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Many of my clients focus heavily on the role of the resume in their job search, believing that a better resume will get them the job. Sometimes that is the case, but let’s be clear here folks, resumes don’t get people jobs. Your resume will get you interviews (sometimes), but interviews are what get you job offers.

Time after time, the clients who get the best and fastest results in their job search campaigns are the ones who take a comprehensive approach and invest time, money and effort into improving their interviewing skills, as well as their resume.

Strong interviewing skills + strategic networking +referrals = job offers.

In this two-part series, I will outline five specific steps you can take to elevate your interview performance and increase the number of offers you receive: <...

If you've looked for a job at all in the last few years, you know that the recruiting landscape has changed dramatically. Many people still underestimate the role of social media in their job search though. If you don't have a clean, professional and value-based presence online, it will affect your job search results.

According to research done by JobVite in 2016, over 90% of employers now use social media in some way to screen job candidates before hiring them. This number has increased dramatically in the last ten years. In addition to viewing your profiles, they are also doing basic online searches to see what kind of results your name produces.

Let's take a look at some recent research and see exactly how deeply social media ...

Love them or loathe them, nearly everyone comes in contact with a recruiter while looking for a job. Maybe you've had one contact you when you didn't even apply for a job! That happens all the time on LinkedIn. As a former recruiter and hiring manager myself, I know that it's often a complicated relationship that job seekers have with recruiters. I read dozens of posts on LinkedIn from frustrated job seekers who bash recruiters and frustrated recruiters who bash job seekers. Have you seen those too!?

In my opinion, there is a simply a lack of understanding on both sides. Now that I'm out of the corporate world, my loyalty lies with you the job hunter and not the companies. And that's the way I like it! Therefore, my goal in this post is to help you, as the applicant, to ...

 

I go through the same cycle with clients every year. November approaches and they get caught up with the holidays. They assume that no one is hiring.....and they wait. They wait and tell themselves that they're going to "go hard" in January with their job search.

Is this you?

Here's what people don't think about: the average job search takes several months, and that does not include preparation for a job search, such as updating your resume and LinkedIn.

Right now (when things are quiet and half of the office is on a holiday vacation) is THE BEST TIME to start preparing for your search. That way, when January comes you won't lose time like everyone else.

Here are three reasons why you should NOT postpone ...

I heard the phrase recently that "your network is your net worth," and it stopped me in my tracks. Not only is it catchy, but it's SO true. To be honest, I never used to believe in networking. In my earlier career, before I became a career coach, I had no idea how people were getting jobs by networking. I kept hearing about how great it was and how it was the missing piece to everyone's job search. It sounded great, but I had NO IDEA what people were talking about. It was great for everyone but me.

Fast forward a few years and one new business later, now I get it. I really get it. If you don't believe in networking, then you probably just don't understand it. You've been sold the idea that it's about going to events, passing out business cards, shaking a ...

 

If I had to take all of the mistakes that I see job seekers make and boil it down to one critical item, it would be this: Relying 100% on the resume. The resume alone is not enough to get you a job in most cases, and this is THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT JOB SEEKERS MAKE. Yes, you need to have a great resume and the hiring manager will eventually read it, or at least most of it. However, doing nothing but firing off resumes online rarely gets anyone a job.

The path of least effort= the path of least results.

This also is where a resume writer or career coach can add tremendous value and save you a significant amount of time. My staff knows how to write a quality resume quickly. This saves ...

 

How many people are prepared right now for an unexpected job loss? Are you? What does "being prepared" even mean?

In my own career, I've was laid off four times by the age of 30. Yes, you read that right. Thankfully, I attacked my job searches pretty hard from day one and was never unemployed longer than five weeks. But that's not what happens to most people. Hardly anyone thinks about updating their resume or reconnecting with their network until they have to.

I cannot urge you enough to be proactive and to always be vigilant in your career. Long-term job loss can cripple your finances, and not to mention your confidence.

So what do you need to do to be prepared? Keep your resume updated. When you accept a new job, ...

 

When you focus intensely on any one goal or intention, it's almost inevitable that burnout will follow. Anyone who's been in a job search more than few weeks can relate. It's all cute and fun in the beginning until you apply, apply and apply and then....nothing. Or, you interview, interview, and interview but... no offers. If you ever experienced this, you are NOT alone. And no, you don't have a disease either. The application system is flawed in so many ways.

It's only natural to lose motivation (and shreds of sanity) when you do the work and don't see results. It's enough to make anyone crazy. You send off your resume, update your LinkedIn, and do all of the things that you think you are supposed to. And still...nothing. This is SO common.

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Being out of the corporate environment myself these days, I am constantly keeping myself in check by doing research on hiring trends and the job market. I recently received a connection request from a local recruiter on LinkedIn. Since I'm not in the habit of connecting with people that I don't know, I set up phone call to see how we could add value to each other's networks.

I took this opportunity to pick his brain about all of the burning questions that my clients have about working with recruiters. Why? So I can share all of the insights with you-my tribe!

Here are the top two takeaways from our conversation....

Are cover letters dead? No, but they are on life support. The modern cover letter is now reincarnating as an "E-Note." E-Notes refer to electronic communications such ...

If you've done an interview coaching session with me, then you already know this fact: In 2016, LinkedIn surveyed over 1,300 hiring managers to uncover the top skills that employers are screening candidates for. Soft skills, in particular, can be some of the most difficult skills to evaluate. The managers revealed that they most value the following skills, in this order: Adaptability, Cultural Fit, Collaboration, Leadership, Growth Potential, and Prioritization.

I work primarily with mid and later career clients and it’s interesting that adaptability tops the list, because older job seekers often get stereotyped for not being adaptable enough already. They are often assumed to be resistant to change or unwilling to learn new technologies. Given that this is my general client base, I know this to be completely untrue in most cases. Many older workers are in fact very willing to work and learn new skills ...