What’s Your Type? 

Do you like someone tall with a good sense of humor? Or perhaps you are more focused on finding a good dancer with curly hair? I know, it’s not deep, but just like people have certain preferences when it comes to the type of romantic partner they are looking for (and admit it, we all do), the same holds true for your job hunt.

Do you like an energetic start-up where everyone dresses casually and works in an open space? Or do you prefer a more buttoned-up environment with a deeply-ingrained reporting structure and big offices for the executives?

Think about the past jobs you’ve had and identify the ones where you felt most at home. And if you haven’t had many jobs – or haven’t had any jobs where you felt all that comfortable in the environment – think about other types of places you have visited- homes, stores, restaurants. When you walk into some of them, you want to stay. What are those like?

If nothing comes to mind, consider the work environments you have seen depicted on TV or in the movies. Just like identifying an actor or actress you are attracted to in determining your “type” in the dating world, you can get clues as to your perfect work environment by recalling your favorite workspaces on the small or big screen. You may have to adjust your expectations to fit into the “real world,” but you can still get some valuable clues.

And how do you translate this into resume content? In the profile at the top of your resume, and wherever possible throughout the resume, you use the language of the type of place you want to work. An energetic start up? Describe yourself as “entrepreneurial” or say you are passionate about “growing innovative new organizations.” And yes, using the word “energetic” would also be a good idea. Prefer the buttoned-up place? Maybe mention “hierarchy” in some way and being an “executive.” You might even be able to work in the word “traditional.” The bottom line is that there are ways to subtly clue the reader into your ideal work environment, thus establishing yourself as a match for positions at those type of places.

What Do You Like to Do?

Long walks on the beach? A stroll through a museum? Round-the-clock beer pong tournaments? When creating an online profile, it’s important to accurately represent your favorite activities in order to find someone who is a match. If you like nothing more than spending all day Sunday camped out in front of NFL games on TV, you don’t want to be dragged to flea markets from dawn until dusk. Right?

Same holds true for your work environment. You have certain things you like to do and certain things that drive you crazy or (yawn) bore you to tears. Solving complex problems? “IN!” Attending meetings all day? “OUT!” Working on teams? “IN!” Managing support staff? “OUT!” Creating awesome spreadsheets? “IN!” You get the idea…

These items are easier to plant in a resume. “Adept at solving complex problems and working in teams. Creates awesome spreadsheets.” (Yup, if that’s the wording you use in life, that might be the wording I would recommend you use on your resume, depending on the type of place where you want to work. The energetic start up would probably connect to that tone. The buttoned up place? Not so much.)

What Do You Hope To Get Out of the Relationship?

Do you want to get married, have kids, and celebrate your golden anniversary with the person who responds to your online dating profile? Or are you coming out of a relationship and simply looking for casual good times?

The same type of goal-setting can be applied to a job search. You want to find a place you can work your way up in and then get a gold watch at the end of 30 years. Or maybe you want to find a troubled company to fix for a couple of years and then move on to the next challenge. Maybe you just want to consult.

In the first case, you would work in “stable and growth-oriented” and in the second you would emphasize that “working with companies in transition” is where you shine.

If you write it correctly, you don’t have to use a lot of words to say a lot. You can cover the type of environment, what you like to do, and the length of your desired stay with a few choice phrases and some carefully-selected adjectives and verbs. 

Are you limiting yourself by tailoring the language this way? Yes, you are. But the idea is to find a position in a place where you are comfortable and doing things that you are really good at and enjoy, thus setting yourself up for personal satisfaction and professional success. And like those online looking for love, wouldn’t you rather end up with a good match than trying to make a bad match work?

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[Note: For the first time ever, I am putting the same post on both MoveYouForward.com and YourIndustryInsider.com. Everyone can benefit from this post. Read on!]

