job search - Liz Lynch Smart Networking

Nine Networking Tips for New Graduates

May 23, 2012 by Liz Lynch Leave a Comment

It’s graduation time! In honor of the thousands of new graduates – on whom our future is built! – I’m offering this post about networking for those who are just entering the professional workforce.

I hope you stayed vaguely aware during your previous years of education that this time of new beginnings would eventually arrive. You can never start too soon building your network. Hopefully, you’ve been connecting with leaders in your field(s) of interest and creating a solid personal brand all along.

But even if you’ve done nothing to date in terms of practical preparation for your career, there are a lot of things you can do, starting now. Don’t put it off any longer, though. It takes some time to build a network; and it’s a process that really can’t be rushed.

Here are a few action items to get you started.

1) Brush up your LinkedIn profile. Be sure your photo looks professional and your text is error-free. Ask previous employers to write recommendations. Also find some industry-relevant groups to join: read their conversations carefully before joining in. Don’t forget you can search on LinkedIn for industry leaders and use your connections to narrow the gap between you and potential employers or business partners.

2) Create a Facebook Business Page for the business that is You! Post links to articles and news of interest in your field. Encourage colleagues who share your passion to join you there for discussions and other sharing.

3) Follow people in your industry on Twitter, keeping them in a dedicated List, and respond to their posts as appropriate.

4) Research and write articles of 400 to 1,000 words that address key topics in your area of interest. Distribute these at four or five reliable distribution sites like ezinearticles.com and ideamarketers.com. Post regularly (two times a month, minimum) and your name will start appearing in searches for your keywords.

5) Better than writing articles, though best in tandem with it, is blogging. You can create a blog for free at WordPress.com or Blogger.com, and start establishing your expertise today. Define your topic(s) clearly, post frequently and consistently, and be attentive to commenters, and your community will begin to grow.

There’s plenty of networking to do in person, as well.

6) Talk to professionals in your community. Are there a few who might mentor you, or at least share an hour of advice? You’d be surprised how enthusiastic leaders can be about counseling newbies. It’s certainly worth contacting them and asking. When you do meet, be sure you are listening much more than talking.

7) Who you hang out with is also a key factor. Pay attention, and befriend those who share your interests, who will be supportive and honorable. Your closest associations are the foundation of your network.

.8) Go to conferences that relate to your industry. Bring with you business cards that feature your Facebook Business Page, and/or your blog. Think of yourself as a sleuth, gathering all the information you can lay your hands on about the field, its personalities, plans, and politics. Engage fellow attendees in thoughtful chats about key issues. Make friends.

9) If your networking is going well but you still haven’t found the right job, consider volunteering. Identify an organization that would give you good practice and connect you with influential people, and enquire about volunteer opportunities. If you’re a salesperson, for instance, if you help a nonprofit by using your skills, this experience can be the catalyst that finally brings you paying work. If you’re a scientist, can the local schools use your expertise in special workshops? What a great way to build your brand and come into contact with influencers in your community.

I hope these tips pay off handsomely for new graduates. If you want more help, please download my free Smart Networking Toolkit.

photo credit: Dave Herholz

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How to Look for a Job While You’re Still Employed

September 1, 2010 by Liz Lynch Leave a Comment

Hate your job? If you’re thinking about leaving and wondering:

What should I do first?
How can my network help?
When should I tell my boss?

You’ll find the answers to those questions and more in the following interview I did on CNN last week on “Stealth Job Hunting.”

P.S. I’m working on some follow up topics too, so let me know what questions you have on job search, career and networking. Thanks!

Filed Under: Job Search Networking, Videos & Audios Tagged With: cnn, job search, poppy harlow, your bottom line

Career Success Tip: How to Answer the “Weakness” Question During a Job Interview

February 25, 2010 by Liz Lynch 1 Comment

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for AndyRobinsonCRG.png

“Tell Me About Some of Your Areas of Weakness” ….

Oh….that dreaded question; the one we know they ALWAYS ask. Why do we find this question so tough to answer? Many people really trip on on answering this question.

A couple of ideas:

Focus on a weakness that might actually be viewed as a strength, e.g., I tend to work long hours, I tend to be a perfectionist, I tend to push my team really hard to accomplish their goals, etc.

We all have weaknesses. Some could be fatal weaknesses with respect to the job at hand, but many are likely not fatal weaknesses. Choose a non-fatal weakness – one that’s been part of your personal history BUT one that you’ve also focused SIGNIFICANT TIME and effort on improving. Discuss all the things you’ve done to improve upon that weakness – be specific. Talk about how you HAVE improved – give examples.

