private!  Indeed has included the safeguards for you to use to protect your privacy.

Here’s the Indeed blog post about Indeed Resume.

Bottom Line

Given that this is Indeed, this looks like a win/win, at least for job seekers and employers.  Maybe not such good news for Indeed’s competition…

© Copyright, 2011, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

Are there things you know you should be doing for your job search, but you can’t seem to get started? Or finished? Do you feel like you are trying to run through a tar pit wearing water skis to get anything done?  

You are stuck, and July is the perfect time to get un-stuck.  Leap out of that tar pit, and leave those skis behind!

With your rivals for that great job taking it easy this summer, you vault into action and snag that job while they aren’t paying attention.

How to get un-stuck immediately so you can do all this leaping, vaulting, and snagging?  Try applying these 5 rules for making progress in landing your new job.

1.  The 15-Minute-Focus Rule

I have an entrepreneurial friend, very smart and very successful in several niches, who has an interesting way to manage herself when she gets “stuck” on something.  She applies her 15-Minute-Focus Rule.

She assigns herself a task to do, or even just to start, for 15 minutes.  She gets out the kitchen timer, sets it for 15 minutes, and digs in to whatever needs to be accomplished – but only for those 15 minutes.  Not that horrible to contemplate, and not that hard to do.  “Only” 15 minutes of focus and time is required.

Sometimes, all that she can do is that 15 minutes of focus (barely). 

However, more often, as she sees that she is making progress, she adds another 15 minutes and then another until she stops using the timer so she can focus on the work without interruption.

Worst case, she’s made real progress, for at least 15 minutes.  So, she’s ahead of where she was before she applied her 15-Minute-Focus Rule.  And, often, those 15 minutes of progress change her outlook and attitude about that particular task so it doesn’t look so gigantic and unmanageable after some progress has been made.

2.  The Smaller-Tasks Rule

One of the benefits of the 15-Minute Focus Rule is that my friend has broken a big barricade into smaller, 15-minute speed-bumps.  This is another key to accomplishing something you know you need to do, but just can’t seem to get started doing – breaking it down in to manageable chunks that can be started and completed relatively quickly.

If you have a to-do list, take a look at it, and see where you can make it less intimidating and more achievable.  If you don’t have a to-do list, start one.

Perhaps “Find a job” is at the top of your list.  Finding a job is comprised of hundreds (even thousands) of smaller tasks like -

• Stopping by your college career center (or visiting it online) to access the alumni directories, looking for names of classmates or other alumni who work in the field you want or for one of your target employers
• Looking for, and participating in, LinkedIn Groups for “alumni” of your former employers, for people in your location, for people who do what you do, for people in your target industry
• Going to the local MeetUp for job seekers or whatever interests you in your community
• Researching local employers through the Chamber of Commerce website

Look at that list, and determine which needs to be done first based on importance or logic.  (If the house is on fire, putting the fire out is important.  Calling the fire department is a logical first step.). 

Breaking your to-do list into more achievable tasks and figuring out which items need to be done first is the start of a plan, and planning is good!

3.  The Daily-Alpha-Task Rule

In my 2003 article entitled, “6 Simple Steps to Make Progress in Your Job Search,” I recommended something that works for me  -  starting the day by completing that day’s “Alpha Task.” 

In 2003, this is how I described the Alpha Task:

Before you begin your day’s work, look at your to-do list and decide which task is THE ONE TASK that will keep your job search moving forward, even if you get nothing else for your job search done that day. That task is your “Alpha Task.” 

I’ve discovered that – for me, at least – choosing the Alpha Task is something best done just before I stop working the day before, rather than at the start of the new day’s work. 

If you’re like me, making progress on your most significant task of the day, early in the day, makes you feel better about everything, and gets the day off to a great start.

4.  The Learning-from-Mistakes Rule

I attended a very interesting conference in Las Vegas last month, The Fordyce Forum for the independent, very high-end executive recruiters usually called “headhunters.”  It was a very interesting conference and an extremely interesting group (what I learned about networking from them).