Not long ago, I did a post on why everyone needs a resume, even YOU. It’s the single most valuable bit of career advice I give to clients, friends, and associates. Bottom line there: A resume is a priceless marketing tool one should have at the ready at all times, whether one is a job-seeker, an entrenched employee, a freelancer, or even a business owner. Read the whole post here for details.

The other top piece of career advice I give to anyone who will listen is to get your LinkedIn ducks in a row. In short, be on LinkedIn and using it in the best way to achieve maximum results.

“What is LinkedIn?”

LinkedIn is an online networking site similar in functionality to Facebook, in terms of allowing users to create profiles and interact with others online. LinkedIn is widely accepted by professionals at all levels as the place to maintain a presence and interact with others for business purposes.

“But I’m not looking for a job. Why do I need to be on it?”

LinkedIn is not just helpful for job seekers. Yes, LinkedIn is a job-search tool, but it’s also a reputation-builder, a marketing tool, and the ultimate online business networking tool.

I have personally gotten press opportunities, business partnership possibilities, and many clients through people finding me on LinkedIn. I also used LinkedIn to find and contact sources when I was doing research for the “Entertainment Career Kickstart Kit” I released through Your Industry Insider. And I have connected with people all over the world who contacted me through LinkedIn to ask a question or get help with a professional project. You never know where those friendships could lead, but for now I have a broad reputation related to what I do. If I ever need a job, I’m in good shape.

“Okay, I get it. What do I do?”

There are three elements to maximizing your use of LinkedIn:

1. Your Profile: That is your professional identity. It’s your cover letter, resume, business card, elevator pitch, and interview suit all rolled up into one. Your profile MUST have an accurate and descriptive title, a compelling summary, well-written descriptions of your current and previous positions, and an appropriate picture.

Accurate and descriptive title- This doesn’t necessarily have to be your current job title, though it can be. If you have a prestigious title at a recognizable company or if you are just representing your corporate identity, use that.

If you want to promote yourself in a broader way, you can use “Marketing Executive” or “Entertainment Industry Professional” or even “Public Relations Expert.” But only use expert if you are an expert. Billing yourself as a “PR Expert” five years out of college makes you look silly and is just plain annoying to those who are PR experts who might be in a position to hire you or refer you to someone else. (That’s where the “accurate” part comes into play.)

A Compelling Summary- If you have a well-written, targeted resume (like all of my former clients do!), you can probably copy the headline section off of the top of that and paste it into the summary section on LinkedIn. If you don’t have a well-written, targeted resume, your summary should be a few sentences on your core skills and career trajectory, with an eye toward what you want to get out of your LinkedIn profile.

For instance, if you are a Marketing Executive starting to look for your next corporate position or a former marketing executive looking for more consulting work, you might put some version of, “Innovative, forward-thinking marketing professional with experience in the hospitality and tourism industry working with top-tier boutique brands, as well as large corporations, such as Marriott and Hilton. Core strengths include branding, special promotions, and strategy.”

As you write your summary, think about who might be reading it and what you want from them. Enticing recruiters and hiring executives requires a different tone and different content then if you want to attract consulting clients, press opportunities, or VC funding.

Well-written descriptions of your current and previous positions- Again, if you have a well-written, targeted resume, the work has basically already been done and you are largely cutting and pasting, only editing due to length and formatting constraints. If not, think about your overall role in each position and what you did, emphasizing accomplishments over duties and really honing in on where you made money or saved money for yourself (as a business owner) or someone else (as an employee or contractor).

An appropriate picture- Focused, close enough to see your eyes, which should be looking at the camera, smiling (or pleasant-looking if smiling isn’t your thing), and professional. No blurry vacation photos with festive hats. No pictures of your cute kids. (Save those for Facebook.) Think about how someone might meet you at a professional networking event. Look like that.

2. Connections: A great profile without a decent number of connections (200+ minimum) is as useful as having a great collection of connections and a lame profile. Which is to say, not very useful at all.