I tend to lean toward the second of the two ideas above. The second approach demonstrates that you (1) understand your weaknesses (self knowledge is a desired trait in an employee-to-be) AND (2) have the motivation and self-direction to work hard to either overcome them or significantly mitigate them (another highly desired trait for a potential employee).

Learn to answer this question with CONFIDENCE. It WILL be asked sometime during the interview process. PRACTICE your answer – ask others for feedback. Be prepared for this question and you’ll do a MUCH better job of addressing it.

Original post on Career Success! Partners

Author:

Andy Robinson (@AndyInNaples) is a leading authority on career success and 15-year career coaching veteran whose passion in business life is “helping people love what they do for a living and achieve incredible career success.” Andy is CEO of CRG Leadership Institute and co-host of Career Success Radio Show.

Filed Under: Career Success, Guest Posts Tagged With: andy robinson, career success, interview questions, job search

Still Job Hunting Like It’s 1999?

October 13, 2009 by Liz Lynch Leave a Comment

The latest job figures released two Fridays ago showed that the U.S. unemployment rate inched up 10 basis points in September to 9.8 percent. Many companies continue to reduce headcount, and those that are hiring are being very cautious and taking their time to find the right candidate.

Yet, many job seekers are still approaching their job search like it’s 1999, when the unemployment rate was just half of that–4.9 percent. While I realize some of this blog’s readership was still in high school back then, those of us Gen X and older can remember the heady days of the last decade.

A different market

Ten years ago, I had been working for the same company for 4 years and while I loved the industry, I wanted more variety in my job. When I started looking around for other opportunities, I wasn’t firmly committed to leaving so I didn’t push myself very hard. I surfed around a few job boards and submitted my resume very selectively. Even with that half-hearted attempt, I still got three job offers in just a few weeks in industries I had never worked in before and in roles I had never done.

But the job market was very different then. The tech bubble hadn’t burst yet and even when layoffs did start to come in 2000, it usually didn’t take workers very long to find that next position. Median duration of unemployment was only 6 weeks in 2000, a fraction of today’s average of 18 weeks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Perfect or near perfect

So what does this mean for today’s job seeker? At a minimum, you have to show yourself as a perfect or near-perfect fit for the job in terms of qualifications.

Address each of the job requirements in your cover letter. If you can only meet two out of five, for example, you’re not likely to even get the interview. With so much labor supply, companies know they can hold out for the perfect candidate.
Tailor your resume. The summary section and bullet points should showcase the experiences that best match what the employer is looking for. Draw a clear connection with the achievements you choose to highlight, rather than trying to cram everything you’ve ever done hoping that something will hit part of the target.
Add critical keywords to your LinkedIn profile so you’ll appear in the results when recruiters search for those qualifications
Of course, don’t lie or embellish the truth. Don’t say you were in sales if you never were.

While you’ll certainly beat out 85-90% of job seekers who don’t even do this much–again, those who still think it’s 1999, or at least, wish it was—you’ll still find plenty of stiff competition. It’s like going into college as va
ledictorian of your high school and realizing your freshman class is filled with them.

Break the tie

While the tangibles are the minimum price of entry, what will often break the tie are the intangibles:

Demonstrated commitment and excellence in the field. With fewer staff members doing the same amount of work, companies have to be confident that you can jump in and start contributing and adding value from day one. Showcase your deep expertise in your area not just with what you’ve done on the job, but also outside of the office through blogging, writing, speaking or involvement in the industry association.
Chemistry and rapport with the hiring manager and team. There’s enough negativity and fear in the news without having it hit you in the workplace. While a positive, can-do attitude can be hard to muster up if your job search hasn’t been going well, you won’t get hired if people don’t like being around you no matter how talented you are.
A strong recommendation from a trusted source. This is where your network can really help you. If you know someone who can put in a good word for you–and LinkedIn makes it so easy to find mutual connections–that can help tremendously.

The bar you have to jump over to land a job is so much higher today than it was 10 years ago. Accept that reality and adjust your job search strategy accordingly. Instead of half-heartedly applying for jobs on job boards and hoping you’ll get a call back, spend more time proactively building your case to position yourself as close to the ideal candidate as the company could hope for.

Read the original post at Personal Branding Blog

NOTE: If you’re frustrated by your dead-end job search and ready to ramp things up, read more about my groundbreaking new program, the Job Search Marekting Blueprint.

Filed Under: Job Search Networking, Personal Branding Tagged With: 1999, job hunting, job search, personal branding

Maintaining Networking Momentum After You Land the Job

October 2, 2009 by Liz Lynch Leave a Comment

Networking is something many job seekers get into reluctantly. It can feel awkward if you haven’t done much of it before. What do you do, where do you start?