Speaker Bob Marshall, founder of The Bob Marshall Group, recommended that at the end of each day, each week, and each event or meeting, you take 5 minutes (or 15!) to look back at what just happened.  What did you do well, and where could you have improved your performance?  What could be changed for next time? 

Bob’s suggestion is an excellent idea, one that I bet very few of us do!  I am finding that sitting down in a quiet place, thinking about, and writing down my thoughts is very helpful.  It enables (or forces) me to focus, so I can actually learn something from the experience.

As the saying goes, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.”  Pragmatically evaluating your performance enables you to see and to learn from your mistakes, improving your over-all results.

5.  The No-One-Is-Perfect Rule

If you are human, you will make mistakes: have lapses in judgement and just plain mess up.  NO EXCEPTIONS!  No matter what a superstar you are - how gifted and intelligent - you will make mistakes. 

Learn from them (see # 4), get over it, and move on.

While perfection is certainly an excellent goal, don’t let lack of perfection derail your job search.

Bottom Line

Managing yourself and your attitude through this whole job search process is critical to your ultimate success.  Turn this event into a learning experience, and it will become an advantage for your future because you can apply these rules to everything you need to do.  You’ll never be “stuck” again.

Good luck with your job search!

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Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.

The Career Collective Articles for July, 2011

• 4 Summer Strategies to Step Up Your Job Search, @DebraWheatman, #careercollective
• Putting Your Job Search Up On The Rack For Inspection, @dawnrasmussen, #careercollective
• Mid-Year Job Search Checkup: Are you wasting your time? @GayleHoward, #careercollective
• What is your unique value proposition? @keppie_careers, #careercollective
• It is Time for Your Check-up Ms/Mr Jobseeker, @careersherpa, #careercollective
• Mid-Year Career Checkup: Are You “On Your Game?” @KatCareerGal, #careercollective
• How to Perform a Mid-Year Job Search Checkup, @heatherhuhman, #careercollective
• Reposition your job search for success, @LaurieBerenson, #careercollective
• Mid-Year Job Search Checkup: What’s working and What’s not? @erinkennedycprw, #careercollective
• Mid-Year Check Up: The Full 360, @WalterAkana, #careercollective
• 5 Tips for Fighting Summer Job Search Blues, @KCCareerCoach, #CareerCollective
• Are you positive about your job search? @DawnBugni, #CareerCollective
• Where Are The Jobs? @MartinBuckland, @EliteResumes, #CareerCollective
• Mid-Year Job-Search Checkup: Get Your Juices Flowing, @ValueIntoWords, #CareerCollective
• When Was Your Last Career & Job Search Check Up? @expatcoachmegan, #CareerCollective
• Is Summer A Job Search Momentum Killer? @TimsStrategy, #CareerCollective
• Is It Time for Your Resume Checkup? @barbarasafani, #CareerCollective

Just typing “jobs” as your query in Google will give you nearly 3 billion results – a little time-consuming for you to check out each one, and not very practical or useful either. 

So, you need to do three things to help you find the job postings you want:

1. Know the job you want. 
   An unfocused web search on Google is as useless as an unfocused job search, “IRL” (“in real life”).  “Anything” seems easy to find, but it really is not because no one describes their job opening as “anything.”  So figure out the job(s) you want to do next to have terms you can use in Google and also in your answer the next time someone asks.
2. Modify your Google search so the results are more useful to you (see the tips and example below).
3. Analyze pages like the pages you want Google to find for you.  Look for terms that are repeated on those pages, and then use those commonly-used terms in your search to find similar pages.