So, if you are a rookie, you want to let LinkedIn search your Outlook or Yahoo (or whatever email system you use) to help you find people you know who are already on LinkedIn. And then LinkedIn will suggest other people you might know based on the connections of your existing connection (called 2^nd and 3^rd tier connections on LinkedIn). (Awesome, right?)

Also, get out the business cards you’ve been collecting at actual in-person networking events the last year or so and find and connect with those people. Soon you will be blowing by that 200-connection minimum I set for you on your way to being a LinkedIn pro.

I myself go to LinkedIn whenever I meet someone new and look them up. Not only do I usually get a better idea of what they do/have done, LinkedIn will also tell me if we have connections in common.  (Awesome, #2!) I almost always send my new contacts an invitation to connect, along with a note about our meeting. It’s a great way to follow up and also to get them into my permanent “Rolodex.”

Everyone debates about whether they should only connect with people they have met or know personally or widen the circle to include people in their industry who they have not met — or even the professional world at large. Some people are even offended when people they do not know contact them to connect.

Personally, I accept connection invitations from people in my field and others who seem interesting and somehow relevant, especially if they personalize the invitation to connect. I pass on people who have no apparent relevance to me and don’t bother to tell me in their invitation note why they want to connect. I also pass on connecting with people who tell me in their invitation message that they want to use me as a job resource. (“Dude, I can’t recommend you for a job if I don’t know you.”)

3. Outreach: Now that you have your profile in shape and are fairly-well connected, it’s time to look around LinkedIn, see who else you might know, or want to know. That’s where GROUPS come in handy. The local branch of your college alumni association, your off-line professional organization, even just a loose organization of people in your field- all of these could be helpful groups to join.

You want groups which contain professionals who might be helpful to you, and who you might be able to help by answering their questions, thus building your reputation and potentially getting relevant opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise know about if you just built your profile and gathered connections and didn’t get out once in a while.

I’m going to close (but I could go on quite a bit longer and don’t you forget it!) by giving one more example of why LinkedIn is awesome: LinkedIn automatically sends out weekly updates of what everyone in your 1^st tier has been up to. If they’ve updated any part of their profile, joined a group, made a new connection, or updated their status, it’s there.

Scanning the update is a great way to find people you might know, too, or discover groups you might want to join. But it’s also a great marketing tool for you. For instance, if you are a freelancer, whenever you add new projects to your profile, the update indicates that you have updated your experience. Potential employers and former employers who are in your first tier get the update and can see what you’ve been up to lately. Maybe they have a similar project.

Now here you are, in a completely passive way, and top of mind when they need someone like you. Awesome, right?

So, are you ready to jump onto LinkedIn and experience the awesomeness for yourself? Or maybe you are already on LinkedIn and have a great story about getting a job, a freelance gig (or five), or some other great opportunity through LinkedIn. Please share in the comments.

And if we aren’t connected already, find me on LinkedIn and send me an invitation, introducing yourself in the note and telling me why you think we should connect. I’d love to meet you.

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I have this conversation frequently these days. It’s usually with people who’ve called me to talk about my resume-writing service, so they know something is up. But this topic also comes up with friends and business associates. One of two things usually brings it up:

1)      I will mention an opportunity that would be just right for the other person. I say, “You should send them your resume.” They say, “Oh, I don’t have one.” I say, “You mean you don’t have an updated resume?” They say, “No, I don’t have a resume at all. I mean, I did at one point but…” They’re voice trails off into silence.

2)      I will say, “I went on your Linked In page and it’s almost blank. What’s the deal?” (I’ll just interject here that it’s not snooping if it’s on the internet.) “Why don’t you have your resume on there, along with a compelling summary of what you do?” “Oh, I don’t have a resume,” they say, either confidently or sheepishly depending upon their circumstances.

I want to say, “Why are you even on Linked In? You have 357 connections and no way that’s going to turn into work for you.” Sometimes I do actually say it (usually, in a gentler way), which leads to me explaining the whole point of Linked In and why having a resume is essential, even for them. (More on Linked In later.)