Losing your job, especially, can make you want to hold back from meeting new people and talking about yourself. What will you say when they ask what you do, and more importantly, how will you project confidence when so much of your identity had been wrapped up in a job you were forced to leave?

It’s understandable then that as soon as you do land a job, you’d want to stop networking. The desire to dive into your new cubicle or office and bury yourself in your work can be very strong. And it’s easy to use the excuse of being too busy learning your new job to get out there and network.

In an ideal world, you’d keep up some networking momentum, perhaps shifted down a gear or two. What this current job market has illustrated is that having a strong network on the look out for opportunities for you, and willing to recommend you for them, is the key to minimizing your time in the unemployment line.

An ever ready network

Since you never know when you’ll need your network again, before you withdraw back into your comfort zone, there are a few things you can do to make sure your network is ready to go again whenever you are:

1) Close the loops

Update your LinkedIn profile. Add in your new company, title and job description. Rewrite your summary, if necessary.
Update your contacts. LinkedIn allows you to send a message to up to 50 contacts at a time. If you send out an email blast, be sure that all of the recipient emails are listed in the bcc line to maintain everyone’s privacy and avoid multiple “Reply All” emails.
Send a personal thank you email or handwritten note to anyone who helped you during your search. While you should have been doing this all along, if you missed anybody, now is the perfect time to make up for it. It will only get more awkward the longer you wait.

2) Start making internal inroads

Get introduced to the people around you. Being proactive in meeting people in both your department and adjacent ones, rather than waiting for them to come to you, will help you get up to speed more quickly and be more effective in your job.
Join the LinkedIn and Facebook groups for your new company, and follow your new employer on Twitter. Sometimes it’s the best way to stay updated on news and developments.

3) Maintain your outside network

Make a commitment that at least once a month you’ll have lunch away from your desk and away from your closest co-workers to catch up with outside colleagues.
If you haven’t already done so, check out the professional associations for your industry and search LinkedIn for relevant industry groups to join.

All of these activities keep you visible and in the flow of new ideas and opportunities that can help advance your career. They also keep you in the right mindset for networking. When you’re not putting pressure on yourself to get something, you put less pressure on others, and at the same time, become more comfortable with networking overall.

Read original post and comments at Personal Branding Blog.

Filed Under: Career Advancement, Job Search Networking, Job Security, Personal Branding, Success Principles Tagged With: job search, liz lynch, networking, personal branding

Your Job Search: The Hidden Goldmine Within the LinkedIn Companies Tab

August 28, 2009 by Liz Lynch 3 Comments

I was interviewed by CNN last week to give some quick tips on using social networking for a job search beyond just updating your status to say you’re looking for a job.

In the segment I focused most on LinkedIn not only because there are now close to 45 million professionals who are members of that site, but because more and more recruiters and hiring managers are using it to find candidates directly rather than relying on job boards. With the unemployment rate at its highest level in 26 years, a posting on an online job board can inundate a recruiter with hundreds or thousands of resumes, a large percentage of which are likely to be unqualified for the job.

An article in The Wall Street Journal last month, for example, told of a law firm that posted a position and received responses from almost 1,000 people, half of whom did not even have a law degree!

But I also focused on LinkedIn because I feel there are some underutilized features that job seekers can leverage to help them find opportunities that are just starting to bubble up before they’re widely advertised. And by the way, it’s a great tool for entrepreneurs too to help them be proactive in identifying unmet needs and proposing solutions.

The company who’s who

One of these features is the Companies page. From the top menu of the home page of LinkedIn, click on the “Companies” option and type in a company name or keyword in the search box. LinkedIn will show you an employee listing, including specifically anyone in your network who works there, used to work there, or is connected to someone who does.

Speaking to a few people within each group can be enormously valuable for getting different perspectives on the potential opportunities within your target companies. For example:

Current employees are invaluable resources for getting a handle on what is happening at the company now and the direction it’s going. Plus, they can be great allies for helping you get your resume to the right people and putting in a good word for you (if they know you, of course!).
New promotions and changes may be in the market to hire new positions as they expand their department or replace existing under performers.
New hires can hint at where there may be growth opportunities within the company. Even if you can’t speak to them directly, you can get a sense if certain divisions have been on a hiring spree and target them first.
Recent departures might be more open to talking about the challenges the company is having, which leaders might be great to work for and who might be a nightmare (good info to know before you accept a job, right?).

This is incredible market intelligence that would have been near impossible to perform just a few years ago.

To assist you in crafting your outreach emails to these folks, I’d like to point you to two recent posts from my Personal Branding Blog colleagues: Monica O’Brien outlined a terrific sample template for requesting a brief informational interview over the phone, and Chad Leavitt shared great strategies for how to effectively contact recruiters you might find on that employee list.