Tips for Effective Google Searches for Jobs

More About Using Google for Job Search: Google for Job Search Home Google Search Ground Rules Find Jobs with Google Google-ize Your Job Search Set Up Google Alerts 50 Ways to Use Google to Avoid Layoffs 5 Ways to Use Google Alerts for Your Job Search Google Alerts to Monitor Your Reputation Find Jobs on Employer Websites Find Hidden Jobs on Dot-Jobs Websites

If you are looking for a job, you must think like a recruiter or employer.  You need to analyze what words people creating the postings you want commonly use in their postings:

• Correct job title
  Most job postings contain the title of the job, so those words should be used in your search.  If you are searching for a specific job title, be sure to search using the most commonly used version of the job title.  Perhaps your existing employer titles your job “member service associate” but most employers use the title “customer service representative.”  Searching on the term “member service associate” won’t get you the results you need if your target is a customer service representative job.
• Appropriate location name
  You probably want a job in a specific location, so the name of that location should be included in your search query.  Use the words normally used to describe the location, and think about how the location is normally described.  If you are looking for a job in eastern Massachusetts, south of Boston, try terms like “greater Boston,” “South Shore,” “south eastern MA,” “eastern MA,” “south eastern Massachusetts,” or a list of the city names.
• Appropriate employer name
  If you have target employers in mind, use those employers’ names in your search queries.  When I worked for a company named Digital Equipment Corporation, the outside world often used the whole name in references to the company, or they used the initials, DEC.  But, inside the company, we called it “Digital” or, less often, “DEC.”  Which version of the name is most commonly used in the company’s job postings?
• Job description terms
  Most job postings contain the term “job description” and often offer directions about how to apply for the job (like “submit your application” or “submit your resume”), and then you can include those words in your search queries to find the jobs they have posted.

So, if you wanted a job as a “customer service representative” in “eastern Massachusetts” working for a bank, you could search for those job postings using this search querry:

“customer service representative job” “South Shore” + MA +bank +description -teller

Often you will find developing effective searches is an iterative process.  Looking at the results of the first search will help you refine the structure of the second search, improving your results each time.  It shouldn’t take too long to develop the most effective search queries, and then you can turn those into Google Alerts to have Google run them for you on a daily basis.

For more information on appropriately using the quotation marks, pluses, and minuses, read this article about how to structure your Google search.

Better Use of  Your Time – Use the tips above to structure your searches on Indeed.

From a practical perspective, using Job-Hunt Sponsor Indeed.com is quicker and more effective than creating Google searches from scratch.  Indeed also offers Alerts, and will email job search results to you! 

© Copyright, 2011, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

As we’ve all said countless times in our lives, “it’s all in how you look at it.”  If you see Twitter users as a bunch of self-absorbed people with too much time on their hands Tweeting about what they ate for breakfast, then that’s what you’ll see when you go to Twitter.  Not necessarily true…

5 Worst Reasons to Use Twitter for Job Search:

1.  Because your job search coach or career counselor told you that you should do it.

2.  Because you read somewhere that you should do it.

3.  Because “everyone else” is doing it.

4.  Because your spouse/significant other/teenager/tweener/neighbor set it up for you.

5.  Because you don’t have anything better to do.

Much MUCH better reasons to use Twitter for your job search exist!  Below are the first 5 I could think of.  Many more exist – feel free to add them in the comments.

5 Best Reasons to Use Twitter for Your Job Search:

1.  To stay up to date with your “field.”

Whatever your field may be, someone is Tweeting about the latest news: products, services, companies (employers!), the latest research, the latest disasters, the latest successes, and much more.

2.  To expand your professional network.

I’ve met so many wonderful people through Twitter that I can’t count them all. And I have learned more about what is going on in my field, found wonderful resources to share with my Followers, been offered excellent opportunities to speak and to write, and enjoyed interesting and educational Twitter “conversations.” 

3.  To find opportunities.

Many, MANY employers Tweet links to their most recent job postings.  I identified 500 of them, and put them in my Employers-Recruiting Twitter list.  Follow the ones you have targeted. And Follow useful Twitter accounts like @TwitJobSearch and @JobHuntOrg (of course!).

4.  To enhance your job search skills.

The experts in the 101 Top Twitter Job Search and Career Experts consistently provide excellent information to make your job search more effective and your career more successful. 

5.  To appear (and to be) up-to-date with social media.

Demonstrate to family, friends, colleagues, and – best of all – to potential employers that you “get it” when it comes to using social media.  Social media skills are in demand (and that demand is growing).  Particularly if you are over 40, looking up-to-date is important for your job search.