Yes, it’s true. In the past, lots of people got freelance work – or even permanent jobs – without having a resume. There was a time that when someone who needed a graphic designer or a copy writer or a marketing consultant or even a new VP, Business Affairs would call their trusted friends and associates and their trusted friends and associates would tell them names of potential people to hire. And then the person in need would call a bunch of the referrals and ask those referrals about their experience and accomplishments. Based on that, either finalists would be asked to bid a job or come in for an interview or one person would just be hired depending upon the size and nature of the project.

Here’s the thing: Word-of-mouth doesn’t work as the only strategy anymore. There are too many freelancers and potential employees and, due to the internet, people’s circles are too large.

And, for a big project at a big company – or a permanent position – you don’t just get hired by the person who you talked to on the phone. There are people from other departments who need to sign off on you, as well as upper management in the mix. So now, each time you are brought up as a candidate, the person trying to hire you has to regurgitate everything they know about your relevant work history. If there are follow up questions (“Where’d they get their training? Have they ever done work for our type of company?”), they have to go back to you, get the information and then report back. You could see how someone with a resume would have an advantage in this situation.

Here are other people who need resumes:

People who have had jobs for a long time who would be open to moving on. I’m not saying you have to be actively looking. These are people who want to be ready when opportunity knocks, because they know a good opportunity won’t be available long enough for them to get a great resume together after they hear about it.

Most business owners. Yes, you are your own boss but how do people know they want to use your service or invest in you or come to you with a great offer to collaborate on a project?

Stay-at-Home Moms who need to make some cash while junior is napping. We all know those work-from-home ads are a scam. Network marketing is almost always the fast track to… making next to nothing while pissing off all your friends. But if you have a successful blog or were a very effective PTA president for three years, you could parlay that into a paid social networking or community advocate position that works for your schedule. If people know about you and what you’d done.

YOU. Even if you are 100% happy with your current situation and you do not need nor want any additional income, you still need to be establishing and maintaining your professional reputation. There will come a time when you will need or want to make money some other way than you are now. Your job will end, your current freelance income stream will dry up, etc. You will not want to be starting from scratch.

Here’s where Linked In comes in:

Your resume no longer sits in a drawer or gets passed from fax machine to fax machine or even by email address to email address. It lives on the web! Linked In is the best professional tool to come out of the internet age. You create an identity from yourself simply by having your excellent resume copied onto Linked In, along with a compelling summary of who you are and what you do. You build your reputation by commenting in relevant Linked In groups you belong to. You connect with people in your field. You help them, they help you. 

If someone hears your name as a potential hire and Googles you, your Linked In profile will come up and they don’t even need your resume sent to them. And sometimes people just stumble upon your profile on Linked In and contact you for work. (It’s happened many times for me. It can happen for you.) Which is why…

A blank or incomplete or badly-written Linked In profile is almost worse than no Linked In profile at all.

So if you don’t have a resume – or if your resume is not a strong representation of your career in terms of where you want to go with it – it’s time to put some time into it. And then get it onto Linked In. It will pay-off. Trust me.

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Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to Up Your Earnings and Change Your Life by Barbara Stanny is not just for women, but it’s well-established that women are more likely than men to fall into the trap of working in jobs with low pay ceilings OR working in jobs where they allow a low-pay ceiling to exist because they are too scared, for whatever reason, to ask (demand) to be paid what they are worth.

This book is for any chronic underearner, as Barbara Stanny terms herself (at the time) and anyone making well below their earning potential. She interviewed over 150 women and identified the issues and road-blocks they had (or did not have) to making over $100,000 (and often a lot more).

She names the “must-haves” for busting through a low earning ceiling: a profit motive, audacity, resilience, and encouragement, and provides relevant stories from the interviewees lives in their own voices. In some of the cases, the women had a transformation that took them from an anemic paycheck to big bucks and in others, the women knew they wanted to make a lot of money from the beginning of their careers and went for it. Both types are instructional.

