Job seekers often hear how important it is to make it easy to find information about you online. Why? A Cross-Tab research study, Online Reputation in a Connected World, points out: - 75 percent of HR departments are expected to research candidates online - 89 percent of hiring managers and recruiters review candidates’ professional online data - 86 percent of employers believe a positive online reputation influences their...

Regular readers know I always tell my clients there is no ONE RIGHT way to conduct a job search. Best practices? Yes. Opinions on the best way to do things? Absolutely! The trick is to identify people who provide opinions based on actual information from people involved in hiring. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people advising job seekers based on nothing but their own experience, which may or may not translate effective...

If you’ve been looking for a job unsuccessfully for a long time, you are not alone. However, just because you haven’t landed yet doesn’t mean a job isn’t just around the corner. One adage that is true for job seekers? If you’ve been doing the same thing, over and over again without achieving the results you want — it’s time to try some new things!This month, the Career Collective (a community I co-coordinate with my colleag...

I was delighted to be invited to attend LinkedIn’s latest press conference (via live stream from their headquarters). No question LinkedIn is working hard to compete with other, growing social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.An interesting point made in the early part of the conference: LinkedIn wants to emphasize itself as a network helpful for job seekers, but not JUST for people looking for jobs. They strive to be...

LinkedIn’s blog reported yesterday that you can now search “for companies not only by attributes such as location, industry, and size but also by how you are connected. You can filter a set of results to include only those companies where you have a direct connection or broaden your search to include companies in your extended network.”Hopefully, you have already been following companies (read more about following companies...

Do you believe you need an online presence to help you land a job — or to help you manage your career? I spent 45 minutes last week trying to convince a career-changing friend she needed HerName.com. She is finishing an advanced degree and will be looking for opportunities in a teaching specialty. She can’t understand why it is important to have an online presence, and she made some good points:- I’m going to get a job beca...

One of the most frustrating aspects of job hunting is believing you’re doing everything you can and still finding yourself out of work. That’s why it’s empowering to realize you haven’t tried everything, and that new, assertive approaches will help you expand your network and land a job.Here are five action items to help job seekers land an opportunity:1. Seek speaking opportunities. Even if you’re unemployed, you’re likel...

“Every March 28th, I make two phone calls — one to the person who took a chance and hired me in 2003 and one to the person who taught me to drive on the other side of the road when I came to the U.S. from Singapore.”If you knew Lynn Wong, you wouldn’t be surprised that she remembers those important people in her life! I met Lynn via an introduction from my friend, Jenny DeVaughn. (That’s not very surprising, as I’ve written...

Everyone wants to know the job search rules.How long should my resume be?What should my cover letter say?When is the right time to follow up?How do I introduce myself in a networking setting?Do I list “job seeker” in my LinkedIn heading?Should I use Twitter? How often should I tweet?The list goes on and on. The short answer I tell all of my clients? “There’s no one *right* way to approach a job search.”It’s not difficult to...

It may be unexpected advice from a job-search coach, but ideally, you should not be looking for a job. Instead, you should be looking for problems to solve and letting the jobs come to you.Confused?Here’s why you need to get off those job boards and readjust your approach: 1. Looking for a problem to solve is more effective.Looking for a problem to solve instead of looking for a job requires you to identify skills you plan...