If those people Tweeting about their breakfast are nuitritionists, dietitions, food or restaurant critics, or FDA officials warning about some contamination in the food supply, then those seemingly self-absorbed Tweets are providing useful information and are “on-brand” for those Tweeters,  not nonsense

So, carefully consider the context and the content when you use Twitter.  Think about the image that you want to project, the information you can provide, the people you can help.  Figure out what is on-brand for you.

Bottom Line

The world has shifted dramatically in the last 5 years, and that has certainly had a big impact on job search.  We’re leaving the please-PLEASE-PLEASE-HIRE-ME approach behind and moving to the see-how-wonderful-I-am-hire-me-if-you-can days.  An interesting change/challenge for both sides of “the desk.”

BTW:

Tip of the hat to Women-Unlimited.co.uk and Julie Hall for the idea behind this post – 5 worst reasons for using Twitter for your business which helps businesses understand why to use Twitter. Excellent post! Thank you for permission to “borrow” your idea.

Good luck with your job search!

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Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.

I am a member of the Career Collective, a group of  resume writers and career coaches. Each month, all members discuss a topic, and this month’s topic is out-dated job search beliefs. Please follow our tweets on Twitter #careercollective. See the links to the other Career Collective articles at the bottom of this post.

The Numbers Game theory:

Just keep applying over and over and over and over again on every job board and employer website you can find, and sooner or later something will click. 

Like buying lottery tickets every week?  And, how well does that work for most of us!

Next to “being flexible” and “keeping your options open” (in other words, not knowing or communicating what job you want – see this post about that major mistake), this is the next most out-dated job search belief I see. 

What Does Work?

If you were responsible for hiring a new employee, you would want to hire a person you could trust and work well with, who would do a good job and make you look good to your boss.

So, assume you had these two choices. Who would you hire:

1. A total stranger.  OR
2. A person already known to you, either a member of your own personal network (LinkedIn, etc.) or referred by a current employee or by a member of your network.

You would probably pick # 2, so would – and do – most of us.  It doesn’t mean that the person carefully submitting a targeted resume with a great, customized cover letter (or email) has no chance at all.  It just means that the person known by someone trusted has a much better chance of being hired.

So, How Do You Get Known and Referred?

You find a way to connect with people who know you (hopefully):

• People you worked with in the past – colleagues, former bosses, even former subordinates.
• People who were your customers in the past.
• People who worked for your employer’s suppliers or other allied organizations.
• People you know who work for competitors of your former employers (be careful with this one).
• Participate carefully and professionally in social media online to become more “known” in a wider circle than the total stranger.

These days, your chances of connecting with former colleagues, customers, suppliers, etc. is much higher than it was in the pre-Internet (pre-LinkedIn and pre-Facebook) eras: 

• Check the LinkedIn Groups Directory to find hundreds of corporate “alumni” groups. 
• Job-Hunt links to over 250 corporate, military, and government employee “alumni” groups, most of which are not LinkedIn Groups.
• Jump on Facebook, and search for the names of people and the names of your former employers, ask your FB Friends, place a FB ad, etc.

Note!  In Jobvite’s social recruiting survey in 2010, 65% of employers surveyed reported that they rewarded the employees who referred a successful job candidate.  The employee making the referral got paid by the employer when their candidate was hired! So everyone wins!

Bottom Line

When I ask people new in their jobs how they got the job, often they tell me, “My former boss called me,” or “A guy I used to work with contacted me,” and other personal referrals.  You can be that person, too!  LinkedIn, Facebook, Google/Bing, and the Internet make it easy to reconnect with people you worked with and make it easier to become a “known quantity” to a wide circle of people.  Take the time to expand your network, and you can beat the numbers game, too.

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.