The book has a very readable, conversational format. Barbara’s own story of financial transformation, depicted along with those of the interviewees, gives the book an intimate, personal tone, and there is something for anyone looking to break through any barrier to six figure (or seven figure) success.

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One of the cliche interview questions that recent grads are told to prepare for is “Where do you see yourself in five years?” When I was a recent grad, I found that type of question a puzzle, if not a trick. Though I don’t remember actually answering it, if I did, it was some lame “best guess” I presented because honestly, I had no idea where the next five years would lead me. Plus, five years seemed an eternity.

After the first few years of ones’ career and certainly when one is well into mid-career (and perhaps middle age, for that matter), I firmly believe one can and should should have an idea of where they want the next five years to take them. Creating financial, professional, and personal growth benchmarks are key for making progress in the long run and making decisions day-to-day based on overall priorities and desired direction.

So if you don’t have one, get a notebook out and start working on your five year plan and interim goals. It will be a roadmap to get where you want to go. After all, at the end of that time, wouldn’t you rather get where you intended to go than get nowhere at all?

Photo by brain_farts.

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When I’m not busy helping you people get better jobs, one of the (many) other things I do is write bios for professionals and businesses. Because of my relationship with the Personal Family Law Program (I am their recommended biographer!), a lot of the individuals I write bios for are lawyers.

Lawyers get a bad rap.

Almost every single lawyer I have talked to is passionate about what they do. Maybe it is because of the nature of the PFL program, but the lawyer I spoke to today was not a PFL member.

Now let me just tell you– I love doing bios. I get to pry. They pay me to pry and then to write a story about them. (Joy!) Among the questions I ask is why they chose to become a lawyer and then I ask why they chose the particular specialty. And I usually get a really interesting, personal answer.

For some of the lawyers I write about, there was a  family experience, where a relative was wronged. The lawyer I talked to today, who is based in Portland, Oregon and was fending off his two restless kids while he grabbed 20 minutes on the phone with me, specialized in personal injury. He told me he had applied to law school when he was finishing college and then worked for a short while in a very large law corporate law firm in Boston. He decided, based on that experience, to pull his application and do something else.

Cut to several years later, after travel, a couple other careers, starting a family, and putting down roots in a community. He realized that he didn’t have to work for a big, impersonal firm which represented corporate entities nobody at the firm particularly cared about. He could be his own kind of lawyer.

Now he and his partner have a practice which represents individuals who have been seriously injured through someone else’s fault. They severely limit the number of clients they take on so they can focus on the cases they have and provide the very best care to those clients. Sometimes they even fight big law firms like the one he worked at out of college.

I asked him if any of his recent cases had impacted him strongly and he told me about a husband and wife in their 70s. The husband had taken care of the wife, who was wheelchair bound and had other health issues, until they were in a car accident. As a result of the injuries the husband sustained, he was no longer able to take care of his wife at home and he had to put her in a home. He was heartbroken. He was totally in love with this woman and it killed him that he couldn’t be with her. The lawyer told me that as a result of the settlement his firm got for the husband and wife, they were able to hire in-home care and the husband and wife could be together again.

That’s a pretty powerful story and an extreme example of making a true difference. Not everyone is in a profession that has that opportunity, but we do all have the opportunity to use what we do in a way that brings us satisfaction.

I love writing a great bio (and not just because I’m a nosy person). I love helping clients figure out how to get more out of their careers and crafting resumes and cover letters that will land them better jobs. I even love writing blog posts that will provide my readers with something to think about.

Now let me ask you… Are you the kind of lawyer or writer you want to be? Is there somewhere else you could apply your skills- another company, type of company, or field- that would give you the kind of personal fulfillment you long for in your career?

Photo by Mike Willis.

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