All the information you need is at your fingertips, now go for it!

Read the original post in Personal Branding Blog.

Filed Under: Job Search Networking, LinkedIn, Personal Branding Tagged With: job search, LinkedIn, liz lynch, personal branding, smart networking

Take Charge of Your Job Search This Summer

July 23, 2009 by Liz Lynch Leave a Comment

While most job
seekers are finding fewer and fewer openings and thinking about taking off the
rest of the summer (and eating microwave burritos to help their severance
dollars stretch), the SMART ones haven’t bought into the myth that summer is a
bad time to look for a job and are making their own opportunities happen.

There’s no
better time than NOW to begin positioning yourself for a job that fulfills both
your passion and your salary needs.

Today my friend Lynn Strigh
and I blew the lid off some job search myths and revealed some
simple truths about what it’s going to take to land the job of your dreams in
record time.

You don’t have
to settle for the first job that comes along and you don’t have to wait months
and months for results when you learn our UNIQUE marketing, branding, mindset
and networking framework for short-cutting the search process…and boosting your
negotiating power.

You can find details for our six-part series which starts next week at: Job Search Marketing Blueprint

To listen to the 90-minute preview call we did today, you can listen below or download the mp3:

Grab a pen and
a notepad to listen to the preview call (you’re going to take PLENTY of notes!) but don’t wait too long to enroll in our full program which starts on Tuesday, July 28th and is priced at a super-affordable $197 (yes, only $197!). We have only 100 spots total and they’re going fast at this price!

Filed Under: Job Search Networking, Marketing Yourself, Teleseminars & Training Tagged With: branding, finding a job, job search, networking, resume

Inside Secrets for Nailing That Job Interview: Liz Lynch Grills Corporate Recruiter Jeff Dunn (Live Teleseminar)

May 19, 2009 by Liz Lynch Leave a Comment

It’s hard enough to get an interview these days, so once you’re in the room you definitely want to make it count! I plucked an expert out of the field to get the INSIDE SCOOP on what recruiters are looking for when interviewing job candidates.

If you want to stand out in this ultra competitive job search environment, you won’t want to miss a single moment of the next Smart Networking Teleseminar series as I interview corporate recruiter and interview expert Jeff Dunn on the topic of…

* * Get that Job Offer! Inside Interviewing Tips from a Corporate Recruiter * *

This session will provide key insights on how to “ace” your next interview. You will learn specific strategies on how to answer tough questions and promote yourself as a great fit for the position. This is what you need to know to impress a recruiter no matter what industry you’re in:

Have an agenda — the most important interviewing tip
Building success stories
Interviewing the interviewer!
How to prepare before the interview
How to follow-up after the interview

The event is free to attend LIVE and unlimited access to the recording will be available for only $14.97 (a steep discount off the regular price of $37!). Please choose the option that works best for you:

Option 1) ALL ACCESS PASS: Click here to get LIVE access to the event AND Unlimited Access to the audio replay after the call:

I want an ALL ACCESS pass to this teleseminar, including the audio recording

Option 2) LIVE EVENT ONLY: Register here to listen to the teleseminar LIVE on May 20 at 7pm Eastern (6pm Central, 5pm Mountain, 4pm Pacific). If you think you’d like a copy of the audio replay for any reason, please choose Option 1 above.

Enter your name and a valid email address, then click “Send Me the Details” to have all of the teleseminar information emailed to you.

Attending the teleseminar is FREE; register above to get access to the call-in details.

EVENT: Liz Lynch interviews corporate recruiter and interview expert Jeff Dunn

DATE: Wednesday, May 20 2009

TIME: 7:00 PM Eastern (6:00 PM Central, 5:00 PM Mountain, 4:00 PM Pacific)

FORMAT: Join us from the comfort of your home or office. Listen via phone or the Internet through a live webcast. No special software is required, you just need a telephone OR a computer with an Internet connection.

COST: It’s FREE to attend the LIVE event! However, you must register to get the call-in number and webcast details. Audio recording will be available after the call if you can’t be with us live. Reserve your copy here:

I want an ALL ACCESS pass to this teleseminar, including the audio recording

About Jeff Dunn

Jeff Dunn has over 18 years of corporate recruiting experience. He currently works as a Senior Recruiter in the semiconductor industry. Jeff was the 2008 President of the Sacramento Area Human Resource Association. Jeff received his Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. Jeff has been featured on NPR, in the Sacramento Bee, and he is a regular guest on the television show Sacramento & Company. He regularly speaks at universities and throughout the community in Northern California on effective job search strategies.

Contact Jeff at www.sahra.org (Sacramento Area Human Resource Association).

Jeff’s recent TV segments are archived at www.sacandco.net

or connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.