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The Career Collective Articles for February, 2011:

• Juice Up Your Job Search, @debrawheatman
• It’s not your age, it’s old thinking, @GayleHoward
• Want a Job? Ignore these outdated job search beliefs @erinkennedycprw
• Job Search Then and Now, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes
• Break the Rules or Change the Game? @WalterAkana
• The New: From The Employer’s-Eye View, @ResumeService
• Job Search: Breakable Rules and Outdated Beliefs, @KatCareerGal
• Job Hunting Rules to Break (Or Why and How to Crowd Your Shadow), @chandlee @StartWire,
• Shades of Gray, @DawnBugni
• 3 Rules That Are Worth Your Push-Back, @WorkWithIllness
• Your Photo on LinkedIn – Breaking a Cardinal Job Search Rule? @KCCareerCoach
• How to find a job: stop competing and start excelling, @Keppie_Careers
• Be You-Nique: Resume Writing Rules to Break, @ValueIntoWords
• Modernizing Your Job Search, @LaurieBerenson
• Don’t Get Caught With an Old School Resume, @barbarasafani
• How Breaking the Rules Will Help You in Your Job Search, @expatcoachmegan
• 25 Habits to Break if You Want a Job, @CareerSherpa

Looking into my foggy crystal ball, these are the trends I see for  2011, or “to infinity and beyond!” as our friend Buzz Lightyear would have described it.  I have 3 predictions to make and 2 fervent wishes.

First, the 3 predictions:

1.  Increasing use of mobile apps – iPad, iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, etc.

If you have an iPhone, iPad, Droid, BlackBerry, etc., you can job search on the bus, in the dentist’s waiting room, in a restaurant while you wait for a friend or the check, etc.  You can also edit and send your resume, write a LinkedIn Recommendation for your colleague, check for local MeetUps, and on and on and on.

LinkedIn and Twitter have free mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, etc.  Two of my favorite job posting sources, Indeed and LinkUp for example, now have free mobile apps, so you can still job search even when you’re not at your computer.

And, the mapping app will help you find the location of that interview, while the traffic app helps you avoid the traffic jams and construction and the weather app keeps you informed of the latest blizzard or drenching rain storms. Plus, of course, the email and browser apps will keep you up to date on what’s going on in your digital world.

2.  Increasing dominance of LinkedIn for job search.

Reflecting its growth in popularity with recruiters, LinkedIn will become an even greater force in online job search in 2011. Be on LinkedIn or be invisible.  And, make no mistake, in the future, being invisible is deadly for your job search and your career (see # 3 below for more).

In 2011, you’ll have many options available for transforming your LinkedIn Profile into a resume when you need one to hand out at an interview or to impress your friends.  At a minimum, these will help your LinkedIn Profile stay in synch with your resume and vice versa. Check out these two I found:

• LinkedIn Labs own resume builder application – http://resume.linkedinlabs.com/
• And SnapPages.com’s Resume builder – http://www.snappages.com/resume

[Soon there will probably be LinkedIn Profile resume builder apps for your iPhone/iPad/etc., combining predictions # 1 and #2!]

3.  Increasing importance of reputation management.

If you don’t have a Google Alert established for your name, you are taking a big chance unless you have a one-in-a-million name like Barack Obama.  So, set one up.  NOW!  [Here's how.]

According to a late 2009 study by Microsoft, 79% of employers Google a job applicant “always or most of the time.”  You need to know what they will find when they Google your name.

In 2011, you must be aware of what is ”out there” attached to your name  because:

• Someone with the same name may have done something bad, and an employer won’t know it isn’t you.  Better to know about it so you can figure out how to avoid it or how to handle it.
• A search on your name which has no relevant results makes you look out-of-date and out-of touch with current technology and how we communicate in the 2nd decade of the 21st century.
• You may have created some of your own “digital dirt” through Facebook, Twitter, etc. – the usual ways people create CLM’s (Career-Limiting Moves) with the Internet and social media.

Reputation management is certainly possible, and so is damage control, if necessary, but you must know in advance that you need it.  So start paying attention by simply setting up that Google Alert.

For more help with reputation management, check out Jacob Share’s amazing JobMob post – 200+ Resources & Tips to Help Manage Your Reputation Online – he’s going to continue to add to it.  Great job, Jacob! wish I’d done that!

Now, those 2 wishes:

1.  Job seekers & bloggers: less blind trust; more verification!

Job seekers, “expert” (?) bloggers, and amateur ”journalists” – stop being so darned trusting!  Take a better look at what you are recommending.  I’ve just read a blog post in a fairly reputable blog about top new job boards, and one of the sites that were recommended is completely anonymous, including a private domain registration. YIKES!

Please, peek under the hood just a little bit more before you recommend that kind of site, and then DON’T recommend it if you don’t find good, solid information.  A Contact Us  or About Us webpage should have a physical address and a phone number.  Read 15 Criteria for Choosing a Job Site for more detailed information.

When I find one of these completely anonymous sites, I wonder:  Why don’t they want us to know who they are?  What are they hiding?

Job seekers – poke around a little on a new site before you post your resume or give out your email address. Don’t trust a site because it looks pretty and professional.

2.  Employers: enough with the passive job seeker nonsense!

I’ve always thought the recruiting theory lauding the “passive” (employed) candidate as the most desirable hire was largely hogwash.  Yes, sometimes unemployed job seekers will take the first job they are offered, but good recruiters should be able to tell the difference between a candidate who is a good fit versus one who is a bad fit.

Fit for the job and the organization are what should matter – not, for Heaven’s sake, employment status.

Now, I see this recruiting theory is very damaging to our economy and to all of us. Refusing to even consider unemployed job seekers is stupid and cruel.

If those so-wonderful employed job seekers are really “passive,” even the best recruiters won’t lure them away.  So stop trying!

Recruiters & Employers: There are plenty of excellent people
who are unemployed right now through no fault of their own.

Hire them!

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.

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The Career Collective Posts

More predictions and trends from the other members of the CareerCollective:

As 2010 comes to an end, we are very happy to announce that Debra Feldman, the JobWhiz, is the newest member of the  Job-Hunt Experts.  Debra has been helping job seekers with their job searches for over 10 years.  As the JobWhiz, Debra is an executive talent agent who helps senior executives find their next opportunities.

Debra is Job-Hunt’s Job Search Strategies Expert.

A prolific author, Debra’s advice appears in traditional and new media. She writes feature articles, guest blogs, and posts tweets (@Debra_Feldman) and has contributed to more than a dozen resume and career books. She has been quoted in and interviewed for countless blogs as well as print (Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Fox News, Reader’s Digest, Greenwich Time, Hartford Courant, Yahoo careers, The Boston Globe, etc.).

As Debra describes 21st century job search -

“Job search is not about you or what you want but about exceeding the employer’s expectations, removing their doubts, increasing your credibility, and making them recognize your potential for them and that you are trustworthy – their first choice, the go-to expert.”

On Job-Hunt, Debra will help job seekers of every organizational level understand how to job hunt more effectively online.  Topics Debra plans to cover include:

• Job search as continuous career marketing.  
  Job search is no longer limited to when you are in transition anymore, but is a purposeful promotion process. Make connections. Establish a network. This is your career insurance – no more job security from employers, too few openings and too many applying. Now, job seekers must source leads by personal recommendations .
• Positioning.
  Look at where you are, where you want to be, and describe how to get there. Do a SWOT analysis. Every successful campaign project starts with a roadmap.  Create an effective plan, identify your goals and objectives, and identify possible roadblocks and solutions. 
• “Network Purposefully” (Debra’s special term and specialty) Part I.
  Identify your unique value contribution in terms that prospective employers will appreciate. Turn this inside out and take the employer’s perspective: what might they object to or might make them hesitate about you that could limit your progress and prevent swift landing, how do you fall short of their expectations, how are you going to explain away and mitigate any negatives/obstacles threatening your job search progress?
• “Network Purposefully” Part II.
  Identify target companies where they need your skills, talents, background, experience etc. Name specific inside contacts and how you are going to get their attention and enlist their help to promote you as an asset.
• Package yourself for your job search.
  Prepare your presentation to attract employers attention. Package yourself attractively. Set salary, responsibility, authority, resources, and expectations. Customize resumes, develop individual presentations to demonstrate you are the ideal resource, use bio vs resume to be more partner than desperate job hunter.
• Promote yourself. Be visible.
  Promote yourself to capture the interest of hiring decision makers using traditional and new media channels.  Describe how you are going to make contacts inside your target employers.  Toot your horn, publicize your wins, share your victories, congratulate others, seek interaction, get known outside of your company, participate in industry events both IRL and virtual.  Networking today is 24/7/365 so maximize your influence, look for ways to help, and be generous.
• Follow up and repeat.
  Keep expanding your connections. Ask for intros. Make matches within your network. Success today is a continual process to stay on the radar, do great work and report remarkable results, be remembered, give more than you expect back. Successful job search includes outreach to establish a relationship, steps to grow the relationship and steps to maintain the connection ( polite persistent pings) to stay on the radar. Seek mentors. Be a mentor. Stay connected not just when you need to find a new job but to help others and be remembered so that you are recruited and don’t have to volunteer or ask for a new job.

This should be great information for job seekers learning the “new reality” of 21st century job search.  Or is it 21st century career management?

If you want to contact Debra directly, connect with Debra on LinkedIn or on Facebook. You may also email her (DebraFeldman @ JobWhiz.com), or contact her via her website, JobWhiz.com.

Stay tuned for a great ride!

More Job-Hunt Job Search and Career Experts.

In 2010,  96% of the Fortune 1000 employers post their jobs on their Websites! (Only 4% don’t.)

And, we found internships posted on more than 60% of the Fortune 500 company websites (we didn’t check for internships in the entire Fortune 1000 this year, but we will next year).

Most employers see the value of  having those job postings on the corporate website.  A link directly to “Careers” or “Employment” is often in the top right of the home page or in the housekeeping links at the bottom of every page. 

And, as you will see from these pages, only 3 of the Fortune 500 lack job postings on their websites. And, very few companies in the Fortune 1000 (less than 5%) fail to use the corporate Website for their own job postings.    Of course, sites like Job-Hunt advertisers Indeed.com and LinkUp.com collect those job postings (“aggregate” them), and make them visible to people who have never heard of the employer. 

Fortune 1000 Employers

The links (below) will connect you to 10 pages of employer links for the Fortune 500 and 1000. 

More on Fortune 500 Job Search: Fortune 500 Job Search Home Fortune 500 Job Search Arsenal Fortune 500 Career Fair Success Plan Fortune 500 Job Fair: Beyond Apply Online Success in a Fortune 500 Behavioral Interview Benefits of a Fortune 500 Internship Fortune 500 Recruiter Interviews: Fortune 500 Gatekeeper Interview Time Warner Cable Recruiter Interview Western Union Recruiters Interview Fortune 500 Job Search Experts Rosa E. Vargas, Fortune 500 Job Search Expert Laura Labovich, Fortune 500 Job Search Contributor Rich DeMatteo, Fortune 500 Job Search Contributor Additional Resources: Fortune 1000: Recruiting Links by Rank (incl. internships) Fortune 1000: Recruiting Links by State (incl. internships)

The Links:

1. Fortune 500: 1 to 100
2. Fortune 500: 101 to 200
3. Fortune 500: 201 to 300
4. Fortune 500: 301 to 400
5. Fortune 500: 401 to 500
6. Fortune 1,000: 501 to 600
7. Fortune 1,000: 601 to 700
8. Fortune 1,000: 701 to 800
9. Fortune 1,000: 801 to 900
10. Fortune 1,000: 901 to 1,000

The pages are interconnected, as usual, so start anywhere, and you can easily jump to whatever grouping you want to see next.

On these pages, you will find, for each company:

For more links to employer recruiting pages, check Job-Hunt’s Employer Directory

We’ll be doing more with the Fortune 1,000 at Job-Hunt.org in the future, so stay tuned!

Good luck with your job search!

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.